AW: Officially High Risk :(

[xxkimmy8xx]

So I went in for my appointment this morning and was measuring small (again) so they did an ultrasound and confirmed that his abdomen (and leg) are measuring in the >5% range.  I guess if we want good news its that his head is in the 33rd percentile so there is no Zika virus, but the doctor is concerned that the placenta might not be adequately nourishing him. I'm only 5 foot 1 and DH is 5 foot 6, so we're both small people, which could be the other reason why he's a tiny little guy, but I now have to go in 2x a week for an NST and an ultrasound of the placenta/cord to make sure the blood is flowing properly.  Ugh. Anybody else have a small baby in the past? So sorry for the A/W posts lately.  

[Deleted]

Sorry to hear this, but glad there is a plan in place for the next few weeks. Grow baby grow!

[blackbird]

Big (((HUGS))) sweetie.

No personal experience. I'm sorry for the extra monitoring & appts, but whatever it takes to get little guy here safe & healthy will be so worth it. I know you won't feel at ease until he's in your arms though. Deep breaths, Momma.

[paloslee]

I'm sorry to hear. I am glad that you will be monitored. Wishing you and your LO well wishes. Hugs!

[isolemnlyswear]

Hugs birth buddy. I know that TheCoffeeNinja always has people worry about her baby's size, like for all 3. She is little like you. TheCoffeeNinja any advice?

[peachesncream]

I'm so sorry, that is scary! It's really good that they caught it now - I had some undiagnosed issues last pregnancy that led DD to have a low birth weight and a ton of complications at birth. She had a marginal insertion as well as vasa previa that brought on high BP and pre-eclampsia in me. She was born just a few days before term and when we took her home she was only about 5.5 pounds. Fingers crossed that your monitoring stays good and that baby can keep cooking and growing in there!

[jewel441]

Hugs!! No experience but fx that baby grows and grows!!!

[mom2boxers]

Sorry you're getting put in the high-risk bucket, but it's good to know your doc has a plan.

______________

Question - So you measured small at your last appt. - 4 weeks ago and then at this one and that's when they decided to send you for an u/s and extra monitoring? Were you measuring small at any previous appointments? Are you having any other complications other than the measurements?

My doc said I was measuring a little small at my 32 week appt. yesterday and at my next appt in 2 weeks she ordered an u/s to check everything out. Google has not been my friend. Sorry for the inquisition.

[peachesncream]

Jan 26, 2016 12:20:17 GMT -5 mom2boxers said:

Sorry you're getting put in the high-risk bucket, but it's good to know your doc has a plan.

______________

Question - So you measured small at your last appt. - 4 weeks ago and then at this one and that's when they decided to send you for an u/s and extra monitoring? Were you measuring small at any previous appointments? Are you having any other complications other than the measurements?

My doc said I was measuring a little small at my 32 week appt. yesterday and at my next appt in 2 weeks she ordered an u/s to check everything out. Google has not been my friend. Sorry for the inquisition.

Butting in to say measuring small is not a concern 90% of the time.  I am consistently measuring 2-3 weeks behind and yet growth scans show that this baby is bigger than average this time around.  It is awesome that they are doing a growth scan to be sure but remember, growth scans have a margin of error of 1-1.5 pounds either direction.  If an ultrasound can be off by that much, imagine how much error there is in a simple measuring tape across your belly!  FX for great growth scan results for you... and back away from the Google! ;-)

[adorebel]

Sorry for the worry, xxkimmy8xx. My BFF was induced just before her due date because her baby was measuring small and there was concern about nourishment (she and her H are both 5'9-5'11, so that was not the reason). Her baby was born in the 5% range and is now a healthy 1yo in the 18% range. I am glad they are monitoring you and I hope it's nothing to worry about in the long run!

[nexttonormal]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, but it's better to keep an eye on growth and be aware of anything that might be a concern, even though it is stressful to think about.

Both my DDs bellies measured around the 10% I believe. I had about 5 or 6 u/s for each pregnancy. DD1 weighed 6 lbs 8 oz at birth and DD2 was 7 lbs even and both very healthy... Their bellies were fine.
With this pregnancy, my OB doesn't believe there's any reason to have any extra u/s, so it's been a little adjustment to not having so many u/s this time around.

