When I found out that my baby girl was growth restricted my head swirled with questions. Did I cause this? Why didn’t they know sooner? Will I ever feel the beat of my daughter’s heart against mine? Why us?
It wasn’t much later after my daughter was born that I learned more about what IUGR is and how it affects many families in different ways. I joined a facebook support group and read the many stories of hope, sadness, joy and love from women who had been diagnosed with IUGR. Not every story had a happy ending but the group offered an ear and an arm to those who needed it.
My daughter came into this world weighing 5lbs 1oz at 38 weeks putting her in the 1.3 percentile and for a week she dropped off the charts as she went down to 4lbs 8oz. She was an incredible fighter to make it into our world even before she grew inside me because she was first created in vitro. We first saw her as 5 day old embryo under a microscope on a TV screen. When I found out the IVF had worked we nicknamed her Rocky because she was our little fighter; the little embryo that could. But that is another story for another time.
Fast forward 36 weeks and I was sat in my Obstetrician’s office with my husband wondering why my baby wasn’t growing as she should be. We worried for 2.5 weeks as I was carefully monitored and tested to make sure my baby girl kept cooking. I learned that many women with an IUGR diagnosis often find out sooner than week 36 and spend weeks and weeks with worry, and some end up meeting their little one sooner than they would like. I was one of the lucky few who was able to keep my baby cooking in the oven to 38 weeks.
The doctor said she would be better out of my body than in. Those words hurt so much, I felt like a failure. I thought about all the times people had said to me that I looked great for for how far along I was. Little did I know that this was because she was not growing properly. It still stings today when I think about it. But the doctor was right, she thrived outside of me.
My daughter is 6 months old today and I have been learning about IUGR and what it means for the future of our children born tiny but mighty. That’s why I am here now setting up this website as a resource for all of you families with this diagnosis because I never found one single site when we first were told my girl was growth restricted. It wasn’t until a few months later that I found other resources here and there that were helpful like the IUGR facebook support group.
I hope you find what you are looking for. If you don’t please contact me with your questions using the form on the Contact page.
Tiny But Mighty 