IUGR experiences/support??

[HomeStyleMumma]

After being called last Friday and told Dr needed to see me 'urgently' about last Tuesdays anatomy scan ans giving me an emergency appointment on Monday. I spent the weekend wondering if she was just being overly cautious about my low-lying anterior placenta only to be told that while the results from last weeks anatomy scan showed a normal healthy baby/pregnancy on the whole, babys abdomen measurement was 'quite out of proportion'! Most measurements taken were very normal right on the 50% for gestational age and femur length 75% but AC (abdominal circumference) was way down at 10th %ile!! She said its possible that its just normal because I don't have very big babies but that it could also be an indicator of IUGR (intra uterine growth restriction) as when that happens it is the tummy slows or stops putting on fat first. A repeat ultrasound has been booked for around 4wks and if everything seems more normal then won't worry anymore but if not then will have to keep a closer eye on everything and help things along maybe. The thing is though I'm wondering if it is just ME not eating enough perhaps or if there's anything natural I could/should be doing in these four weeks? Dr gave me no suggestions and I was kinda to shocked to ask! I have since done my own research and been directed to Dr brewers studies and diet recommendations etc. I will definitely try all that I can to up my protein and salt intake and also fluids as I already have low bp and possibly am not drinking enough in this heat.

I don't really know why I'm writing this post I guess I'm just wanti to vent a little and maybe here some positive stories and suggestions, Dr brewers or something else?

[No.5]

IUGR sucks.

The only thing that was advised was as much rest as possible as when you're excercising etc the blood goes to you because you need it and not to the baby to grow.

Hope you next scan shows that all is well and just a small but healthy baby.

[HomeStyleMumma]

Thanks schonell.
I'm not worried about over exercising lol And I do (believe it or not!) actually rest quite a lot, all my children still have an afternoon sleep when we are home and I always rest when they do.

[No.5]

Haha I don't excercise at all either lol gave me a giggle when the dr mentioned it to me too

[Charlotte91]

DD had severe IUGR, she was born at 34w and only the size of a 30 weeker. But sooo beautiful.

Her IUGR was linked to placental insuffiency and a birth defect she had.

Here if you need to talk.

[chody47]

I think I've got something along those lines going on too, so I understand the worry. My ob hasn't described it in those terms, but I'm having lots of extra scans to keep a check on things. In my case, bubs is low weight due to a placenta problem. Last scan (at 28 weeks), bubs' abdominal circumference was 5%. I haven't spoken to my ob about yesterday's scan (32 weeks) yet, but I did see that it has now fallen below the 5%. Apparently head circumference is still relatively normal.... My ob seemed to indicate that so long as head circumference was normal then that's a good sign.

[BellyBelly]

Astrolady had IUGR bubbas, hopefully she sees this or maybe you can message her

[frog]

My bub had IUGR, my placenta ha calcified early. She was on track for her head circumference and femur length, but ended up below 5th percentile for abdominal circumference. By that stage we were at 35 weeks, and she was delivered by caesarean at 36+6 (she was also breech).

We found out at 32 weeks that I had low amniotic fluid and that her growth wasn't on track, so we had weekly ultrasounds, 2-3 CTGs per week and saw the ob weekly as well. I had the steroid shots at 32 weeks just in case.

Ava was 6lb 4oz, and petite but perfect she was healthy at birth, no need for any special care or medical assistance, came straight to me for a cuddle while I was stitched up, and has not left my side since. After some initial difficulty breastfeeding (most likely my problem, not hers), she is growing fast and is a very content baby

It is a bit of a scary thing to find out, my ob just told me to take it easy and that there was nothing more than that to help bub stay in longer. I guess once my placenta had calcified, there was no changing that. I hope the rest of your pregnancy is happy and healthy, every extra day is a bonus!

All the best

[HomeStyleMumma]

Thank you all. It's nice to be reminded that I'm not the first to go through this.

Charlotte hope you don't mind me asking but they knew about your dds birth defect before birth didn't they?

Chody I'm sorry you are going through this also. Seeing as you're still pg like me youay be interested in googling 'dr brewer' like I did after other women I've been speaking to who's previously had IUGR? I can't see any of his suggestions causing worse problems and his research really is quite compelling. Just a thought do whatever you feel lead to do

Frog congratulations on your little girl! I'm glad she is well and was able to 'keep cookin' so long my dd1 was born at 33wk6ds and completely healthy also, just super sleepy and only 4lb 2oz. Her preterm birth had nothing to do with placenta function though so I guess that helped her development.

