T1 Pregnancy and Baby Tracking Small

[Diabetic Unicorn]

Hello all,

I'm T1D and am almost 30 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby.

A bit of background - my 1st baby, I had a very typical pregnancy for a T1. Everything went smoothly and she was born by C-Section at 38+1 due to being large for gestational age. She was tracking on the 98th centile from the 28 week scan and was born 8lb 10oz.

This pregnancy has been more challenging for me. I had a HUGE bleed at 10 weeks and my BG has been so unstable. I have had crazy amounts of hypos throughout the pregnancy with my HbA1c predicted around 35 (was 46 pre-pregnancy). I was moved onto an Insulin Pump on 25th April and the hypos have reduced significantly already. When not in hypo though, my sugars have been between 5-9 so pretty good.

I went for the 28 week growth scan around 29 weeks and was expecting another 90+ centile. However, I was told our baby is tracking really small, on the 3rd centile. I've got to go back on 10th May for another scan to see if she is growing at all, or if she is growing steadily on a lower centile.

I questioned if it could be because of the hypos as the placenta and umbilical cord appear to be functioning as they should. The Obstetrician thought it was possible whereas the endocrinologist didn't think it would impact on our baby's size.

Has anyone got any similar experiences? If so, was it caused by hypos? I'm really hoping that a week of higher BG / little hypos will have helped her grow but I have no idea...

TIA x

 

[Leadinglights]

My daughter who is not diabetic had an early c-section as her baby was not growing as normal and she was delivered 5 weeks early at 4lbs. but thrived well even though small and caught up in every respect by the time she was one. So don't worry about an early delivery if that is what is thought to be best for the baby.

 

[Inka]

Hi @Diabetic Unicorn I had to have a repeat scan in my last pregnancy because they were worried about the baby’s growth. He was 3 weeks behind apparently. But the repeat scan was fine and showed he was on target. They put the discrepancy down to the way baby was lying in the first of the two scans.

I wouldn’t think hypos would affect growth. In fact, if you’re treating them and maybe eating more, it would be the opposite if anything. So I definitely don’t think you should worry about that.

I hope your next scan puts your mind at rest. It’s good news that the placenta and umbilical cord look healthy.

 

[Diabetic Unicorn]

Thank you both for your replies. It feels like time is standing still til the next scan but she is merrily wriggling away still. Feels like she's having a mosh pit in there! Hopefully as you say the measurements were out

 

[charlieann94]

Thank you both for your replies. It feels like time is standing still til the next scan but she is merrily wriggling away still. Feels like she's having a mosh pit in there! Hopefully as you say the measurements were out

Hey! I was just wondering how you got on as I had my 28 week scan yesterday and baby is measuring on 4th percentile so similar to you x

 

[DiabeticUnicorn]

Hey! I was just wondering how you got on as I had my 28 week scan yesterday and baby is measuring on 4th percentile so similar to you x

I was put on the insulin pump in April which immediately stopped all the hypos I was having. After a couple of weeks of stable BG, she started climbing up the centiles and she was born in June weighing a very healthy 7lb 11oz.

Try not to fret, they will do loads of growth scans and as long as your baby is growing at a consistent rate, they aren't concerned. I didn't realise but my NHS trust use two centile charts- one that is generic and one that is tailored to you. On the generic chart, she was actually much higher up the centiles whereas it was my personal chart that she was low on. This was based on my first daughters birth weight (97th centile!), my BMI, diabetes etc.

I hope you're okay, Diabetic pregnancy is brutal! X

 

[Inka]

Congratulations @DiabeticUnicorn ! Lovely news 🙂

 

[charlieann94]

I was put on the insulin pump in April which immediately stopped all the hypos I was having. After a couple of weeks of stable BG, she started climbing up the centiles and she was born in June weighing a very healthy 7lb 11oz.

Try not to fret, they will do loads of growth scans and as long as your baby is growing at a consistent rate, they aren't concerned. I didn't realise but my NHS trust use two centile charts- one that is generic and one that is tailored to you. On the generic chart, she was actually much higher up the centiles whereas it was my personal chart that she was low on. This was based on my first daughters birth weight (97th centile!), my BMI, diabetes etc.

