Short femurs at 36 week scan, above average everything else???? Experiences please

[Irishwifey]

So I had my 36 week growth scan today and i noticed my babys femurs were only measuring 32 weeks. Has anyone had this? I've been on google and driving myself crazy. Everything else is on the 60/70th percentile and he's weighing 6 lb 7 so not small by any means

It's never been flagged to me except I did notice when I went back on my notes that it was 37% at 15 weeks , dropped to 18% at 21 week anomaly scan and somebody under lined it in biro, at 24 weeks it dropped to only 4% and then back up to 6% at 28 weeks. The growth scans were for extra fluid not the femurs, nobody ever mentioned them.

I have no other data after this because my hospital switched to digital notes.

But now I'm working myself up thinking something could be wrong.

I asked the sonographer and she said no that can be ok and if I wanted I could ask the consultant when I was in there. The consultant was a bit vague and said nobody had put anything in my notes at anomaly scan so not to worry and we will see when he comes out. But now I can't help but worry.

Has anyone else had anything like this and baby was ok? I've been googling and scaring myself with things like dwarfism and Down syndrome. I'm a worrier and could really do with hearing some experiences because I'm not back in clinic for 2 weeks.

Hi @Irishwifey, sorry you’re feeling worried. I’ve no experience of these kinds of measurements as late on as you (my daughter was born 33 weeks) but I had a lot of growth scans and monitoring before then. Her femur length was flagged on a scan early on and they made a point of discussing it with us- so please be reassured that if they haven’t highlighted it to you then they probably aren’t concerned. My daughter was born early but absolutely no issues with femur length at all. Best of luck 🤍

My first was 5th percentile femur and 95th percentile head and I was absolutely sure he was going to look so disproportionate. He was born absolutely perfect and is 2 now and he is absolutely beautiful! He isn't short and stumpy with a giant head like I was expecting 🤣

I know two women who had similar results during pregnancy, both babies are totally fine, no health issues and not even on the short side.

Yes I had this, was really worried. Consultant looked at the pics and said to me there was nothing to worry about. Baby is now 8 and perfectly proportioned, as they always have been!

I had this with my son. I was worried too. Short legs short torso and huge head. When he was born he was perfect. 5lbs 8oz so a small baby but didn't look out of proportion at all. He's 3 now and has long legs is of average height and his measurements have all evened out.

With both my kids I had scans with some low and high measurements but when they were born they were perfect. Nothing wrong with them at all.

Try your best not to worry. Easier said than done. If you want a 2nd opinion you have every right to ask for that for reassurance etc so don't hesitate to ring up or go in and ask to be seen. It's your baby. I hope all goes well. 🫂

My growth scans (for GD monitoring) showed femur length around 5% too. The sonographer said that at this stage (3rd trimester) they don't care about FL that much. AC and HC are more important. Think growth scans at later stage of pregnancy are quite inaccurate anyways, so don't worry too much about it. Good luck!

I had this and worried myself half to death. In fact I verged on being hysterical and remembering crying to my midwife who appeared very confused by it all. She sent me to consultant who reassured me there was absolutely nothing wrong with my baby and he was in fact correct. Baby born totally healthy and all in proportion

Thank you so much ladies these messages really helped me relax when I thought nothing would 😭 gonna try put it completely out of my head after hearing all the similar stories and baby was perfect . Thank you all so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Currently on the same boat -atm @38w and noticed all of the sudden short femur % around 29w. Gyno & fmf doc were not concerned but offered i do additional tests to rule out DS and Achondroplasia to ease my anxiety . All turned out clear. It has been very stressful and wish i could enjoy my last weeks of pregnancy. Ofcourse google did not help but i am very pleased to see that most mommas stories with similar femur measurements turn out to be just fine :) . 💙🙏🏻

@Irishwifey I know it's been a couple fo years now, but wondering how it all turned out for you? I'm in a very similar situation and petrified.