Hi all,

I’m currently 34w1d. My pregnancy has gone smoothly for the most part. My husband and I did do some traveling last year, so we had a thorough ultrasound at 19 weeks to confirm there were no Zika symptoms in our baby. The doctor did not feel as though there were Zika symptoms and based on calculations had the baby measuring in the 77th percentile.

At 30 weeks, I had another ultrasound due to my fundal height measuring ahead and some upcoming travels. Baby again looked fine and measured in the 69th percentile with estimated weight at 3 lb 11 oz.

At 32 weeks, my fundal height was measuring 3 weeks ahead, so my doctor ordered another ultrasound for my next visit to see if baby was measuring big or if he was in a laying in a position causing the fundal height to measure ahead.

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my ultrasound at 34 weeks. The technician was very thorough, double and triple checked her measurements and compared them to my 30 week ultrasound. She estimated the baby’s weight at just 4 lb 8oz. Unfortunately, my doctor was performing a surgery that day so I was unable to speak with her about the results.

My doctor called me today (not usually a good sign when your doctor calls you on a Saturday, right?) and told me she was concerned about my ultrasound. Based on the past ultrasounds and expected growth, my baby is now measuring 2 weeks behind. He is estimated to be in the 14th percentile with his head measurements falling under the 10th percentile. My doctor called the specialist who I saw at 20 weeks to talk more about the Zika virus, and both of them do not believe that Zika is the cause of this, but they are trying to see if the CDC will let me get tested for Zika. They also plan on testing me for several other factors, (I did DNA testing at 13 weeks which ruled out Down syndrome and the other trisomy syndromes) and I now have to start seeing the doctor twice a week for monitoring. The good news is that the ultrasound showed a proportionate baby with normal amniotic fluid and a good amount of blood running through the cord. He is also very active and wiggly.

My doctor does not know the cause of the sudden drop in growth and suggested that the placenta could be maturing too quickly.

I’m obviously shocked and worried having gone from assuming I’d have a big, healthy baby to my baby at risk of not growing at a normal speed. I’m hoping that the baby can continue to get the nourishment he needs and that I’ll be able to carry him to 37 weeks.

Has anyone else suddenly measured behind from an ultrasound?