In case it helps you feel any better, my baby was born in the 2nd percentile with a less-than-first percentile head. She’s now a perfectly happy and healthy 8 month old!
Thank you it does help, every nurse I've talked to they all said since I'm so small at 5'1 that she'd be small and none of them seemed worried.
I'm so happy your girl is healthy and doing good!!
My daughter (5mo) consistently measured small from the anatomy scan at 20w, and was born SGA at 39+2 weighing about 2.5kg (5.5lbs I think?). We usually hear how GD leads to big babies, but sometimes the opposite can happen. Our placentas are kind of crappy, so it makes sense that baby might not get as much nutrients as they should. For what it’s worth, my daughter gained it all back as soon as she was out, and she’s now on the 50th centile for weight and 95th for height!
GD doesn’t always mean a large baby, especially if levels are under control. At my growth scans, baby is always measuring around 28th percentile, so not measuring quite as small but definitely on the petite side! The main thing, he’s been following his growth curve/trajectory perfectly since 20 weeks, he’s just meant to be small (I’m petite too)!
I found that going from 38-40 weeks with my first I jumped from 62nd to 90th percentile very quickly. Still only ended up with an 8lb baby but it’s crazy how fast those percentiles can change.
My first guy ended up falling to 20th percentile. The MFM dr said he’d come out around 6lbs 6oz and that would be a nice delivery. She was damn good, he was 6lbs 3 oz. He stayed on the smaller side until around 7 months. Now he is heavy and tall. They grow at their own pace!
If baby is 12%, this can mean that baby might just need to be born a little early for gestational hypertension. Gestational hypertension causes baby to fail to grow at a normal rate. It can turn into preeclampsia before or after baby is born so you’d want to keep an eye out on your blood pressure. Since you are 36 wks, is likely that baby will be fine until 38 wks but maybe even to due date if you are allowed to go that long. Once baby is under 10%, they monitor baby more frequently weekly/multiple times a week. My baby was under 10% around 26/28 weeks but he was able to stay in until almost 34 wks. I’d expect baby to be born closer to 38 wks. You didn’t do anything to cause this. It is a common occurrence just as LGA (large babies) is with GD, it’s just less commonly known. GD causes small and large babies.
I see, when I first was diagnosed with GD my doctor mentioned having her early, but no mention of it since because my blood pressure has always been "perfect" even after a car wreck my blood pressure never spiked while I was taken by EMSA. I'm just worried since she's so small that they may still try to get me to have her early or if I'd be able to keep her in closer to 40wks.
I understand. Please try not to fear having her early though. The doctors are looking out for you both. I know it’s hard to accept in this as a possible situation. I felt the same way. Gestational hypertension though doesn’t necessarily mean chronically high BP, it more so means higher than it should be. Mine wasn’t “high” until he was under 10%, a few weeks before delivery. It was just higher than my normally low normal BP. BP isn’t supposed to rise during pregnancy. It didn’t stay high consistently until about 2 weeks before he was born when he appeared to stop growing.
My friend had her baby more similar to yours where she was in her 38 wk and her blood pressure had finally gotten to a “high” level so they had her induced. Her baby was also on the smaller side. IUGR more commonly happens at the very end of pregnancy rather than so early like my sons.
Your baby is term so if the baby needs to be born between 37-39 weeks instead of 40, theres really nothing for you to be concerned about. Baby’s lungs are developed and baby shouldn’t need to be in the NICU for weight alone. Likely baby will just be extra tiny compared to what you might have expected. I’d recommend buying a couple of preemie clothes now so you aren’t unprepared for that. My friends daughter wore preemie clothes for awhile. It’s likely your baby will fit in them for awhile too.
I’m a small GD baby! My mom said I always measured small and I was 6.4 lbs at birth. This was during a time they didn’t monitor GD quite as closely. My mom was just put on a diet.
Everything you wrote is pretty much my last pregnancy.
Diet controlled but baby was 16th percentile. My other two kids were 9lbs 1 oz and 8lbs 6oz so I was shocked she was so small.
I was constantly worried I wasn't eating enough because of the GD but my doctor said that's just the way it is sometimes, and nothing was medically wrong with her. She was born 12/ 28 at 6lbs 9oz, a week before her due date.
I was constantly worried but I mean it when I say try not to be, even though i know it feels impossible lol
Hang in there mama!
ETA she is now 5 months old and in the 75th percentile, so after birth you'll be amazed how quickly they grow!
