# Iufd & iugr



## Jox

My 1st son was stillborn (intra uterine fetal death - IUFD) at 36+2 weeks weighing 4lb1oz.

My 2nd son (born 8 months later) was delivered at 34+3 weeks after he stopped growing 2 weeks before. He weighed 5lb 4oz which i know for stopping growing at 32 weeks is amazing!!

Im now expecting my 3rd baby. My notes say 1st IUFD and 2nd IUGR.

We are assuming my 1st son had IUGR before he died in my tummy and if it had not been detected with my 2nd he may too have grown his wings :cry:

This time I am on Clexane and Aspirin and really hoping I can get baby to 38 weeks but after my previous 2 pregnancies cant help but think this baby will have IUGR too :-(

Im already so worried about getting to the 30+ weeks as i know im just gonna panic so much :-(

Does any one have experience of 2 or more pregnancies with IUGR?

thank you in advance :flower:


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## PoodleMommy

I don't have personal experience with this yet, but I am at high risk of IUGR and pre-eclampsia, so I've done a lot of research on this. My OB told me flat-out there is nothing that can be done to prevent them. Well, after the research I've done, I completely disagree!

By far, the best resource I've found for preventing IUGR is something called the Brewer Diet. Please see these links:

https://www.blueribbonbaby.org/
https://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/id64.html 

Also, here are things that have helped other women with previous cases of IUGR:

low-dose aspirin
fish oil
calcium
vitamin D
zinc
CoQ10

progesterone

bed rest on left side + 30-60 minutes walking/stretching daily

acupuncture

Also, please request:

1) A screen for MSAFP at 16 weeks (ask your doctor to explain this); 
2) a &#8216;targeted&#8217; ultrasound to carefully evaluate the baby&#8217;s anatomy and growth; 
3) Doppler flow velocimetry of the uterine arteries at the time of the &#8216;targeted&#8217; ultrasound to look for increased resistance to maternal-placental perfusion (indicative of an abnormality of placentation); 
4) Serial assessment of fetal growth, and; 
5) Doppler flow studies on the fetal umbilical cord and middle cerebral arteries to look for evidence of increased resistance to fetal-placental perfusion (again, indicative of abnormal placental vascularization) and fetal blood flow redistribution (suggestive of preservation of the brain at the expense of perfusion of less &#8216;essential&#8217; organs), respectively. None of these will accurately predict outcome, but if they are abnormal, can justify more intensive antepartum fetal surveillance so that chances of delivering a healthy baby, regardless of the gestational age, are improved.

&#8226; Zinc is stored in the placenta. High levels of zinc assure a greater birth weight baby

&#8226; Vitamin E, gingko biloba and co-enzyme Q10 are all thought to improve blood supply	

Sleeping: most cell repair and cell growth takes place when you are asleep

Giving up work: you should try and stop work by week 32-34. To maintain adequate blood supply you need to rest in the last 2 months of pregnancy. Stress causes the blood cells to constrict thereby restricting flow. Overwork may cause premature birth and or low birth weight baby. Problems with the placenta are always linked to raised blood pressure, tobacco, caffeine, alcohol, and overwork and lack of rest. Tests can be conducted to detect placental malfunction; ultrasound measures flow to see if baby's growth is being ******** because of oxygen depravation.


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## PoodleMommy

This is a summary of the Brewer Diet (not really a "diet" since it's a LOT of food, designed to nourish both baby and placenta to prevent IUGR):

BREWER PREGNANCY DIET

Every day of the week, you and your baby must have:

- One quart (4 cups) of milk. Any kind will do: whole milk, low fat, skim, powdered, or buttermilk. If you do not like milk, you can substitute one cup of yogurt for each cup of milk.
- Two eggs.
- One or two servings of fish, shellfish, chicken or turkey, lean beef, veal, lamb, pork, liver or kidney. Alternative combinations include:
- Rice with beans, cheese, sesame, milk
- Cornmeal with beans, cheese, tofu, milk.
- Beans with rice, bulgur, cornmeal, wheat noodles sesame seeds, milk.
- Peanuts with: sunflower seeds, milk.
- Whole wheat bread or noodles with: beans, cheese, peanut butter, milk, tofu.
- For each serving of meat, you can substitute these quantities of cheese:
Brick	4 oz. Longhorn	3 oz.
Camembert	6 oz. Muenster	4 oz.
Cheddar	3 oz. Monterey Jack	4 oz.
Cottage	6 oz. Swiss	3 oz.
- One or two servings of fresh, green, leafy vegetables: mustard, beet, collard, dandelion or turnip greens, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, kale, Swiss chard.
- Five servings of whole grain breads, rolls, cereals or pancakes: wheatena, 100% bran flakes, granola, shredded wheat, wheat germ, oatmeal, buckwheat or whole wheat pancakes, corn bread, corn tortillas, corn or bran or whole wheat muffins, waffles, brown rice.
- Two choices from: a whole potato (any style), large green pepper, grapefruit, lemon, lime, papaya, tomato (one piece of fruit, or one large glass of juice).
- Three pats of butter.

