Worried as my baby is suddenly measuring a week behing at 24 weeks? Is it my fault?

[dubaimiracle]

It's been a long road for me with two previous miscarriages and two chemical pregnancies. I am 24 weeks 4 days pregnant with our baby girl, so far everything has been fine. As a result of previous losses, I've had a lot more scans and she has always been measuring on track. The 20 week scan she was measuring perfectly and there were no issues detected.

Yesterday I went for a check up at 24 weeks 3 days and she was measuring between 23 weeks 2 days and 23 weeks 3 days. They measured her head size, femur and abdomen and confirmed the same measurements each time.

OB wasn't particularly worried but she did say I need to start gaining more weight. I was a BMI of 21 before pregnancy with a start weight of 62KG and now I am just under 65KG, so less than a 3KG weight gain at 24 weeks. Is this my fault? Has anyone had a small baby catch up and was it related to you not eating enough? I've been told to eat more.

I feel like I've caused this and it's all my fault :(

I had something similar from slightly later in my pregnancy, I was sent for extra scans almost every week as they thought my bump was either not growing or getting smaller. All the scans showed she was a bit behind but generally okay, up until the end when they panicked and tried to induce me. I was so upset and anxious for the whole of my third trimester because of all this. The baby had to be monitored through labour but ultimately I had a spontaneous labour before induction - she was absolutely perfect and over 6 lbs so not even small. She's 1 now and very long and lanky, I honestly think it was just her build.

While you're pregnant the baby will be taking everything they need from you, so if you're not eating enough it will be you that feels it before they do. It's not your fault or related to anything you've done or not done. Be kind to yourself, get plenty of rest and try and eat some nutrient dense snacks (or just use it as an excuse to eat whatever you fancy)

I would worry OP.

I am overweight and due to this and my ethnicity had growth scans throughout the later half of my pregnancy.

I had ZERO appetite throughout my pregnancy (didn't come back until 2 months PP).

I lost a stone in the first trimester and only managed to regain this by the time I gave birth (39 weeks). Within about 10 days I had lost this stone again.

My growth scans started to measure my baby as small. I thought this was because of the lack of food I was eating but my consultant said this was nothing to do with it. My ethnicity normally has large babies so my growth chart was based on this. On another chart my baby might not have measured small if that makes sense. I was only 5 lb something when I was born anyway..

Baby was still growing fine and had no issues, but I did see on the screen on one of my last scans that the estimated gestation (based on size of baby) was 34 weeks which shocked me.

I ended up being induced due to small baby as consultant said placenta might not be doing its job properly and small babies can find it hard to cope with the contractions. Baby ended up not liking contractions at all and had them by emergency c section in the end.

It's not your fault.
If your consultant has advised to eat more, try to, but I really would read too much into how much weight you've put on. I know I was overweight but you are a healthy weight really, I wouldn't be concerned unless you were underweight..

*wouldn't worry!

@wfcats thank you so much for sharing this and so glad to hear your baby was okay ❤ I think it just shocked me because she had been on track until then. They did check the placenta blood flow and the umbilical cord and everything looked fine so she might just be a bit small. I'm so sorry you had to go through that extra stress and anxiousness, it's already such an anxious time. Perhaps I will ask for more frequent scans as needed too, just to be closer to it.

@scoobysnaxx this is very similar to me in terms of appetite, I had nausea till around 17 weeks and since then I have no appetite at all. I am eating three meals a day but I have friends who said they were starving and couldn't stop eating! That must have been scary to see your baby was only measuring around 34 weeks. Sorry to hear you had to have an emergency c-section I can't imagine how stressful that was but so happy that everything was okay for you.

Thanks so much to both of you. I think because she said she needs to see me gain more weight now it made me feel like I was causing this reduction in growth. She was around the 50th percentile (I think it wasn't that clear to me to be honest!) so definitely not 'alarmingly' small but it just made me feel so worried and guilty. I've stocked up on some snacks so I'm definitely going to try increase my calorie count. Next scan is in three weeks so fingers crossed she stays on track until then 🙏

@dubaimiracle I know! All you ever hear about is how hungry you're supposed to be in pregnancy. Cravings etc. No-one ever talks about the opposite! 3 meals a day is really good! If you don't feel like eating much more maybe try high calorie smoothies or even milkshakes. Easier to get down I think.

Don't feel guilty, we've already signed up for a lifetime of guilt being a mum anyway 😂. But get it. My baby went from 50th percentile down to the 10th then to 8.5. I felt so guilty as I'm growing her right? Must be my fault? But she was just fine and healthy 🙏🏽 even now at 3 months she is trending the 2nd percentile line but the dr said she just thinks that's going to her "her line" now.

