Not good after 20 week scan

beakerange

Hi All,
Not posted for a while (and not strictly moneysaving) but I always get good advice here and I am in desparate need of advice/others experiences.
Had my 20 weeks scan last Monday. It didn't go well. They couldn't get much but of what they saw the baby is small (very small like 17/18 weeks ish) and in particular femur length was small. Went back on Thurs and they got everything but a good look at the heart and EVERYTHING is small.
I am going back Monday for them to try and get the heart properly. They are saying that small baby at this stage is uncommon and if often associated with a chromosomal defect. They are offering an amnio but I am scared to do this because of the risk of miscarriage.
My son was born small (all be it he was fine at 20 weeks) they keep telling me it is NOT linked at all.
We are beside ourselves with worry not knowing what to do as I don't want to risk a potentially healthy baby but of course we are not sure we could cope with a potentially serious abnormality.
Has this ever happened to anyone else??

lauren_1

My baby constantly measured small and given his femur length (0.25 percentile) and head circ (98th percentile) there was talk of primordial dwarfism. I also had a condition called polyhydramnois (excess fluid) however i was still at least 4/6 weeks behind on the fundal height charts and I didnt show until I was around 7/8 months pregnant.

Ds caught up in the last month, everything evened out and was born at 40+4 @ 7lbs 2 oz, at 12 weeks he is 62cms but head is still rather large.

I refused an amnio however you may be offered one and can put your mind at rest.

pigpen

What would you do if the amnio showed a disorder?

If you would keep the baby, but be prepared for its arrival then for the sake of preparation I decided for me it wasn't worth the risk.

If you would terminate then I would possibly say go for the amnio.

only you can decide what is right for your family and your situation..

the chances of m/c are about 1% .. What are the chances the baby has a problem? have they suggested anything?

It is a VERY hard decision.

I would go with the amnio if it was me.. because I would terminate a child who would have a life limiting condition... but I am probably in the minority.

georgie262

I'm really sorry to hear this. I have no advice I'm afraid but I'm sure someone will be along sshortly with better advice than me. xxx

MERFE

for the moment personally I'd wait and see what they say on monday but otherwise I completely agree with pigpen.

I've had an amnio but for other reasons, I had a 1 in 74 chance DD was downs and I would not have kept her as we were very young and OH would not have coped, so I had the amnio and she was fine. There was a higher risk she had downs than of having a mc so I felt I had to find out.

Darlyd

Hey hun. AM sorry to hear of this.

I too was told my baby was to small, But the dates must of been wrong for me. I was also offered the amnio but declined. When I went for my last check up I was told small baby, Even though you could see how big I was, Was told carrying a lot of water but yeah baby is defo small.. But when she was born she weighed 10lb.14oz :eek:. What I am saying is they are not always right, Go with your gut feeling.

whitewing

With my DS blood tests showed possible Down's syndrome, and then I ended up with amnio and CVS for various reasons. He was fine in the end (but obv your scan highlights poss problems soit's not like for like). But he did have an abnormal cell line in the placenta.

For DD, I didn't want to go thro that so had no blood test.

In your situation, I wouldn't go for what the head says, I would go for what the heart says. Do think about it, but feel in yourself what you want to do, and trust that you will make the right decision whatever happens. You may not get the life you were expecting but you will make the best decision you can between you.

OrkneyStar

Very very difficult situation to be in. Wait until they tell you as much as they can with scans before going down the amnio route, but then if they offer it I would seriously consider it. Also depends on what 'defect' they find, to me something like Downs, dwarfism, cystic fibrosis etc would be much more bearable than say, a condition that meant baby would likely die straight after birth, have little mental capacity (i.e. not walk, talk, eat etc on their own)etc. I really hope you manage to get through this somehow, regardless of the outcome.

LittleMissMPB

I have to agree.... only have the amnio if it would help you make a decision. The first thing that came to mind, is are you 100% sure of your dates? Is it possible that you are only 17/18weeks? (I know some areas don't offer 12 weeks scans and my dates were as far as 4 weeks out with my daughter, when we had the scan her due date was pushed back a month).

The risk of amnio is very small, ask about the miscarriage rate at your local hospital. I know at ours they haven't had any for about 3yrs.

Hope it works out okay for you xxx

minimoneysaver

Would having a 4D scan help? I think I paid about £120 for mine, but in your case, it would be peace of mind. Worth considering if they are still scratching their heads as there are some fantastic centres out there. x

jetta_wales

This might sound like a daft question but do you smoke? Obviously most pregnant women never would but some do and this can cause a small baby.

What do they think could possibly be wrong? Are they suggesting a form of dwarfism? I think many dwarfs would be mortified to think anybody would terminate because of this as they are mentally no different to you or I and though they do have medical problems they can still lead happy fulfilling lives.

If they are worried of something much more debilitating affecting mind or causing lifelong struggle or pain then maybe that would be a cause to consider the amnio.

Best advice I can give is ask questions, lots and lots of them and do not hold any back or feel you are asking too many. Get as much information from them as you can to help clear the choice in your mind and give you the facts you need to make your decision.