Experiences of polyhydramnios

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I was diagnosed with this this week at a growth scan....I'm 30 weeks. I'm getting the GTT next week and wasn't too concerned, until I decided to do some googling.

I have learned that it affects just 1% of pregnancies and if it's not GD related then some of the causes seem quite frightening.

Anyone able to share their experiences of having this?

Yes I had this at 20 weeks, but really it had no effect at the end of the day. In fact, my waters disappeared completely by the end of pregnancy, which apparently can happen in overdue babies.

Good luck, and stay away from Google

I had this in my first pregnancy. Apart from the fact that when my waters broke they seemed to go on forever, there was no apparent reason for it.

Same as pp, this was picked up for me around 36w. I had the gtt but was clear and they took some bloods to rule out some infections which were also clear.
They decided to induce at 38w to be on the safe side and we never found out what caused it. The mw broke my waters and honestly it was like a dam bursting haha.
Have they said how severe it is? I vaguely remember something about 'it should be 25 or lower but yours is 26.5' so not way over. I wondered if I went to term if the excess would disappear.

I had it at one scan around 24 weeks. Scanned again at 26 and it had righted itself. Good luck

I had this, not diagnosed until after labour as bump measured average (small baby, lots of fluid). Luckily for me there was no apparent cause. No genetic defect with baby, no GD. It just happened to me. I know it's easy to say but try not to worry. Even though it's a rare thing to have most cases have no sinister cause behind them.

What I will say is, buy maternity pads and then more maternity pads. With excess fluid you're more likely to have breaking waters as your first sign of labour. I did and I cannot tell you how much came out of me throughout the day and I had to go 14 hours before contractions started! Also, if your waters do break first, you may have to birth in hospital and have the IV antibiotics and/or induction if contractions don't start within 24 hours. Not trying to scare you just to be prepared for a different birth than you might have planned as I didn't plan at all due to no warning and it distressed me a little that things hadn't gone as planned.

Good luck, you and your baby will be fine.

Thanks for your responses, as always with pregnancy it's amazing how conditions affect everyone differently. I'm measuring 0.6 above the normal range just now, so will see how it goes. I do have a lot of back and hip pain just now so guess it could be adding to that.

I had this but didn't know it until the surgeon cut my stomach to deliver my baby in an emergency c section.

I was predicted a big baby. At least 10/11lbs iirc. He was born at 38 weeks weighing under seven.

I also had reduced movements and was being tested for OC but he had to be delivered before the results were back. We nearly lost him over two days. Pure luck we didn't, not the medical team tbh.

Feel free to ask me anything as im not sure what you'd like to know.

I had this at 27 weeks. The doctor said that in most cases there is no reason for it. Most of the cases where they do find a cause are due to GD; the congenital abnormality and the infections are both quite rare as causes. I had high fluid levels throughout, but this was the only time they were above the cut-off. It could literally be because the baby has just had a pee! Good luck, and stop Googling!

I had a fairly mild case - I sported a huge bump though and when my waters went all over the floor of a Costa coffee, many handbags may have been lost in the flood.

I didn't have GD and the additional tests were all clear, but the PH hasn't caused any issues at all.
And I measured perfectly fine in my second pregnancy.

Hope that's slightly reassuring? Dostep away from Google though

I was diagnosed at about 34 weeks. No GD. No obvious reason for it, baby was absolutely fine.

(Waters breaking was pretty epic though!)

Scans are not always very accurate. I was diagnosed with this, but as it turned out didn't have it at all! No excess fluid at the birth, didn't measure large and my midwives said they couldn't feel any excess at any point when feeling my middle. But scans said excess fluid and a small baby.

Result 9lb 5oz baby - no extra fluid. Scan totally wrong.

Yep, I had it. Due to a congenital abnormality. Most people in this situation go into labour earlier as it’s like a balloon, can only blow up so much. I however had a super stretchy uterus so amazed everyone by going to term. It didn’t shrink back as it normally would though after being massively stretched so I’m left permanently looking 6mths pregnant with the only fix being a hysterectomy which I couldn’t be bothered with.

Some people (not blessed with my super stretchy uterus) had to have fluid drains periodically to enable them to get to an advanced stage of pregnancy. It can also retard the babies growth in some cases. None of this is typical though and if you do have polyhydramnios you will be monitored well and your OB will be all over it should something need to be done. By virtue of numbers you will probably be in the great majority where it’s absolutely nothing sinister and no big deal.

If you are attempting a natural birth and your water breaks before labour you will need towels. Not pads. Lots and lots of towels. It never ends. Also when the baby is born there will be a LOT of fluid. My OB’s shoes were completely soaked through as was their entire front through the gown. It was a complete shower and change job for them after the birth.

My experience is the opposite I'm afraid. It was picked up antenatally, and was given a couple of potential things it could be, but was told it was probably nothing. Baby's head never engaged (it couldn't get down there with all the water), and I was advised to lie on the floor immediately if my waters broke and call an ambulance! (Risk of prolapsed cord - where cord starts to come out before baby).

They checked baby immediately she was born, and it was confirmed that she was unable to swallow as her food pipe didn't connect to her stomach (but connected to her wind pipe and thus lungs instead). She was transferred to NICU at a specialist hospital and had corrective surgery 36 hours later.

The repair has long term side affects, but at 2 years old she's doing fine

As I was told (and as PP also advise), it is probably nothing. Sorry to pipe up with the 'occasionally it's not' version! TOF/OA affects only 1 in 3500 babies. Shortly after birth they may pass a tube through baby's nose and down the oesophagus to check it reaches the stomach. If all is good you probably won't realise they've done it - it's very quick.

That was the tube my baby had, tipuptruck and his came out kinked so wasn't allowed to feed him for hours. You've explained it better than the medics did to me .

So many possible scenarios! Guess I'll just see what comes of gtt. Baby had measured big 4 weeks ago at scan, but was more average at scan last week.