You're healthy, a healthy weight, eating 3 meals a day and your baby is growing fine. Don't worry! Xx

@scoobysnaxx I just had an update from my OB so it seems she is now at the 15th percentile (I wasn't sure yesterday) so has come down also from being right on track to then. i know that it could be worse but I feel like 24 weeks is almost too soon for these issues. Your story is so reassuring to me, I really appreciate you taking the time to share it - truly!

I guess some babies are just small and some are larger and it is what it is, praying for some good news at the next scan.

The three week countdown to the next scan is going to be the longest three weeks of my life! I will update on the thread in three weeks in case anyone else has the same question later 😀

You're welcome 🥰

Try not to worry, I know it's hard not to! There is so little we can do to change these things.

All you can do is attend all your scans, listen to what they say/advise and make informed decisions.

They may want to induce you early, this freaked me out a bit (more before I wasn't ready in myself and I didn't really want to be induced). But take it one step at a time.

My sister was induced at 37 weeks as her baby wasn't growing well and was a small baby. He was a diddy 4lb something and is now a 6ft1 22 year old perfectly healthy!

Just take good care of yourself. Plenty water, nutritious food, REST and NO STRESS!

Try not to worry. Easier said than done. I can understand your concern. 14 currently 14+3 weeks and baby is measuring almost a week behind even tho I know my dates are exact since we had ivf and baby was measuring perfectly on size at both previous scans .
Its such a worrying time

I was so ill and lost so much weight I left hospital after giving birth 4kg lighter than before I got pregnant. Baby was measuring small, nearly delivered early as thought wasn't growing. Lots of scans. He was delivered at 41 weeks, over 9lb. My friend measured small throughout, but tracked that centile. Born on that centile fine - mum and dad both below average height, both were small babies themselves. Their second was the same. Baby might not be small at all. Baby could be small and that's just the size of babies you grow. They will keep an eye on you, and if they is any concern they'll get baby out safely early.

My baby girl was measuring small through all of my scans. (I had extras too due to previous losses)
They weren't unduly worried as I am quite small also but they did give me a growth scan every 2 weeks.
She eventually came 2 weeks early weighing 5lb 15. Still a little dot but perfectly healthy. She's now almost 4 months old and her weight is tracking along nicely with no problems.

Xx

@ChildOfTheMoon Definitely easier said than done, totally agree! Huge congratulations on your pregnancy! Sending you a lot of positive vibes, I'm sure everything will stay on track for you 🙏

@FlyingHighFlyingLow Ugh sorry to hear you were so ill during pregnancy that's not a lot of fun at all. So relieved that he arrived safely and at 9 pounds too! Yeah hopefully she continues to just track on this same 15 percentile now and that's just her size. I think it was more that she was measuring perfectly until this latest scan so now she has actively fallen behind that it made me feel worried. Especially because of the lack of weight gain at the moment, again not intentional of course but made me feel responsible for sure

@notenoughcaffeine Congrats on your baby girl and sorry to hear you had previous losses too, it's tough enough being pregnant but pregnancy after loss is definitely hard (at least for me!). I had scans at 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 20 and she was exactly the same size each time (as in aligned to the week/day give or take a day) but then 24 weeks she was a whole week behind. If she stays behind at this rate then I will definitely just take it as that's her percentile. I think the fear of her just continuing to get smaller is taking over.

But, as a lot of you lovely ladies have said - sometimes that's just the way it is and they will monitor and potentially induce earlier. I have some time to prepare myself for this so I've decided moving forwards I will try to be more positive and relax as much as I can 😅

Will definitely update after the next scan to see where she is at in case anyone has a similar worry later.

So grateful for the feedback ❤

I went through similar. I was 50kg when I gave birth. I had a scan every single week and measured well behind from what I was the whole pregnancy. A team of consultants, nurses and midwives were almost telling me off and they arranged a whole team to be at my birth and let me go 13 days overdue as 'baby hasnt even reached 2lbs' according to 16 growth scans. I gave birth to a 6lb baby, I was just very small 😊

Bear in mind these things aren't particularly accurate and don't necessarily mean anything. My 4 year old was 50th centime for everything until around the same point. Then there was a whole load of drama with him measuring small, my bump being too small etc. By the time I was induced at 39 weeks my bump was only measuring 30 weeks and he was very low on the centiles. They were predicting a birth weight of 4lbs 6oz. He popped out at 7lbs 9 and is now 90th centile for height. The conclusion was that he was just very scrunched up in there.

Good luck!

Also @dubaimiracle really stop to take in every moment of your pregnancy. I have a feeling you will, given your past losses 😢🙏🏽, but I really really miss being pregnant. I didn't think I would so much. Again done women have dreadful issues in pregnancy do might not. But I think for me, I got so caught up with the growth scans and anxiety about childbirth, among living life with step kids and working full time, it all went by so fast and before I knew it, I had her in my arms but my belly was empty and I now really miss that more than I thought I would.

It really is such as special journey leading up to birth. Savour it and don't get too lost in the anxiety and the worry xx