Measuring 5 days behind

RB777 · January 2016

Hi there, I am hoping that someone may be going through or have gone through a similar situation as I am and can help me calm my fears a little.

Judging from my last period, I should be 8w4d today. I've been under the care of a RE (although we conceived without any interventions) so I have already had 3 ultrasounds. The first ultrasound I measured 2 days behind, the second ultrasound (this past Wednesday) only 1 day behind and now today's I measured 5 days behind. In fact, I only increased one day since the ultrasound I had this past Wednesday. The doctor seemed a little concerned but chalked it up to likely late ovulation and said its something the midwife will have to keep a close eye on. However, I was temping so I'm fairly certain we had the correct ovulation date. The heartbeat was 138 Wednesday and today was 166 so he was happy with that. Just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this and if there's any reason to worry? I meet with our midwife tomorrow for the first time so I'm hoping she will be able to reassure me that things are fine.

amarfeo17 · January 2016

I ended up being a full week behind! Don't worry! I also thought I had it down to the day that I conceived, my doctor says its completely normal

Ktande22 · January 2016

Try not to worry, I know its so hard! Not every pregnancy is a cookie cutter of growth periods. That being said I think your doctor is wise, keep an eye out. And time will tell how your baby develops! Sometimes you just wish you had the future looking glass so you dont have to worry, but thats just how things happen! Hope next growth shows normal and you can breathe a sigh of relief!

ZedPM3 · January 2016

I haven't experienced this myself, but I've seen several posts where baby was measuring a week behind, but then at the next ultrasound baby had caught up to where they thought it should be. 166 is a great heart rate - I hope baby catches up at your next scan!

DDRRT1982 · January 2016

Five days is still within what I was believing to be within the norm. I wouldn't worry. They grow so quickly at this time and even a different ultrasound tech can have different measuring techniques. My Perinatologist said that you should never worry unless there was once a heartbeat and then there isn't. Hopefully everything is ok.

SkiChic626 · January 2016

It's normal for measurements to be off by up to a week, even if you know your dates. I've been fluctuating, as well, and this week I caught up again. Plus, the measurement is dependent on who is doing the measuring and how the baby is positioned at the time, so you could get different measurements even on the same day depending on the variables. It's really all just an rough estimate. Don't worry!

lalalorelai · January 2016

I have heard the margin of error is 4-5 days, so you're still within that. The heartbeat is a great sign so try to focus on that!

RB777 · January 2016

Thank you everyone for your responses. I was hoping most of you would have happy endings if you experienced measuring 5 days or more behind but of course I tend to err on the side of worry.

imakeeff0rts · January 2016

lalalorelai said:

I have heard the margin of error is 4-5 days, so you're still within that. The heartbeat is a great sign so try to focus on that!

^This.

Also, remember that temping isn't 100% accurate, either. When I got pregnant this time, I was temping and taking LH tests. My temperature didn't indicate that I'd ovulated, and I never got a strong positive LH test, either. But based on when we had sex, and when I was "expected" to ovulate, I think I ovulated a week earlier than expected. Maybe you ovulated a few days after you expected to.

And, like the quote says, there's usually a margin of error with ultrasounds.

ThePax89 · January 2016

At my first ultrasound, I measured 7 days behind. At my second, I measured 5. They are closely monitoring me. It's scary for sure. Hoping our babes are wonky growers.

1faceinacrowd · January 2016

When I went for my first ultrasound at 7w1d, the Midwife measured me at 6w5d and asked if that sounded right; I told her it was 3 days off from what I thought. So she re-positioned the ultrasound thing and got another image, which measured baby right at 7w1d - during the same ultrasound! All she had to do was get a better picture and that changed the measurement by 3 days.
Like PPs have said, even just the positioning and who does the ultrasound can make a difference.

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