I have a question that I hope you guys can give me some imput. I am pregnant with my first child, and my husband and I found out we are carriers for CF (no family history). We tried to do an amnio early on, but they did not get enough cells in the sample and we decided not to try a second because of the risk to the baby. At my 19 week ultrasound, they saw a bright bowel. We thought for sure the baby must have CF. Well, we had a 25 week and then a 30 week ultrasound and the bowel looks great! They said most likely it was bright because the baby may have swallowed some blood during the amnio. The did say our baby is a little small (31%) and almost 3 pounds (which from what I have read seems like it is on target but they say is small.) My question is this, are CF babies usually small? I was under the impression they are usually not even diagnosed until they are 1 or 2 so that leads me to believe they seem pretty normal sized when born. Any imput would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kara
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Are CF babies smaller?
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
My three babies were 8lb 5 oz, 8 lb 9 oz, and 8 lb 10 oz. Two have CF and one doesn't but there was hardly any difference in their weight. In fact my third child (who has CF) was my biggest and she was actually born a little early. They induced labor early because they thought she was going to need surgery at birth and I lived so far from the hospital they didn't want to risk it. (She did not end up needing surgery after all). Had they not induced my labor they estimate she would have weighed almost 10 lbs.
Renee
Renee
S
SeasonsOfLove
Guest
I gained a great deal of weight while pregnant with Coll, and had a planned (no labor) c-section at 38 weeks because she had meconium ileus (they were afraid she wouldn't fit through the birth canal). She was 8 lbs even though it was early.
(I also remember that after giving birth, I lost something crazy like 15 lbs in 1 day - I believe they said there's extra fluid when you're carrying a baby with meconium ileus.)
Best of luck,
(I also remember that after giving birth, I lost something crazy like 15 lbs in 1 day - I believe they said there's extra fluid when you're carrying a baby with meconium ileus.)
Best of luck,
I've not been informed of this "extra fluid" thing? So, if any of you have more information please let me know. Where does the fluid come from? My dr told me the blockage is caused from meconium that can't pass through the bowel which is basically dead skin cells that float in the amniotic fluid, but he said the fluid passes through as urine, so why does it get trapped? I don't know why this is so comlicated to me, but it is.
<b>Kara</b>-
I am 37 weeks pregnant and I have had 3 L2 u/s and each time my baby has been measuring very large, but I have big babies, my daughter was 9 lbs 10 ozs. Anyway, they said this baby measured 5.5 at 32 weeks and my last one at 34 weeks he measured 7.8, I'm going for my next appointment on Friday and I'll let you know what they say then.
They did notice an echogenic bowel during my first L2 at 16 weeks and my husband and I knew we were carriers so we had the amnio which confirmed the baby has CF. The bright bowel did go away but now they have noticed his bowel is a little dilated. Well according to one Dr it's dilated and according to another it is fine so who knows but we are continuing to monitor it. I found the whole subject about the "echogenic bowel" to be very confusing and you get a lot of different answers from different doctors concerning it.
Keep us posted about your baby and remember the odds are on your side.
My step-son has CF and he was 8 lbs 7 ozs when he was born, but he also had meconium ileus.
Jen
<b>Kara</b>-
I am 37 weeks pregnant and I have had 3 L2 u/s and each time my baby has been measuring very large, but I have big babies, my daughter was 9 lbs 10 ozs. Anyway, they said this baby measured 5.5 at 32 weeks and my last one at 34 weeks he measured 7.8, I'm going for my next appointment on Friday and I'll let you know what they say then.
They did notice an echogenic bowel during my first L2 at 16 weeks and my husband and I knew we were carriers so we had the amnio which confirmed the baby has CF. The bright bowel did go away but now they have noticed his bowel is a little dilated. Well according to one Dr it's dilated and according to another it is fine so who knows but we are continuing to monitor it. I found the whole subject about the "echogenic bowel" to be very confusing and you get a lot of different answers from different doctors concerning it.
Keep us posted about your baby and remember the odds are on your side.
My step-son has CF and he was 8 lbs 7 ozs when he was born, but he also had meconium ileus.
Jen
Thanks for all the info. on the size of babies. We were feeling really hopeful that since there was not the echogenic bowel anymore that it is a really good sign the baby will not have CF. From what you all have said it seems many CF babies are pretty big!
We have had all of our ultrasounds with a perinatologist, and would meconium ileus show up on one of these or can that be a surprise at birth? I thought (and I could be completely wrong in this thinking) that since the bowels and everything on our baby are looking great, we wouldn't need to worry about the meconium ileus. Am I wrong in that thinking? I just thought that kind of went along with the bright bowel and everything.
Thanks for your help,
Kara
We have had all of our ultrasounds with a perinatologist, and would meconium ileus show up on one of these or can that be a surprise at birth? I thought (and I could be completely wrong in this thinking) that since the bowels and everything on our baby are looking great, we wouldn't need to worry about the meconium ileus. Am I wrong in that thinking? I just thought that kind of went along with the bright bowel and everything.
Thanks for your help,
Kara
Hi Kara, I think MI can happen at anytime so it might not show up until the very end of the pregnancy but I don't know any stats on when it usually shows up. My daughter was 8lbs 10 ounces (and one week overdue!) but I was told right up until she was born that she was going to be small (they thought about 6lbs, so we were pretty suprised!). The measurements are almost never accurate, in fact with a U/S there is a +/- 2 pounds accuracy. So for example, if they think a baby will weigh 6 lbs, it could actually be anywhere from 4-8 lbs.
