small baby.....panicking like crazy now :-(

[happyatlast]

Right I'll keep it brief, just been to see my midwfie this afternoon. I am 36 weeks pregnant, up until now babys growth has been fine. Today she measures my stomach and says I need to go for a scan as shes concerned that the baby might be small, although she said shes not overly concerned, cos if she was she'd have sent me for a scan there n then instead of booking one for next week, but it is still worrying me stupid.

I have had an awful pregnancy, suffering from depression and panic attacks for the first time in my life.

To help you give me the right advice if anyone out there can do that for me, I need give you a brief outline of some things.

This is my third baby, my first baby was 6lb 8oz, when I was pregnant with my 2nd baby they again were concerned the baby was small so they scanned me but it seemed that he was going to be small but not worryingly small although when he was born he was 8lb 6oz.

Now this is I think the important bit...I am incredibly small, I have the hips of a ten year old boy! I have always looked small with all my other pregnancies, I dont go out at the sides if you understand? I dont look pregnant from behind, I just shoot straight out.

Now what I wanted to know is, is it quite inaccurate for her to say this babys small when shes just measuring from my pubic bone to the top and shes just looking at how small I am amd assuming the baby is going to be small, or is there some amazing way that they can tell how big the baby is just by measuring your stomach?

All through the pregnancy she has been just above average weight on the chart, then she was average at around 29 weeks but now it seems she is quite a bit below average. But like my midwife did say, you could just hide the baby well whatever that means and it all goes inwards.

Any help greatly appreciated. Like I said they did this with my son and he was above average but I cant assume thats the case this time. She said something about checking theres enough fluid and checking the amount of blood flow going to the baby which again freaks me out when I hear that cos I know what that can mean.

I am hoping there is someone else out there tht is similar to me? I've not put any weight on whatsoever apart from my bump, in fact I have lost weight, this is always the way I carry babies but still I am worried sick, I have been suffering from panic attacks and now it seems I have to wait a whole week before I get scanned. I called the walk in scan unit and they said pretty much the same as my midwife, that if she was overly concerned she'd have booked me in today or tomorrow but shes happy to wait until next week, but still I am freaking out completely, my kids are already sick of seeing my crying with my depression and panic attacks and I had to cancel going to my 10yr old daughters parents evening today as a result cos I was so upset so my other kids are not going to enjoy the wait this week any more than I am.

I really wish I could tell you not to worry but I know what it's like - my first was not thought to be small from my measurements but was delivered at 37 weeks, in distress and weighing only 4lb 8oz. She was in special care for 10 days. (BUT - she caught up within the first year, is now eight and a half and doing fine ). So, second baby, three years later, lots of scans to check on growth, and I stressed my way through the whole thing - including panic attacks. Anyway, daughter no 2 also turned up at 37 weeks, bigger but still only weighing only 5lb 8oz. She's now 4 and also absolutely fine.

Suppose what I am trying to say is 1) measuring the bump tells you very little and 2) even if your baby is small, that's not the end of the world. I had two littlies and both are happy, healthy, normal girls now. Take care and hope it turns out fine x

I'm not sure if this will be too reassuring, but my bump stopped growing at about 32 wks and we had the growth scan etc which said baby was 5lbs plus and not to worry.

She eventually popped out at 4lbs 15oz, and although we worried like mad that she'd been growth restricted etc, she just fed like a horse and piled the pounds on. She's just turned 5 and is perfectly bright and gorgeous and perfect, so try not to worry even if the baby is a bit on the small side.

I was told I was having a big baby from a MW and her tapemeasure, baby was 7lb 2oz

Scan was a lot more accurate and showed excess fluid which MW had said was, no, INSISTED was baby instead (because her tapemeasure can see into tummies of course)

BIG BABY is written on my notes 4 times by said MW, up to the day of the excess fluid scan. After that it says POLYHYDRAMNIOS.

The scan also measured the circumference of the baby's head AND tummy. This was a lot more useful as it shows that if both are big, or small or one big/one small then the baby is likely to be big/small/big head small tummy or whatever.

I would take actual weight forecasting with a pinch of salt though.

With my first baby I was being scanned toward the end of the pg because of low fluid levels and they were concerned it meant the baby might not be growing as well as it should. At every scan they did a doppler scan to check the blood flow through the umbilical cord cos this can also be indicative of the baby not growing well.

But I'm sure from your background (ie, other pg's) that, like me, the scan will only be precaution and it will show that there is nothing to worry about.

My consultant wanted to induce me 8 days before baby was due cos he thought she had stopped growing at the rate she ought to and he warned me that I may end up having a c-section as she may be too small to work her way out. Anyway, labour started spontaneously before they could induce and it was a very easy, painless birth and she was born naturally at a very respectable weight of 6 lb 3 oz - so small, but not tiny.

I really don't think you have a cause to be overly concerned but it sounds like you just can't stop yourself because of how you feel mentally. You probably should try and get some support for your fragile state of mind.

Please try not to worry too much, but if you can't stop it then tell someone.

Glad the scan was reassuring for you. To echo everyone else, fundal height measuring was completely inaccurate here too, they told me ds was going to be really big (in fact at one mw appointment she didn't even measure me, just put her hand on my bump and said "he's going to be biiiiig") gave me weeks of worry and in the end he was 7lb 2oz.

Makes you wonder why they put so much faith in such an inexact science.

My third baby was ? IUGR, from the 20 week scan where the sonographer felt that her abdominal measurement was on the small side. Cue 20 weeks of growth scans every other week. At 37 weeks I asked for referral to the Harris centre for a more expert detailed scan, where they looked extremely surprised that I'd been told the baby was growth restricted. Another obs appointment at my local hospital at 38 weeks when the obs confirmed from feeling her that the baby would be about 5lb.

