A Small Baby

I didn't have an ultra sound, but my doctor kept telling me my son would be small. When I went in to have him 10 days early it worried me. The doctor was wrong, my son weighed more than my daughter. He was 7lbs 5ozs. My daughter only weighed 6lbs 13.9ozs. The baby will grow more as long as it isn't born too soon. Maybe it just looks small, but will weigh a good amount of weight.

I have had this issue with all 3 of my babies, I am small framed and all of them are too. They came out perfectly healthy and happy, just small. I wouldn't worry about it if everything else is okay, just remember not all babies are average!

if your doctor didn't say it was a problem than it probably isn't a problem. with averages, half are above and half are below by nature.

My little one was small too.

They did repeat ultrasounds, stress tests, etc and all were normal. She was small, simply because my husband and I are short.

When she was born, she was bigger than they predicted. All that stress for nothing!

So I assure you, as long as all other tests and labs are normal so far, don't worry. And it's not accurate, so don't rely on this new finding.

GOod luck, and happy holidays!

Despite the fact that many health care providers continue to use it, ultrasound is very unreliable the closer to term you are. At term it is +/- 25% with weight estimates. So your baby in fact may not be as small as you think.

Here is a link to a scholarly article which is a bit wordy but basically says a skilled provider simply estimating weight based on the size of your belly is more accurate. http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/full/95/4/502 It also concludes that ultrasound use in the third trimester to estimate weight is not recommended, although earlier in the third trimester is better than later.

I have seen (as an L & D nurse) several women induced/sectioned early for babies who were "too big" by ultrasound and were born average size, and babies who were "too small" by ultrasound and were also average size. Please be careful about the interventions this may lead to.

Hi E.,

During my pregnancy, they kept saying my baby was small - but they were wrong. She came out 2 lbs. bigger than the ultrasound measured. I'm told that ultrasound really can't measure weight that well.

Unless your OB is concerned, try not to worry too much. I know it's hard during pregnancy not to worry, though.

Best of luck!!!!

M.

Don't fret Mommy! If everything looks normal, then your fine!! I'd rather have had a smaller baby than my ten pounder at birth, but as long as all the other good stuff is looking right, don't worry yourself over nothing about your second angel:-) Thin, chunky, rolls or no rolls, they're all adorable and smell good!

Don't Fret!
I had an ultraound week 36 as they said Baby A was measuring four weeks behind at 32 weeks (I hwas having twins).....They were saying 3 1/2 pounds each.

That SAME week - I delivered the girls. One was 4 4 and the other was 5 4. They were healthy little girls - and were 4 weeks early:)

Enjoy the last few weeks and your little angel will be here soon!

I also had a almost 2 year old when I had the girls. He absolutely adores the girls and I am sure your daughter will too!!!

E., stress, caffine and nicoteen can all cause small birth wieghts and usually is something most women are around or have everyday anymore. Is the doctor sure of conception date? two weeks off can make a difference at this point in the game. Genes have a lot to do with it also. One of my children was 6#6oz. she is now 11 and stands 5'2" 131 # and looks like she is 15. So don't let the small baby size fool you dear. lol Mine have grown like a weed. If doc says you and baby are fine chances are doc's right. If you still have fears, give them to the Lord and pray about it.

In my research with ultra sounds, I have found that it is common to not get accurate readings on the weight and that it can be off by quite a bit (in either direction). In my experience with two pregnancies, there were some weeks were growth seemed smaller, but it was always made up at a later week. My advice to you is that you relax your mind on this issue. If you need to put some worry power on something, why not make it nutrition? Are you getting enough dark leafy greens, omega threes, drinking rasberry leaf tea, etc? In most cases, proper nutrition is a key to a natural process of growing and delivering a baby and it can make you feel good on so many levels. Good luck on the remainder of your pregnancy and journey into motherhood!

From personal experience and some info from my wonderful OB, the ultrasound measurements are almost never right. My OB doesn't like to give measurements based on ultrasound because it may worry some mothers. You just never know until the baby is here!!

This last two months is when the baby grows the most and packs on the weight. As other moms have said ultrasound doesn't give an accurate weight. Sometimes the due date is wrong and thus the baby is right size and weight. I had a friend who went in for weeks past her due date to have a C-section and many times they sent her home because they didn't get the due date right. Which of course is when your sick and tired of being so big and just want the baby already.

If everything is normal try not to worry. In the last month some women every lose some weight leading up to the birth. Often times the baby is normal weight. I had my son early 36 1/2 weeks but he still came out at 5lbs and 15oz. He was normal size and weight even if he was pre-term. He went home right away with nothing more than jaundice (due to meds I had to take during the whole pregnancy).

Please try to get some rest, relax and enjoy the moments alone with just the three of you. Your little girl will be so glad you gave her the extra attention before the baby came. Hope everything goes well for the both of you.

Do not worry most importantly. The last 8 weeks is when the baby packs on his/her most weight. Continue to take care of yourself and eat well and everything will be ok. COngrats!

