6 W/ks Preg & Baby Is Behind

Hi, L.!

I wouldn't really worry about it at this point ... I have three children, and they were all "behind" in the first ultrasounds at the beginning of the pregnancy. They all eventually caught up! Congratulations and good luck!

I would not worry about this. Every baby grows at a different pace. Everything will be fine.

Both my babies measured a week behind for my entire pregnancy. They were both born completely healthy; both one week early.

Hi L.,
All of my three babies measured a week behind at the first sono and I am blessed with three beautiful children. They all came a bit early so who knows how accurate the first ultrasound is. I am sure everything is fine - enjoy this special time in your life.
Congratulations!

I agree with another poster, my first baby was predicted to be 9-10lbs and came out 7lbs 14oz at 40wks. So ultrasound isn't always perfect. Also I had a friend who was told there was dent in her baby's head. Baby was born just fine, no dent:) So just take your prenatals and drink lots of water and take good care of yourself and try not to worry too much:)

While yes, the ultrasound can be off later on, at only 6 weeks it's very unlikely to be off by a whole week.

Don't panic, though. Everything might be just fine.

If there IS something wrong (like Trisomy 18, where they say the baby doesn't have much of a chance) take that chance. Don't end your baby's life. My son died during birth and I treasured every moment I had him inside of me. That was not a waste. If someone offered me to abort at 7 months rather then go through the full 40 and still have him die I wouldn't have done it.

My aunt was told that her children had downs. The first is married, owns her own restaurant, and has two 'normal' children! The other does have more serious Downs, but has a girlfriend and graduated highschool. So you never know...

Blessings and prayers.
S.

My babies were always smaller than the doctor's felt they should be. I knew when I conceived better than the doctor's estimation. Remember, they are estimating on the averages. 2 weeks difference could very well be possible in my opinion (though I am not a doctor). Every woman ovulates on her own cycle and not every woman's cycle is the same. I wouldn't panic as of now. Wait it out and see what future ultrasounds come up with. If you stay at 1 week difference - then no problem. If the difference increases, then you have reason for concern. My doctor, in fact, told me that my baby was too small and he couldn't see the heart beat and therefore expect to pass the baby (miscarriage) within 2 weeks. That was 2 weeks of horror. At my next visit - 2 weeks later - to double check and see if he was wrong (he admitted he could be), he was wrong. Strong heart beat and larger sac. So, remember, they are educated guessers.

Hi there L.:
I am not sure whether you are here in san antonio and which clinic you are with. I am a gestational surrogate currently pregnant with my fifth surrogate baby, so I am very familiar with the IVF process, having undergone it four times (we had twins the first time around). What were your first two beta numbers like? Did they rise as expected? Or were they a little lower than expected. You might have a late bloomer in there, so even though the IVF took place on say a Wednesday, the embryo didn't implant until Sunday - or something like that.

I did just go through something similar to you. We did this last cycle for surrogacy in June 2009. The first beta draw should show numbers above 100. Mine for the previous surrogacies were 520, 639 and 318. This time it was 62! I honestly thought we had a chemical pregnancy. I returned four days later and the number had jumped to 469. When we went for the ultrasound we saw one little bean, but it was measuring small. I was 6 weeks 2 days and it was measuring 5 weeks 4 days, so 5 days behind. The doctor told us to be cautiously optimistic. When I returned at 8 weeks, the baby had caught up.

Could the RE and u/s tech see a heartbeat, or just the yolk sac and fetal pole? A lot depends on whether the fetus is developing appropriately, no matter its size. You could return next week and still be a week behind the IVF dates, but the fetus could be developing normally.

I don't want to be a prophet of doom and gloom, but I have seen this go two ways - I own a surrogate agency and one of our surrogates got pregnant, they saw the heartbeat at 6 weeks, but the baby was small, and at eight weeks there was no heartbeat. Then there was me, with my own surrogacy and I am now 18 weeks pregnant and the baby completely caught up. Another friend of mine, also a surrogate, carried a baby that was always a week behind his dates, but he was healthy when he was born.

What does your RE think? They have had years of experience with IVF so they will be the most informed people.

Also, for all those who claim u/s are inaccurate, they are correct, but only in the latter stages of pregnancy. In the early stages the u/s are extremely accurate because the machine can capture the entire image of the fetus and the measurements are comprehensive.

Hope this helps - if you need anything, please feel free to contact me. Cori Smelker at Surrogate Angels of San Antonio - ____@____.com

At first I was going to say it probably just means that you ovulated a little differently than assumed. My due date predicted from "first day of last period" was never the same as what my ultrasounds (and ultimately, when my children were born) said. I obviously do NOT have a 28 day cycle, as those predictors usually would assume.

HOwever, I just read your "about me" that said you have undergone IVF. With IVF, I would think y'all know just when ovulation and pregnancy occurred. In that case, what does your doctor have to say? I still think it is normal, though.

**ETA I just read what others have said. Yes, any time they tell you how much baby weighs, take it with a grain of salt...a HUGE one. I've never heard of any baby weighing what the ultrasound tech and doctor predict. At 30 weeks they'll want to tell you, "Oh, baby weighs 3 lbs 5 oz" and they do NOT know that. My first two were predicted by u/s tech AND OB to be 1 1/2 lbs larger than they were. My last there was no prediction because midwives know that's nonsense.

Hi L.,

I didn't respond to your original request, but saw that you had lost your baby. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am. I lost my first pregnancy at 8 weeks, and it was devastating. Give yourself time to grieve and don't lose hope.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you and wishing you all the best.

L.

No worries now. Ultrasounds aren't perfect and as someone else said all babies are different. They predicted my baby was going to be almost a 9lb baby (via ultrasound) and she turned out to be 7 1/2lbs when she was born.
Congratulations!

Try not to worry. Did you see a heartbeat? If so, that is a good sign. The baby may have been lying in such a way as to make accurate measurements difficult. It is very hard to be accurate that early with an ultrasound. Will you update your post and tell us what your doctor said? Good luck to you!

If it's just a week than you'll be advised to wait and see. I was behind, then every month the baby was getting further and further behind. At six months, markers were seen in the ultrasound. After a CVS baby was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. A chromosomal abnormality. At 7 months I had to terminate. This is rare, so think positive. They will monitor you and you should have some diagnoses within the first 4 or 5 months. Hopefully. I don't know why but they took longer to figure out what was going on with me. I think they thought that I calculated my last period wrong. But I didn't. I wrote everything down in a journal. I advise you to start journaling today. Good luck my friend, hang in there and think positive. It is still very early for you to start worrying!!

Thay may have predicted your due date wrong, my ultrasound lady and the doc had too different due dates. Ultra sounds was the 22nd and the doc was the 17th, almost a week.