FGR/IGUR experiences/hand hold. 32 weeks and 4th percentile growth

[madeleine85]

This is our second baby and our first was a 34.5 week birth, 3 week nicu experience, with breathing and eating issues. We were desperate to avoid the nicu this time. I’m now 32 weeks 5 days, went in on Friday for a growth scan as my belly measurements were a bit small. And out of the blue he’s gone from perfectly average at 20 weeks to 4th percentile on abdominal circumference at 32 weeks. The doctors think it has to be a placental issue and have termed it FGR aka IUGR. They keep telling me there’s nothing I can do, which is incredibly frustrating. I’ve just been discharged after monitoring, ivs, steroids etc, and now they are monitoring via regular checks twice weekly and one weekly ultrasound with a Doppler scan for the placenta flow. I’ve been told to expect no more than 34-36 weeks before delivery. 37 weeks would be incredible and very rare. They’re worried the placenta just stops working completely. Not helped that I have an anterior placenta and barely feel movements. He is somewhere around 3lbs 7oz and keeps turning so They have no idea now if I’ll be allowed to induce and labour this out or if he will be a c section. The doctor thinks the latter due to stress on this type of baby. My last was a regular delivery and I’m terrified of spinal taps and being sliced open but I’ll do what we need for this baby. I’ve also been forewarned to expect the nicu again, and I’m basically a teary mess hearing that. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any words of wisdom? Anything I can do? Feeling pretty helpless right now. Being told by the doctor that nothing I do will make a difference, we just have to hope the placenta stays semi functional is just horrible as I feel like a sitting duck.

Aw bless you no advice but handhold for you. I'm sure someone will be along with advice soon

I had a similar experience (first baby). Suspected small at 27 weeks confirmed by scan (5th centile) and resistance was high in the cord. Had dopplers twice a week where one week resistance was normal, next week it was slightly high again so kept having scans and CTG monitoring.

At 34+5 weeks baby had dropped below the 3rd centile (estimated weight was 4lbs 2oz) and blood flow to the brain had decreased so they gave me steroid injections and started induction at 35+5.

She was born at 36 weeks, had a vaginal birth (forceps) but baby was smaller than expected at 3lb 9oz. She spent 5 days in the NNU and 2 days in transitional care before coming home, had no problems and needed no help with breathing.. just had to establish feeding.

Shes now a healthy 2 year old (and still tiny!). I wish you the best, only thing you can do is try to stay stress free. 💐

Thanks so much for the response @Vicky1989x it’s really helpful to know that there’s a possible good outcome, as going down the dr Google route was a bad idea for me, which of course I did this week. I’ve started the 2x weekly checks with non stress tests, Doppler and amniotic fluid monitoring as I’m low for that, and at 33 weeks we’re just ok, but very borderline and the specialist checks every Friday will be the real decision points. Fortunately given my prior premie they did the steroids last week. This baby seems to be breech, so I think the birth decision will be taken out of my hands, but not much I can do. At 32+3 he was around 3lbs 7oz last week, but those measurements are never accurate either. It just feels very outside of my control right now, but you’re right, that rest and not stressing is the most important. Easier said than done with a toddler running around 😂

DD was a planned c/sec at 37 weeks as scans picked up she was under 3 centile. She was super tiny. My dates had been right as she found to be 42 weeks but had looked a month behind due to her tiny size in all her scans. She was 3lb and well under the 0.4th centile for everything. Having the neonatal team in was brilliant as she went into hypothermic shock at birth and did not cry for what seemed like forever. She spent her first hours in a neotherm with careful monitoring and was then able to be on a heating pad in transitional care. She could not keep her core temp stable for days. The worst bit was having to continue to syringe feed with fortified EBM every two hours as she could not latch on and her stomach was so small. First week she managed to get off the heat pad but then failed to thrive and lost 40% of her birthweight. It was the following severe failure to thrive afterwards that nearly killed her. Thankfully she was sent to BCH. DD was thought to have Silver Russell but she turned out to be just very, very small. She spent her childhood on an dietician supervised ultra high calorie diet. Without it she loses weight rapidly. Hospital tests have never found out why. The severe failure to thrive may have caused complex learning difficulties [dyspraxia and dyslexia] but otherwise she is still small and very feisty. Picking up growth issues on scans does not always mean there is an issue BUT for those like my daughter it means help is at hand from birth and going forward. By taking medical advice you really are doing everything you can for your baby. I hope all goes well and that your baby, whilst small, is born healthy and thrives.

thank you @triballeader it is so nice to hear your daughter is doing so well. A few people in my birth group also seem to be under the 4% mark for growth, so it is really nice to know i'm not alone in this. I just have to lean in hard to the medical advice/monitoring. Our next consultant checkup is tomorrow, so i'm crossing everything for some good news re. growth/putting on any weight.

I hope your baby has managed to grow and you get better news tomorrow. It sounds like the team caring for you both are doing all they can to manage the risks for the best outcomes for both of you.

How did you get on @madeleine85 ?

In a similar position now, hope all went well for you

Oops I’m so sorry I thought I’d updated. our little boy came by c section Monday and made 5lbs 1oz which was just so unexpected! He just missed the nicu cutoff by 20 grams! He was a little tough with blood sugar the first day, dipping to pretty bad levels, but the hospital let him stay with us and by 24 hours in he was doing great with formula to help. No breathing issues, good at regulating body temp, and only lost 2oz in the first 2 days. Slow to eat but we had a lot of bottle feeding practice with our daughter who had been a nicu baby, so we managed to get food into him and he got better with sucking reflexes. We went home after 2 days and we’re having lovely couch snuggles now at 5 days old. It’s not at all how I thought the first week would be going, but I’m over the moon and still shell shocked and hopefully this gives some positive outcome hope to anyone in a similar position.

Aw I'm pleased to hear of a good outcome. Congrats