Don't rely too much on US assesments, they have been proven pretty inaccurate. The only way to get a good estimate of the baby's size and weight is through MRI or CT scan. This is why you should never have a planned c-section based on an US picture that says the baby is too big...they are wrong SOOOOOOOOOO often. Don't worry! If everything else seems ok, it probably is.
Let us know how things turn out when you give birth:)

When I was around 36 weeks I had some complications. The docs did an ultrasound and found out that she had stopped growing around 30-32 weeks. Its called IUGR intral uterine growth retardation. They gave me steroids to develop her lungs just incase she needed to come out. 4 days later they induced me and I had a 5lb 6oz healthy little girl. She did loose quite abit of weight the 2 days we were in the hospital I brought her home at 3lbs 12 oz. Now she is 2 years old and weighs 27lbs she is really healthy as well. I know it can be very stressful but the main thing is try to stay calm because the worrying doesn't help a whole bunch and I know how hard it is not to worry. But the plus is it is fairly common and things turn out good. I know this may not help much but figured i would share my story on my low weight baby.

I know I'm a little bit of a latecomer but I just wanted to add my two cents. When I was pregnant with my daughter, they were concerned about her weight so they induced me a week early. It was the opposite for me though- my ultrasound at 38.5 weeks said she was already 9 lbs and the doctor was concerned because she said they can gain about a pound a week and she didn't want my first baby to be a 11lb baby because that would be too difficult and cause undo stress for me. So they induced about 4 days later and she was 7lbs 11oz at birth. I don't think the ultrasound is always an accurate way to determine weight. I don't think I would be too concerned if it were me. But I will pray for you regardless. Good luck!

E.,

Please do not worry to much. I delivered my last child with a 34 week uterus and I was almost 39 weeks along. My OB/GYN sent me to Indianapolis to have things checked out to make sure the baby and myself were okay. Everything was okay! She was 6lbs 4oz. and remember that the last month is when the baby gains all their weight. Ultrasounds are not 100% accurate. I was worried that my baby was not growing because of my uterus was so small. Come to find out she was still growing and she was healthy as ever.

Think positive hon! you still have a month to go and that is the most important month for the baby.

My OB never gave me a weight prediction. Everyone would always ask, "how big is the baby?" I finally asked my OB why they didn't give me the weight and she said because it is too inaccurate. If you can, I wouldn't worry. Even if the baby is born small it doesn't mean the baby isn't healthy!!

I agree with the other moms. Ultra sounds are not accurate. I had the opposite experience. All my drs and midwives kept telling me how HUGE my baby was. They were saying 8 or 9lbs. I went into labor 2 days before my due date and my baby was 7lbs 4oz.

The doctors are rarely right when it comes to telling you how big (or small) a baby might be.

Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!
B.

Hi E.,
How much smaller was the baby measuring? I am an ultrasonographer and I will tell you that as you get further along, ultrasound measurements will give you more of an estimated date/size than the accurate one during the first trimester. This is because the baby is larger and might be in a position where the tech can't get the perfect picture for each measurement. Whenever I do an ultrasound, I always let my patients know that the age that is calculated by the measurements we do, are always +/- 2 weeks. I have to disagree with a lot of the comments about ultrasound never being accurate. There are times it may be a little off, but most of the time it's pretty close to the weight. Both of my kids weighed only a few ounces difference on the ultrasound and when they were born. But, if the baby is cooperating you can sometimes get that result. From experience, you can tell whether you're measurements are off by knowing you didn't get the most accurate picture to measure. Someone who doesn't do ultrasounds would not know this. So, the weight may be smaller or larger than your dates. But like I said, it's normal for the ultrasound in the third trimester to be 2 weeks off. If the doctor said everything is fine, I wouldn't worry! You just may have a small baby and it must not have been that far off on measurements! Good luck! And I wouldn't worry!

Ultrasound is not the best measure of baby's weight. I had an ultrasound at 41 weeks and they estimated baby's weight at 8lbs 1oz. At birth a week later he was 7lbs 12oz.

If all else looks good, I wouldn't worry about it.

For my preemie, the day before she was taken, she was weighing in at 4 lbs 8 ounces. When she was born, she was 4 lbs 2 ounces. She didn't spend a lick of time in NICU even though she was a preemie and had low birth weight. She was strong, passed all the tests, and was ready to go home with my 3 days later (after c section).

She is now 15 months old and average height and still not on the charts for weight. Doctors arent worried because she is healthy, eats and develops as she should be, and is doing wonderfully.

Please try not to worry - even though it is very hard. Children are resilient and are fighters.

The hardest part for us was putting her in her crib when we came home from hospital. She was so tiny and her crib was so large! I balled. Hubby brought up the pack n play with bassinet and she slept there in my room for two days, whereas I sent her back to her room to get some sleep. Best thing I ever did was to send her to her room. She is a wonderful sleeper, a self settler, and it works wonderfully for our family.

Best of luck to you and your new precious addition!

E.,

I had a small baby as well. I would tell you that as long as everything looks normal not to worry. My daughter was born 5lb4oz and she is perfectly fine at 21mo. As long as the baby meets all the proper milestones timely, the size is of little importance.
Best wishes,
C.

An US is just an estimation. They can't really tell. I think it's within 12-15% accurate. That's a lot when they are only like 4 lbs at 32 weeks. SOme babies are smaller, and some are bigger. SOmebody has to fall on the lower end, it's ok if it's your baby. Unless they are alarmed at how small your baby is it's just fine.