Normal Delivery?

Hi All,

Just wondering.... I had some bleeding from weeks 14-27. I am now 35 weeks & have been told that everything should be fine. I am measuring quite small, although the ob has never done the fundal height measurement. This was the same last time & my daughter was born at 39 weeks, naturally, but with breathing difficulties. I am having the baby privately this time & my ob says I need a growth scan. Has anyone ever had one of these & had a normal birth? Just wondering if it is normal if you have baby privately to have one. He says he thinks I'm the right size, however I can tell just by looking at other woman that I am much smaller. Has anyone else had this prob? My ob always seems to try not to worry me. I just wonder whether a smaller baby on a growth scan will be induced. The scan is at 37 weeks.

I am 35 weeks & my fundal height is just below 29cm, so I am really quite small. Can you just be small? I was small with my last baby but not this small. Mt daughter was 3.1kg at birth at 39 weeks.

I always measured around about right with fundal height measurement. But I always looked small. People constantly commented on it "Are you sure you are right about your due date? I don't think this one will be cooked on time...".
However, I was charting, so knew when I conceived and also had an early dating u/s at 6 weeks so there was no confusion about my dates.
Even my MW (I was in a birth centre) said that this was going to be a small-ish baby. DD was born naturally at 39 weeks, 2 days and weighed in at 3.9kg. So not a small baby at all. It does all depend on how you are carrying.

I wouldn't put too much weight into fundal height measurements at all. They are a good indication of whether baby is growing or not, but not about how far along you are. So it makes sense to compare measurements from month to month just to see if there is growth. Not really about how much growth there is.
Even u/s growth scans can be highly inaccurate. My friend for example was told she had a huuuuge baby. She had a growth scan at 37 weeks and they said it already measured 4kg. She went almost a week over until they decided t induce due to size. Inductin didn't progress, so they did a c/s as they doubted she would be able to deliver such a big baby anyway. Her son turned out to be 3.8kg. So a big-ish baby. But certainly not huge.

I would be very worried if they induced a baby that measures small. If anything, it's an indication that they need more time in utero, not less. Unless the size is dramatically smaller than expected so there is a reason to worry about uterine growth restriction. But I'm sure that diagnosis wouldn't be made lightly. Well, you'd hope so.

All the best, Saša

Yes, you can just be small. Some women have small babies and they are just as healthy as the big ones. Size doesn't matter as long as bubs is healthy.

Having a growth scan is very normal. I had one. Ill get someonei know to pop in here and tell u about the fundal height thing. You will know why when she gets here..

Im sure everything will be A OK!

hi lis!

With my daughter From 35 -39 weeks onwards i was never measuring over 31cm fundal height.
Unfortunately midwives often still do fundal heights at this late stage when it is not very acurate as bub can engaged or move sideways etc.. and isnt freely moving and easily measured as it is early on.

I was sent for a growth scan (obviously measuring 31cm at 38 weeks). and they were querying low amniotic fluid. So it was actually a litle more involved (took about an hour or measuring bub and the fluid). ANd all was PERFECTLY NORMAL!!!.

I just carried a compact little bub (5lb13oz) who was very good as squishing up in my little belly.
She was born naturally after a spontaneous vag birth at 39wk 2 days!

So dont be worried or scared. I find a lot of girls are scared into things from fundal height measurement.. and it is often because bub was sideways in the belly or curled up!

I didnt actually start showing until 1 was close to 30 weeks with her. Everyone is different.


Lis - if this helps this was me at 35 weeks with DD. :)

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...hp?photo=10549

*****

Matilda'sMummy, your story reminded me that 3-4 weeks before my due date, a delivery guy who had seen me almost every day throughout my pregnancy was surprised when I mentioned I was pregnant. And our neighbour asked DH around the same time: is Saša pregnant? When he said yes, she also said: I thought she was jsut putting on weight.

PP is so right, I forgot about how being engaged or not can make a huuuuge difference on the fundal height, too.

Saša

OP, you can always get a second opinion from a midwife who can check your fundal height. Ultrasounds are notoriously inaccurate and can be as much as 0.5kg - 1kg out!

I was considered "small for dates" during my pregnancy and everyone constantly questioned me when i told them my dates (very frustrating) but I had my baby one day past my due date and he 3.8kgs so not exactly tiny. try not to stress to much and hope it all goes well for you Good luck

I have measured smallest with my biggest babies and biggest with my smallest babies............well small and big for me anyway.

I also had several growth scans with all 6 of my babies because they all measured small at some point during the pregnancy because of some meds i was on. Its very normal to have growth scans.

Yes it is true that if baby is small and they consider them to be too small they consider induction.

I hope it all goes well for you :D