I am worried sick. My sister has been taken to hospital as she is losing fluid. She is only just 24 weeks

[Pinkchampagne]

She has had a stressful pregnancy. She has had bleeding problems from the start but every scan has showed that baby & placenta is ok. She is now just 24 weeks and has been losing fluid since 1pm today. She says she can still feel it moving around.

I am out of my mind with worry. The baby will be too little to stand a good chance of survival.

Fingers crossed

My sister has just contacted me to say they have had no joy with getting a scan sorted this week. The only thing they are prepared to do is let her see the consultant this week rather than next

Sorry to hear no joy on the scan x yay on the baby hangin on a whole week fingers crossed he/she stays put a bit longer ur sister has done great x still thinking of u all x

How ridiculous - what will the consultant be able to say without the information from the scan.

Fingers crossed she's ok.

I know, it is ridiculous. Seen as they warned her the baby could be born any time, you would think they would want to check baby's weight & growth as well as her fluid levels. Sounds like they won't budge on it though.

I can't understand it, did they give a reason? Does your sister feel comfortable and trust in the care she is getting? I hope they are explaining everything to her so that she is getting some reassurance. I think if it was me, I would be trying to get a private scan.

They told her that a scan right now would make no difference so long as her obs, bloods & fetal movements are ok. They can't check her fluid level or baby's weight from that though, can they?

I lost a lot of waters at about 27 weeks (slow leak), they scanned me every two weeks, and did Doppler scan to check blood flow via placenta

I don't think so pink, but maybe the obs and bloods tell them more at this stage ? I really don't know, but I sure as heck would want to find out. Hopefully someone medical will come along soon, or maybe post that specific question and see if a dr is about??

It seems a very long time to wait. Originally it was going to be this Wednesday but they have changed it to the following week. My poor sister is so frightened & wanted the scan done sooner rather than later.

How long did you hold off before delivering, lisa123?

Then she should absolutely insist. Say that she is suffering terribly withtension and anxiety, can't sleep, eat, etc etc (most of which I'm sure is probably true)- maybe get DH to talk to consultant if possible and say how concerned he is about his wife's well being and that a scan could well help her be more relaxed. She shouldn't have to do this, goes without saying that the more info she has the better she is going to feel.

She is losing a little fluid every day now & she is really concerned. She told them that and they just said it was to be expected. Think they tried really hard today to get the scan brought forward, but got nowhere.

They are probably being very polite, I think the time has come for DH to start insisting he speaks to the consultant himself, it isn't going to be that difficult to get her in for a scan I don't imagine

My God, the poor woman must be beside herself with worry and stress, which will not be doing her or the baby any good.

DH and she need to turn up at hospital and refuse to leave until she is scanned.
I had the opposite and too much fluid. The consultant told me that in case my waters went and the cord came with them in the gush to get down on all 4s with my bum in the air and call an ambulance, but that a prolapsed cord would mean the baby would only have about 5 minutes left. We packed a bag and turned up at the hospital 2 days later. I was terrified and wouldnt leave until I spoke to someone to get my CS booked in asap. I did try to make them do it that weekend with no joy.

From a membrane support point of view, tell her to keep taking her preg multi. Ensure it has Vitamin C, and Vitamin B6 also helps maintain the placenta and the pregnancy. She should eat foods to try to raise her haemoglobin levels: dried apricots, prunes and raisins, lima beans, spinach, brocolli, wholegrains and iron fortified products.

You sound like you are all taking good care of her and you sound like a fantastic sister and aunty.

Fingers crossed she gets to 30 weeks at least.

Thank you for the info - that is very helpful.

Her DH can be pretty forceful & I thought he would get the scan thing sorted but the only thing they have done for them is get her consultant appt a week earlier. They said a scan wouldn't tell them much as fluid levels will be going up and down.

She is panicking that she has a slight draggy feeling in her stomach but it is without tightenings & not painful as such. The situation just makes her feel so much more paranoid, and I worry about her.

I think mince and almond are right. The time for being polite is over, she needs to have someone who is firmly insistent that action is taken now for her mental well-being (and any other reason you can think of).

The trouble is, it needs to be done away from her so that she doesn't get any more stressed by it all. Can you go and sort the hospital out Pinkchampagne?!!!

Doubt I would get anywhere but was hoping BIL would be able to. He said at the w/e he was going to sort it & imagine he was pretty forceful, but they won't budge. She even phoned her own midwife, who said the care plan she was getting seemed fine & it was really the consultants decisions now

Pink,

I think she needs to relax a bit. I believe that the fluid is being replaced and, if she is losing a little each day, that does not mean that the total level is going down. The key thing to keep a very close eye on is movements. If the baby does not seem to be moving enough, I would just go straight down to the delivery ward and get her put on a monitor. On the other hand, if she has a scan now, then loses some more, she will be worried soon again. I don't think there is much mileage in having scans all the time if there is still good movement.

Pink, very much agree with Larry. I am surprised that no one in the hospital has explained that the body keeps continually producing new fluid, and that she WILL carry on leaking. This is normal and should be no cause for extra concern.

Hey hon hope ur sister is still doing ok x

My sister is offically 25 weeks today & has her hospital appt later to have her bloods taken & see the consultant. She says she is going to write down a list of questions to ask.

That's a good idea x hope she gets her answers and that there is still no sign of infection or anything x good news she's still going x

pink

Every week and every day she keeps the baby in the better. Even if she extremly little amnio left they will want to keep the baby in. One of the strong advice I've been getting is the benefits of steriods on the baby as low amnio can affect the development of the lungs. You can get a lot of support from the facebook page PROM. check it out.
Suggest to your sister to ask about steriods, and to have at least two weekly scans by a consultant.
I hope your sister gets more support at the hospital today than she has been getting. Sorry if I have repeated what other people have said. Hang in there.

Hope everything goes ok. I'd be worried sick too

She is only being offered scans once a fortnight atm, mrsallcock, and they won't shift on that.

I hope my sister gets on ok today. Her appointment with the consultant is at 3.30pm & she said she will let me know how she gets on.