Femur Length at 2nd centile at 27 weeks

[gphilipa]

Hi all,

basically at 25 weeks baby was identified as having a really short femur, which was confirmed at today at 27 weeks. Baby’s other measurements are on the small side but not as bad and otherwise look perfect. Everything I looked up just seems to talk about Downs and other chromosomal abnormalities which is really stressing me out. Because of a really shitty midwife at 8 weeks I was misinformed about the NIPT test and was scared into declining the test. I’ve now been told my options are either amniocentesis or pay private for a late NIPT.
Has anyone else had reduced FL and not had the NIPT done? I’m only in my mid 20s so I’m not particularly high risk for chromosomal problems but it seems that the only info out there is about Downs.

Doesnt have to be a syndrome
Could be risk for pre term birth
Could be just small
Get amnio if you want to check all chromosomes and want to rule things out
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3592208/

We had a similar experience at 20 week scan. Baby measuring small but in particular, the femurs and humerus were measuring in 6th percentile. Was referred for a follow -up scan with a consultant for 2 weeks later and I did exactly what the sonographer told me not to do and googled what this might mean and went in to a complete panic.

The consultant measured all the bones again and whilst they are still small, they are growing at the right rate for their length- someone has to be on the small end of the scale! He also checked carefully for any other soft markers and there there was nothing to indicate any chromosomal abnormality. Offered invasive test in case we wanted certainty but we were happy with everything he told us so declined.

My advice is to not panic and stay away from Google.

Hi, I've just made a similar post. Baby has just been diagnosed with severe symmetrical growth restriction (3rd percentile) with no known cause. I have another scan and more tests next week.

I'm sorry I can't give any advice but I'm also in the same boat.

Also I would ask because I think there are a lot of other markers for Downs ie heart defects and facial characteristics that they can pick up on a scan.

Good luck x

Hi, I've been going through this since 20 weeks and have been beside myself with worry so I'm sorry you are too. My baby's femurs have been on or around 5th centile between then and 28 weeks. Everything else is about average.

If it's any help, from what I've been told there's unlikely to be a genetic issue if short femur is the only finding. It's much more likely to be caused by the placenta not working 100% or baby just being small and that's how they're meant to be. I did the thing you're not supposed to do and googled but the research I found backs up what the consultant told me.

In my case I had high resistance in my uterine arteries and low Papp A in first tri so consultant suspects a placental issue. I did have a low risk NIPT by chance earlier in the pregnancy.

I won't tell you not to worry because I don't think I will stop worrying until he's born, but I hope that helps a bit. I also searched on here and found lots of positive experiences from people who had been through the same xx

Hi
just wondering how the baby is now, im in the same boat and cant stop worrying. Appreciate your response.
hope all went well.

Hi how is the baby now, I'm in the same situation and cant stop worrying. Hope everything is going well. Appreciate your response

Hi,
After a couple more scans under Fetal Medicine they've found his femur has caught up a little bit but he's still measuring below 3rd centile for weight. They've found abnormal Dopplers through his cord and raised plgf in my blood so they're quite confident it's placenta insufficiency. I have an induction booked for 36 weeks but have to prepare to possibly go earlier (I'm almost 33 weeks now). Doctors have been fantastic in reassuring me about the safety of early delivery and are happy with his development outside of his weight. It seems IUGR/FGR babies are a lot more common than are made out so I wouldn't worry too much x

Hi
How did everything go, hope it turned out all good. Similar situation and worried.
Appreciate your response.
Thank you

My baby was scanned at 20 weeks and her femurs were 1% on the centile chart, I had to be rescanned at 28 weeks and she had caught up a bit but still only 5%.

We were really worried obviously but she's 12 now and just has short legs 🤷‍♀️ Long torso, stubby legs bless her but she's 5ft 3 at 12 so not especially short either.

Hopefully will reassure others that it doesn't always mean anything serious.

"Hi
How did everything go, hope it turned out all good. Similar situation and worried.
Appreciate your response.
Thank you"*
*
...

Hey, hope it's all going ok?

Bump is due in January but all seems to be going well. Since the 20 week scan I have had a few follow-up scans with a consultant and whilst the femur length remains on a low percentile, they are growing consistently along their growth line so there are no concerns, just short legs! The consultant looked for any other markers which might suggest ds or dwarfism and couldn't find any.

