20 week scan - short femur

[LOB1993]

Hello,

Just seeing if anyone can share similar experiences with me. We had our 20 week scan today and everything was completely normal apart from the baby was showing a 26mm femur. The sonographer said anything under 30mm is considered to be on the low side and we are waiting for an urgent referral to a different hospital.

obviously I am now out of my mind with worry. We had a NIPT test at 13 weeks which showed low risk of the 3 syndromes.

Has anyone had any similar experiences?

thank you

Yes just happened to me. 20 weeks scan beginning of the month showed short femur!
got referred to fetal medicine
had a consultant scan me last week which she was completely happy with baby. The femur is still slightly short but it grew since the 20 week scan. All other bones looked like so she said there shouldn’t be any worries

My grandson..now 3, had very short femurs, a big head and big belly on his 20 week scan. And stayed short on further scans.

DS had a short femur in all growth scans, no problems at all. We are both short so probably should have seen it coming!

Sorry, pressed send too soon. He was a perfectly healthy short baby and is now an absolutely gorgeous 3 year old...but he is short... 2nd centile for height. He also has a big head but appears to be growing into it. People think he's super cute as he is very articulate but looks younger than he is .He doesn't look short legged but he must still be!

My DD is now expecting no 2 and at her 20 week scan this baby has identical measurements... she's not very tall and neither is her husband. We are hoping he makes it to about 5 ft 6 as an adult!

How tall are you and your DP @LOB1993 ? If both short then it’s likely the baby is just taking after you.

I’m 5’6 and my husband is 5’11 so both not super tall but also not short either so that’s playing on my mind!

I recommend you contact ARC who are really informative and supportive.
I'm not an expert but I assume that the 3rd centile means that 3% of all babies born are at or below that measurement
I think ( again not sure) that a higher proportion of DS babies have a short femur but not all babies with a short femur have DS.
... but ARC would be a better place to start

Hello, I just wanted to update the post as I know sometimes people come on here looking for outcomes.

unfortunately in our case this wasn’t good news. Our baby has some kind of skeletal dysplasia. It is rare, only 1/5000. I had to have an amniocentesis to determine the severity which we are waiting on the results for, but the doctor has said it is likely our baby will have both physical and mental disabilities and to consider our options due to their quality of life. Absolutely devastated and it’s a horrible wait now for 2 weeks whilst we already pretty much know what is going to have to have happen.

So sorry it isn't the outcome you were hoping for

The 2 week wait will feel like an eternity.

Whatever decisions you make they are the right ones for you and your family.

sorry to hear this OP, hope you get the support you need.

Hugs and a hand hold OP 💐

So sorry Op.
It's such a hard time. My advice ( been in a similar situation) is to prioritise yourself and your DP. For example If you don't want to see people, don't see them, however well meaning they are.

Hey everyone - I wanted to further update this thread in case anyone else comes here searching the internet for answers like I did.

The first consultant we saw at Kings told us he was pretty certain our baby would be disabled, spoke to us about quality of life and also said we need to have a serious think about termination.

We then saw a genetic specialist at Kings who said there is a chance the baby is just small - we were so emotional as the other doctor said there was no hope.

Fast forward the most agonising and painful 2 and a half weeks of our lives and we have had clear amniocentesis results and a trio exome genetic test that also has come back as clear. There are obviously a few conditions that can’t be tested for, but the specialist told us that at this moment in time there is no evidence to suggest there is anything wrong with our baby girl. We had a further growth scan and the femurs are still less than the 5th percentile, but it’s likely she will just be small.

We can’t believe the few weeks we have had, but am so happy to be writing this.

That's fantastic news OP, what a rollcoaster for you though!
Thinking of you and hoping that the rest of the pregnancy is enjoyable and stress free!

Hi @LOB1993 in a similar situation, how r things going now for you

Hey,

so sorry you are going through it too, it’s just so stressful.

Im currently 33 weeks. At my 30 week scan they told me that one of the blood flows in my placenta was high in resistance. It was fine at all my other scans but they now believe that the baby is small (in 3rd/4th percentile) due to my placenta perhaps never have been performing as it should. This is because they have ruled out genetic issues by the tests and also each scan we have had since 20 weeks shows she is growing on an upward scale even though she remains on the lower percentiles.

The plan for me is to deliver her via c section at 36/37 weeks unless anything dramatically changes before then. We are being monitored 3 times a week.

How far along are you? What is your situation?

Thanks for your reply @LOB1993 ,hope all goes well for next few weeks for you, it's sounds like uv been through d mill....
so I had anomaly scan at 22w5days at which they said femur was 2.5 weeks behind nd humerus a small bit behind.....referred to fetal medicine and told could be skeletal dysplasia/downs or small baby and offered Amnio and growth scan 2 weeks later....decided to wait to do Amnio at next app in 2 weeks.....so that app was yesterday in which she had grown but femur still behind nd humerus not as bad seems to caught up a little....her head/belly measuring small also and all other things on scan they say are normal...head/spine/belly/kidney ect.....had the amino done so wait results....I had NIPT at 12 weeks which was low risk....blood flow to placenta seems all normal...they said it's good she has grown so back again in another 2 weeks for another growth scan and wait on Amnio results....the waiting is torture! Out of my mind with worry!

It’s such a worrying time and I just remember trawling through the internet looking for answers. Our little girl’s femurs have continued to grow throughout the pregnancy but have always remained on the short side. At our last scan (31 weeks) they were on the 5th percentile. Back at our 20 week scan they were actually below the 3rd so have caught up a little.

I was also told my placenta was working absolutely fine and the first I was told it wasn’t was at our 30 week scan. They did say that sometimes it is only discovered later on in pregnancy.

We had both an amino and a trio exome genetic test and the wait for the results was unbearable. So much easier said than done but try and keep busy if you can and take comfort in the fact there has been forward growth in your latest scan - as we have been told the whole way through this is really good.

If you have any other questions please just message and I am happy to try and help based on my personal experience x

Ye @LOB1993 they seemed happy with second growth scan she is following a curve, yes small but still growing, long may it last!hoping it turns out to be something like placenta not fully working and she's just small....
thanks for you help and keep me posted hope next few weeks goes smoothly for u

Just wanted to update this thread as I hope it could be helpful for others.

Poppy was born at 36+1 via c section. She is a happy and healthy baby in perfect proportion. She was born on 14th February and weighed 4lbs 15oz. She’s now 6 weeks old and is 7lbs 2oz so doing really well.

A lot of worry and panic throughout my pregnancy since 20 weeks but for us it now just seems like a bad dream. Thank you to everyone who replied on this post ❤️

Congratulations 🎉

Amazing update, congratulations @LOB1993❤️

@LOB1993 so happy to be reading your update! Hugh congratulations, hoping to have a positive update in few weeks also 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽

@Rdonn89 good luck to you, let us know 🫶🏼🙏🏻 xx

Bless you. Hearty congratulations. So pleased for you.