Sh ewas born at 42 weeks weighing 7 lbs 9 oz. Just to say that they do sometimes get is very very wrong. Measuring fundal height at any given point is very ineffective at dx growth restriction. It's used as a tool in a panoply to tell whether things are still progressing in the right direction- ie is the baby continuing to get bigger? fundal height is not an accurate way to gauge the size of the baby.

Oh and I lost 5 kg during this pregnancy- everything seems to work more efficiently when I'm pregnant, and I was overweight to start with. Started the pregnancy at 68kg, was 75kg just before the baby was born, 63 kg a few day after she was born.

I had two 5lb 5 babies born at 39 weeks.

Their small birth size did not cause any long term problems, and they both were average by 6 months old. Dd1 is now very tall indeed.

Being pregnant is a stressful time for many of us. I had problems with both of my children's scans, and it was a worry. However, they are both fine. As midwives and sonographers have to report to us any abnormal findings it can cause lots of anxiety for parents. I am not suggesting that we go back to the time when healthcare professionals keep information from patients, but unfortunately that does mean that we have to deal with information about risk factors that can be scary.

I am 37 weeks pregnant, measuring 29.

My bump is tiny - I look five months' pregnant.

It is the curse of the skinny woman. I was once told, in my twenties, that one day I would get my come-uppance for being able to eat as much as I liked and still get into skinny jeans. I think this is it.

People have scared me all the way through my pregnancy. I have had nine scans now, and each one has said the baby is a perfectly good size.

Try not to worry. I know it's easier said than done, and I have taken to measuring my own bump five times a day, but if the scans say your baby is fine, she is fine.

On my second DS, two different midwives measured me on two separate occasions and each got a different measurement of over 4 weeks.
I was worried sick, but a friend explained that it's kinda a subjective thing and different midwives measure differently... it's not an exact science by any means.
I went for a scan twice during my second pregnancy as they were worried about size and everything was fine each time (DS2 born 8lb 2oz). I kinda thought they were covering their backs each time, just in case there was something wrong and they didn't do something about it.

I am skinny, slight, short. first baby - they said she was small (had scans) and was tinier than predicted, they said 6lb, she was 5lb, but perfectly healthy. This time, my son only measured 32 weeks from 34 onwards, scans showed he would be fine at around 6lb, and he was a healthy 7,7lb. In this pregnancy i put on 7lb (so less than my baby!) and had plenty of fluid, in last pg put on a few lb more, not much. Blood flow for both babies were fine. Both babies were born and continued (son is only 10wks) to thrive. DD is a petite but strong and healthy girl.

I am sure baby is fine. My midwife sent me for a scan every time i was measured and small, just a precaution.

My DS had IUGR, was born at 5lb and half an oz. Yes, he was small, yes midwives and HV fussed for ages, but he fed well, he grew and is now soon to be 4 years old and is an average healthy size, shape and weight. Pg is such as stressful time, try not to worry. Every baby is different, and if baby is healthy, being small is not the end of the world!

Haven't read page 2, but please try not to worry. Bump measuring is hopelessly and notoriously inaccurate. I had a scan in the 3rd trimester (33 or 34 weeks iirc) which indicated the baby was firmly on the 50th centile with her tummy a little over. The next day I had a mw app where I was told I was measuring 4 weeks small for dates and that I was in fact a centimetre smaller than when I had last been measured 3/4 weeks previously! Nonsense. Scans not necessarily that accurate either, every scan I had indicated 50th centile, high 7lb's or maybe low 8's, DD was born 2 days after her due date and weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 9oz - am glad I didn't know that in advance! good luck, and please try not to worry. As you said, this is just how you carry. Hope you get the reassurance you need soon.

I saw a consultant in a panic when pg with my 3rd DC as everyone kept telling me how tiny I looked.

I was worried that the baby wasn't growing properly as I was 42.

I went into the consultant's room and lay on the bed. Mr Kindly-Patronising strode in, placed one hand in a dramatic flourish on the top of my bump and proclaimed "Absolutely fine. 36/37 weeks!"

He went on to say that the reason my first baby was so big (9lb9oz) and my second and third not so big (both 6lb13oz, oddly enough) was that "when it's your first baby you've got time to lie around eating Mars Bars all day, but after that you're so busy with your other children you have smaller babies."

Oh and also when I had said plaintively "everyone keeps saying how small I am" he responded with "Even your mother in law?"

And then I remembered that indeed MIL was the only person who had said "Well Balloonslayer you are a size!" (She is lovely BTW) But that made me

He was the classic arrogant consultant but he made me feel heaps better.

,I think your consultant would have been right in my case balloonslayer! I did just sit around eating for 1st pregnancy, was at work and we had a canteen and he was 8lbs 6oz, didn't eat so much with second, was sahm and wasn't able to (and was too knackered) eat same amounts, she was 7lbs 6oz. With both of these I measured small and had growth scans which shown no problems. With ds2, I measured 1 cm less than dates, no problems midwife/dr did usual feeling around to see how he was lying etc. No late growth scan and he was born 4lbs at 36 weeks 3 days, so in 2nd centile. He still hasn't caught up, in fact is now not even on the chart as he has been very slow gaining and didn't feed well at the beginning. He's fantastic though, a real treat and seems very healthy.

hi i was sent for growth scans with my second child because i had no bump when i went for a scan they said she would be 7lbs she was born at 39 weeks a small but healthy 4lb 15oz so i dont think you can go of the scan there never 100 percent accurate she is still small now and shes nearly 5 her little sister who is 3 in july is almost the same size there are only 5oz difference in weight but she make up for her size by how loud she is so i wouldnt worry to much