Has anyone had a growth ultrasound?

tranmereforever

penguin83 wrote: »

Try not to worry. I have had two growth scans which say baby is big but they are happy to let me go naturally at term (currently 39 weeks).

Judging by your username you will be at the same hospital as me and the consultants/midwives and sonographers have all been great, happy to answer questions and put your mind at ease.

Hope all goes well. xx

Many thanks for the reply, I am down south now im afraid Wish I was still living closer to home

Nicki

I've had 3 children all under consultant care and have never had my bump measured, as the consultant thinks the results of that are so inaccurate as to be utterly meaningless. I've also had routine scans at 32 weeks with all 3, and the predicted end weights were also well out. Predicting how big or small a baby will be is a very inexact science it seems!

pigpen

Judi wrote: »

Wheres Pigpen when we need her?

Here! lol.

Back to back or transverse (lying hip to hip rather than up to down) are often way off on measurements. Breech babies often measure smaller as their bottom is smaller than the head and fits lower in the pelvis.. there are a thousand reasons to measure smaller.. I had one muppet MW used the wrong end of the tape measure!!!! Another measured one of mine as huge.. until she realised her dog had chewed the bottom 8cm off her tape measure!

The measurements are very very unreliable... it can change from each person to measure, if baby moves a fraction.

Think about yourself laid in bed.. sometimes you lay all snuggled and curled in a ball and you take up less space. Other times you stretch out and the space you occupy is completely different. It is just the same with a baby... but they are cocooned in a nest of bones and internal organs rather than just a duvet.

There are lots and lots of waste of time scans for this and babies measuring big and you go for the scan and everything is perfect.. think of it as an extra peek at baby.. and ask for a few freebie pics (I am that cheeky!!) The chances are everything is fine but on the rare occasion it isn't it is beng picked up now and things can be kept under a watchful eye.

The guestimated weights can be up to 1.5lb off either way so don't take any notice of that.. They told me my son was 6lbish and he was 3lb 10!!

I'd bet everything will be as it should be!

quinechinoise

My OB did scans every 4 weeks, to measure growth. He said it was the only accurate way to check the baby's size (and he was spot on for weights, both times). The midwives never measured me accurately - how can a tape measure over your tummy tell how big the baby inside your tummy is? It's just a guess, albeit often a reasonably good one. If you're a small person or small babies/premies run in your family, then maybe you'll always measure small. Or maybe your bump is just carrying high. Or whatever. The baby is probably just fine.

ladybez

When the Midwife measures your "bump" it is actually a measurement of the fundal height (Top of the womb) So this can be affected by many things including whether Mum has a long or short trunk. There is also an element of inter-practitioner estimation.

Estimated fetal weight is known to be accurate ot +/- 20% so plenty of room for error.

Enjoy it as an extra chance to see little one and try not to worry!

MissKeith

With my fundal height I was measuring small all through my pregnancy so I had a few extra growth scans as my BMI is technically underweight too. When they did the scan, the baby looked big! When he was eventually born, he was a perfect 7lb but quite tall which is probably why all the measurements were wonky. Go figure!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

The fundal height for DD1 was huge. So I was referred for a growth scan. But she turned out to be breech and never ever got near anything resembling engaging any part of her. Well, apart from her right foot. That felt like it was trying to come out for the last ten weeks alright :cool: Even her growth scan suggested a giant, 12lb baby, but probably because there was no structures or bones or anything obscuring any part of her. And her head kept moving backwards and forwards as the scanner pressed against it to do the measuring, so the sonographer never measured from the same spot twice. Not even when trying to reach the other end, she'd already moved more.

7 lb 11 3/4 oz, and 56 cm of child later, following an elective section, she was perfect. I was, however, rather like a giant whiskey barrel from about week 32 onwards, as she was wedged in the corners with her head up under my right ribs and her left foot over the other side. I have stretch marks that are over an inch across on my sides.


DD2, however, was much lower and made me stick out at the front like Mr Greedy. Her measurements were textbook, and because she was presenting normally, a spontaneous VBAC was planned.

Just under 24 hours after my show, 9 lb 4 oz and 69cm of stroppy, shouting DD2 was helped out via a set of forceps and a doctor who wedged his foot against the trolley to provide something to stop him losing his grip, as her head got stuck 3/4 of the way through a rotation as the ventouse popped off and wouldn't reattach.

There were lots of normal type stretchmarks on my tummy.


So, all ended well, and the indications for both were a little contradictory.


Enjoy another glimpse before baby comes.

SkintGypsy

Both of my babies measured small from the outside (I'm a small size 8 woman) and both were fine on growth scan and 7.3 and 7.5 born full term. Try not to worry. Too much!

morocha

I had one too, try not to worry, i was very small, many people thought i was 20 weeks when i was 36+, i only put on 8lbs and baby weight 7lbs 1 1/2 and perfectly fine, every woman is different.

mishkanorman

I found the scans to be pretty inaccurate too - we had 3 extra growth scans, due to a known issue, the last one being the week before he was born. He was estimated at 6lb 4oz and was actually 8lb 2oz !