It's been a tough week for us. On Monday we were told our baby girl has asymmetrical IUGR. She is at 10% for growth. My blood pressure has gotten pretty high as well, so I'm now on strict bedrest with weekly Dr visits, non-stress tests and Biophysical Profile tests. We are praying to make it another 6 1/2 weeks to hit the 37 week goal for induction. But if the blood flow or her growth slows even more, she may be better in the NICU then inside me.

This came as a shock to us and has been difficult to adjust to.

I've increased my Protein, healthy fats and calories. It's the only thing I know that may help.

Has anyone else been through this?

Baby measured a little ahead 10 weeks ago at the anatomy ultrasound. So it's only been in the last 10 weeks or less that she isn't growing well.

It is your placenta. IF you have IUGR and high blood pressure it is your placenta that is the weak link. Keep your diet healthy, she will take all she needs from you and leave you drained of nutrients if your diet is poor. You won't notice for years - but that is what pregnancies do to us if we don't take care of ourselves.

It sounds like you are on the "better in or out" point for her and if she is better off and better able to grow outside - accept it and know you did the best you could but she chose her birth date. Keep up with the ultrasounds and blood flow, placenta's have a short life span as an organ - they are amazing - but when they go bad, get old and calcify, the baby just can't keep growing at the rate they would like. Trust your team and take her sooner than later as if they are watching blood flow that is concerning.

Any labor and delivery nurse will tell you post term placentas generally give the worst heart tracings in labor because there is no reserve for the baby to make it through the contractions so you end up putting mom on oxygen and everyone gets more stressed out because the baby is.

You can do nothing about your placenta, nothing you did in the past caused this, nothing you do now can change it or direct the outcome. Follow the advice of your OB team and plan on a little gal who will probably come early and be skinny. But remember skinny doesn't matter in the organ development - it is gestational age. Any you already have that covered by how far along you are now. She has the maturity she needs.

Good luck in your next few weeks!