31 wk growth scan query

73trix

Had growth scan yest due to earlier concern about low placenta. Placenta has moved so that's rectified. Sonographer said all looks good etc. However when she gave me the report with all the percentiles I zoned in on BPD being less than 5th which stood out. She was quite dismissive and said not to read into those stats. Of course that didn't cut it so I'm quite worried about baby having a small head. Due to see Consultant later this afternoon so will grill her naturally!

Has anyone heard of small BPD measure that turned out OK? The best Googles ( I know, I know) I could find suggest it just could mean a more elongated head shape at this stage. 9 more weeks of growing etc.

Would the sonographer ever alert you to anything or leave it til Consultant? I'm guessing they wouldn't. Why would they?
Thanks folks. I can't sleep thinking about it.

Sixtoes

73trix wrote: »

Had growth scan yest due to earlier concern about low placenta. Placenta has moved so that's rectified. Sonographer said all looks good etc. However when she gave me the report with all the percentiles I zoned in on BPD being less than 5th which stood out. She was quite dismissive and said not to read into those stats. Of course that didn't cut it so I'm quite worried about baby having a small head. Due to see Consultant later this afternoon so will grill her naturally!

Has anyone heard of small BPD measure that turned out OK? The best Googles ( I know, I know) I could find suggest it just could mean a more elongated head shape at this stage. 9 more weeks of growing etc.

Would the sonographer ever alert you to anything or leave it til Consultant? I'm guessing they wouldn't. Why would they?
Thanks folks. I can't sleep thinking about it.

The measurements they take can be way off. The bigger the baby the more difficult it gets. All they do is take 3 or 4 measurements then the computer works out an approx. weight. We had one recently and because they measured the leg wrong it put the baby at over a pound more than it was. Basicly, don't worry.

Millem

I agree! Ignore unless consultant says something!
I can tell you with my own scans, the sonographer told me it's all down to how baby is positioned. When she was drawing the lines the baby would measure x weeks then baby would move and stretch and baby could measure 5 days later.
The other thing is maybe your due date is slightly off for size of baby....you might be due later than you think?

73trix

Thanks. Guess there's not much point fretting til 5pm when we should know more. Dates are definite.

comongethappy

You probably remember me posting about my baby's tummy and Weight measuring 7th and eighth centile... She was born Fri 7lb 12 Oz, so way above that! I wouldn't fret at all

January

If the sonographer wasn't worried, then I wouldn't be either. Mention it to the consultant if it's bothering you but I doubt they'll be concerned either. As someone else said, at this stage those measurements aren't accurate because of the size of the baby and the way they are lying in the womb.

jlm29

My consultant told me the scans get less and less accurate as time goes on and baby gets bigger. My dating scan was way off because I had it at 21weeks, while on my other two I had scans at normal times and dates would have matched up very accurately with my own dates.
You could go back next week at see it on the 95th centile (hopefully not though, somewhere nice and average is handier to get out!!!). Don't worry unless someone tells you to!

73trix

comongethappy wrote: »

You probably remember me posting about my baby's tummy and Weight measuring 7th and eighth centile... She was born Fri 7lb 12 Oz, so way above that! I wouldn't fret at all

Fantastic news! Congratulations!

xzanti

comongethappy wrote: »

You probably remember me posting about my baby's tummy and Weight measuring 7th and eighth centile... She was born Fri 7lb 12 Oz, so way above that! I wouldn't fret at all

You know she's going to be hearing "Snapper" references for the rest of her life, right? :D

Big congrats!!

73trix

Consultant says not concerned but when I asked about the 5th percentile she explained how hard measuring is cos baby moving so much. At the same time she later suggested another scan in 4wks just to be sure. I m not sure if she'd have ordered one only that I asked about it! Happier for it to be monitored anyway.

ShaShaBear

73trix wrote: »

Consultant says not concerned but when I asked about the 5th percentile she explained how hard measuring is cos baby moving so much. At the same time she later suggested another scan in 4wks just to be sure. I m not sure if she'd have ordered one only that I asked about it! Happier for it to be monitored anyway.

My daughter's BPD was below the 5th percentile at my 32 week scan. Refused to speak to me about it and said results like that could only be discussed with the consultant. I didn't have one, because I was in MLU care. Rang my midwife in a flood of tears and she was raging. Told me that baby had been head down at the last few appointments and sitting in that position with a soft head could definitely warp the results and not to worry. Sure as was said, I gave birth to a perfectly healthy little girl three years ago and her head was perfectly sized (and shaped).

73trix

That's good to know. Sounds like the baby's head is soft and manipulative at this stage so measurements can be obscured. Hoping that's the story. Any scans I've had do look in proportion etc but I'm sure I'll worry regardless until I have healthy baby in my arms. Roll on 7-8 wks.

73trix

SOOOO, it's going to be a long and worrying last few weeks for us.

