worrisome ultrasound today

The left baby (A) has officially been diagnosed growth restricted. She is 1 lb 6 oz, 10.6th percentile. So they scheduled an ultrasound every other week till the end of January. And said non stress tests will start right away as well. I will find out more at my prenatal tomorrow.

The right baby (B) is a fatty, and for the 5th U/S in a row will not confirm gender for us, LOL. 1 lb 11oz, 58th percentile.

here are some photos.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/delek...ndnov25_001.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/delek...ndnov25_002.jpg

I was hoping that our ultrasound two weeks ago was a fluke, then baby left was 13 oz and baby right was 1 lb 1 oz. I am a bit upset.

Have any of you had a growth restricted baby? what happened with that? and do you know a cause?

 

I haven't but just wanted to give you a :hugs and say I hope all goes well with you and both babies from here on out!

 

I was a lot later in gestation when mine were diagnosed, but both my babies were IUGR babies. We did NST's twice weekly and fairly frequent biophysical profiles. Since I was fairly far along and had already had a bout of PTL with the steroid injections, they were basically just monitoring them to see how they were doing. When they started showing signs of stress (several weeks or more after diagnosis), they went ahead and delivered them at 34 weeks via c-section. They spent about 3 weeks in the NICU, but overall did very well and have no long term effects. They never found a cause and it is assumed it was just due to it being a twin pregnancy (this pregnancy has been very routine).

I remember how stressed I was at the diagnosis, so I wish you the best. Take it easy and take it one day at a time.

Suzanne

 

Jenny, I haven't had that happen to me, but I wanted to know that you and your baby are in my thoughts. I hope that things go well, and baby A starts to grow. :hug: :hug: Please keep us updated.

 

I did not know they they could diagnose something like IUGR as early as 24 weeks. It doesn't typically happen until after the third trimester. You smaller baby is growing on his/her own curve and plus there is a pretty big margin of error in the measurements. I've heard a lot of stories of one twin being small and fine in the end. I hope your doctors reassure you all is going to be ok.

 

YUP! Baby B had IUGR. Scared the snookie out of me!!! Till the day I delivered full term at 5.7 and 6.10. Never any reason for IUGR except to this day baby B is smaller than A and smaller than ANY of my kids. (Although she is still on the 80%).

Follow up, but know they can be FINE! Infact, my baby B is my SPITFIRE!!!! She's full of the DICKENS!!!! (on the left in my picture <----)

 

Now, I heard something interesting from both my OB and my MWFM. Both the girls look great-they were literally both 3lb 8oz yesterday, but my doc and mw BOTH told me (seperately) that even if one baby is significantly smaller, often the smaller one will do as well or even better than the bigger one once they're out. I asked why and they gave me these reasons: Birth trauma is less for the smaller baby, their bood sugar is usually much more stable, and they're usually more hormonally balanced and that, the same as adults, it's preferable to be slightly underweight rather than overweight. they also mentioned that smaller babies really seemed to end up being more determined, and have such a fighting spirit cause they had to work a little bit at feeding and growing. So, I'd say, hang in there, Mama! We're thinking of you!

 

Thanks for the wonderful replies! I am waiting for my transportation to my prenatal right now. I will be asking a bunch of questions today. My doctor has been on vacation in paris for 4 weeks, I am so glad he is back, he knows everything I swear, LOL. I am sure he will give it to me straight.

My best comfort is I get great care, I am also a type 2 diabetic which adds a lot of complications, one of which can be growth restriction. Gestational diabetics have big babies and regular diabetics have tiny babies, LOL. I remember him telling me that, because having diabetes for so long, possibly out of control causes damage to your veins and so diabetics have bad circulation. So the babies don't get good bloodflow. But I would think if that was the cause it would be both babies. I will update when I get home.

