Baby growing small

[D321]

Im writing in the hope that someone can relate to my worry... . I am currently 34+6 days into my pregnancy and have been told my baby is growing small. My fundal height only measured 31cm on Tues and according to a growth scan ive just dropped slightly under the 5th centile... . The OB says he is not at all concerned as bloods and placenta are working fine and baby is very active but how can i not worry!!!... Im a ball of stress and will find it extremly hard to enjoy the end of my pregnancy now... ... Sorry to go on and on just wondered if anyone else has experienced this in their pregnancy.

Thanks for listening..

 

[dannii87]

I haven't personally hun, but fundal height's aren't very reliable

If your OB isn't worried then I'd try to stress less about it sweetie (although it's easier said than done I know).

Baby is active and you're so far now that chances of survival are fantastic (98% or something like that) so please, please, please don't worry xxx

 

[HideiLu]

Like Dannii said, try not to worry. The fundal height measurments from what I've read of peoples experiences on here, is not 100% reliable.

If they're not worried about you, I'm sure everything is just dandy!

 

[Mildly]

I agree with the other girls, don't worry too much

Oscar has been measuring a couple of weeks ahead since 25 weeks until at 34 he was spot on! I think babies just grow at different rates

 

[aramintalovegrove]

I agree too,
try not to worry too much,
my DS was very small at birth and was fine, incidentally all the way through his pregnancy I was told he would be huge...just to illustrate how much they can be out!

 

[Bloom]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dont let this make you worry for the rest of your pregnancy i was really small and i think at worst was 4cm behind on the fundal i never got reffered for a growth scan and spent most of third tri worrying that something was wrong.
I did have a smaller than average baby at 5lb7.5oz but she was and still is perfectly healthy. You have been told that there is nothing to worry about so im sure everything is fine so try not to worry yourself over it. I wish i didnt read so much into fundal height as it gave me many sleepless nights worrying over nothing. Babies come in all sizes so just because baby is smaller than average it doesnt mean they are not healthly.

 

[Little Bump]

As the others have said, please try not to worry.

Last monday I was 31 weeks even and had a mw appointment, she lay me down and the first thing she said to me was "I don't like the look of this wee bump..." Out pops the tape and she said I was measuring 28 weeks.

Cue hysterics from me.

I was referred for a scan and even the specialist was shocked lol (He measured me at 27 weeks) as I was then 31+3 and baby was measuring 31+1....so despite my being tiny she's only 2 days behind.

The specialist looked pretty astonished and kept saying "well done" I thought I haven't actually done anything

 

[Bagpuss17]

Try not to worry, the funal height measurement can be woefully in accurate.

A friend of mine was measuring 10 weeks behind at one point and has just given birth to a 9lb baby which nobody anticipated.

I don't pay too much attention to it.

Don't let it spoil the rest of your pregnancy.

 

[lisa282]

Its easy for us to say, but really dont worry yourself about it chick. If there was any concerns with the babys health or development they would have picked up on it at the scan. Fundal measurements are known for being inaccurate and should only ever be used as a guideline, not a definite. Same goes for scans, they can estimate the length and weight of your baby, but are not 100% correct.

I have had the opposite problem and my baby is always measured at about 4 weeks ahead, but after further investigation and growth scan etc, was told I prob will have a slightly bigger than average baby but certainly not a whopper. They estimated her weight to be 4lb 2oz at 30 weeks (the average is 3lb), but also gave a 25% margin of error so this could be wildly different to her actual weight. After a bit of panic when they first told me she was big, Im now not worried as everything is going well and thats what ultimately matters. My first baby was bigger than average at 8lb 14.5oz, so it stands to reason this one will be similar, Im just destined to carry slightly bigger babies. Must be my child-bearing hips!!

On a similar note, a good friend of mine just had her baby about 10 days ago, and all the way through they told her that her baby was small for dates. But she is only small herself, so its no real surprise. Her baby was smaller than average at 5lb 10oz, but is perfectly healthy, so again nothing to worry about. At the end of the day, your body will only grow a baby big enough that you can cope with. Whether this means small or large is irrelevant as long as its healthy and development is normal, so please dont worry.

 

[Becky]

My friend was measuring small all the way in her pregnancy and she was worried and at one point sent for a growth scan. She worried a lot that it was her fault as she had a lot of stress during the pregnancy as she was breaking up from her OH. In the end she gave birth to a beautiful 9lb 8oz baby!!

After all that worry her baby was a biggie!

So try not to take fundal height as gospel, its just a guide to make sure that you grow from one week to the next.

 

[kellysomer]

My daughter was measured at a growth scan as 5-6lb estimated birth weight, she popped out at 8lb 12 a week early!!!! They got it very very wrong.

Last time i was told my son would be a biff baby. Out he popped a day early at the same weight 8lb 12, so pretty average not really biff at all!

 

[D321]

Thank you all for your comments and support. It is really hard to not worry but i had a good talk with my midwife and she reassured me that if there was a major problem the OB would have let us both know. I have another growth scan tomorrow so will see how that goes.

 

[dannii87]

I'm glad she put your mind at rest I hope the scan tomorrow goes well and baby is all tucked up nicely in there! xx

 

[LisaJ1986]

Please do not worry! When i was pregnant i had the same thing. I had 2 extra scans in total and one was at 39 weeks! They said my baby would be around 6lb. By 41 weeks i was measuring at 35weeks! I gave birth to a very healthy 8lb 3oz baby!!! Goes to show it's all guess work!

 

[millylillyrose]

i know its hard not to worry, but if doctors are saying things are fine, then really you should trust them, they'd interviene if there was something to worry about, and they'd tell you for sure!

I measured small for the most part of tri 2, and begining of tri 3, then caught up by about 35 weeks, now she's measuring a week over but im by no means big at all, there are lots of other pregnant ladies round here i know who are due way after me and they're huge compared. so i dont know how accurate these things can be.

A friend of mine had her baby a few weeks ago, and aparently he was going to be so huge she'd need a section. they said he'd NEVER come out naturally, but she went into labour at 39+4 and had a 5lb baby! he's tiny!!!

 

[Steelgoddess]

I think a good percentage of women get told they are either measuring too big or too small.

As the other ladies have said honestly don't worry as long as baby is movingand growing at his/her own rate then thats the important thing...

Also it doesnt mean your baby will be small, they may say that and he might be born 7lbs so you never can quite tell...