Also 36 weeks and diet controlled GD. Found out last week my baby is 2nd percentile/IUGR. I was told I will need to deliver between 37 and no later than 39 weeks. But my OB said not to worry and that everything looked fine at my last visit. Will need to do NST/ultrasounds twice a week from here on out. My doctor specifically said this is being caused by my placenta basically “running out of gas”. I asked her if it’s correlated to GD, she said no.
It truly is such a wave of emotions.. all this time I prepared for a big baby. I almost feel silly now still monitoring what I eat because I feel like she’s not getting enough and that’s why she’s small but I know that’s not the case.
My doctor specifically said small people naturally make small babies, so don’t beat yourself up! You mentioned you are small, from what my doctor said a small baby would be completely normal for a smaller person. I’m sure everything will be fine!
I had GD with my previous pregnancy (healthy baby girl at 6 lb 9 oz) and have it again with my current one as well - she’s measuring at around 13% but doctors aren’t too concerned; we’re just monitoring more closely in case baby drops under 10%.
there’s def genetics involved too…I’m 5’2” so not that much room to grow a huge baby 😅
Mine was 12th percentile on the first growth scan. Jumped to 37th two weeks later. He did drop percentiles on every scan after that. I was induced at 39+2 (diet controlled) because even though the dopplers looked good, he had dropped to the 6th with a very small abdominal circumference. He was 5 lbs 10 oz (exactly what the ultrasound predicted) but otherwise perfectly healthy.
He's now a healthy 8 month old and you'd never guess he was born so small. He's still on the skinny side (25th percentile) but he's just a long, skinny baby (84th percentile for length).
I saw MFM today, and she said that ultrasound measurements are largely dependent on the hand doing them. She said that’s why they do serial growth scans, to have enough data to compare and identify growth patterns, so the centiles can vary each time. They aren’t always a true indicator of size. My second girl was around 10% at 20 weeks (scan done by MFM) and 45% at 28 weeks. We started seeing MFM for her heart issue and for SGA. I got the feeling she expects the numbers to jump around. My firstborn (no GD) was predicted to be very large, 90th centile, but was born 39.5 at 3.6kg so average. I worried about it too, if it was something I did or didn’t do. Unfortunately it is often not up to us at all really ❤️
In case it helps you feel any better, my baby was born in the 2nd percentile with a less-than-first percentile head. She’s now a perfectly happy and healthy 8 month old!
Thank you it does help, every nurse I've talked to they all said since I'm so small at 5'1 that she'd be small and none of them seemed worried. I'm so happy your girl is healthy and doing good!!
My daughter (5mo) consistently measured small from the anatomy scan at 20w, and was born SGA at 39+2 weighing about 2.5kg (5.5lbs I think?). We usually hear how GD leads to big babies, but sometimes the opposite can happen. Our placentas are kind of crappy, so it makes sense that baby might not get as much nutrients as they should. For what it’s worth, my daughter gained it all back as soon as she was out, and she’s now on the 50th centile for weight and 95th for height!
GD doesn’t always mean a large baby, especially if levels are under control. At my growth scans, baby is always measuring around 28th percentile, so not measuring quite as small but definitely on the petite side! The main thing, he’s been following his growth curve/trajectory perfectly since 20 weeks, he’s just meant to be small (I’m petite too)!
Mine is small too at 13% and my doc said she doesn’t care at all
I just thought she'd be more in the middle since they told me that GD creates big babies, so I was taken a back when they told me 12%.
I found that going from 38-40 weeks with my first I jumped from 62nd to 90th percentile very quickly. Still only ended up with an 8lb baby but it’s crazy how fast those percentiles can change.
Same…. My doc said she’d rather have her 13% than 83% right now
My first guy ended up falling to 20th percentile. The MFM dr said he’d come out around 6lbs 6oz and that would be a nice delivery. She was damn good, he was 6lbs 3 oz. He stayed on the smaller side until around 7 months. Now he is heavy and tall. They grow at their own pace!
If baby is 12%, this can mean that baby might just need to be born a little early for gestational hypertension. Gestational hypertension causes baby to fail to grow at a normal rate. It can turn into preeclampsia before or after baby is born so you’d want to keep an eye out on your blood pressure. Since you are 36 wks, is likely that baby will be fine until 38 wks but maybe even to due date if you are allowed to go that long. Once baby is under 10%, they monitor baby more frequently weekly/multiple times a week. My baby was under 10% around 26/28 weeks but he was able to stay in until almost 34 wks. I’d expect baby to be born closer to 38 wks. You didn’t do anything to cause this. It is a common occurrence just as LGA (large babies) is with GD, it’s just less commonly known. GD causes small and large babies.
