Baby not measuring up according to my LMP

Vickers224 · February 2017

Ok ladies. My little nugget measured at my NT scan (12 weeks 1 day) 3 days behind. The doctor calculated him/her to be 11 weeks 5 days. He assured me that it's normal to be off up to 5 days give or take (his words were women aren't robots and ovulate exactly at 14 days all the time) but it still worries me. The heartbeat was strong at 159-160 and pointed out all the limbs, head, butt, face with detected nasal bone and measured the NT fluid behind the baby's head at 1.2mm. All good things right? But I still can't help but worry that my baby is behind. I wish I was measuring ahead and I know I would be less anxious. He said he isn't changing my EDD and I'm due Aug 24th. I'm just confused as to tell people how far along I am. Am I still 12 weeks 1 day or go by the measurements (11 weeks 5 day) I don't want to set myself back. My next scan won't be until I'm 18 weeks on march 24th.... so far away!

imwithbaby · February 2017

Your doc is absolutely right. It's wildly common for your dates to be off. It's not that baby's behind, it's that your dates are off! Unless you were tracking your ovulation and know exactly when you ovulated then it's super likely you didn't O on day 14. And even if you did O on that day, babies measure differently. They're not cookie cutters, so being a few days off is totally normal. As for telling people, just tell them whatever you want! Your due date is a total estimation (I read recently that only like 3% of women deliver on their due date) so just tell them what you want

Nxy · February 2017

First I'd just stick with your current expected due date. You have to remember you very, very likely aren't going to give birth at exactly 40 weeks so at the end of all this what's 3 days? If the doctor didn't change your due date I'd stick with what the doc has on file. Just keep those three days in mind if the time comes and they are talking about inducing you.
Second you've gotta try and chill out. After the doctor said up to 5 days here or there is normal you've just got to listen. DD was all over the place. She was 2 days behind then 4 days ahead then I can't even remember. She was born a full week after my due date.
Don't obsess about it. I know it's hard but relax and trust your doctor.

donehue · February 2017

I always measured a few days behind and totally expected to at my NT scan last week, but this one measured 5 days ahead (and I was tracking ovulation). I don't know gender yet, but have a feeling this is going to be my big boy (my girls were 7lb5oz and 6lb2oz). My fundal height always measured behind my first two pregnancies as well and I got extra ultrasounds out of it. Totally not something to worry about!

lewliv · February 2017

Please don't worry! It's totally normal to measure a bit ahead or behind.
"The simple rule in ultrasound is that when the due date based on ultrasound doesn’t vary from the mother’s dates by more than a week, stick with the mother’s dates; if the ultrasound disagrees by more than a week to ten days, it becomes wiser to rely on the ultrasound."
Also, keep in mind that ahead or behind is measured against the AVERAGE size. It's not an absolute measure and different babies will grow at different rates. By the time you go back to your 20-week scan the baby may be measuring ahead, behind, or on time.
I'm measuring 5 days ahead and they did not change my due date or thought it was a big deal. I'm just afraid that I'll have to push a giant baby through my lady parts.

dinofreak · February 2017

my first scan also measured 3 days behind the LMP prediction. Doc was totally not concerned and said we'll stick with the LMP since it's already written down in all my charts haha. I've been using an app to track my cycle for 2 years, so I knew exactly how long each of my periods had been and he thought that was accurate enough

Kathryn0903 · February 2017

I wouldn't worry too much. I measured 9 days behind and everything has been fine.

DDRGirlie · February 2017

I'm having twins and baby b is measuring 2 days behind. My OB said its fine. My RE was worried at 8 weeks because there was a dramatic difference in sack size. I don't know if it really did anything but i drank a ton of water between visits to help increase the fluid for baby B. By week 10, sack sizes were the same.

jacksonbears · February 2017

@Knottie80654994 you need to relax. this is totally normal. My first scan i was 3 days behind, my next I was ahead by 2 d ays. It's going to differ based on baby's growth.

Also, I noticed you've posted about you being worried about this or the other. You really need to breath and know you are pregnant. Please enjoy it, worrying won't help, Don't let the slightest thing alarm you, your body knows what it's doing, and i'm sure you're going to have a healthy pregnancy!

Lauradi1010 · February 2017

jacksonbears said:

@Knottie80654994 you need to relax. this is totally normal. My first scan i was 3 days behind, my next I was ahead by 2 d ays. It's going to differ based on baby's growth.

Also, I noticed you've posted about you being worried about this or the other. You really need to breath and know you are pregnant. Please enjoy it, worrying won't help, Don't let the slightest thing alarm you, your body knows what it's doing, and i'm sure you're going to have a healthy pregnancy!

This. I know worrying is a part of pregnancy, but don't let it drive you nuts or control the pregnancy. I was like this during my first pregnancy and think it may have contributed to my PPD. If you find the worry/ anxiety taking over be sure to talk to your OB especially if it isn't going away.

MatteaGabrielle · February 2017

I measured a week behind with my first so they changed my due date on my first US. My anatomy scan matched the new date. I had her 8 days early or 1 day early according to my lmp due date. She was 9lbs on top of that.
I measured 6 days behind on my first US with this one. They didn't bother changing my Due Date. It's seems fairly normal or your Dr would show concern.

DoulaTog13 · February 2017

Please also understand that the further along you get, the less accurate ultrasounds are with regards to size. The most accurate is the earliest ultrasound around 6-8 weeks. After that...babies grow at their own rate. Sure, there's an average that you'll read about on your weekly updates, but each baby is unique and will develop as it needs to. The concern comes when ratios are off regarding say...head size to body size or leg size vs stomach size. As long as your doctor is not concerned, try not to be overly so yourself. Of course, trust your instincts if you truly feel something is wrong...but a 3 day difference is not really a concern at this stage.

lyse01 · February 2017

At my NT scan, I had a moment of irrational fear about the very same thing. It helped to reference my pregnancy books, and it helped to verbalize my worry as irrational to my SO. He was able to remind me that every other bit of news out of that appointment was stellar, and that they'd been measuring so quickly that we weren't 100% sure they'd captured the full fundal length. (They're trained professionals, but this helped me.) And that if the baby was a few days late, that could only help me at work. A few days later, it wasn't a worry anymore.

KyCade3013 · February 2017

Very common. My son was due January 23rd and I thought I should be the 18th.. he was born on the 13th. Ultra sounds just aren't always exactly right.

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