Baby with short long bones

[alpenn236]

Hi,
I wondered if anyone is in the same situation or can offer some sound advice. I am 28 weeks pregnant and we were told we would have to go for extra scans as our baby is small. At the scan last week they discovered the baby has what is called 'short long bones. Its head and torso are 'normal' sized however its arms and legs are tiny and much to short for what they should be for its age. We were told to wait another 4 weeks until the next scan and to not search the internet for info. Which of course i did straight away. All related material for short long bones points at Downs syndrome but I had an amnio whihc came back clear. Also they talk ablut dwarfism which is terrifying us. It might not be that at all but there's a chance it could be. The doctor didn't mention either DS or Dwarfism in the appointment, just indicated that there's nothing they could find out until the baby is born and it might just be a small baby.
We did find this slightly reassuring but having looked at my doctors notes and the diagrams of the size of each limb I was shocked to see just how small they are compared to what they shoudl be for the age. some limbs are even off the scale. I'm petrified to say the least.
Can anybody offer and advice?
Much appreciated
Thank you x

 

[Mummy of Ange]

Cant offer much advice, but im at increased risk of downs due to an increased nuchal fold measurement at 20 weeks (which did decrease at 24 weeks), they told me that another sign of downs is a short femur bone which is about 2 weeks behind gestational age, and my little girl has always been ahead.

Seeing as you had an amnio that came back clear, i think you can relax, your baby might just be small, are you and your OH short? Remember measurements are not always accurate and baby can go through a growth spurt anytime.

Easier said than done but try not to worry, (says me who is on Google everyday)!!!

Good luck x

 

[alpenn236]

Mummy of Ange - Thank you very much for your reply. I hope all goes well with your little one x

 

[TJMYANGEL]

hiya hun have they said if the rib cage is ok or is it small aswell

 

[vixxen]

Hi alpenn236,
My baby has short long bones and IUGR linked to placenta insufficiency.
Was your placenta checked? Did they check the oxygen and blood flow?
Hopefully everything will be ok at your next scan and i'm sure you've been told this but try not to worry.

 

[mommy0101]

Hi Alpenn236,

I am currently going through almost the exact same thing. I'm 27 weeks pregnant and have just been told our baby's bones arent growing properly. There has been lots of talk about dwarfism, but I turned down the Amnio. Now that your post is over a year old, can you please send an update on how the rest of your pregnancy went and how your little one is doing?

 

[manda_roo20]

I've just come across this when googling. I've posted on this site but here's my story:

We've had our 20 week scan today and baby looks fine with good heart beat, head and face look fine, all torso and organs look good....but all 4 limbs are measuring 3-4 weeks short. Consultant has referred me to foetal medicine for further diagnosis but it's likely to be dwarfism. I can't get my head around it. Nothing prepares you for the possibility of something going wrong and right now I'm devastated. No matter what....I love this baby more than anything, but so hard to comprehend!!

plea feel free to pm me...might help to see how each other is progressing.

Aliens 236 if you have an update on how baby is that would also be great! Xx

 

[Colomom]

I feel like I need to share my story for other Moms out there...

I'm so sorry to hear about your stress with your ultrasound. I had one too at 30 weeks that showed long bones less than 5th percentile. My baby consistently measured very small for the next few weeks. They told me he would probably have some kind of dwarfism. My quad came back normal early on. The only weird thing is I showed a low PAPP-A. I declined the amino at 30 weeks. I knew it wouldn't change my mind either way. The next few weeks I cried all the time, and googled every thing about short long bones. I was very upset, but I turned my worries to The Lord. Either way I knew I would love my child he would be a blessing, and would just have a little different path in life.

I gave birth to a tiny baby boy at 3lbs 11oz 17 inches. Turns out he did not have a genetic disorder but my placenta had a virus. Coreoamnionitis. (Sp?) my son was measuring small because he was growth restricted. Thank God he can't when he did at 34.5 weeks. He spent 29 days in the NICU and is one month old and at home and perfectly healthy. He's already grown 2 inches. Please get a second opinion ultrasound. Ultrasounds are not perfect and the measurements are just guidelines. Prayer and love will get you through this.

 

[sammie13s]

I recently had a baby that suffered with servere igur but everything was growing at the same rate i.e head, abdomen, bones ect. But there is a type of iugr that your explaining. I had the amnio which came back clear to but the amnio doesnt check for dwarfism which could be something your baby as because of the different growth on different parts of the body. I was monitored twice a week with my baby and she sadly died at 9 days old due to immaturity of her longs and i had NO fluid for at least 4 weeks which meant she couldnt practice her breathing. Have they checked your placenta and done blood flows and stuff? xxx

 

[jen0622]

I am currently 24 weeks and was also told our baby had "extremely" short long bones.

At our 18 week ultrasound they told us the baby had a short femur that was measuring about two weeks behind. I also opted for the amnio at this time to rule our Downs since my quad screening came back with 1:2 risk for Downs. We received our final results and everything came back normal.

We had another ultrasound at 22 weeks to check on the short femur bone. At this ultrasound they measured all the long bones and all were measuring short, in the 1st percentile. At this appoitnemnt they also brought up skeletal dysplasia. Everything else (chest, head) were measuring normal in 40-60th percentile. They told us they will not be able to tell us more until the third trimester or until the baby is born. We also elected not to have another amnio to check for certain skeletal dysplasias.

I am curious on what the outcomes of others experiencing the same thing were. After going through 18 months of fertility treatments this has been hard for me to absorb. Can anyone else offer advice/guidance?

alpenn236 and mando_roo20 do you have an update on how your babies are doing?

 

[Jeval323]

Hopefully I can be some reassurance. My daughters long bones were way behind, specifically her femur until the day she was born. Her legs were under 2% and considered 5 weeks behind. She is now 3 months and even the day she was born, you wouldn't have even know. I hope this gives you some comfort. Here is my angel at 3 months. Perfect size. She is 50th percentile in height and weight. Although she has a huge head thanks to her fathers huge noggin!!

 

[venusflytrap]

Hi. All through my last pregnancy I was told my baby had short long bones but nothing else was ever mentioned. After his birth I was concerned about his arm and leg lengths. Finally after 5 months he had genetic bloodwork done and it came back positive for Down syndrome. It took 5 months of arguing with my doctor about something being right to get bloodwork done.

 

[minties]

Sophie's head an abdomin measured 1-2 weeks ahead, and legs 2 weeks behind. We were pretty worried! She is fine, just short.