I have one more scan coming up which feels like overkill to be honest but always nice to be able to see baby.

I know it's ridiculous to say but please try not to worry unless you are given a reason to worry. I googled myself silly at the time and completely tied myself up in knots.

Have you got a scan coming up?

My due month is January too. Its nice to discuss our similar concerns here so I'm thankful.
My scan is due in 3 weeks too and the FMU consultant did say not to worry and there were no other signs of anything else but theres always that 1 % chance of risk. So obviously this still worried me.
My 28 weeks femur percentile was just under 5. What was yours?

Anyone with the same issues, has induction and C section been mentioned to you?

LO is on the 6th percentile atm and consultant has said she might not be strong enough to go through natural labour and it may be safer to book a C section at 35-37 weeks.

Hello ladies - its been a while
but im currently at the same situation.

could you give feedback on your LOs💙🙏🏻 praying all went well

@Babyisi I was eventually told LO was <1st percentile and had stopped growing and I needed to be induced immediately. Baby was totally fine - the scans were wrong x

Hi @Babyisi, sorry you're going through this I know how stressful it can be. My baby's femurs measured short from 20 weeks onwards (between 2nd and 5th centile) - I kept hoping they would catch up but they never did. Me and his Dad are both fairly tall so it was the last thing we thought we'd need to worry about!

All his other measurements were in normal range, but his growth slowed down towards the end of the pregnancy and I was booked to be induced at 38 weeks. It turned out to be a placental issue.

My little boy was smallish when born (8th centile) but otherwise absolutely fine and at 6 months is on 50th centile for weight and 75th for length. I really wish I hadn't worried so much but it's hard when you're going through it.

I was so anxious during the pregnancy so I really feel for you going through it as well. My best advice would be to stay away from Google - I researched so many different things and it caused me so much extra stress xx

@Babyisi

I'm so sorry you are going through this. How far along are you?

We had regular scans throughout the pregnancy which to be honest felt like overkill but it was reassuring that the nhs wanted to monitor baby to just make sure all was ok. It is interesting to hear the updates from everyone else as we had a scan at 36 weeks which suggested baby's growth had slowed and I was also induced which then turned into an emergency c-section. Baby boy born small (5lb 2) but absolutely perfect with legs in proportion with his body.

Hello! My daughter was <1percentile and I had an emergency c section. She was born at 34 weeks. They missed that my placenta stopped working at 30 weeks. She was 4lbs when born had a few complications which meant we stayed in NICU for 14 days but shes now 6 months and perfect. Yes shes still on the small side but perfectly healthy! Xx

Hi,

I ended up being diagnosed with early onset pre eclampsia and a placenta which stopped working because of it. My little one was born at 33 weeks via emergency c section weighing 3lb:) he was tiny, and at 7 months now he’s only 11lb but his consultant has every faith he’ll catch up

Thank you so much for the update 🙏🏻 so happy for you that all went well with your LO💙

Thank you so much for the update and kind words. Honestly it makes me feel much better reading your responses. I know all journeys are different but it's comforting to see similar cases turning out just fine🙏🏻 oh yes, its been very stressful (dr. Google NOT helping) but trying to take each day step by step 💙

So happy your LO is thriving! Wishing you all the best and thanks again for sharing your journey with me. Means alot

What an absolute poppet. Glad all is well and he is catching up, he will be a 6ft giant before you know it! X

Thank you so much for your sharing your story :) wishing you all the best to u and your LO. im currently at 32w2d. I have monthly scans with my gynecologist and did 12/20/30 scans with specialist embryologist. Generally baby measures around average toward lower percentiles (around 50ish), but femurs during 29w & 31w measured around 10th and 5th respectively. Next scan is in 2 weeks. 🙏🏻💙

@Babyisi it sounds like you are being well taken care of and they are monitoring baby closely. If they were worried about any markers to suggest anything else then they would have picked up on these by now so it all sounds positive. I hope you are feeling well in yourself (I remember the last 6 weeks feeling incredibly tired) so make sure you get plenty of rest and take care of yourself. Reading everyone's updates on here, it sounds like you should have your bag ready for your scan in 2 weeks just in case.

Let us know how you get on. Sending big hugs x