I hope you're okay, Diabetic pregnancy is brutal! X

Thank you so much for replying so quickly! I've been worrying all night and this has put my mind at ease. Hopefully baby starts to put on some weight and I'll try and avoid any hypos! A big congratulations 🙂 xx

 

[PhoebeC]

I was put on the insulin pump in April which immediately stopped all the hypos I was having. After a couple of weeks of stable BG, she started climbing up the centiles and she was born in June weighing a very healthy 7lb 11oz.

Try not to fret, they will do loads of growth scans and as long as your baby is growing at a consistent rate, they aren't concerned. I didn't realise but my NHS trust use two centile charts- one that is generic and one that is tailored to you. On the generic chart, she was actually much higher up the centiles whereas it was my personal chart that she was low on. This was based on my first daughters birth weight (97th centile!), my BMI, diabetes etc.

I hope you're okay, Diabetic pregnancy is brutal! X

Yes congratulations! Hope your managing being a mummy with diabetes okay. It can be challenging in those first few months x

 

[PhoebeC]

Thank you so much for replying so quickly! I've been worrying all night and this has put my mind at ease. Hopefully baby starts to put on some weight and I'll try and avoid any hypos! A big congratulations 🙂 xx

Can’t offer anything @DiabeticUnicorn hadnt already, my daughter was always on the bigger size and that was their concern.
Can add she was fine then and is a normal/slim build now so it didn’t do her any harm x

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Don’t forget that small babies can be totally natural and healthy. A 4th centile baby is relatively common and not something to be concerned about as long as they keep tracking at that rate. Scans are looking for growth not just one reading. And the accuracy of scans is not always 100% accurate. More scans will give you a better picture of what’s going on.
I’m not diabetic so no complications that way. I had one baby on the 15th centile and one on the 93rd centile. All babies are different.

 

[charlieann94]

Hello all,

I'm T1D and am almost 30 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby.

A bit of background - my 1st baby, I had a very typical pregnancy for a T1. Everything went smoothly and she was born by C-Section at 38+1 due to being large for gestational age. She was tracking on the 98th centile from the 28 week scan and was born 8lb 10oz.

This pregnancy has been more challenging for me. I had a HUGE bleed at 10 weeks and my BG has been so unstable. I have had crazy amounts of hypos throughout the pregnancy with my HbA1c predicted around 35 (was 46 pre-pregnancy). I was moved onto an Insulin Pump on 25th April and the hypos have reduced significantly already. When not in hypo though, my sugars have been between 5-9 so pretty good.

I went for the 28 week growth scan around 29 weeks and was expecting another 90+ centile. However, I was told our baby is tracking really small, on the 3rd centile. I've got to go back on 10th May for another scan to see if she is growing at all, or if she is growing steadily on a lower centile.

I questioned if it could be because of the hypos as the placenta and umbilical cord appear to be functioning as they should. The Obstetrician thought it was possible whereas the endocrinologist didn't think it would impact on our baby's size.

Has anyone got any similar experiences? If so, was it caused by hypos? I'm really hoping that a week of higher BG / little hypos will have helped her grow but I have no idea...

TIA x

Hey! I just wanted to give you an update as I had my scan yesterday. She's gone from 4th to the 12th and now weighs approximately 1377g which they were happy with. They're still going to keep a close eye. I also provisionally got a c-section date which is the 21/10. Although they did say depending on what happens with her growth they may need to bring her sooner! Thank you for your advice xx

 

[Leadinglights]

Hey! I just wanted to give you an update as I had my scan yesterday. She's gone from 4th to the 12th and now weighs approximately 1377g which they were happy with. They're still going to keep a close eye. I also provisionally got a c-section date which is the 21/10. Although they did say depending on what happens with her growth they may need to bring her sooner! Thank you for your advice xx

My daughter's third baby was too small and not growing so they did a C-section at 5 weeks premature on the grounds she would do better once delivered. She was just under 4 lbs and absolutely fine, came home after only 3 days.
I hope all goes well for you.

 

[PhoebeC]

Hey! I just wanted to give you an update as I had my scan yesterday. She's gone from 4th to the 12th and now weighs approximately 1377g which they were happy with. They're still going to keep a close eye. I also provisionally got a c-section date which is the 21/10. Although they did say depending on what happens with her growth they may need to bring her sooner! Thank you for your advice xx

Sounds positive and that date will allow you to plan. The day I got my induction date with ten minutes they kept me in and induced me early.

Take care x