Extra amniotic fluid at 37/38 weeks - experiences?

[krabbiepatty]

Hmm, just had positioning scan at Fetal Medicine Centre which revealed baby in Ok position but loads of axtra amniotic fluid which seems to mean:

• possible undiagnosed gestational diabetes
• baby could still flip back into breech
• baby could have bowel blockage
• go see obetetrician

Seesm unlikely will get to see anyone before next week so wondered if anyone else had any experience of this?

bumping because of numerous competing threads from fantasists...

Did they say polyhydramnios to you kp?
It is VERY unlikely to be the third if your other scans have been OK. We were discussing polyhydramnios \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=49&threadid=150569&stamp=060228084020\here} not so long ago, see Jimjams' reassuring remarks, for example.
I ended up having an elective c-section for dd because although she didn't go breech, she didn't really go anywhere helpful and they were worried about cord prolapse.
My consultant concluded that I was flirting with GD at the end of my pregnancy but just got away with it. He did also say that extra amniotic fluid diagnosed purely by scan can be v. misleading as babies and innards can configure themselves to place the amniotic fluid unevenly...

thanks Marina, will have a good look at that, that was the very word they used. I can stop posting inappropriately on tuna threads now!

Have dobbed in our serial shouty problem-finder-general while I was about it too kp

I felt she was distracting attention from serious issues re amniotic fluid and tuna, so good work, M.

OH sweetie, just seen this. Take care
xxxx

I had polyhydramnios and was induced for it at 41 weeks. DD fine but very large (9lb and 13oz). I had 2 GTTs but no diabetes. The consultant said that some women just make a lot of water and there isn't a problem.

Hope you get some good news next week.

Thanks, mi and teacups. Spoken to midwife but not seen her yet and she was saying "oh those sonographers are scaremongers" and I was thinking yes but i just want to see a doctor and how come I never had a GTT anyway? Maybe I am overreacting but beginning to feel my mws have swung too far in undermedicalising things. hmmm (this is just a moan btw)

Oh god GTTs suck! Are you at high risk of GD otherwise?

I had polyhydramnios with DS1. Things I learned:

The scan measurements are a bit guessy, like all scan measurements. I turned out to not have polyhydramnios, by the latest standards! The thing is, polyhydramnios can mean a lot of very very scary things, all of which would now be picked up on a scan. In the old days, they called it polyhydramnios if there was so much fluid they couldn't find the baby! The stomach would just ripple, like a waterbed.

Some women just make more fluid. Turned out, my mom did, too. Nothing wrong with DS1, at all.

They'll be interested to know that the baby is weeing and pooing in the first day or two, to check for any problems. But they always want to know this is happening, anyway.

I don't know if high risk - didn't have GD in previous pgs but had a borderline GTT result. I really liked GTTs, maybe am mad? What worried me re the fluid was that sonographer showed me it ona graph and it seemed to be way out of the ballpark and my tum is like a drum and has been for some time. (which is possibly why i can't sleep and hence feel crabby with MWs)....

Hi there,
I had a polyhidramnios too. But it was detected at 27 weeks. A gtt later, and I was diagnosed with GD. Once GD was under control, liquid was back at normal rate.
Since you are almost at the popping point it seems like is not worth it doing the whole GTT thing. There will just not be enough time to do anything....
Did they told you how much "extra liquid" there was? If I remember correctly from my research, most of the time it means nothing, and your baby would be just fine! When there is something really wrong, there is really a lot of extra fluid. If you do a search you might find exact numbers (sorry I forgot them).
I would say at this point the only thing that would concern me is that whomever is delivering you is aware of it, and knows what to do... I think there is a small risk of cord prolapse when there is a lot of water, and some doctors choose to pop the waters very carefully before labour is full on, so it can assure the head goes down slowly and the cord doesn't come out ahead. Again, chances of this happening is very small, but would be nice to have someone prepared for the problem...

All the best!

Krabbiepatty - after a scan when I was weeping and thinking the worst as I had something wrong, a kind MW friend said that scans often cause more worry than good. Not to say that they aren't brilliant for some things, but if I hadn't had so many scans, I wouldn't be worried and would be enjoying the last few weeks before the baby arrived. I felt lots of movement, my tum was like a drum as well and chances were that I just make a lot of water. She said that many women probably have lots of water but that wasn't picked up as they only had the 12 and 20 weeks scans.

I only ended up having lots of scans as my tum measured large for dates. That seemed to vary by several cms depending on who was measuring too! There was initial confusion over when the baby was due, which led to this late set of scans.

The measurements moved quite a bit depending on who was scanning and where DD was lying. The consultant said likely any major problems would have been picked up at earlier scans and the only thing I had to do was get to hospital asap if my waters went. She likened it to Niagara and said that it would be fairly spectacular (which it was when I ahd them broken at 41 weeks!!) If the head is engaged, there is nowhere for the cord to prolapse to which is the major worry.

Thinking of you and looking forward to hearing how it is going next week. Take care XXXXX