They want another u/s

[LittleLlama]

From the beginning, the OB has seemed a little puzzled about the size of this baby. From fundal height measurements, she's small, but at the one u/s they said she looked right on track.

I went in today (because i FINALLY HAVE INSURANCE!!!!) and everything was great, my bp is good, baby's heartrate is good, then I made a comment about DS's size and that he was born right at 37 weeks (at 9lb3oz) and the Dr was very surprised. She actually asked if it was an induction (which is not so common in their practice) and I told her No, natural birth. All this was right at the end, like side-comment things and she'd already filled out the paperwork and I was on my way to checkout. So she walks with me to the scheduling desk and says "Schedule an u/s for the next visit"

She's really surprised at the potential size difference between the two babies and wants to make sure everything is on track. But gosh, what could possibly be wrong that we could do anything about at this point, KWIM?

I hadn't eaten breakfast in my rush to get there and was not feeling too hot and just thinking about food so I couldn't think of any good questions.
She also realized that I hadn't had any other bloodwork done and told me she wouldn't order any, just to keep up on the prenatals and red meat to stay off anemia. It's things like that which let me know she doesn't ask for unnecessary tests... what should I be prepared to find out?

[Momma Aimee]

i don't know that it is a question on -- imo -- looking for anything they can fix or "deal with" as much as it is just wanting to eyeball it and see what is going on -- yk?

to have a little better idea about the actual size differences and the actual postions of the babies. Better than flying blind -- yk?

Not that anything can be done -- the OB seems really relaxed (not ordering blood work and so on) and not like she is overreacting, jut wanted to see what she can see. To get a heads up and be aware of what they can -- ie one baby much bigger, then possible there could be concerns with the much smaller one at birth and to be ready before the baby is born might have importnat time .....

I wouldn't be worried -- just look froward tot he amazing sight of the babies in the womb and keep taking care of yourself.

[gcgirl]

Yeah, sounds like a case of trying to be prepared, but if you don't want one, just say no thanks. There's not a whole lot to tell at this point anyway, right?

[Isaac'sMa]

Hmmm...sounds like you could easily decline if you want to. Just to clarify, they want to check on the weight/size? I'm not sure there would be much to be gained from that perspective since weight estimates are notoriously inaccurate. OTOH this OB sounds very reasonable and pretty anti-intervention so maybe there are other reasons she wants the U/S too. I think I would ask her that before making up your mind.

P.s. SO glad you have insurance now! What a relief after all that stress, eh?

[GinaRae]

She might want to give steroids, right?

Or just be prepared for size since underweight babies can have blood sugar problems, seizures, etc when they're born.

ALSO, she might want regular NST appointments done because she is worried about a placental problem. Like early aging or IUGR I think it's called.


Sorry you're going thru this! It stinks because I don't really think u/s is a good size predictor - there are SO many that are wrong! But what else to do?

[Googy]

I know its scary, but your OB probably figures its better to be safe than sorry, you know? Please keep us posted!

[*Lindsey*]

Sarah.

Keep us posted!

[LittleLlama]

Originally Posted by GinaRae

She might want to give steroids, right?

Or just be prepared for size since underweight babies can have blood sugar problems, seizures, etc when they're born.

ALSO, she might want regular NST appointments done because she is worried about a placental problem. Like early aging or IUGR I think it's called.


Sorry you're going thru this! It stinks because I don't really think u/s is a good size predictor - there are SO many that are wrong! But what else to do?

These are great points. I got no indication that there is anything pressing since she attached it to my appt in two weeks, not something right away. On one hand, I just want to be patted on the head and told everything is fine, OTOH, I thrive when there's something to stress and fuss over and make sure I'm doing everything right and finding out everything about the situation I can!

After the appt in 2 weeks, they'll start seeing me weekly. Gosh, at this point with DS, I was having weekly appts alternating NST and U/S!

I know the size measurements with u/s can be off, but if something looks REALLY off, I want to know (they put DS almost 2 pounds heavier than he was in the last couple weeks)

This is a little o/t, but fascinating... It was crazy talking to my aunt. It struck me when she said "Oh, if you have a little baby, be prepared for a fast birth!"
All 3 of her kids were around 6 pounds and she had SCARY-fast labors. I think one was about 20 minutes from first contraction to baby being born! her 3rd actually gave her enough time to get to the hospital only because she had a couple hours between both ctx... That's right, two contractions, each the most intense and painful thing she could ever imagine and he was born immediately after the 2nd in the bag!

My brother was a preemie and came very fast, I was frank-breech and they didn't have enough time to administer pain meds, let alone the c-sec they wanted to do. Bro and I were both little. Then comes me and my cousin... her son was over 10 pounds (she's under 5' tall) and she was stalled at 6cm for around 36 hours when they decided it was best to do a c-sec. My son was 9 pounds and I had a perfectly fine birth (about 10 hours from first ctx to delivery). It just makes me think that the genetics in our family facilitate lightning fast tiny babies and slower going big babies. I'm really hoping for something between like I did with DS and defy genetics!!!!

[gamitzer]

It does seem like a size check, but as PPs said, I don't think u/s is a perfect size predictor. When we were at the OB's office yesterday, the doctor had my wife do a u/s right after the internal exam. We've had some blood pressure drama (well, the OBs office has had some drama getting a good bp reading...hmph!) so the doc felt that my wife should have a u/s to check size. They did the u/s (only about 10 minutes as opposed to the first one that lasted about 30), and estimated that the baby is on target at about 6lbs.
So...my advice is to not worry to much about it, or opt out if they'll let you. I don't know what they're looking for, but if they have any concerns, I'd say it's better just to do the u/s to know one way or the other how things are going.

[Momma Aimee]

I know the size measurements with u/s can be off, but if something looks REALLY off, I want to know (they put DS almost 2 pounds heavier than he was in the last couple weeks)

and remember there is INTERNAL consistancy -- ie it may say one baby is 5 pounds and one bay 2.5 (it won't i am looking for easy numbers ) ... and that 5 pound baby might be 6 pounds ... but at least you know that baby 2 is half the other babis size .... you know? the actual number of the weight may be waaay off -- but when you compare the two babies THAT SHOULD BE "CORRCET" -- SEE WHAT I MEAN.

SOORY tHEO WAS HELPING ==

so while you can't really say "oh this baby weighs this much" and give birth and have it be correct -- you should be able to tell the difference int eh two babies....

AImee

[LittleLlama]

I think one thing that is throwing the Dr for a loop is that this baby just isn't filling my uterus. Well, the last baby that wsa in there was enormous!

[Free Thinker]

My first baby was bigger, 8lb4oz, bigger than I expected! I measured right on the whole time. With my second I started measuring smaller, and as the weeks went by I became more than 4cm smaller than my EDD. My OB did an extra US to check for IUGR, but she was fine, just smaller. She is still petite at age 2, so it's just her build. My OB was never alarmed, just wanted to check to make sure something wasn't wrong. After that I had a few NST to check on baby, but nothing else. She was 6lb 15oz, so over a lb smaller than her sister. If it is something like IUGR, I think that's easier to actually diagnose than to guesstimate the size of hte baby b/c if a baby has IUGR the head will be bigger and the limbs/body smaller than GA. I agree that US can be off size-wise, but I would still rather check to make sure nothing was wrong, KWIM? It sounds like your OB is just wanting to keep an eye on it and make sure nothing is wrong. Good Luck! I hope it's just a smaller baby! I had heard taht second babies were almost always bigger, but mine sure wasn't!