[peachesncream]

If it makes you feel better too, DD's birth weight was 6 lbs 6 oz. I am NOT a small person nor is DH. She rode the 1st percentile for 9 months of her life and now at 18 months she is 85th percentile for height and weight. Small is okay as long as baby keeps growing consistently and like I said, it is awesome they are monitoring you! They were clueless with me.

[jewel441]

Jan 26, 2016 12:20:17 GMT -5 mom2boxers said:

Sorry you're getting put in the high-risk bucket, but it's good to know your doc has a plan.

______________

Question - So you measured small at your last appt. - 4 weeks ago and then at this one and that's when they decided to send you for an u/s and extra monitoring? Were you measuring small at any previous appointments? Are you having any other complications other than the measurements?

My doc said I was measuring a little small at my 32 week appt. yesterday and at my next appt in 2 weeks she ordered an u/s to check everything out. Google has not been my friend. Sorry for the inquisition.

I also got sent for an extra scan bc I was measuring small. But it wasn't so much the measuring small, it's that at my 28 week appt I was measuring at 28 weeks and at my 32 week appt I was still measuring 28 weeks and hadn't gained any weight. If I had just been a little small or small through out they wouldn't have ordered the extra scan. Thankfully everything was ok on the U/S. There are different levels of "small" and other factors that impact getting the scan I believe.

[xxkimmy8xx]

Jan 26, 2016 12:39:59 GMT -5 TheCoffeeNinja said:

Making dinner and kids are bouncing around so ths may be a little disjointed.


Is LO consistently measuring small or is this new? DON'T GOOGLE!
With all mine they were small all along. Lower end of normal or just out of normal range each time but growing at a consistent rate so I've never been especially concerned. MWs have always said that growing at a consistent rate is better than erratic changes. DD1 had an irregular result for a placenta protein which righted itself later on so she was the smallest so far. DDs were 6lb7 and 6lb14 at birth respectively.

I'm a hobbit-y 5'3 with a short torso and 90lb wet through (tallest in my family apart from my Dad who's 5'6) and H is 5'10 so my kids were never going to be giants.

Haha! "Don't Google!" I wish I could take that advice!  So, three weeks ago he was 34th percentile overall and this time he's 21st percentile overall, but his abdomen and leg measurements are both less than 5th today -- both taken via U/S. I'm not sure what they were 3 weeks ago. I think it's pretty consistent with genetics.. DH and I are both short and I was reading about babies with Filipino fathers being small (and I have never been on the growth charts with my 5'1 frame). But, b/c head size and a couple other measurements are more in the normal range they're concerned about a placenta problem. 

Thanks for all of your positive responses everybody.  

[xxkimmy8xx]

Jan 26, 2016 12:20:17 GMT -5 mom2boxers said:

Sorry you're getting put in the high-risk bucket, but it's good to know your doc has a plan.

______________

Question - So you measured small at your last appt. - 4 weeks ago and then at this one and that's when they decided to send you for an u/s and extra monitoring? Were you measuring small at any previous appointments? Are you having any other complications other than the measurements?

My doc said I was measuring a little small at my 32 week appt. yesterday and at my next appt in 2 weeks she ordered an u/s to check everything out. Google has not been my friend. Sorry for the inquisition.

I actually planned to have growth scans starting at 28 weeks b/c of a pretty big fundal fibroid (they wouldn't be able to measure growth accurately by just measuring) so all of the measurements I mentioned were from u/s, not just the tape measure.  I've heard that the measurement can be off pretty often if the baby is in a weird position or if you're carrying in a certain way.  Try not to worry (I know easier said than done), and its great that they're monitoring you!  

[SheilaTheTank]

*hugs* I have no advice and can only give hugs. Im glad they have a plan and are closely monitoring. Unfortunately that's really all you can do. Being told anything other than "everything is perfect" is such a mindfuck because its really out of your control. I do have one anecdote. I was told I was measuring 2 weeks ahead. My OB who is usually super chill was visibly concerned. I had a growth scan and a recheck the following week. At that appointment I found out that I was back on track and measuring fine, which means I went backwards? Like what the fuck does that even mean? Hopefully things pan out and the growth scan comes back fine.

[xxkimmy8xx]

It makes me even more mad now when I think about how people are like "wow, you look so great for 31 weeks, I wouldn't even know you were pregnant!" Yah, thats b/c he's small... and its not a good thing.

[ltlbandito]

((Hugs)) lady. I think it's good they have a plan for extra monitoring. Hoping everything turns out fine.

