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Avatar universal

low birth weight

Situation I take an L3 "probably safe" beta blocker medication that I needed to continue through pregnancy. My ob knew this and approved the med even though a "possible" side effect could be low birth weight. She said it was very unlikely, and double checked with some experts at the hospital and they said it would be fine. So my ob told me that the practice would just follow the growth more closely throughout pregnancy and we could change or stop my meds temporarily if anything suspicious turned up, but she didnt want me to stop for no reason because of the effects no meds would have on me and baby. OK. So... I have a rotating practice - different doc every visit- but the information was in my chart. After the 20 week anatomy exam, I never got another ultrasound. I asked at every appointment how growth was and if it needed to check more closely because of my med. I was told no, baby looked totally normal and would be fine. In the last month I realized my tummy was smaller than most pregnant women. I asked a little more vocally if they were SURE the weight was OK because of my meds. They said sure she's going to be 7.5 or 8lb probably. No need for ultrasound. ...... So I had the baby Tuesday via csection because she wasn't tolerating labor at all. And she is LOW BIRTH WEIGHT - 5 lb 5oz - and has been in NICU since the beginning for low blood sugar, low body heat, low platelets, high red blood cells, inability to eat, and failure to urinate enough. Feeding tube and all that. .... How does the doctor insist that the body weight was OK and would probably be almost 8lb and it turns out to be so low? Especially since I specifically asked this question at every appointment?? I feel like that was negligent. All I had to go on in the end was professionals telling me she was OK and my meds were fine to take rather than switch or try to quit. Grr. That's why I don't trust doctors.
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Avatar universal
They can be off by 2 lbs when guessing baby's weight even without being on medication during pregnancy. unfortunately it's not an exact science.
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Avatar universal
To me it sounds like they failed to due as planned I am to on a beta blocker for hbp not sure if that is why u take it or not and they monitor my baby very closely I receive ultrasounds every month and soon to increase to every 2 weeks to ensure growth of my son is continually normal I don't see why u were told they would monitor and u never once received at least one additional ultrasound to at least see if everything was fine but I do hope ur daughter gets well soon
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10154352 tn?1459823787
How many weeks pregnant were you?
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Avatar universal
I am upset that they said they were going to monitor more closely and failed to so so. They monitored as if I had zero risk of potential problems - basically no monitoring after 20 weeks. They did say she was a little small at 20 weeks also. Just shy of a week small. I told the doctor that the tech told me that and he looked very displeased and said techs should never tell patients any medical information and not to worry about it.
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Avatar universal
40 weeks and 4 days when I had her.
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Avatar universal
Also my original due date was march 7 but they later on changed it to march 13 after an ultrasound. I gave birth march 17.
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10154352 tn?1459823787
Wow I asked because my daughter came 2 weeks early and she was 5 pounds 6 ounces and didn't have any problems. To me it sounds those medicines may have caused all that. How is your baby girl doing so far?
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10457754 tn?1410275904
Im very sorry your doctors didnt take better care of you and your baby while you were pregnant. I hope your baby is doing beter in the hospital now! I think you need to take some kind of actions? Its not fair to you or your baby that they didnt monitor you more closly. And now that your daughter was low birth weight and is still experiencing problems i would make a big deal about it to your doctor and the doctor office. I hope she does better!
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Avatar universal
I would say its negligent and maybe contact a lawyer and the hospitals patient advocate
Helpful - 0

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