Very high foetal abdominal measurement

[SleepyCaz]

Hi all

Had foetal wellbeing scan yesterday. Scary. All seemed ok, but now baby is waaaay over the 90th centile in the growth curve of my green notes, and has a very high abdomnal circumference, also off the range. Is this bad? All the mw's and radiographers seemedto think it wasfine and jst laughed at the "big baby", but could this be linked with any problems? Had so many scares this preg already, am panicking again.
I am 37 plus 5
xxx

Did they say how much your baby is likely to weigh?

are your dates definitely right? my baby measures big but I know they are at least a week out.

Or are you tall?

As long as it's not just one measurement that's off the charts then I'd try not to worry too much, better said than done though I know.

Hi SleepyCaz, i had a (4th) growth scan last week ( i was 34+3) and lo's head was measuring over 40 weeks and abdominal measurement was 38+ weeks - they also estimated his weight roughly at 6 and a half lbs. Saw my obstetrician afterwards and she has always reassured me that as long as it doesnt go above the 100th percentile its ok and even though this scan showed his head as being over the 100th percentile AND his abdominal measurement just under the 100th percentile she said it was fine. I am an insulin dependent Gestational Diabetic so this wasnt really news to me but just to reassure you that you probably are having just a big baby ( like me ) and its only a worry if it is consistently over the 100 percentile or lo doesnt have much water around them. Obs told me that a really large abdominal measurement can indicate liver probs in women with GD but i mean a really large measurement. If they arent worried then you shouldnt - its my 4th and i have had this in each pregnancy and i can promise you if they were worried in the least they would be monitoring you very very closely and not laughing about you having a big baby - im a little way behind you with a bigger baby so try not to worry ok. HTH and good luck with your baby, you dont have long to go now

I had this at my 36wk scan - the abdomen was measuring 39 wks (97th centile) but the head was only 33 wks! Slightly worried I've got a strange shaped baby or that the head will come out fine but it will get stuck around the tummy
I was sent over to the antenatal clinic for them to make a note of it but the doctor there didn't seem bothered by it at all. DS1 was 9lbs so I guess this is just another big one....
best of luck with the baby.

I had a few growth scans with ds, and on at least one, possibly two, they said the abdominal circumference was far larger proportionally than the head or leg measurements. I don't know why or anything, and they didn't seem overly concerned. Ds was born 7lb 2oz, 22inches long, abdomen perfectly normal.

My personal opinion is that they grow in fits and starts, which is why sometimes your bump will grow way bigger almost overnight!

Currently over and above the centiles in this pregnancy, as was DS who was and is healthy, so even if you are over it's not necessarily anything to worry about at all. Might they check your blood sugar for gestational diabetes (GTT)? They're always checking mine and it's always fine, just genes!

I had the same thing with the AC at a 34 wk scan and I've also been measuring a few weeks ahead. They tested me for gestational diabetes. The test came back negative so
they don't seem to be worried anymore - although they will offer me a sweep at 40 weeks rather than the usual 41 weeks.

FWIW scans are not accurate predictors of how big the baby is going to be.

At a 20 and 26 week scan, different hospitals, had comment on how large the abdominal measurement was, it even looked huge on the scan, the second sonographer said it might tie in with how big and fat the umbilical cord was and that I was feeding him too well!!!!. But I was too late for the routine GTT test, and as I had no other indicaitons for having giabetes, they just left it at that.

My baby boy was born in perfect health, with a very normal looking abdomen too!!!!

So just want to reassure that this does happen and not a problem.