Reduced growth

[Lookingforpositivity]

Hi everyone. I came here to gain some reassurance and positive feedback please as I am really anxious. I recently had a growth scan which showed growth reduced from 90 to 50 on chart. MW said she was unable to take proper abdominal measurements so that can be the reason of changed readings. But now I can't have another scan before 2 weeks. I am really anxious.

How far along are you, OP? These measurements can be notoriously unreliable, but happy to share our experience.

My DD dropped from 50th to 25th to 9th over the course of 3 scans (20w, 28w and 36w). I was advised to induce at 39w, which i agreed to, but before then i developed very high blood pressure and went into spontaneous labour at 38w. She was a tiny one - 5lbs 12oz when she was born. She had other issues after birth - an infection and sepsis, which meant a NICU stay, but these were not necessarily caused by her size (although of course, it meant it took a bit longer for her to recover).

Since we left NICU, she has consistently tracked the 2nd centile. She is coming up 6 months and the HV is happy with her development. She just seems to be a tiny one! Which is odd as DH and i are both tall and broad 🙈 Because she was so small, we had some issues feeding so we have combi fed but otherwise, she is just a delightful baby.

I was told everything at 20 week scan looked fine and baby was overall on around the 12th centile. Then at 24 weeks told baby was measuring just above the 3rd and all sorts of chat about further tests (mri scans, amniocentesis…) which is obviously very worrying. At 26 weeks baby was measuring around the 10th. I asked consultant whether the second measurements were wrong or did baby have a growth spurt and she said there is no way to know. It’s so hard not to worry but try not to focus too much on individual measurements as there is a margin of error and also babies don’t necessarily grow at a totally even rate - it’s the trend that is most important.

Thank you ladies for your time and reassurance. Sorry I couldn't respond earlier.

@GuidingSpirit aaww lots of love for your little princess. I am 36 weeks

@Fleur405 thats so true. I am trying my best to stay calm. Hope things stay good. Thank you so much

50th centile is still really good!

My girl went from around 50th to 22nd in just 2 weeks - I'm under fetal medicine for other reasons, so we have the 'top dog' dr in terms of care. He wasn't worried at all, didn't even blink, said baby had probably just changed positions! (He works in the nicu unit too as well as doing scans so I trust his judgement).

She's since been sitting around the 25th mark, so all is good. Did they do Doppler? (PI on notes). If Doppler is fine and not on the 95th centile or above then that's super positive too as would indicate no issues with the cord flow from placenta.

They start to worry when they drop below the 3rd so you've got tons of leeway. Good luck! I'm sure all will be totally fine!