Polyhydramnios- experience or advice

[Starlive22]

Hello ladies, just looking to hear other ladies experiences really, I've been diagnosed with polyhydramnios which has gone from mild to moderate, 32+3 and SDP 15.

Looking for a wee bit of a hand hold or some stories. My GD test came back negative, Harmony test too for all of the trisomy conditions and just wondering how/what was done differently in your pregnancy/delivery I.e normal birth, caesarian section, did they induce you earlier?

I'm a bit scared about cord problems as Dr mentioned this but didn't go into detail. She doesn't seem terribly concerned but I'm still a bit anxious!

Any advice or experiences would be gladly welcomed

Ditto, following.

I had extra fluid ( I can't spell what it is ) they didn't seem too concerned quite laid back actually, I had extra scans as I measured bigger than I should have been!! Didn't cause any problems at all, just a lot of waters everywhere when they finally broke!! Xxx

@SomehowSomewhere1 hey we are in the same boat! How far along are you? Have the Drs said anything to you? With me it seems like a bit of a 'wait and see' approach!

Thanks @Proudmummy17 glad to hear it didn't cause many problems x

I had excess waters and was admitted for monitoring for a couple of days while they did tests. Nothing seemed to be causing it so they let me go home and scanned me every two weeks until 40 weeks. I went overdue by 10 days too, barely noticed my waters going and had a natural delivery.

Try not to worry, they can be over cautious

@PsychoPumpkin wow I'm surprised they let you go over, the dr said to me she thinks she won't let me go past 40 weeks, but that being said my baby is measuring quite large so maybe it's more because of size x

Well I forgot to mention that the water reduced at every scan, so by the time I was 40 weeks it was a normal level again so that’s why they let me go over I think

I had polyhydramnios, it came on really quickly and was due to GD they hadn't tested for despite a family history.

I was luckily able to control blood sugar through diet alone, but even so they said I'd have to deliver early. Due to this and the fact I had a bad tear and PPH with DC1, they didn't want to risk a VB with an apparently enormous baby. So I had a c-sec at 38 weeks.

@PsychoPumpkin ah I see! Mine sadly seems to be increasing, but have read it can start to decline at around 35 weeks so still hoping for that.

Thanks for your stories ladies, comforting to hear it's not all doom and gloom as google would have you believe!

@Pollaidh do you know if your early c section was due to GD or polyhydramnios? They seem more concerned at the moment with the size of the baby than the masses of fluid!

I had it with my ds who is now 4. I can't remember specific numbers but my bump was measuring 10 weeks ahead just before my waters broke and only 4 weeks ahead after and there was still a lot of water left. My waters broke at 35 weeks and I had a c-section 2 days later because his head wasn't engaged and he was lying at a weird angle.

I think it was putting everything together. DC2 was measuring just slightly above average and I went 2 weeks late with DC1, so they were looking at a large baby at 42 weeks, and given what happened with DC1 no one really wanted to risk it. (And DC1 had measured tiny but came out large.) But I do seem to remember the polyhydramnios being part of the decision too. Sorry, it's too long ago to remember the specifics.

I had this with my first. My levels were so high they were completely off the charts!! I was terrified after googling it and hated all the tests and scans but everything was fine and there was just lots of extra fluid in labour. You will probably find the levels go down a bit towards your due date, that's what my consultant told me and they did.

My waters went at 39 weeks after a sweep and it resulted in induction because I wasn't contracting. 4 hour labour and little one arrived.

good luck

I had this. I was monitored until the end of my pregnancy and had a caesarean, for a different reason, so cord issues weren’t a thing.

My baby was ill, again for a different reason, but I was told that they would’ve put a tube down the throat to check they can swallow and then there’d be no difference in care.

I have no experience of that as he needed NICU, but that’s what should happen.

Oh a cause was never found and my baby didn’t have a trisomy or defect.

I had polyhydramnios & GD (GD was thanks to steroids I had to take for a pre-existing condition) - I had a little more monitoring towards the end but became quite uncomfortable (extremely tight bump) by 36wks so they brought my planned section (that pre-existing condition again) forward and I had DS2 at 37wks exactly.
Morning of my section my waters broke on their own whilst I was getting ready to go in..... it was like a blooming tidal wave but otherwise all good.
DS2 was fine and so was I (and glad he was out)

I had polyhydramnios with my DD 8 years ago, no discernible cause. An extra scan, but no problems at. Waters went with an almighty pop and sprayed (I was least forward on the bed) for what felt like hours, but no ill effects apart from drenched bedding!

Oh my! These stories are very comforting! Not at all like the stuff from the internet! So glad I posted on here to get a feel of actual experiences. Maybe it's not as rare as I'd been lead to believe, especially when you think of all the people who might have had it and been missed for some reason.

Still a bit anxious about waters breaking but feeling much better about the situation. Never listen to Dr Google!

When were you last tested for GD, OP? It's possible for it to develop later than 28 weeks as you get into the really hard part for your body, so if you have a big baby and extra fluid, that could be it?

@Rebeccaslicker It was around Xmas I was tested, so maybe a month, I have heard of people being checked more than once but nobody has mentioned it again, the Dr said she had checked my urine and no sugar, but do wonder how accurate that is, as you say, extra fluid and big baby are apparently signs

I had PH with DS. No GD. No other obvious cause.

I went into spontaneous labour at 37+4, my waters went with a massive gush and contractions started about 30 mins later.

I was told labour probably started this early because of the extra pressure on the cervix from the weight of the excess fluid.

Id been told that if my waters went I should check for a cord prolapse, and if I felt anything to kneel with with my head on the floor and my bum in the air and call an ambulance. Luckily that didn't happen!

I have this now at 33 weeks! I'm also worried, but trying not to worry. The midwives never sent me for the GD test which worries me, but I hope they know what they are doing? Baby was on the 75th percentile at 22 weeks so not huge.

I have brought my mat leave forward to 36 weeks as I'm paranoid about my waters going in the office.. and being like a fire hydrant. I'd never live that down

Hopefully just one of those things. But if you wanted to be sure on the GD front, you could order a meter on Amazon and test - so after 10-12 hours of fasting and then an hour after a 75g glucose drink - if you get anything above 5.5 on the fasting or 7.5 on the one hour, you'd then see the dr for a proper test?

I had it, but mine was the first sign of GD. Induced at 37+1 for reduced movement (which in hindsight was me being paranoid I think!); otherwise all fine and the fluid did reduce again by about 35 weeks.

🤞🏻

@Starlive22 don't worry about the size of little one either. I was told my dc was going to be 10-11 pounds minimum. They had extra people on hand because they thought my dc would be giant. 8 pounds 8 in the end so not as big as they thought. Please do take the stats and estimates with a pinch of salt. I got myself really worked up about it all.

@bananaramallamana I think my midwife only sent me for a GD test because of the size of the baby, not because of the polyhydramnios, the Baby is measuring very big and apparently that can be an indication of GD. I think had it just been the extra fluid they wouldn't have done it so don't worry about that! I'll try to post a pic of my levels and growth of baby x

This is the fluid and size of baby x