When were you all officially 'diagnosed' not just suspected? At this stage I'm not technically considered IUGR because its only measurements from one scan and right on the borderline at 10%.
Thanks again, its so nice to be able talk all this out.

[jellybean88]

Must be such a long wait to your scan with all these thoughts in your head

I hope it all goes well ,not IUGR diagnosed but I had placental problems from 30 ish weeks too my placenta was very calcified but ds always measured only couple days behind he was born 6lb/3.1 kg on his due date very very sleepy once he was out his weight shot up to the 75percentile

[Charlotte91]

Yep, they picked her defect up at 20 week scan. Gastroschisis bubbas nearly always have some form of IUGR but we don't know why.

[No.5]

We had scans every 2 weeks from 28 weeks and then weekly from 33 weeks. DD was on 3rd percentile in all her scans. DD was born at 33w2d weighing 3lb5

My placenta was absolutely fine, nothing wrong with it at all. It was the blood flow through the cord that was the problem.

My DS was a suspected IUGR baby from about 34 weeks. I was induced with him at 38w5d and he weighed 5lb6oz.

[Astrolady]

Kameron and Lachlan are both IUGR babies, as Kelly mentioned. Kameron's was picked up at 30wks. From that week he stopped growing altogether. I was constantly monitored to make sure he was doing okay. I was induced and he was born at 37wks, 6days weighing 6lb exactly. He was measuring 5lb something in scans.

Lachlan ended up being an IUGR baby too, but late in the pregnancy I was discovered to have MTHFR gene disorder which low and behold causes small babies. I was put onto baby aspirin and high does of folate. I was induced, due to lack of growth and he was born at 38wks weighing 6lb 7oz.

Ashton pregnancy all went pretty smoothly I was on aspirin and high does of folate from the get go. We didn't have to worry to much about watching his weight, as I went into labour naturally with him at 36wks. He was born weighing 5lb 13oz so still not huge from being on the Aspirin and folate which was meant to help.

All three of my placenta's were fine.

[Sagres]

DD2 was an IUGR baby, it was picked up at the 20 week ultrasound - up until then she had been very average size wise and was then suddenly small - and I had ultrasounds every 4 weeks until I was induced. With DD2 all the measurements (I think there was about 8?) were consistently small every scan - so knew she was still growing evenly but was small, below 3rd %ile. I think with growth concerns you need to look at the comparison over a few weeks or months to see how they are tracking rather than just looking at one set of measurements. So the tummy measurement could be small now, but if it continues to track along the same %ile all the time it may not be a concern, just a baby with a skinny belly Anyway because DD2 was growing consistently I wasn't induced until my due date and she was a tiny 5lb 9oz. It seemed obvious that she wasn't growing very well in utero because she was sooooo much smaller than her older sister and she was very very very hungry when she was born. That caused us a few issues in the early days of BFing but nothing the midwives who had experience with tiny hungry babies couldn't help me with.

I don't know if there was a specific time that she was called IUGR, I think over the course of multiple scans we knew that something was up but because growth was steady and consistent my ob let it go and the IUGR label was only really applied when it came to taking some action - induction. But DD2s IUGR was pretty mild (obviously as she got to her due date), I imagine a more severe case would have that label applied much earlier?

Good luck with the next scan.

[Charlotte91]

Ds was 6lb 5oz at 39+5..... Do you think he was IUGR??

[xXHopeXx]

Ds was 6lb 5oz at 39+5..... Do you think he was IUGR??

A friend of mine went a few days over 40 weeks with her bub actually and she was only about 6lb13oz (or very close to that) and she had the normals scans and such and none of the doctors seemed to think there was anything wrong? She knew her dates and everything perfectly too, so it's not like she was actually early. I spose some people just make smaller babies?

[BellyBelly]

My second born was 5lbs 15oz and a bit over a week earlier than EDD. We all know EDDs are inaccurate though. His sister was 6lbs 10oz and the first born. They were both fine, healthy babies. Not directly to do with birthweight but whats going on in utero.

[jellybean88]

Yeah my other friend had a 2.7kg baby and everything was fine so some people just have small babies my placenta was calcified that's why ds was small will be interested to see how big this one gets