Small baby
It all started during my 20-week anatomy scan in the local hospital when they discovered that the baby is considered a small baby. Although all the organs look fine during the ultrasound, the measurements for his head, stomach, femur, etc were all below what they should be.
The next thing we were told was to go to a separate room while a midwife will come to talk to us about the scan. I know now that going to this called ‘separate room’ after an appointment is never a good thing.
Helen was the midwife on that day. We remember her during my second NIPT test to determine if I have a high chance of having a Down syndrome baby. I have written a post about it here.
In summary of that meeting, she told us that the baby is ‘small’ and that she would refer us to a bigger hospital in a city close to town for further checking. She referred us either to Cambridge or Norwich. A few days later, I received a call with a confirmed appointment with a fetal medicine consultant.
Fetal Medicine Appointment
Our appointment is booked for two weeks later. Because we don’t have a car, the husband and I took the bus to the bigger hospital which took us almost two hours one way. We checked in and we were told to sit in the waiting area.
When it was our turn, we went inside the scan room which is a bigger room compared to the one we saw in the local hospital. The scanning machine looks more modern as well. It is bigger and has a separate monitor for the patient/family.
The consultant’s name is Dr. Cameron together with a medical student and the midwife in the room, he started doing the scan. After a few minutes of relaying the measurements to the midwife and checking the umbilical cord flow, he told us that baby is truly small.
His growth is restricted due to an insufficient supply of oxygen and nutrient from the placenta. He found some signs that the baby is focusing the blood supply to his brain and heart. Although fetuses are strong, he might give up at one point. He told us that he personally thinks that the baby will not make it in the next few days/weeks. It’s the hardest news we heard ever.
From then, I was crying while still on the couch as well as the husband. We were so positive and hopeful before that appointment that hearing that news was overwhelming to both of us. And again, on this appointment, we were told to go into a separate room. As I said, not a good sign.
IUGR or Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Finally, the three of them came to the room to talk to us. Basically, Dr. Cameron explained his findings and explained quite frankly in my opinion, the possible outcomes of my pregnancy. One is that the baby could stop growing and die while still inside. Two, if we opted to have the baby out via caesarian section, he might still not survive considering his weight of lesser than 500 grams. According to studies, premature babies weighing at least 500 grams have a more chance of surviving outside of the womb.
From this point, we were both crying and were just speechless. We didn’t ask many questions as we felt overloaded by this horrible information. We didn’t want to hear that news, we wanted the good ones. Unfortunately, that was not our case.
In the end, he said that he would book us again after two weeks to check the baby’s growth. He would also recommend having us booked for another scan at the local hospital to see if the baby still has a heartbeat. That was a very bad day for us.
The most difficult part for me was listening to the doctor explained everything to us while feeling my baby move and actively kicking inside. He seems to be disagreeing with the doctor but who knows? To be honest, I don’t know. No one knows even the doctor said himself.
We are still hopeful and praying for a miracle. Please help us pray for our baby as well.
