Second baby with IUGR and Low AFI

[Jess.Taylor21]

Hi everyone,

Not sure if this is the right place to post or not, just looking for some friendly advise really.

Bit about me... My First pregnancy (a long awaited viable baby!) was very stressful and monitored and nothing like i imagined pregnancy to be like. At 20 weeks they discovered that Millie was measuring small and I had below average waters, from this point on I was monitored and scanned every 2-3 weeks until I was finally induced at 36 weeks due to further reduced waters and a drop in percentile. I gave birth to my gorgeous girl of 5lbs 5oz not bad considering she was estimated 4.5lbs!

Hubby and I weren't expecting to have another little miracle what with all the problems we had had trying to conceive Millie, so we decided to just leave it in mother natures hands, and then low and behold we fell pregnant again with baby no2!! Very excited but also anxious as we had so many problem with Millie. Everything up to date has gone smoothly I have been consultant led the whole way through again and have had my normal appointments at 12 & 20 weeks and the booked in a few extra growth scans at 28 weeks and 32 weeks. At the last scan (20 weeks) they were happy with baby and things were looking like I might get a normal natural birth rather than being induced. Unfortunately yesterdays scan (28 weeks) didn't go as well as we had anticipated baby is now measuring small (under 10th percentile) so they have now labled me as suspected IUGR again, they also measured my Amniotic Fluids and they are on the lower end of normal too only having 9cms with the deepest pool being 3.8cms. My main concern however was the umbilical artery PI which was only on the 5th percentile and at 0.80. I have no idea what this means but from what i gather from google it means the flow through the umbilical to the baby isn't great. Does anyone have any experience with this that can help or give advice on what this may mean?

I did have a consultants appointment after my scan yesterday but it wasn't my consultant it was a on call registrar which i was a bit annoyed about as my consultant knows me and knows my previous history and worries with my daughter. I felt that the lady i saw yesterday sugar coated things in to sounding like they were fine although her notes suggested something completely different as did the sonographers reaction to such a low Umbilical Artery PI.

Its all very confusing and i'm now left worrying until my next scan at 32 weeks which I feel is a long time in between scans given my history of IUGR and also recurrent miscarriages.

Sorry for SUPER DUPER long post but if you made it to the end, any advice and experiences would be greatly appreciated

Jess xx

 

[Ceejay123]

This hits very close to home for me. .

My son was born with IUGR. He was estimated to be 5.5lbs- but born less than 4.5lbs. 1.98kg. He had to be tube fed and kept at hospital for a short while. They try to tell you that it's less likely with subsequent babies, but we know our bodies.

Have they booked you in for another scan? They should be monitoring you bi-weekly now? And have they considered putting you on aspirin? It simply means that your baby doesn't have the 'usual' blood flow, and it's fluids are a little low which can cause restricted growth. That doesn't mean that the baby won't be perfectly healthy, it just may not be as plump as it should have been.

From now they should measure you constantly; with growth scans to make sure your baby doesn't get 'static growth' like my little boy. If that doesn't happy, and your fluids stay okay.. they're likely to try to let you progress as far as they can before inducing. All you can do (as hard as I know it is) is wait for your next growth scan . Hope things go well x x

 

[SisterRose]

My first two babies were IUGR. I was scanned every two weeks from 28 weeks with each. I know its very stressful and you cant help but worry but try to relax a little. They will be keeping a very close eye on you and the baby to make sure that everything is ok and the moment that they suspect anything is wrong they will bring baby out rather than risk keeping you pregnant.

do you know the gender? My first two were girls. No.1 was 6lb 2oz at almost 39 weeks induction due to reduced growth

no.2 was 5lb 5oz at 37+5weeks due to reduced growth/IUGR and was on 1st centile. Both girls.

i prepared myself for the same thing this time around, and did have reduced uterine artery dopplers at 20 weeks with no.3 but all growth scans from 28weeks showed he was growing great! I was induced in the end but for blood pressure bot growth and he was 6lb 14oz at 37+1 so would have made a great weight at term!

beat of luck to you x

 

[Jess.Taylor21]

Hiya thanks for your replys and support its nice to know I'm not alone with what I'm going through

Yes I have been on aspirin since I found out as I was with my daughter too, I think my main concern is that they are leaving it 4 weeks before my next scan, this just seems like such a long time and anything could happen in that time especially weight becoming 'static'

I phoned the hospital and have asked to see the consultant again (my usual consultant) but they can't get me in with her until the 25th November so still another 2 weeks away but hopefully she will be able to re-assure me a bit more than the on call reg yesterday!

No we haven't found out the sex this time decided to keep it a surprise as this will 100% be our last baby!!

Do either of you know much about the umbilical artery PI? There doesn't seem to be a lot of information around about it at all!! I have seen that really high AR PI is bad but also someone has said that a really low PI resulted in her stillborn 😳 obviously this worries the hell out of me seeing as mine was belowe the lowest line on the chart! 😞 xxx

 

[Ceejay123]

I'm sorry, I don't They didn't find out why stopped growing.. I was just scanned at 34 weeks and he wasn't growing. (after a lot of ignoring my concerns over my tiny bump)

Hopefully the aspirin and monitoring will help. I'm not sure why they're leaving you four weeks without a scan though.. I thought it was 2 weeks once IUGR was confirmed. x

 

[kitty_el]

My first pregnancy my dd was IUGR this wasn't identidied until 35 weeks though and I was induced 2 weeks later she was just over 5lb.
I got pregnant 9 months later with another girl. She was measuring perfect at 20 weeks. I had a growth scan at 28 weeks & she was measuring on the 10th percentile. I had another growth scan at 30 weeks & she had dropped to 5th percentile. I then had to have fortnightly growth scans and weekly Doppler scans. Everything was fine apart from tiny baby until 36 weeks when my fluid dropped low. Following this I was having 3 Doppler scans & NST each week. I was booked for an induction at 38 weeks but a scan at 37/3 showed fluid had dropped to below 3 & baby didn't move at all so I was induced that night. DD was born perfectly healthy weighing 5lb 4.

Please try not to worry, I know this is easier said than done but the doctors do know what they are doing, they are very experienced in this area and if they feel baby is not doing well they will get baby out.
That being said, I would expect them to be scanning you fortnigyly now not waiting 4 weeks. I would be very, very vigilant with monitoring babies movements & if you feel they have decreased get straight down to MAU to get baby checked out!!!

xxx

 

[Jess.Taylor21]

Hi thanks for your reply I managed to get another consultants appointment with my usual consultant but it's not till the 25th November so have a few weeks till then, I just have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, do you know what I mean? I can still feel little movemts here and there so I know baby is still active but I can't help but worry whether baby is getting enough from me :'( so worried!! Xx

 

[kitty_el]

If you are worried phone the MAU and ask if you can go in for a NST especially if you aren't feeling a lot of movement, they may offer you a scan, it hasn't got to come from a consultant ref. if you attend twice for reduced movements they always scan & check the fluid at my hospital.

During my pregnancy I actually found two of the registrars more competent, professional and more willing to listen to my concerns than my consultant - who quite frankly I didn't trust at all. It was one of the registrars who admitted me for my induction after the consultant sent me home the day before. She could not believe I hadn't been induced already!

You need to trust your own instincts, you're the person responsible for your baby and if you feel something isn't right you need to speak up!!