 

My Baby B was diagnosed with IUGR at 19 weeks and was <3rd percentile. He has been at least 2lbs bigger than his brother since their month stay in the NICU at birth. His placenta was dying and his water broke at 33 weeks. Hang in there. There are a lot of IUGR survivors on this site!

 

Sorry i havn't had a growth prob yet, but just wanted to send hugs and prayers your way.

 

We're going through IUGR right now. At my last MFM appt I was 26w5d and my mono/di girls were 45% different in size. Baby A was only in the 7th percentile of growth. I was immediately admitted to the hospital on bed rest and I've been here ever since. Today is day 30 and I'll be 31 weeks tomorrow! We've had the steroid shots and I get 3 NSTs every day and 3 BPP u/s each week on MWF. Hospital bed rest is no walk in the park, but it's so reassuring knowing that my girls are being watched so closely. There's absolutely nothing wrong with me...bp has been great, no GD, long cervix, no contractions.

As of last Monday (the 17th) my baby A had dropped to the 1st percentile of growth, though she does continue to grow. The MFM has determined the issue is her cord blood flow. We're watching it to see if/when it reverses and that will be the point of delivery. She is definitely my little fighter and continues to be WAY more active than her sister (who is a bit on the lazy size, lol).

As pp said, the smaller ones usually do better once delivered because life on the outside is easier for them. The bigger baby may struggle just a bit more because they were getting fat and happy in the womb.

Best of luck to you and your little ones and just remember that every day in your tummy is a victory!

 

At 24 weeks my girls were 1lb 6oz and 1lb 12oz. After this ultrasound I was hospitalized but not because of the difference in size, but for my short cervix. The specialist that read my u/s was concerned about the difference until he did a transvag to measure my cervix. I kept asking him about the difference and all he said was "I am more concerned about your cervix right now." I was freaked out. Anyway, I was in the hospital for 4 weeks and I had weekly ultrasounds...they monitored closely for TTTS, but it turned out to be IUGR. They always stayed within the 20% range, but I delivered at 34 weeks. I actually delivered the day before another growth u/s. I swear they would have induced me anyway if I lasted long enough to get that u/s. Abby was always the bigger twin and was 4 lbs 11 oz and Taylor was 3 lbs 12 oz at birth. Both were healthy baby girls and both were the same weight as yours at 24 weeks. You are in good hands with the MFM specialists. Trust them and good luck!! Oh yeah, my little one is still smaller, but seems to to better with feeding, crying, etc. My bigger twin Abby is fussier, spits up more, is on meds for reflux, etc. Funny how that works out!

 

Sorry you are having these worries. :hug:

I did have a growth restricted baby and we did know the causes. It was due to both a 2-vessel umbilical cord and TTTS. We just watched her closely by u/s every week and did measurements every two weeks. When her growth slowed to very near a stop, we induced. She was 3 lb 11oz but perfectly healthy. Sometimes the stress of subtle growth restriction can help a baby mature more quickly and that is what happened in her case. Our IUGR baby spent 7 days in the Special Care Nursery until she proved she could eat & grow and then she came home at 3 lb 11oz. Our other baby was in the NICU for 9 days due to respiratory distress and was discharged after her much smaller sister.

The girls stayed at about a 3 lb weight difference from 1-4 years old and now they're about 2 lbs different. You can't tell though because that 2 lbs is such a small percentage of their total weight.

 

I too am struggling with IUGR - at one point it was listed as "severe" and they said my boy would never make it. That was at 14 weeks and here I am at almost 23 and he is still growing and showing them all....

It is scary, but take it one day at a time - these ladies on here are so incredible and have been a huge help and support to me...

:hug: 's

 

I just wanted to say.. That i have a tiny and a big one. Baby a was always .5-1 lb larger than baby b. They said that as long as she was still growning.. It was ok. She was just growing at her own curve.

When they were born at 38.5 weeks baby a was 7 lbs and baby b was 5 lbs 11 oz.

:hug: I hope this is the case with your lil ones as well! Good luck! :hug: