Possible IUGR - worried, what can I do?

My girls (fraternal, we're thinking) have been nearly identical in size at every ultrasound until yesterday. I had my 30 week growth ultrasound yesterday, and baby B (who is transverse on top) is right on track at 3lbs even. But, baby A (vertex and on bottom) was only 2lbs 11oz. My OB said B was in the 23rd % but that A was only in the 8th % and he is referring me to go to a peri tomorrow to have them checked out and wants to rule out IUGR or other placenta/cord issues.

I'm so concerned for my little one - but don't know if there's anything I can do. Has anyone else experienced this and had things turn out OK?

 

No personal experience, but laying on your left side as much as possible will maximize blood flow to the placenta's and eat as much protein as you can to help your LO's put on weight! Good luck at the Peri, let us know what they say! :hug:

 

I went through the same thing & my DS (baby B) did turn out to be an IUGR baby. He & DD were pretty much the same until 32 wks & he started slowing down. My OB did a lot of monitoring---weekly ultrasounds, NSTs. And we delivered at 35.5 wks via section because DS wasn't growing very much. He was born 3 lbs 14 oz & DD was 5 lbs 6 oz. DD spent 9 days in the NICU & DS spent 13 days in the NICU. Fast forward 6 months later & DS is huge, almost 20 lbs & DD is 19 1/2. DS has turned into a champion eater & is just the sweetest, happiest baby. Like you, I was terrified when I was going through all of this, but just trust your doctors & I'm sure things will be fine. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

 

If you can: put yourself on limited activity, rest on your left side, drink lots of water, eat lots of healthy food, and up your protein intake. Do this until your next appt. Since your babies are past 30 weeks and it's getting crowded in there, it could just be a measurement issue but you might as well take all precautions. If they do diagnose IUGR, they'll start watching the baby closely and will deliver if it looks like he's not growing well anymore. You are already at a point in your pregnancy where the babies would be okay in almost any circumstance if they were delivered though. :hug:

One of my girls had IUGR for a couple of reasons and we delivered early because her growth had slowed too much. She was perfectly healthy though and only spent 7 days in the Special Care Nursery proving she could eat and grow. She came home at 3 lb 11 oz. My non-IUGR baby was actually the one who went to the NICU for 9 days for breathing problems.

 

I'm currently on hospital bed rest with IUGR due to absent or intermitten indiastolic blood flow in baby A. Basically, my cord is not pumping blood through her body anytime other than when her heart contracts. We're on the fetal heart monitors 3 times a day and I get BPP ultrasounds on MWF. The only thing I can do is rest. It just depends as to the reason for your IUGR, but as for me, it's one day at a time. Try not to worry. We were diagnosed 4 weeks ago and keep ticking the days off the calendar, one at a time.

Good luck with your appt and get plenty of rest!

 

QUOTE(1stTimeMom26 @ Nov 20 2008, 10:23 AM) [snapback]1079194[/snapback]
No personal experience, but laying on your left side as much as possible will maximize blood flow to the placenta's and eat as much protein as you can to help your LO's put on weight! Good luck at the Peri, let us know what they say! :hug:


I have personal experience - Jake was diagnosed with IUGR at 25 weeks. I was immediately put on bed rest (I also had high bp). So i was told to lay on my left side and eat as much protein as possible. I was monitored weekly, had growth u/s every other week and started NSTs at 28 weeks. I also had a cord study at 32 weeks that showed everything was normal. We never found a reason and he was born at least a pound less than the u/s estimate. He is still small and we are being tracked closely for issues, but he is doing great otherwise. He just eats often...

:hug:

I recommend some from of bedrest or modified activity...I'm a personal believer in it.

 

I'm sorry, I know how scary it is. :hug: My twins were born early because my daughter had IUGR from placenta issues. The diagnosis is really frustrating because there's not much you can do besides hang on and hope.

We saw that my Baby A's growth was slowing at 31 weeks. She was a little smaller all along, but the difference kept getting bigger between 20-30wks. I started biweekly appointments with the perinatologist and was put on bedrest. I stayed focused on taking in as much protein as possible, getting as much rest as I could, lying on my left side, and trying to stay positive and not stressed. Although that last part is easier said than done! I also had steroid shots because at one point it looked like I was going into preterm labor.

At a little over 34 weeks, the ultrasound showed that baby A wasn't doing well anymore, and within just a few hours I had a c-section. In my case, she was too distressed to handle a vaginal delivery, so there was no choice on that one. She was just over 3 pounds when she was born, and her brother was a pound bigger. He came home a few days earlier than her, but she spent 3 weeks in the NICU. The steroid shots really helped because she never even had to be on oxygen, and my son was only on it for a few hours. They were both very healthy and did really well--just feeder growers, no other problems, besides a couple days of slight jaundice (which is normal for preemies). They're small but came home and then learned to breastfeed, and aren't expected to have any long-lasting problems.

The great thing to remember is that IUGR babies tend to be very strong little fighters, and tend to do really well when they're born. It's usually the bigger baby that struggles a bit at first, because s/he was happier in the womb and the IUGR baby feels better being out!