Wellness

[PilatesLover]

I'm so happy to report that the ultrasound showed the baby is indeed small, but he does not meet the diagnosis of FGR and so my grandniece's pregnancy can proceed through its natural course. ♥

I'm so grateful for everyone's well wishes!

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This is essentially a prenatal condition in which the baby is smaller than it should be, for various possible reasons including placenta not doing its job well.

My grandniece is having an ultrasound tomorrow to check for it, and they will perform a Cesarean if it is positive for FGR and keep the baby in the hospital.  

Has anyone in your circle been diagnosed with this? I'm praying it's simply a small baby and they're performing the test simply to rule it out. 

[Kachina624]

@PilatesLover.  I've had no experience with this, but my best wishes for a positive outcome.   Please let us know.

[PA Mom-mom]

@PilatesLover  I also don't know about this condition, but my prayers for your grandniece and her parents. The only thing I would offer is don't drive yourself crazy looking up all the possible causes and treatments in the Internet. If the baby is in the care of good doctors, listen to them. I guess the parents could get a second opinion, if they think they need one. 

[Nonametoday]

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@PilatesLover wrote:

This is essentially a prenatal condition in which the baby is smaller than it should be, for various possible reasons including placenta not doing its job well.

My grandniece is having an ultrasound tomorrow to check for it, and they will perform a Cesarean if it is positive for FGR and keep the baby in the hospital.  

Has anyone in your circle been diagnosed with this? I'm praying it's simply a small baby and they're performing the test simply to rule it out. 

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@PilatesLover 

Long time ago before Medicine was as advanced as it is now:  A neighbor who was well up in her 30s had this condition, her one and only child.  Her baby had a few weeks  in NICU following a C-section.  The child looked like a premie for a good long while, maybe 2-3 years but she walked and talked and did everything according to a schedule.  How do I know that?  My baby was born at the same time, a full-term baby.   I was not returning to work and she was:  she was a high school principal and her husband was a TWA pilot.  So I kept our babies for her to work.  Our babies walked and talked about the same time although hers was still much smaller.  By the time they were teens, she was a normal size teen although shorter than most but not dwarfish.  She was very smart child, attended Vanderbilt and became a neonatal physician.

[spumoni99]

My twin granddaughters were premature and spent a month in the NICU, they caught up pretty quick once they came home.

I had a coworker back in the early 90's or late 80's that had a 1 pound 11 ounce baby.  She is doing fine now, she is very tall!  She was so tiny she looked like a barbie doll.  My friend asked us to go hold her, it was heartbreaking when she was so tiny.

[BExplorer]

Yes, my daughter with her first child in 2021. The reason was because the umbilical cord was attached to the side of the placenta. So basically nutrients were restricted, but everything went to the brain and the chest according to her physician. As a result, she was induced a couple weeks early and the baby's head and chest were big and the rest of the body smaller/skinnier. The physician said the rest of the body would catch up, and it did. 

The baby was born without any problems and went home from the hospital as scheduled. 

[cjm61]

@PilatesLover Yes, my daughter had IUGR, pretty much the same thing. With her first, now 3 years old, she was diagnosed when she was about 6 months pregnant. They watched her closely. Once the baby was big enough they induced labor. She ended up delivering a very healthy 4 1/2 lb baby girl. There were a dozen medical staff at delivery and none were needed, thank goodness. She had no physical issues, in fact, she is now taller than her cousin who was born 3 months earlier than she was.

Moving forward, my daughter is again pregnant and due end of June. Last month they diagnosed this pregnancy with the same thing. However, the baby is growing a little faster than baby #1. We are hoping she can hold out until at least the first week in June.

One thing we found out was it is far more common in higher altitudes. My daughter grew up near the coast of California. She now lives in Monument Colorado, almost 7,000 feet. I have no idea if this is a contributor or not. 

I would say, with my experience, not to worry too much. The doctors are much more knowledgeable these days and they monitor the baby regularly. Currently baby #2 went one month from the 23rd percentile to the 10th percentile. But, her doctors are confident things will go well.

Please keep us posted, I don't know how far along your niece is but my daughters doctor said 32 weeks is the magic number for her. 

[PilatesLover]

Thanks so much everyone, your responses are comforting and I appreciate the prayers and concern.

@cjm61 she is due in four weeks.  I don't know if it had anything to do with it, but the poor woman had severe morning sickness up until a couple of weeks ago. What a relief that your grandchildren are well! I will hold that to heart. I had heard mention that the fetus was small, but there wasn't any talk of this until recently.

She is getting great medical care, so I will think positive thoughts and put my faith in her team.

[foxywoods]

My advice is do not worry too much.  My younger grandson, in utero had a small head.  I was so concerned I had trouble sleeping!    He's fine and a big guy and quite the ham.  Twin  GD and GS were born at 28 weeks and I believe she was IUGR . They both were in NICU for about 2.5 months.  GS growth was steady but she was so much slower at gaining weight. She had feeding challenges too, as infant.

She's 4.5 now and still tiny, she's still not on the chart, wearing 2T sizes in clothes.   Her brother is at 98 percentile, stands a head taller than her.    But she's a real firecracker.   HUGE personality. She's in ballet - her recital is this weeked -  and swimming lessons. She loves Taylor Swift and entertained us with all TS moves, dancing and prancing while we had the movie on. She put on her little backpack backwards and pretended it was a guitar as TS  played the guitar.  Proud Nana here ;-D