Bad news at 36 week scan - so scared

[worried88]

I had a routine 36 week scan this morning and it picked up some problems. I've been diagnosed with polyhydramnios (deepest pool was 10.6cm). The baby's head is also measuring just above the 97th centile at 355mm, abdominal circumference just below the 97th (although this was not deemed a problem) and everything else was in the normal range. The baby appears to have fluid in the stomach and bladder which means they're swallowing, both kidneys were identified and the heartbeat was normal.

After the sonographer identified the polyhydramnios, I was given a blood test at the hospital and have now been asked to monitor my blood sugar with an AgaMatrix machine for the next three days to check for gestational diabetes.

Eight weeks ago my regular midwife detected a trace of glucose in my wee sample at my 28 week appointment, but it was all clear again at 32 weeks so I assumed it had just been a blip. My 34 week midwife appointment was cancelled due to the coronavirus and was done over the phone instead, so there was no test done at 34 weeks.

I also had a private wellbeing scan done three weeks ago and at that scan, my amniotic fluid was in the normal range. Head circumference was 319mm (compared with 355mm today). I wasn't able to give this information to the hospital today as annoyingly I didn't have my notes with me.

Following today's scan, the hospital have asked me to come in for another scan next week with a consultant at the fetal medicine unit. I'm waiting to hear back from them with a time.

In the meantime though I'm going out of my mind with worry about what all this could mean. It was such a lot to take in that I think a lot of what they were saying went completely over my head as I wasn't really thinking straight.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? I'm so frightened that something is badly wrong.

@elliejjtiny what was the outcome if you don’t mind me asking?

@worried88 ds is now aged nearly 7 and was born with a cleft palate (and a cleft lip as well but it was the palate that caused the polyhydramnios) and mild hydrocephalus. I've been trying to find his red book to find his head measurement.

@elliejjtiny thanks. Can cleft lip/palate and hydrocephalus be diagnosed through scans do you know? The consultant checked the brain and swallowing closely and said everything was fine.

@worried88 none of the midwives or consultants mentioned the cord prolapse issue to me until my due date when I went in for my appointment and they found I was having contractions. They said I should have my waters broken at hospital to reduce the risk of complications from cord prolapse. Until then I only knew about the risk from Google Etc.

@worried88 ds's cleft lip was diagnosed at the 20 week scan. They couldn't tell if his palate was affected or not. It might be easier to detect these days with better scanning technology. The hydrocephalus was picked up the day after he was born by the paediatrician doing the newborn check. It can be picked up on scans but in ds's case it wasn't. We don't know if it was missed on scans or if he developed it at birth/soon after. He was born at 35 weeks because my waters broke early because of the polyhydramnios and the Drs were worried about cord prolapse so being early could also have caused the hydrocephalus.

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone has any experiences of this.

I am 32 weeks pregnant and went for a growth scan last week, I was told baby was slightly underweight and that I’ll need another scan in two weeks. I was also told a possible amniotic band had been seen and that I will need to be seen by the fetal medicine department. This scan is booked for Thursday and I am so upset and worried of what I may find out. Up until now everything has been going fine. The reason for my growth scans is previous baby was 6lb 5. Any advise would be helpful thank you.