[Marie88]

I have a heart shaped uterus and a low lying placenta. I am currently 20 weeks pregnant. I had bleeding off and on in the first trimester but not in the second so far. Last ultra sound my baby measured small. Over 2 weeks behind. My dr says the umbilical cord is not pumping enough blood to the baby. He is making it sound like there is no hope. I don't understand. I need so advice. This is my first pregnancy and I don't know what to do or what to ask or tell my dr.

[DoulaLC]

Hi Marie88,

I am sorry that you are having to go through such a stressful situation. You will need to be monitored on a very regular basis. Are you under the supervision of a perinatologist? It is not unusual for baby to be behind in growth... how far "over 2 weeks behind" does your doctor consider baby to be?

Each week can make a difference, so allowing baby to gain a bit more week to week can help. At some point, if your doctor feels baby's growth is actually being compromised by staying put, they may suggest a c-section. With the location of the placenta, an induction would not be possible, along with it being too stressful for baby if a early birth became necessary.

Is the hospital you are going to give birth in equipped for very premature babies? Do you know the level of the NICU that is available?

These would be a few things to ask your doctor about: How often will baby's growth be checked? When might they discuss the need for a c-section? What level NICU is available? Will they do a cerclage to keep the cervix closed and, if so, in what circumstances would they remove it?

Hopefully things will go well for several more weeks before anything needs to be done, if not even longer.

[Marie88]

Hi doulaLC

Thank you for your response. My dr is a high risk pregnancy dr that works in the maternal fetal care department in the hospital. I'm not sure his professional tittle though. At 18 weeks I was measuring at 16 weeks and I went in today at 21 weeks and am measuring at 17 weeks 5 days. So the growth is falling behind a lot. I am about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks behind as of today. My dr says if I make it past 24 weeks he thinks it's a 50/50 chance the baby survives but he says it depends on the growth in the next few weeks. I'm not sure what to do. Maybe the wait and see method is the only way. Im told it could be because of the shape of my uterus not giving the baby enough room to grow or the placenta not supplying enough blood or chromosomal abnormalities but it seems that no one knows. I'm in every week getting ultra sounds to see if the baby is " still alive ". Tho the baby is still falling behind. I was measuring behind from the start. At 6 weeks I was 5 days behind and at 16 weeks I measured a week and a half behind so I've always been behind it's just now I fell to almost 4 weeks behind in total and I'm not to sure what route to take now. Thank you for your response though it was very helpful.

[Marie88]

Hi doulaLC

Thank you for your response. My dr is a high risk pregnancy dr that works in the maternal fetal care department in the hospital. I'm not sure his professional tittle though. At 18 weeks I was measuring at 16 weeks and I went in today at 21 weeks and am measuring at 17 weeks 5 days. So the growth is falling behind a lot. I am about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks behind as of today. My dr says if I make it past 24 weeks he thinks it's a 50/50 chance the baby survives but he says it depends on the growth in the next few weeks. I'm not sure what to do. Maybe the wait and see method is the only way. Im told it could be because of the shape of my uterus not giving the baby enough room to grow or the placenta not supplying enough blood or chromosomal abnormalities but it seems that no one knows. I'm in every week getting ultra sounds to see if the baby is " still alive ". Tho the baby is still falling behind. I was measuring behind from the start. At 6 weeks I was 5 days behind and at 16 weeks I measured a week and a half behind so I've always been behind it's just now I fell to almost 4 weeks behind in total and I'm not to sure what route to take now. Thank you for your response though it was very helpful.