3Rd Trimester U/s for Poor Maternal Weight Gain?

Updated on June 15, 2010
T.L. asks from Fresno, CA
7 answers

I am 30w3d pregnant. My last doctors appointment was last friday, and in the past month, i didnt gain any weight. the doctor ordered an ultrasound asap due to poor maternal weight gain. this will be my second big ultrasound this pregnancy. has anyone had this before? should i be worried? what are they loking for?just checking dates? thanks in advance! =)

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L.A.

answers from Reno on

Oh they are just checking to make sure the baby is gaining. I had this too. It's no big thing..plus more awesome fetal photo ops:)

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D.R.

answers from San Francisco on

Ah, this is familiar to me. I had trouble gaining weight during pregnancy, particularly during the last half of my third trimester (when most people gain the most). I had ultrasounds and non-stress tests almost every week for the last month or so of my pregnancy! Try not to worry - they just want to check to make sure the baby is still growing. They'll measure the baby (probably his/her leg, abdomen, and head size) and compare against averages. In my case, her head and leg were about average, but her abdomen was smaller than expected, so they kept doing ultrasounds to ensure it was growing. They will probably also check your amniotic fluid level (that can also be measured on the ultrasound). Having extra ultrasounds is actually kind of nice because you get to see your baby. :)

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A.J.

answers from St. Louis on

They're looking for proper growth of the baby. I myself am in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and have fluctuated between the same three pounds for weeks now. My blood pressure is slightly elevated but other than that nothing is wrong w/ me and my baby is progressing fine according to my fourth and final ultrasound. You may have to go in for more ultrasounds. But as long as your baby is growing there's probably no reason to worry in my opinion.

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A.M.

answers from Lakeland on

I am sure they are just checking the baby's size/weight. With my first pregnancy I lost 20+ lbs because of extreme morning sickness. They did a couple of extra u/s to make sure my son was okay. He was delivered at 7 lbs 11 oz and I was still negative five pounds. With this pregnancy they did not do the extra u/s even though I am still negative 15 lbs at 33 weeks. My doctor just knows that this is what my body does during pregnancy. By the way, they are predicting this baby to be 9 lbs...yeah. Don't worry until there is something to worry about! Good luck.

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C.T.

answers from San Francisco on

If you were a heavier weight starting out the pregnancy it doesn't matter if you gain little weight in pregnancy as much as if you were skinny/smaller weight. My Dr. only wanted me to gain 15-20 pounds during pregnancy since I started out 196. There were many weeks I didn't gain and even weeks I lost. I ate super healthy and it seemed the baby ate all my fat away! Now if I can do that with 2nd baby!! Probably not!
Anyway, there's other factors Dr's look at like is your belly getting bigger and baby's heartrate. All in all it's great to see pics of your baby, and an ultrasound always put you at ease when everything's OK.
I hope everything is alright with you and baby both. Just eat well balanced meals and lots of water!

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

The Doctor, should tell you, how much weight you need to gain.
Each woman is different and depending on what start weight you were when you got pregnant.

For my 1st pregnancy for example, my Doc said that I should gain 20-25 pounds.
For my 2nd pregnancy, he said 15 pounds.
These are for the total pregnancy throughout.
I was all within the ranges and perfectly fine and healthy and so were my babies in-utero.

There were certain times I did not gain any weight. My Doc was happy... he is very strict about gaining too much weight, during pregnancy.

So ask your Doctor... why there is a concern with your non-weight gain... and etc.

all the best,
Susan

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M.C.

answers from Washington DC on

Its just to check the weight of the baby. Since you didn't gain any weight, you may not be taking in enough calories. Checking the weight of the baby through u/s is the only way to verify that this is the case.

When I was 36 weeks w/ my daughter she positioned herself on my siadic nerve. I couldn't eat for a week because everything would just come back up when she moved. I actually lost 5lbs in 3 days. When I asked my dr. he said. 'okay, that's normal'.
me: 'You aren't concerned that I've lost 5 lbs in 3 days?!?'
him: 'Nope, because I know the reason'.

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