Baby measuring small?

JlWhite14

Hi ladies

I went to the doctor yesterday and was told the my baby girl is measuring smaller than what she should be for 28 weeks. My ob said this is common and there's no need to worry, but I can't help but wonder what's going on. Have any of you experienced this? What happened?

ElTrain5

How did they come to that conclusion? Ultrasound? Fundal height?  If you doctor said it's nothing to worry about, I would trust their opinion.  That's what you pay them for after all

chickpea912

ElTrain5 said:

How did they come to that conclusion? Ultrasound? Fundal height?  If you doctor said it's nothing to worry about, I would trust their opinion.  That's what you pay them for after all

Basically what @ElTrain5 said - was it based purely on your fundal height?  I would take that with a grain of salt, whereas if you are having growth ultrasounds, where they actually measure various parts of the baby's body, I might be concerned.

But, as others have said, if your doctor doesn't seem too worried, I wouldn't borrow worry.  Enough crazy shit happens during pregnancy that if your medical professional is a-ok, then roll with it.  I would list all the possible stuff that COULD happen (and has happened to ladies on this board), but I'm not going to - I don't want to cause unnecessary worry.

nunzchucks

Here's a recent thread that discusses this and also links another thread with more information: https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12293874/29-weeks-measuring-small-in-the-4th-percentile

JlWhite14

It was by u/s and fundal height. She was off by a couple oz. I go in for another u/s on the 3rd. I'm a worry wart so it's probably nothing, but can't help it.

Pepper6

Also something to keep in mind...measuring "small" or "large" are based on averages.  So some people have to measure small, and some people have to measure large in order to even get an average.  If your doctor wasn't concerned, it sounds like it's just on the 'smaller' side of the wide range of 'normal' measurements, not actually 'small' that would cause any real alarm.

kks4471

I had a growth US yesterday and baby measured only in the 14th percentile.  I have another US growth check in two weeks, and until then, I'm not going to worry.  Really, nothing good comes from worrying.  There's nothing we can do except monitor.  Just take it easy until your next US.

Mztwilson

According to fundal height I'm measuring big (30w instead of 28w) but when they did my ultrasound they found out the baby is actually smaller then they thought (41 percentile). I'd like to point out at this time I had the ultrasound only to check on baby's heart since my dh was born with a tumor on his. Moral of the story... My doc isn't worried and neither am I. Babies grow at different rates. There's no black and white standard.

mrs_drc_rn

I get growth ultrasounds every four weeks because of fibroids. Baby was measuring just below average by the hospitals chart, but some websites I looked at put him in the average weight range. The doctor wasn't worried at all, plus it's still early. Try not to worry too much, baby still has time to grow.

chickpea912

Pepper6 said:

Also something to keep in mind...measuring "small" or "large" are based on averages.  So some people have to measure small, and some people have to measure large in order to even get an average.  If your doctor wasn't concerned, it sounds like it's just on the 'smaller' side of the wide range of 'normal' measurements, not actually 'small' that would cause any real alarm.

I think this is the most brilliant addition to this thread - not everyone can be in the 99th percentile, someone has to be on the lower end.  Doesn't mean there is anything wrong, it just means that according to some pre-determined average, some babies are bigger and some are smaller.  The only thing that matters is whether or not they are healthy and if they continue to grow at that rate (ie and not slow down tremendously or something).