We had the repeat scan at 36wks and Baby's head is still measuring small at 5th percentile so no change but it is still growing so at least that. She did say if it was continuing along the plot it was more positive, it hasn't stopped growing (oh lord, how scary) . She said it could be fine or it could be an underlying genetic problem - GREAT. She said she's seen babies with similar results be fine but gave us the option of getting further tests done in holles st, but that they may not be able to tell us anything else. We've decided against putting ourselves thro the stress of that, given that we may not learn anything new, and it's not going to change anything anyway. She then asked us was there a history of small heads in our families and went on to say bigger heads weer usually more of a concern... yadda, yadda.

My OH had something in the back of his head about a niece having a smaller than aver head and checked it out. was told by granny ( we don't want to concern anyone else at this stage) that yes, they were concerned about her and even after she was born at 6 month developmental but anyway, she is 8 now and fine. So, we are trying to cling onto that for hope.

Bottom line, is that I'm worried sick and it has put such a cloud over the coming weeks. Sorry for the downer but I don't have anyone to talk to about it and don't want to be unnecessarily worrying those nearest and dearest as it could all turn out to be fine but my heart is sinking. I just don't know how I'm going to get through the next 4-5 weeks. I've had a perfect pregnancy, really enjoyed it and relished it as it is definitely our last - age - and now I'm in knots. woke up so depressed this morning. Can't stop crying.

Millem

73trix so sorry to hear. My consultant wasn't even going to scan me last week as he said they are just not accurate at this stage.....I insisted just as I felt baby was getting close. Anyway he scanned me and said there was a 10% margin for error.
Fingers crossed all is good not long for you now.

moleary20

Oh Trix, you poor thing.

We had similar upset last week around the femural length (2.3%) and the only thing I can say is every person that I spoke to said that scanning is totally unreliable at this stage and that small measures on their own without any other known markers are usually just that.

While it's well and good to say forget about it and focus on your baby being healthy etc it's so hard to hear these things at this stage. I would say speak to as many of your care providers as you can - consultant, GP etc. I also posted a thread on rollercoaster.ie and found that even two or three good news stories helped me to get my head a bit straighter.

In the meantime, please keep writing here and don't be worrying about bringing a downer on things, pregnancy is not easy at all and we all know it and are only too happy to give any support we can.xx

73trix

moleary20 wrote: »

Oh Trix, you poor thing.

We had similar upset last week around the femural length (2.3%) and the only thing I can say is every person that I spoke to said that scanning is totally unreliable at this stage and that small measures on their own without any other known markers are usually just that.

While it's well and good to say forget about it and focus on your baby being healthy etc it's so hard to hear these things at this stage. I would say speak to as many of your care providers as you can - consultant, GP etc. I also posted a thread on rollercoaster.ie and found that even two or three good news stories helped me to get my head a bit straighter.

In the meantime, please keep writing here and don't be worrying about bringing a downer on things, pregnancy is not easy at all and we all know it and are only too happy to give any support we can.xx

Update- baby girl born 4 days ago. Absolutely perfect.Her.head size in normal range. So relieved. True that those late scans can be inaccurate.

missjuly

73trix wrote: »

SOOOO, it's going to be a long and worrying last few weeks for us.

We had the repeat scan at 36wks and Baby's head is still measuring small at 5th percentile so no change but it is still growing so at least that. She did say if it was continuing along the plot it was more positive, it hasn't stopped growing (oh lord, how scary) . She said it could be fine or it could be an underlying genetic problem - GREAT. She said she's seen babies with similar results be fine but gave us the option of getting further tests done in holles st, but that they may not be able to tell us anything else. We've decided against putting ourselves thro the stress of that, given that we may not learn anything new, and it's not going to change anything anyway. She then asked us was there a history of small heads in our families and went on to say bigger heads weer usually more of a concern... yadda, yadda.

My OH had something in the back of his head about a niece having a smaller than aver head and checked it out. was told by granny ( we don't want to concern anyone else at this stage) that yes, they were concerned about her and even after she was born at 6 month developmental but anyway, she is 8 now and fine. So, we are trying to cling onto that for hope.

Bottom line, is that I'm worried sick and it has put such a cloud over the coming weeks. Sorry for the downer but I don't have anyone to talk to about it and don't want to be unnecessarily worrying those nearest and dearest as it could all turn out to be fine but my heart is sinking. I just don't know how I'm going to get through the next 4-5 weeks. I've had a perfect pregnancy, really enjoyed it and relished it as it is definitely our last - age - and now I'm in knots. woke up so depressed this morning. Can't stop crying.

Just to say I had a hospital appointment during the week and while I was waiting I was comparing the growth charts of my now 3 year old from 2014 and of my babies recent scans ( currently 29 weeks). I was thinking to myself I hope this babies measurements match my daughters because I know my 3 year old was and is healthy. I was so shocked to see that the head circumference at 34 weeks with my now 3 year old was only in the 5th percentile and all her other measurements were between 20th and 30th. In retrospect I'm glad I never noticed as it would have caused me unnecessary worry. She was born a week over due with no health complications weighing 7lb 11oz and a completely average sized head.
I'm so sorry you are going through all this stress and worry.

missjuly

Just seen you had your baby and everything is good! Happy to hear congratulations 🎉🎊

73trix

missjuly wrote: »

Just seen you had your baby and everything is good! Happy to hear congratulations 🎉🎊

Gosh I thought I'd posted an update here! I meant to. Tnx.