![]() ![]() But with this particular diagnosis, usually, the outcome is positive.This wouldn’t pick up my baby’s heartbeat, until around 15 weeks along. "Anytime we give unexpected news regarding the development of a baby, that's always scary for patients. Kelli Burroughs, Department Chairman of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Memorial Hermann in Houston, said. "Most babies do well, in spite of the diagnosis," Dr. To keep myself from getting depressed, I would remind myself that this "tiny but mighty" baby had an Apgar score of nine out of 10. It broke my heart to see my child spend her first days of life in an incubator, but it helped her thrive. My daughter weighed 3.5 pounds even at full term, and we spent 13 long days in the NICU so she could get regular feedings through a tube. A biopsy confirmed I had placental dysfunction due to inflammation. I didn't learn what the issue was until I gave birth via a scheduled C-section at 37 weeks. Ahmet Baschat, Director of the Center for Fetal Therapy at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, explained FGR "implies the baby is small, and there is an underlying issue that's making this baby small." It could be an infection, chromosomal issues, the placenta not working properly, or possibly the mother is taking drugs, he said. Haleakalā was a good idea for our babymoon? Why didn't I just pass on that one beer or cocktail? I hated myself, even though my doctors reassured me this was not my fault.ĭr. Why on earth did my husband and I think driving up Mt. I blamed myself for all those exercise classes and the handful of flights and business trips, including one at 14,000 feet elevation in Lake Tahoe. Wracked with guilt, I felt myself spiraling. Not only did my dreams of having a vaginal birth at home in a warm water bath evaporate instantly, but I was crushed to learn that we would have a guaranteed stint at the neonatal intensive care unit if we were fortunate enough to keep our baby alive. Instead of happy endings, I was flooded with nightmare stories about stillborn babies, three-to-six-month-olds needing feeding tubes and life support due to their "failure to thrive," and toddlers missing developmental milestones. The Cleveland Clinic estimates IUGR affects about 10% of all pregnancies, yet I wondered why so many people, including myself, my family, and friends, had never heard of it before. I did what any expectant mother confined to bedrest, and this diagnosis would do. The only time I could leave home was for hospital appointments three to five times a week rigorous assessments, including non-stress tests to analyze the baby's heart rate, physical movements, and amniotic fluid, and Doppler tests to check fetal blood flow in the umbilical cord, brain, heart, and other organs. I was ordered to bed rest and had to stop all forms of physical activity. My stress-free pregnancy suddenly became high-risk. I was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), also known as fetal growth restriction (FGR), a term used to describe fetuses with fetal weight below the 10th percentile. This was supposed to be a routine check-up that suddenly turned into a possible death sentence for my daughter. My baby bump was small, but there hadn't been a cause for concern. How could this be happening? I had had, up to that point, a healthy, textbook pregnancy. ![]() "The baby may die inside the womb before birth." My husband and I sat in silence. "We found some abnormalities in your ultrasound," the perinatologist said. Two hours later, the technician returned, followed by a perinatologist - a high-risk OB/GYN. "What do you think is going on?" I asked my husband. We were sitting in a cold, dark ultrasound room, and the technician was taking forever. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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