Anyone else with short femur length/small baby?

Jen98jib

My Dr just called about the results from our growth u/s and said the baby is measuring a few weeks behind (was 1 week behind at last u/s) and that he has a short femur length.  She's referring me to get another u/s at a center for maternal and fetal health which makes me nervous.  Unfortunately the center is closed so I'll have to schedule the appointment tomorrow but just wondered if anybody got any results like this and if they know any info on it.  TIA.

damabo80

There can be many causes of short femur length, but here's my experience: 

DD had this as well. At the anatomy scan, she was one week behind, her femur was in the 10th percentile, and when they checked the placenta/cord flow, it was decreased, which they said is a precursor to IUGR and pre-e. At 31w, I developed pre-e and severe HELLP, and she was delivered. At birth, she was 2lb3oz, and she should have been about 3lb 5oz.

The good news is, babies who have IUGR are stressed in the womb, which causes their lungs to mature faster. So, when she was born, she only needed breathing support for 12 hours, which is pretty damn good for a baby her size.

She spent about a month and a half in the nicu, growing, and now is meeting all of her developmental milestones.

Jen98jib

Thanks so much for your reply.  Hopefully I can get some answers soon but that might be a possibility seeing I've been having high blood pressure and lots of swelling for the past couple months already (fortunately still negative for pre-e).  Grow baby grow!  I'm so glad to hear your baby is doing well!

ColleenS629

One of my twins was measuring several weeks behind yesterday... not for femur length, but for abdominal size. He got a perfect score on the BPP and the MFM said he looks healthy, but the placenta is not functioning optimally (though the cord flow is good). It is very scary. My MFM is having me go for NSTs twice a week starting today and another BPP and growth u/s in two weeks. I hope your follow-up goes well and your baby's growth starts to speed up!

Junebug060609

damabo80:

There can be many causes of short femur length, but here's my experience: 

DD had this as well. At the anatomy scan, she was one week behind, her femur was in the 10th percentile, and when they checked the placenta/cord flow, it was decreased, which they said is a precursor to IUGR and pre-e. At 31w, I developed pre-e and severe HELLP, and she was delivered. At birth, she was 2lb3oz, and she should have been about 3lb 5oz.

The good news is, babies who have IUGR are stressed in the womb, which causes their lungs to mature faster. So, when she was born, she only needed breathing support for 12 hours, which is pretty damn good for a baby her size.

She spent about a month and a half in the nicu, growing, and now is meeting all of her developmental milestones.

My DS was measuring in the 7th percentile for femur length at his a/s as well (@~17 weeks).  I ended up developing pre-e officially and delivering at 37.5 weeks...but they were watching my climbing bp from about 34 weeks on.  DS was born the day after my official dx (long induction) and was 6lb 2oz and 19 inches.

I didn't know about the study referenced, but it does explain why there were people wanting us to sign off on our placenta being used for a pre-e study (I said sure, if it will help someone else avoid an early delivery).   Very interesting, and very interesting that Damabo's DD had a short femur with pre-e as well as our son...hadn't realized that.