[rosetyler72]

Hugs to you lady! I'm glad you are getting extra monitoring, but I'm sorry for the extra stress. Keep growing baby!

[daydreamsam]

((hugs)) lady, I am sure this is all super scary to hear but from what I have read, if babies are small but have been small all along, as long as they are growing exponentially, there isn't much to worry about. So on a bright note, all this extra monitoring means they will measure baby all the time to see that growth is occurring properly!

[kendraj426]

So sorry you're going through this. *hugs* I'm glad your doctor has a plan in place. Grow, baby, grow!

[cinnamonsmiles]

No personal experience, but I have had 3 friends who have had babies measuring small pre-birth.
Two consistently measured <10th% in everything but head circumference and ended up birthing babies bigger than my DS (who was 70th% the entire time). The third friend ended up having an emergency c/s at 35 weeks (baby was having low heart rate, no change in mom's size from 18-34 weeks) to an otherwise healthy 3lb-er.
All are currently doing fine at their current ages (18mo, 1 yr, and 3 week old).

Regardless, I hope that baby suddenly hits a growth spurt so worries can be put to rest! Hugs and you are in my thoughts

[katespade]

I wish I had words of wisdom, but all I have are hugs for you and good thoughts coming baby's way.

[megrae12]

I'm sorry you are dealing with all of this. High risk is a huge MF. ((HUGS)) sweetie. I hope he gets a hugegrowth spurt.

[DanaScullyX]

Not for the same reasons, but I am high risk and have lots of growth ultrasounds and will start twice-weekly NSTs soon. Sending you hugs, and I am glad you are being monitored, even if it's scary and a nuisance. As others have said, it's the baby's own chart that matters - it he growing according to his own terms and not just overall measuring small? You next scan will help determine that and I hope give you some peace of mind!

[arbe]

Sorry you have to deal with this but you have a plan in place try not to stress.
Thing about babies/kids/humans is were all different and measuring smaller or larger than the average gets doctors paying more attention that's all.

[jocountry]

((Hugs)) my son was IUGR. He quit growing at 34 weeks or so and I was induced at 37 weeks because he had dropped to 5th percentile. I had no risk factors so it was first noticed because my fundal measurements and weight stopped changing. I delivered at a high risk hospital, but vaginal delivery and everything went fine. He weighed 5 lbs 4 oz, so small but not medically "preterm". There was really nothing obvious wrong other than his umbilical cord was small in diameter. He is still small, but is totally healthy. He is two, and 5th percentile weight, 15th height. We are smaller frame, but not petite people.

PM me if you want to know more, but hang in there. The best thing is you are being monitored closely. There is really nothing you can do so just try not to stress. I know, easier said than done! It did make this pregnancy slightly higher risk, but nothing really scary. Just extra monitoring as I near the end here.

[FunniBunni]

Just sending hugs. Grow baby grow!!!

[xxkimmy8xx]

Jan 26, 2016 22:35:43 GMT -5 jocountry said:

((Hugs)) my son was IUGR. He quit growing at 34 weeks or so and I was induced at 37 weeks because he had dropped to 5th percentile. I had no risk factors so it was first noticed because my fundal measurements and weight stopped changing. I delivered at a high risk hospital, but vaginal delivery and everything went fine. He weighed 5 lbs 4 oz, so small but not medically "preterm". There was really nothing obvious wrong other than his umbilical cord was small in diameter. He is still small, but is totally healthy. He is two, and 5th percentile weight, 15th height. We are smaller frame, but not petite people.

PM me if you want to know more, but hang in there. The best thing is you are being monitored closely. There is really nothing you can do so just try not to stress. I know, easier said than done! It did make this pregnancy slightly higher risk, but nothing really scary. Just extra monitoring as I near the end here.

Thanks so much for sharing your story!  I've talked to a few people that mention baby stops growing at around 34 weeks. I really hope my little guy gets a few more weeks of growth before we need to take him out.  31 weeks is toooo small.  They just measured him at about 3lbs so at least one more lb would make mommy very happy.  

[jocountry]

xxkimmy8xx I hope you get a few more weeks too! Keep us updated.
It was hard to wrap my head around inducing etc., when he was behaving normally but was "just small." But the Dr was right, they could take better care of him outside than my body was doing inside so it was the best medically. I'll be thinking of you and your little fellow!