Pregnant after a Loss

Anyone experienced with restricted fetal growth or small for gestational age?

Hi all!

Our Little guy has a 2 vessel cord that is also implanted low into the placenta (a velementous insertion) - both of these can cause baby to grow on the slow side due to baby getting less nourishment. We didn't think it would be a problem since baby had been measuring fine but at our growth scan yesterday he was starting to fall behind. Doc said not to worry unless he falls below 10th percentile (that is when it is technically considered restricted growth) but he is at 12% so it is close and causing me anxiety. Him being little combined with the fact I will be having a csection no later than 36 weeks has me so worried about how he will do! I was ok with early and ok with small but early and small scares me!

Does anyone have experience with this or know anyone who may have? Just wondering how things are going or turned out. I just hate to think of little guy struggling!

Thanks ladies!
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Re: Anyone experienced with restricted fetal growth or small for gestational age?

  • No experience, but I hope he keeps hanging in the growth for you!!

    married my best friend 10/04/08, TTC since July 2012
    BFP#1 Thanksgiving 11/22/12, mo-mo twins(one sac), traditional EDD 7/27/13, EDD due to risk 6/15/13
    mmc Angel 2/7/13 @ 15w3d, mmc Aubrey 2/13/13 @ 16w2d, D&E 2/16/13

    BFP#2 9/21/13, EDD 6/2/14, DD born 5/17/14 

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    All AL always welcome in my threads!

  • My LO was diagnosed with IUGR at 35 weeks.  Previous to that, he was always on the smaller side, but like you, he was over the 10th percentile.  

    Are you getting growth scans?  I had them every three weeks and at about 30 weeks, I had weekly NSTs and BPPs to make sure he wasn't in distress.  I had an issue at 29 weeks with low fluid and high doppler flow, but those resolved themselves and I never had a problem with either going forward.

    I had a c-section at 37 weeks because of the IUGR.  (He only grew like 5 oz in 3 weeks according to their estimation.)  He ended up being 4lbs, 15 oz when he was born and other than being small, he was totally fine.  We did not have any NICU time.  The c-section was due to him being breech, not the IUGR.

    It's really scary to hear that your baby isn't growing properly.  I was a nervous wreck about it all.  If you need to talk, feel free to PM me.  ((Hugs))
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  • *lurking*

    Hi there!  I had my son at exactly 37 weeks via c/s due to having IUGR.  Around the beginning of the third trimester, his growth started to slow and pretty much stopped altogether by 35 weeks.  On the day he was born, my growth scan predicted he was 4lbs 4oz and when he was born, he only actually weighed 3lbs 7.8oz.  He didn't have any problems at all, but did have to stay in the hospital until the doctors were sure he could put on weight and keep it on.  They did put him in an incubator for most of the time, but it was only to make sure he wasn't burning extra calories to keep his temperature up.  If you have any specific questions for me, please feel free to PM me!
  • The only experience I have with this situation is as a NICU nurse. Usually at 36 weeks we won't bring a baby down to the NICU unless they are under 2000 g and are showing any signs of distress. Usually the only problems we tend to see with IUGR babies is getting them to eat enough to gain weight. Usually it is just because they are little and are using so much energy to eat. They do tend to pick up pretty quick about 35-36 weeks with their feedings, though. Other than that they tend to be pretty healthy. They tend to make us giggle because they like to think they are big babies, but they are just stuck in a little baby body. Their little personalities are super cute.
     
    Just make sure you have plenty of warm layers for baby once here because trying to keep their body temperature up will burn calories and cause weight loss due to burning of fat since babies can't shiver. Other than that baby should be ok. 
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  • :::Lurking:::

    My DD had suspected IUGR and was measuring in the second percentile at her 36 week scan. I was sent to the high risk doctor and I was completely stressed out and a nervous wreck.

    I had NSTs and ultrasounds galore during the next week and was ultimately induced at 37 weeks. At my last ultrasound they made the decision to induce due to low amniotic fluid. In the end, I gave birth to a small but very healthy baby. The only challenge we faced was that she had a lot of trouble eating. Once she got the hang of it though, she was great. She did have to stay one extra day at the hospital because of the eating issue, but that's all. She's 16 months now and as healthy as a horse. Still tiny, but now in the 15th percentile and very healthy.