Also include in your diet, in addition to the above (i.e., don&#8217;t count one food in two categories):
- A yellow- or orange-colored vegetable or fruit five times a week.
- Liver once a week, if you like it.
- Table salt: SALT YOUR FOOD TO TASTE
- Water: Drink to thirst.

It is not healthy for you and your unborn baby to go even 24 hours without good food!

As for milk type, the WAP highly recommends whole milk, preferably raw and from pasture-fed cows (see www.realmilk.com). I agree that milk with some fat is best because of the issue djsnjones said about fat-soluble vitamins. And pregos need the calories and the babies&#8217; brains and bodies need the fat. (You can see the full WAP diet at https://www.westonaprice.org/children...ormothers.html)

Though the requirements for the Brewer&#8217;s diet and WAP diet seem extreme, I think they reflect more of the way people used to eat and they make sense to me. I&#8217;m eating a scaled down version of the two combined pre-prego now, and once prego will step up my intake. I really do feel like I&#8217;m eating like a queen. J And while I could not bring myself to eat liver, I can find other sources of Vitamin A, and can still know that while I may not be following the diets to the letter of the law, I&#8217;m getting far better nutrition following it loosely than if I were just eating my normal high carb (spaghetti and pb & J J), low fresh foods diet.

I&#8217;ve found my key to getting lots of milk and yogurt in, which is making a shake of milk, yogurt, cinnamon, honey, vanilla, and if available, banana. It&#8217;s really really good and I crave it all the time (we&#8217;ll see if that changes once prego. I know food aversions make it so hard to stick to any diet, but even following these guidelines loosely is better than nothing.). I also find that I can eat more eggs if they&#8217;re scrambled (because they shrink down) than hard-boiled or sunny side up. And like crunchyma5 suggested, frittatas, omelets or scrambled eggs are great ways to pile in the eggs and cheese and veggies, too.

Ina May&#8217;s Guide to Childbirth gives a good lowdown on why Brewer&#8217;s is great and why the medical community poo poos the role of nutrition in preventing MTLP.

There&#8217;s also a great booklet called &#8220;As You Eat So Your Baby Grows&#8221; by Nikki Goldbeck, CDN, which gives a good short synopsis of what we need to eat and why. It seems like a good general blend of Brewer&#8217;s and good common sense. While I don&#8217;t agree with all of it or would modify some parts, it&#8217;s really generally good and goes far beyond the standard diet reqs. for pregos. Note: It recommends not eating too much red meat b/c pesticides are held in saturated fat, and other sources will say that, too, but grass-fed beef does not pose these problems. (See WAPF for more info on the benefits of grass-fed meat.)

Also Susun Weed&#8217;s Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year has some good reqs for preventing pre-e. Has anyone followed these and found them helpful? I&#8217;m giving the Brewer&#8217;s/WAP/Susun Weed info to a mom that is preg with her 4th and had pre-e with all three prior. Any further recommendations for her would be great. Or if anyone has had pre-e more than once and then made these dietary changes and didn&#8217;t have it again, I&#8217;d love to hear your story.

Here&#8217;s a brief sampling of Susun Weed&#8217;s pre-e prevention recommendations:

*drink red raspberry leaf tea daily (hot, iced, mixed with juice, in cubes mixed with other drinks- find a way!) you can also drink it combined with nettle leaf and dandelion leaf.
*exercise regularly and decrease emotional stress
*eat raw garlic, parsley and onions to help lower blood pressure. Eat daily (in garlic and parsley pesto, for example).
*add the juice of half a lemon or lime in half a cup of water daily. If already pre-eclamptic, all water should have lemon/lime in it.
*eat a raw ripe cucumber every day.
*eat 60-80 grams of protein daily. Basically, protein every few hours. Be strict with yourself about this if you are truly pre-eclamptic.
*salt food to taste. You need salt to hold fluids in your body.
*eat foods high in Calcium (greens, seaweed, nettles, dandelion leaves, cheese, yogurt, salmon, tahini.)
*eat often and well (at least 2400 calories a day for one baby)
*increase your daily intake of potassium- bananas, potato peels, mint, seaweeds, watercress, nettles
*drink 4 oz. of raw beet juice daily. This balances your sodium/potassium ratio of your blood and is also one of the fastest and most effective ways to increase available calcium in the body. If you don&#8217;t have access to a juicer, grate one raw beet and one raw apple together for a crunchy snack.

Whether you use Susun Weed&#8217;s, Brewer&#8217;s, Goldbeck&#8217;s or WAPF&#8217;s diet, or a blend of all four (which I plan on doing), they all have the same basic guidelines that are different from the standard guidelines pregos are given. They emphasize high protein intake from real food sources, salting to taste, and being proactive to get the right amount of calcium, potassium, etc, from food, not just supplements, etc.


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