What is meant by "the baby is "small"?

[Cherrybaby]

I had my 29 week antenatal appointment with my midwife, and she said my bump was "tiny". Then she felt for the baby, and said "I think its small". I tried to ask her more about this, but she didnt say much that was helpful, only that there was nothing to worry about. She then booked me in for an appointment in two weeks to see that "baby's growth hasnt gone off the chart"

Her comments are driving me mad with worry, all she said was "oh theres nothing to worry about", but why say my bump is tiny and the baby's abit small then? And why the early appointment?
Im just so worried that my constant travelling to London and back to Manchester, and within London has somehow affected the baby's growth.

Her comments are making me go crazy though, and I keep thinking theres something wrong.

If it helps at all, I was given a growth scan at 34 weeks because my bump and baby seemed quite small.

Think they were quite surprised when I delivered a 9lb 7oz baby! These things can be a false alarm, so don't worry too much until you know for sure.

Try not to worry. My sister was told that her baby has Trisomy 18, was going to weigh approx 4lbs, didn't stand a chance etc etc... he's now a huge, healthy 5 year old. Sometimes the baby is just lying in an awkward position making your bump abit smaller than usual.

Well I've been told that my baby is small because it is between the 2th & 7th centiles at the 20 week scan. I'm having a followup scan to check the placenta next week. Then growth scans from 24 weeks. Everything I've heard about fundal heught measurement suggests it is not an accurate way of assessing fetal size (neither is a one off scan - they look for trends in growth rather than absolute size which is hard to estimate by scan).

SheWillBeLoved I'm glad to hear your nephew is fine, T18 is one of my biggest worries right now

Scans can be very misleading, they don't tell you that the margin of error is really quite high and they tend to present the results as gospel.

I was told my DD was really small and there was something wrong with her. The next week, a different sonographer told me she was likely to get stuck as her head was so big!

Because I didn't know any better, and partly because I had really bad SPD, I let them induce me at 38 weeks and of course she was quite normal, 6lb 4, not at all top heavy and she's perfectly healthy.

Just be aware that they don't want to take any risks, but they won't always quantify risk or error for you.

Good luck.

please try not to worry.

I have had three "small" babies, varying in weight from 7lb 9oz to 5lb 12oz all of whom are perfectly healthy and fine.

They want to know that there is a possibility that the baby is smaller than expected so that when you have him/her they can have things like an incubator or a place on scbu handy just in case

And it is entirely possible that the baby was nestled well inside you and the MW couldn't feel the baby.

(On one of my ante natal visits, the MW was hugely worried and sent me for a scan, but it turned out the baby's head was under my ribs and she had only been feeling half a baby, the other half was just hidden.

Chances are it's nothing and you just have a small bump. With ds I did have a very small bump - it turned out I had low waters and was induced the last day of the 38th week. He was born 6lb4oz which I think is very reasonable lol

Dd my bump was bigger (atleast to me, I'll never have a massive bump not in my dna) and she was born 6lb10oz so not a huuuuuge difference.

I'm sure it's nothing and your midwife is just being careful.

They really can't tell by feeling your stomach. Three weeks before my EDD with DS! I was told I was measuring a bit small for my dates by MW. 2 weeks later (1 week early) I had a 7lb 12oz baby.

Don't worry about it. I'm sure it will be fine

They can't tell by looking or feeling. They can guess though. On a scan, the margin of error is a pound either way. So if they tell you you've got a 7lb baby, expect one between 6 and 8 lbs!

Your baby is going to grow however much travelling you do - babies are parasites, they'll take what they need and leave you with the rest. So your health may suffer, but your baby will be fine!

What they really need to know is if your baby is growing from week to week - that's why they do several scans. They are watching out in case the placenta is not working properly. They freak out thousands of women with healthy placentas, but in doing so, they do catch the few who actually have problems, which is a good thing.

Hang in there. Small babies are great, if you do have one. Everyone thinks they are so clever!

Well, quite alot of us seem to have had similar experiences!
Thanks everyone, all of your comments really help to put my mind at ease. x

I'm glad I found this thread, as my MW told me last week that my bump seems small for dates and the measurements are dropping off the bottom of the chart. If they've not improved by next week (34 weeks) I'll be given a growth scan. I've been worrying that something must be wrong with the baby (is it's growth being affected by some illness).

It's good to read that other people have been monitored and have had perfectly healthy babies.

I went to my 28 week appointmen with the MW who told me I measured small at 24cm. So I was sent for Growth scans at 28, 32, 36 weeks and my next scan is at 38weeks ( next Week)
At the 32 week scan they estimated my baby would be approx 5lb when born, but at the 36week scan she was already over the 5lb mark.

Alot of hospitals / midwifes send you for growth scans just as precaution - its better to know than not know in my opinion. As long as your baby is growing - all be it slower than the average & there are no other issues, all will be well im sure.

Hope all goes well at next appointment x

MY dd was small, had IUGR (4lbs 9 oz at 37 weeks) but fundal height measurement was always spot on all throughout. I am now 32 weeks pregnant with dc2 and I am spot on with fundal height measurement with baby looking average size on scans. So, fundal height is NOT an accurate measurement.

oh and to add - even if the baby IS having growth issues - dd had no issues once she was born. Is 4 on Saturday and you wouldn't know it (and wouldn't have known it after the first few months).

Agree with the comments about feeling and fundal height etc being very inaccurate.

I was told by my m/w at 38 weeks that I was having a 7.5 pound breech baby.

In fact her head was engaged and she was almost 10 pounds!