IUGR Babies Chat/Support...

[MissMetal]

I just wanted to start this thread as a support & discussion thread for parents of IUGR babies (prem or fullterm) as there isnt alot of indepth info out there, and Im sure many of us will benefit & learn from peoples experiences & knowledge here on Bubhub

tell us about your baby/s
Renee

ETA - i have just been told I am able to share this LINK it has some awesome stuff

[naiwen]

Hey great idea

Well my little boy was born almost two years ago at twenty nine weeks and six days gestation (29+6), he weighed 845g which is small for that gestation, he had the classic head sparing IUGR so his head was big compared to his body.

He was IUGR due to restricted placental flow, I had PE and HELLP syndrome and he also had cord compression a foetal distress, there was low fluid (ogliohydramos) and he was basicly a miracle.

We was TPN fed at birth as his GI system (tummy) was too immature to tolerate feeds, we then gradually progressed to trying to get him to tolerate 1/2 a ml of EBM down his OG tube (feeding tube in the mouth to the tummy) for a while he did not tolerate the milk feeds but eventually he did.

He spent 10 weeks in hospital before his first dicharge and was NG tube fed for about 8 of those 10 weeks.

He had an NG tube on and of until he was about 6 months old and he was in and out of hospital after his initial discharge also due to his respiritory and feeding problems.

He was diagnosed with severe reflux and put on omeprazole to help with that.

He has always been in the underweight/FTT catagory and kept the IUGR big head .

He was put on pediasure a few months ago to help his weight gain, that worked for a while but his weight has now leveled out so they want him to go on a 1.5 cal per ml hospital type formula, we should get it delivered in about 6 days time .

DS neonatologists and paediatricians have informed me that because his IUGR started so early in pregnancy his long term growth capacity is reduced and he will never reach average height/weight.

And that's us .

[MrsLozza]

Good Idea!

My DS is 10 days old today. He was born at 38+5 weeks gestation but only weighed 2.1kg (4lb14oz). We were unaware throughout the whole pregnancy that he was small and at birth diagnosed with IUGR. Besides being small for dates, he (thank god) doesn't have any other anatomical problems.

For the first 48 hours he was in a humidicrib as he was unable to control his temperature. He also had very low blood sugar levels as he would not suck when encouraged to feed. So he had a NG tube inserted on day 1 and was being fed colostrum which I expressed for him. The tube stayed in for 6 days and throughout that time we gradually introduced BF. On day 4 we tried BF once a day, day 5 twice a day and day 6 every 2nd feed was BF. On day 7 the tube was removed as the paediatrician was confident that DS would do well at the breast. He was right. We had a full day of BF and DS did really well - he still has problems attaching and staying on but we're working on that slowly and things are going well. We are now at home and I'm just getting used to being a mummy!!!

That's us

[hope4mum]

Our baby girl is 10 days old today. She was born at 34 weeks gestation, but only 985 grams. Early in the pregnancy things seemed to be going well. We had monthly ultrasounds, as our previous baby was born at 2.3kg (full term). At the 26 week ultrasound we noticed that the baby had slipped just below average, but at that point we didn't really worry.

At 30 weeks, however, the baby was only ~900 grams, according to the ultrasound, so was measuring about 4 weeks late. We were told to do some blood tests, and then come back 2 weeks later. Blood tests turned out fine, but the ultrasound at 32 weeks showed the baby was still around 900 grams.

We went to another doctor for a second opinion, and this time started to get some better answers. We were told the baby was small due to placenta insufficiency. There were no other issues, such as pre-eclamsia, etc. It was just a matter of the placenta not being able to send enough nutrients to the baby.

I then had complete bed rest for two weeks, but one day I just started bleeding. The cause of this bleeding is still not clear, but to us it was just a sign that we couldn't wait any longer. We rushed to the hospital and had a c-section about an hour later.

The baby was on a respirator for the first day and a half, and had surfactant to help the lungs. For the first week she put on weight each day, but it turns out this was mostly due to swelling of the arms and legs. After getting some medicine to control the swelling, yesterday she came down to 980 grams (below where she started).

Other than this, everything is going as good as it can in this situation. The doctors say there are still some risks for her long-term health. It would be great to hear if anyone else on this forum has had any similar experiences and how their kids did in the long run.

[MrsLozza]

hope4mum - I'm sorry that you're experiencing such a tough time at the moment. It's great to hear your positive attitude though! I'm sure your bubs will be doing fine in no time. Babies are really resiliant little things and with the amazing care available to us in this day and age we can expect much better outcomes

I hope he keeps gaining weight quickly and that you and your family are coping

[Lastcenturymum]

oh hope4mum, my thoughts are with you at this time. I hope things improve - keep us posted

[rebekaho]

In October 07 my mono/di twin boys were born electively at 34 weeks. Cutting a long story very short, my little boys are a true miricle. Like so many of you, my pregnancy was a very stressful one. We found we were expecting twins at the 7 week scan. I was so nervous, because I had lost a pregnancy at 12 weeks 6 month prior.
We were congratulated wholeheartly by the doctor, but at the same time our world was rocked when it was also pointed out that it was a high risk pregnancy.
( Even though their heartbeats were perfect there was days difference in the sizes at that stage) The boys were born at 34, the bigger twin Thady had acute RDS, but our little bloke, who weighed in at 1.290kgs was thriving and just happy to be out getting some food.
I'm so glad that I have found this forum, as I think that the shock and the stress has now caught up with me. I was so possitive throughtout my pregnancy, we were scanned weekly from about week 16 & at one stage we were advised to expect the impending demise of one, if not both the babies. I meditated, juiced veggies and drank 100grams of pure protein in milk each day( yummo) Just the smell of that stuff makes me want to vomit.
Anyway the boys are now 22 months old. We put them to bed this evening for the first time in big boy beds.
I would be really interested to hear from any other parents with mono twins that have been affected by what we have been told was a marginal cord insertion.

[MyFourCubs]

Hey Rebekaho, you may find more help in the mulitples section? Glad you found BH, there are loads of mummies with all kinds of situations here so you will surely find the support you need.

[MissMetal]

hey eveyone just wondering if you all knew the reason as to why bubs developed IUGR?
it does my head in as they couldnt tell me why this happened to DS, i feel so guilty everyday that maybe I did something wrong to cause this

[MyFourCubs]

I thought thta mine was probably a combo of not enough time between babies and LOADS of scar tissue in my uterus from previous births which resulted in placenta praevia. But who knows? They are just my personal expanations!