Not good after 20 week scan

sassygirl_2

I measured really small throughout my 3rd pregnancy and they said she would be a tiny little dot according to scans so was in the hospital every blummin week. Yet my daughter was born weighing 8lb10oz!

bagginslover

pozalina wrote: »

Firstly, I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. It is horrible.

Personally I found the uncertainty/waiting the worst bit (worse than the eventual diagnosis of Edwards syndrome). Everyone is different and until you are in that position you don't know how you would feel/what you would do. I had always thought I would never have an amnio but at the 13wk scan when they told us the baby had a severe amount of fluid around the head and something was definitely wrong we both immediately wanted the cvs. I second what a pp said about asking for local miscarriage rates for amnio as some docs are much more experienced at it than others. Of course I was at an earlier stage than you and they knew for sure something was wrong, just didn't know what. I also agree about going with your gut instinct.

My last piece of advice is to take each day as it comes. It may seem overwhelming but just focus on getting through that day and face the next one when it comes. It was the only way we got through it.

I really hope there is nothing wrong and it is just dates/small baby.

THIS^
At my 20 week scan (which was actually done at 19 weeks) my baby was diagnosed with spina bifida, the most severe case the consultant had ever seen. I thought I'd never agree to a termination whatever, but of course, never having been in the situation, there was no way I could know that. Of course I didn't need an amnio to diagnose my baby's condition, but if it were needed in a future pregancy, I would have one immediatly.
As for the termination itself, I can't say its the best thing ever (who could?) but I think that terminating at any stage would be horrific, I draw comfort from the fact I was able to hold my baby, and say goodbye to him properly, I remember very little of his birth now.

I really hope you get the all clear soon. If you want to ask me any questions, or just chat (it can be easier with a stranger sometimes), just PM me.

carolineb23

OP, I haven't really got any advice apart from go with what your heart tells you, but I just wanted to say how very sorry I am that you are going through this and that your scan was not the happy experience it ought to have been. It's so unfair for anyone who has to go through anything like this, my thoughts are with all those who have/are.

mountainofdebt

In the worst case senario (and I really hope that it doesn't come to this) but I think I would opt for some counselling before immediately opting for an amino.

I think that it would give you a chance to rational voice your thoughts as to what your actions would be if the amino results back with even worse news.

By that if those results came back with bad news but you would still continue with the pregnancy, there is always the option of having the amino late into the pregnancy so the baby could be prepared just in case it did cause premature labour (my sister had one at about 33 weeks) but if on receipt of the bad news, you decided to terminate the pregnancy then having that amino now makes more sense

lauren_1

I forgot to mention that a dating scan isnt very accurate at all really is it? Who here has had a baby on their due date?, especially if not done by a competent sonographer, a few mm's off with the marker points and your due date could be moved to a different month let alone a week!

Please try not to worry and dont let your head go in to overdrive - when i was told my babies measurements my first thought was 'F**K the baby is going to look like timmy from southpark'

If you do decide to go for the amnio and something does show up, it is not the end of the world even though it may feel like it at the time. Many children with a birth defect or chromosomal abnormality can and will go on to have a long healthy life even though they may look different on the outside.

themull1

When i went for my 20 week scan, they put me back to 17 weeks which was annoying!! My daughter was fine.

Tigsteroonie

Hi Beakerange, and (((hug))) You ask whether this has happened to anyone else. Yes - me.

At 16 weeks, I had my triple test done, and the results came back as a 1 in 5 chance of Downs Syndrome. We talked briefly and agreed that there was no way we would terminate the baby, so decided not to have any invasive tests - we would take this baby as s/he came.

At 20 weeks, the baby was confirmed as a boy but measured very small with a short femur length.

At 21 weeks, I had an additional scan as I was participating (voluntarily) in a lifestyle/pregnancy survey. This scan included doppler tests, which showed that I had an abnormal bloodflow into the placenta - effectively the placenta was slowly starving. This explained his small size.

I had regular dopplers & scans thereafter, so that they could measure the his growth and the performance of my placenta. At 28 weeks, the bloodflow reversed and things got critical. I was given steroid injections, and made it to 29 weeks before having a c/section.

As my MSE pals will tell you, Andrew is a delightful little boy. He was born weighing just 1lb 6oz with IUGR (intra-uterine growth restriction), and spent the remainder of his gestation period being cared for by the specialists in NeoNatal Intensive Care where he learnt to breathe and feed. He came home 2 days after his original due date, weighing 4lb, still small. He didn't have Downs, and our Consultant said that short femur length isn't a very good soft marker for DS in small babies.

Andrew is now 20 months old, and has developmental delay and hearing loss, but to us he is absolutely perfect and we wouldn't have had it any other way. We are so proud of our little boy.

P.S. My signature updates regularly with his progress - the "up. down" bit refers to the fact that he is currently mastering walking!

bagginslover

Has anyone at the hospital mentioned ARC to you? ARC stands for Antinatal Results and Choices, it's a charity that councils people who receive bad, or worrying news about their baby during pregnancy. They are on the web, and have volunteers on the end of the phone if you need to talk to someone impartial, and who can explain things to you if everything the doctors said is a bit of a blur. They are wonderful people, and won't push you either way.

meritaten

are you SURE that the baby is 20 weeks? because its possible that you had a positive test one week and that feotus failed, and you then became pregnant within a week? Scans are NOT always a good indicator of the age of the baby.
I had three scans with No2 son and every one of them agreed that the due date was early November. I went nearly three weeks overdue and was induced - only to find that the baby was only 6lbs 4ozs and covered with vernix - the midwife stated that in her opinion he was three to four weeks early! He was very long - the length of him was of a full term baby - but he obviously wasnt! so dont put too much faith in the scan hun - its NOT an exact science despite what the medical professionals would like you to believe!

alm721

I had very similar situation. 20 week scan couldn't see spine so booked for 22 week scan to check. 22 week scan showed spine was fine but head measurment hadn't changed at all and was already measuring small, booked for 24 week span. 24 week scan still no change.
Consultant said could be microcephaply, painted an exceptionally ppor picture, e.g wheelchair bound child, unable to toilet/feed themselves etc, and would advise a termination but had to do so within a couple of days due to date.
Thankfully he refered me to another hospital with a great scan unit and I saw another specialist . After a very long day I finally saw the specalist who said they thought baby was just really small but prop ok.
Pregnancy progressed ok although I did have to go for weekly doppler scans after 30 weeks as blood flow through the cord was dropping. However my daughter was born a week late and was 6lb 7oz (not that small!). She does have quite a small head but not abnormally so.
So is now 13, and excels at school and is predicted all A's and B's at G.C.SE, so not too bad for a child who may never be able to feed themselves.
My daughter definitely had no (very minimal) change in her head measurement for 4 weeks, so I would try not to panic too much yet. See what Monday brings but I would certainly get to the best scan unit you can. I dread to think of the outcome had the consultant not wanted a second opinion.