    I hope things go well for your LO. You are more than welcome to pm me if you need to talk. I would be more than happy to talk. I know how scary it is. Good luck!
  • ::lurking:: Hi I'm lurking from the loss board and I hope you don't mind me posting with my experience.

    DS1 started measuring small part way through my pregnancy and continued to fall behind.In our case, my doctor wasn't sure if something was wrong or if baby was just a little small, so she waited rather than delivering early which is normal with IUGR. I had NST tests twice a week for the last four weeks as well as weekly ultrasounds to check how baby was doing. When I was 40 weeks and 1 day I noticed he wasn't moving as much as normal. We went to L&D and they did a biophysical profile and determined that he was in distress and we had an emergency c-section. He was born shortly thereafter weighing 5 lbs 10 oz, and they determined that my placenta had aged prematurely and my umbilical cord was small. He was taken to the NICU right away because he needed oxygen and he had trouble maintaining his glucose levels, but they told us that wasn't necessarily related to his size or the IUGR. He is now 3 1/2 and quite healthy. :)
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    Me: 32 DH: 33  High School Sweethearts  Married 5/28/2005
    DS1 born 6/5/10 at 40 weeks via emergency c-section due to fetal distress and IUGR caused by placental insufficiency
    DS2 born still 8/28/13 at 32 weeks via emergency c-section due to a complete placental abruption - cause unknown
    Baby #3 on the way, EDD 2/29/16.  Originally twins, but we said goodbye to Baby B at 8 weeks.
  • No advice. Just wanted to offer some (((hugs))) and prayers.
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    BFP 4/17/13, MC began 5/2/13 @ 6 weeks
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  • I hope your LO shows a bit more growth at the next scan to ease your worry!
    This isn't as relevant/helpful as the above posts but in case it helps a little .. I had a scan at 25 weeks (no cord/placenta issues identified - they just are doing growth scans every 4-ish weeks then after 32 w. weekly BPPs because I'm 39 which is for some reason the age at which they start doing this extra monitoring) which showed our LO down to about the 25th percentile after having been 56th at the 20 week scan.  Of course that made us anxious, but the MW said she isn't worried about it now because at this approx. age the baby/fetus is still so small that even being a teeny bit off in the measurement - like if the sonographer is a little conservative about where she clicks the cursors - can make the results seem very different.  Maybe there was at least a little bit of that affecting your measurement also?

    Were your LOs measurements all proportional?  The MW also told us our LO didn't look like real IUGR because the measurements were all proportional (rather than the head being bigger than other parts which she said would suggest that nutrients are restricted causing the growth to go into "head-sparing" mode).  Though then again many posters (on other threads about this) have said that if LO is really small and it is IUGR that the "head-sparing" kind is better.  

    Anyway - best wishes for your LO's growth and for everything else going well until you get to meet him!  
    Me: 39  DH: 44  together since 2000 married 9/2004 TTC #1 since 2/2012
    BFP #1 6/5/2012  m/c 6/15/2012 about 5w3d   BFP #2 6/?/2013 m/c 7/1/2013 5w 3d
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  • I have VCI with this pregnancy as well, but no other cord issues. I do have placenta previa and accreta so I'm with an MFM full time rather than with my regular OB and will deliver between 34-36 weeks (I'm hoping 36, which I think will happen so long as baby keeps growing). My baby has also been measuring small though I've not been specifically diagnosed with IUGR at this point. At 26 weeks our baby was both short and very underweight, but then at 28 her weight was back to what you'd expect though she was still measuring short. I'll also be delivered early but they just keep checking baby's size each week...not much help since I'm kinda going through this also, but I do sympathize! :)


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  • Thank you all so much for your kind words and stories/advice, I am tearing up while reading them. It truly helps ease my mind to think little man will be alright! His measurements are a little off proportion showing that if he were to get diagnosed with IUGR (officially) it would be "head sparing" which is good. It gives me so much peace of mind to hear all of your experiences.
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