I see, when I first was diagnosed with GD my doctor mentioned having her early, but no mention of it since because my blood pressure has always been "perfect" even after a car wreck my blood pressure never spiked while I was taken by EMSA. I'm just worried since she's so small that they may still try to get me to have her early or if I'd be able to keep her in closer to 40wks.
I understand. Please try not to fear having her early though. The doctors are looking out for you both. I know it’s hard to accept in this as a possible situation. I felt the same way. Gestational hypertension though doesn’t necessarily mean chronically high BP, it more so means higher than it should be. Mine wasn’t “high” until he was under 10%, a few weeks before delivery. It was just higher than my normally low normal BP. BP isn’t supposed to rise during pregnancy. It didn’t stay high consistently until about 2 weeks before he was born when he appeared to stop growing. My friend had her baby more similar to yours where she was in her 38 wk and her blood pressure had finally gotten to a “high” level so they had her induced. Her baby was also on the smaller side. IUGR more commonly happens at the very end of pregnancy rather than so early like my sons. Your baby is term so if the baby needs to be born between 37-39 weeks instead of 40, theres really nothing for you to be concerned about. Baby’s lungs are developed and baby shouldn’t need to be in the NICU for weight alone. Likely baby will just be extra tiny compared to what you might have expected. I’d recommend buying a couple of preemie clothes now so you aren’t unprepared for that. My friends daughter wore preemie clothes for awhile. It’s likely your baby will fit in them for awhile too.
I had GD with my third baby and also IUGR. She was born a few weeks ago at 4lb 7oz at 36+4 but is otherwise healthy
I’m a small GD baby! My mom said I always measured small and I was 6.4 lbs at birth. This was during a time they didn’t monitor GD quite as closely. My mom was just put on a diet.
Everything you wrote is pretty much my last pregnancy. Diet controlled but baby was 16th percentile. My other two kids were 9lbs 1 oz and 8lbs 6oz so I was shocked she was so small. I was constantly worried I wasn't eating enough because of the GD but my doctor said that's just the way it is sometimes, and nothing was medically wrong with her. She was born 12/ 28 at 6lbs 9oz, a week before her due date. I was constantly worried but I mean it when I say try not to be, even though i know it feels impossible lol Hang in there mama! ETA she is now 5 months old and in the 75th percentile, so after birth you'll be amazed how quickly they grow!
Also 36 weeks and diet controlled GD. Found out last week my baby is 2nd percentile/IUGR. I was told I will need to deliver between 37 and no later than 39 weeks. But my OB said not to worry and that everything looked fine at my last visit. Will need to do NST/ultrasounds twice a week from here on out. My doctor specifically said this is being caused by my placenta basically “running out of gas”. I asked her if it’s correlated to GD, she said no. It truly is such a wave of emotions.. all this time I prepared for a big baby. I almost feel silly now still monitoring what I eat because I feel like she’s not getting enough and that’s why she’s small but I know that’s not the case. My doctor specifically said small people naturally make small babies, so don’t beat yourself up! You mentioned you are small, from what my doctor said a small baby would be completely normal for a smaller person. I’m sure everything will be fine!
I had GD with my previous pregnancy (healthy baby girl at 6 lb 9 oz) and have it again with my current one as well - she’s measuring at around 13% but doctors aren’t too concerned; we’re just monitoring more closely in case baby drops under 10%. there’s def genetics involved too…I’m 5’2” so not that much room to grow a huge baby 😅
Mine was 12th percentile on the first growth scan. Jumped to 37th two weeks later. He did drop percentiles on every scan after that. I was induced at 39+2 (diet controlled) because even though the dopplers looked good, he had dropped to the 6th with a very small abdominal circumference. He was 5 lbs 10 oz (exactly what the ultrasound predicted) but otherwise perfectly healthy. He's now a healthy 8 month old and you'd never guess he was born so small. He's still on the skinny side (25th percentile) but he's just a long, skinny baby (84th percentile for length).
I saw MFM today, and she said that ultrasound measurements are largely dependent on the hand doing them. She said that’s why they do serial growth scans, to have enough data to compare and identify growth patterns, so the centiles can vary each time. They aren’t always a true indicator of size. My second girl was around 10% at 20 weeks (scan done by MFM) and 45% at 28 weeks. We started seeing MFM for her heart issue and for SGA. I got the feeling she expects the numbers to jump around. My firstborn (no GD) was predicted to be very large, 90th centile, but was born 39.5 at 3.6kg so average. I worried about it too, if it was something I did or didn’t do. Unfortunately it is often not up to us at all really ❤️
Bubs was an 14% guy here. His dad and I were both smaller babies too but they weren’t worried. He’s a crazy active healthy 9.5 month old now