Dwarfism or something else?

[Ashley25]

hi

I am in shock right now and need some help.

here are my measurements -

30weeks= Head 73% percentile
Abdomen 55th%
Femur 42nd%


last week I went to get an ultrasound and the arms and legs have basically stopped growing

33 weeks 5days= Head 94th% percintle

Abdomen 81st%
Femur 3rd% (measured 31w3d)
Humerus 9th%

went for one more ultrasound yesterday and..

34 weeks 4 days= Head 98% percentile
Abdomen 82%
Femur 3rd% (measured 32weeks some days)
Humerus 19%

the doctor said she doesn't suspect dwarfism because babies who have it usually measure weeks behind but she can't of course guarantee me. my husband is relieved but i am still in panic mode. she told me i wouldn't need another ultrasound. i just wanted to see if anyone had any good stories for me... we are both pretty tall and both do have big heads but the long bone measurements still keep me up at night.

Is it a good sign that there has been SOME growth in femur even if i'm still 2 weeks and a few days behind? help please =(

 

[W8ing4ours]

Hey Ashley, sorry for how you must be feeling right now. When I was 24 weeks pregnant with my son my growth scan also showed very small arms and legs, but a normal size head. She mentioned dwarfism at the time and we were so upset. I spent the next 4 weeks worried sick. I had another growth scan at 28 weeks and only his head had grown since the 24 week scan. I ended up giving birth to him to him 2 weeks later. He had "head sparing IUGR". Our bodies can do miraculous things, and my placenta had stopped working and somehow my body spared his head development. He was very little (just under 2 lbs) and spent a couple months in the NICU but this weekend he turns 5 and he is completely normal and healthy. Absolutely no side effects of the IUGR. Is your baby at a normal weight for 34 weeks? I wonder if there couldn't be something similar going on.

 

[LadyLovenox]

My best friend just went through the same exact thing and just had her baby 10 days ago . Perfect, healthy, and looks absolutely proportionate! No issues at all!

 

[Ashley25]

oh my goodness thank you so much!! so scary not know if something will be wrong until I give birth. third trimester ultrasounds are the worst!
has anyone else has experience with small measurements especially short long bones?

 

[missielibra]

Hi!
My mom is a little person. I am not.
She had weekly scans with me, and everything. (It's dominant, so there was no chance of me passing it to my son, since the gene was not passed down to me). I am not a doctor, but if it were dwarfism, the arms and legs would not even be in a percentile. And from what I see they haven't stopped growing. If he was in the 3rd percentile for femur, and a week later he was still in the 3rd percentile, it has grown. If it had stopped, he would be smaller than 3rd percentile, this meant, he kept the 3rd percentile curb. And the humerus grew. I wouldn't be too worried!

 

[Ashley25]

thank you so much!!! I know I'm trying to say to myself that if there was even a tiny bit of growth then it should be a good sign. whats scaring me now is that I don't think i want to get another ultrasound until my c-section (i'm 36 weeks and the section is at 39) I just don't know if it would make me panic even more.... I've been reading that with dwarfism that the long bones would be WEEKS behind and mine aren't that bad but I'm still so scared

 

[sammie13s]

My last two pregnancies was severe Iugr. Babies heads always measured on track but femur length was always short. Something like the 5th centile. Have you had a doppler scan to see how your placenta is doing? It's your body's natural response for the baby to gain weight where it's most important. The head. X

 

[Ashley25]

thank you so much for replying! if anyone else has had a baby with short femurs / long bones with or without a big head, please share! I am so stressed

 

[W8ing4ours]

Was just thinking of you Ashley, are you 2 weeks out? Hoping for the best

 

[Ashley25]

Was just thinking of you Ashley, are you 2 weeks out? Hoping for the best

thank you so much!!! c-section is next week. I'm so nervous because my amniotic fluid is at 19 which i read can be another sign of dwarfism. i didn't go for any more ultrasounds I've been too afraid.. i posted a pic of my last ultrasound if anyone had similar measurements. i keep reading that with dwarfism, femurs measure further behind but I've of course read some that were onlyy 2-3 weeks =( if anyone else has any experience let me know... thanks for thinking of me i will update with what happens

 

[Demotivated]

Didnt have a similar experience but till 36th week scan, my son was measuring behind on all parameters. head was femur/humerus was 3/5 percentile .. head/abdomen was 25/20 percentile.
3 weeks later, he came out fine.. weighing 6lbs and perfectly proportionate..

 

[bumble b]

My boys long bones were short. He had what they assume was iugr as we had an amnio to rule out anything genetic. He was little, had to roll up sleeves etc for ages but at nearly 5 you would never know, took him ages to catch up but he did xx

 

[emzeebob]

My best friend was told all the way through pregnancy her now 3 year old would be born with dwarfism, I went to lots of scans with her to keep an eye on him, she saw so many consultants during her pregnancy explaining what was going to happen to him etc and when he was born he was fine, and still is fine and he's growing like a normal 3 year old no dwarfism at all, he's been discharged from the consultant they were seeing aswell

 

[schneiderkm1]

Wow, smart way to look at the third percentile thing! I wouldn’t have thought of that at all, how if it were that percentile both times it still means it grew. Genius

OP, wishing you the best!! Glad you seem less stressed now