HTH & Hope your babe doesn't have CF!
HTH & Hope your babe doesn't have CF!
I gained a lovely 50 pounds and my son weighed 7lbs 10oz. A good healthy size, but I thought he'd be a lot bigger since I was so huge!
OK, but here is the other end of the deal. We hear a lot about meconium ileus (baby can't poop), but my son had the opposite problem. He was pooping his way out the birth canal and ingested some of his meconium in his lungs. They had to clear his lungs out and put him in ICU for a few hours. I don't know why they didn't give him antibiotics to prevent possible infection (I just don't know the standard routine, and didn't think much about it at the time). At 2 days old he got a horrible bought of pneumonia and was sent back to ICU for 10 days. We did not know he had CF (diagnosed at age 3, this was his only instance of pneumonia). I am sure the CF made this meconium ingestion problem worse to develop pneumonia. I know this meconium ingestion happens a lot in non CF babies, but I do believe it happens in some CF babies as well. I don't ever hear anyone write about it though. However, after reading "Spirit of Lo", I saw that the same thing happened to Lo. My point is: if your baby ingests meconium during delivery, inquire about preventative antibiotics. IF your baby has CF, he might have a harder time fighting off an infection.
Keeping our fingers crossed for you. Have arrangements made for the cord blood to be tested (that's what we did for our daughter). It takes about 2 weeks, since you already know the mutations you and your husband carry.
Best wishes!
Jena
4 yr old son with CF
1 yr old daughter no CF
OK, but here is the other end of the deal. We hear a lot about meconium ileus (baby can't poop), but my son had the opposite problem. He was pooping his way out the birth canal and ingested some of his meconium in his lungs. They had to clear his lungs out and put him in ICU for a few hours. I don't know why they didn't give him antibiotics to prevent possible infection (I just don't know the standard routine, and didn't think much about it at the time). At 2 days old he got a horrible bought of pneumonia and was sent back to ICU for 10 days. We did not know he had CF (diagnosed at age 3, this was his only instance of pneumonia). I am sure the CF made this meconium ingestion problem worse to develop pneumonia. I know this meconium ingestion happens a lot in non CF babies, but I do believe it happens in some CF babies as well. I don't ever hear anyone write about it though. However, after reading "Spirit of Lo", I saw that the same thing happened to Lo. My point is: if your baby ingests meconium during delivery, inquire about preventative antibiotics. IF your baby has CF, he might have a harder time fighting off an infection.
Keeping our fingers crossed for you. Have arrangements made for the cord blood to be tested (that's what we did for our daughter). It takes about 2 weeks, since you already know the mutations you and your husband carry.
Best wishes!
Jena
4 yr old son with CF
1 yr old daughter no CF
proudmom2lilCFer
New member
My daughter was 10 pounds even when she was born. She doesn't have CF. My son was 5 pounds 10 ounces when he was born. He does have CF. He also has a form of dwarfism they is contributing to him being so small. But, just thought I would share their weights.
my first daughter was 6lbs 13oz she was in hospital when she was a baby with a chest infection, they failed to pick up that she had cf.
she was 3 and a half when they finaly pick it up only because she would get alot off colds and had a cough most of the time.....she has always put on weight and her height is fine.
my second daughter was 8lbs3oz and doesnt have cf
i dont know, it might have somthing to do with cf.... but then again my daughter with cf is a much neater build than my daughter who doesnt have cf.......im also pregnant again and dont know if my baby has cf.
all the best
she was 3 and a half when they finaly pick it up only because she would get alot off colds and had a cough most of the time.....she has always put on weight and her height is fine.
my second daughter was 8lbs3oz and doesnt have cf
i dont know, it might have somthing to do with cf.... but then again my daughter with cf is a much neater build than my daughter who doesnt have cf.......im also pregnant again and dont know if my baby has cf.
all the best
My son was normal size at birth 7lbs 14 ounces. I think it depends on the type of initial symptoms appear that may depend on the size of your newborn. My son did not show major symptoms till around 7-9months, where he stopped growing and was wasting away in front of my eyes. I just didn't know why.
My son weighed 9 lbs 10 oz when he was born. Yes, he has Cf. I gained 40 pounds with him, but did have gestational diabetes with him, maybe that is the reason so big?? I do know it was a good thing for him to be so big because he lost alot of weight, be had a burst bowel when he was born and couldn't eat for 2 months, just by j-tube. So I don't think CF babies are always smaller.
I have two kids with CF both were born two weeks early, the first was 8. 5 oz the next was 9. 4 oz, I only gained under 30 pds with both. They were big until age two. However they were both very healthy at birth and for several years. They had late diagnosis ages 14 & 16 ( both in the year 2000).
I didn't find out that my son had CF until he was 5 month's old . He weighed 9 pounds and `14 ounces
he was my second and weighed more than my daughter so Im not really sure but he was big . He was also born with Bi-lateral cleft lip and palate we new that before he was born they could see it in the ultra sound I ended up having 10 ultra sounds done . I didn't know they could detect Cf still in the womb?
he was my second and weighed more than my daughter so Im not really sure but he was big . He was also born with Bi-lateral cleft lip and palate we new that before he was born they could see it in the ultra sound I ended up having 10 ultra sounds done . I didn't know they could detect Cf still in the womb?