Wife is 36 weeks pregnant, Now High risk

[Tidlewave13]

Morning all, hope everyone is well and safe. My wife and I are 36 weeks pregnant, we had our 36 week scan yesterday and they told us that there was above normal amniotic fluid polyhydramnios and that the babys abdominal circumference was measuring above the 95th centile.

My wife was so upset, as all along we have been classed as low risk and been well and green lights all the way till now. She did have Gestational Diabetes check at 28 weeks and came back negative.

Doctor who spoke with us yesterday talked about having to endure between 38 and 40 weeks, possible undetectable problems with our baby girl, cord prolapse, possibly now developed GD. So confusing and worrying, this is our first one and every day is uncharted waters for us.

They done a infection blood test yesterday which we have to wait for results now and waiting on a call to go back for another GD test, possible home monitor kit and will now have a bother scan in weeks time at 38 weeks.

Any advice or opinions would be hugely appreciated, as my head is doing flips trying to process it all whilst staying strong for my wife. My gut tells me we are just having a big baby and all will be ok, been measuring around 1 cm above the curve line at midwife appointments from the week they started measuring if that helps. Always told it was ok of tracked at that all the time.

Thanks all.

I had exactly this with my last baby, i was induced at 5 days overdue. Everything was absolutely fine. I didnt have GD, i just have big babies. He was 10lb 6oz. Turns out ive had the polyhydramnios in every pregnancy, my first was only 7lb 10oz, my second was 9lb 1oz. Try not to worry. My consultant said i was only induced as a precaution as he was already measuring so big. That was five years ago, so procedures may have changed or be different in your area as all the trusts seem to do things differently.

@Tidlewave13 sorry to hear that you are going through this. I’m now 37 weeks pregnant and had the exact same experience as your wife at my 36 week scan eight days ago. I was deemed a low risk pregnancy until then and had a wellbeing scan at 33 weeks which found that everything was fine, so the speed at which this has happened has been a shock to say the least. I started a thread about it here if it helps:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/3870369-Bad-news-at-36-week-scan-so-scared?

Since that thread, I’ve now had a follow-up scan with a consultant at the hospital and he found the amniotic fluid to be lower than initially thought (deepest pool 8.2cm, which is just 2mm above the threshold. The first scan found 10.6cm). I’m not sure whether the amniotic fluid has dropped of its own accord or if the first scan got it wrong - my midwife thinks it’s the latter.

He also checked the kidneys, heart, brain and swallowing (I actually watched the baby swallowing on the monitor) and said all was fine.

Following the 36 week scan I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (the probable cause of the polyhydramnios) and am now monitoring my blood sugars and what I eat to make sure I keep my levels in check, which I’m managing to do.

I’m concerned that the baby has grown a lot in size between 33 and 36 weeks - weight has risen by 2lb and the head and abdominal circumference are now both around the 97th centile. The consultant thinks it’s nothing to worry about and is down to the GD but also genetics (large heads do run in our family).

Despite all this I’m still feeling very worried and anxious - the past week has been an emotional rollercoaster and I don’t think I’ll be able to relax until the baby is safely here.

It’s just such a shock to be presented with something like this so late on in the pregnancy isn’t it? Especially when everything has been plain sailing so far.

to you and your wife and if you have any questions about my experience, please just ask.

I had this although diagnosed with gdm at 14 weeks.

Baby was over highest centile following her own line way above highest centile from 30 weeks and was 11lb 4 at birth at 37 weeks.

Baby had nicu treatment for low blood sugar and heart abnormalities which we see cardiology for now.

I had insulin resistance by second trimester so insulin wasn't doing what it was supposed to do. I was carb and dairy free. 3 meals a day and 2 snacks plus a fuck ton of insulin to keep my sugars at the higher end of "normal"

Thank you everyone for your replies. Really helps understand other scenarios you have all experienced. @worried88 thank you for the thread my wife is having a read through now. Did they do an infection test at all with yourself? Doctor did say that if GD test is negative and no signs of infection then we are still green lights but may have to enduce early

@Tidlewave13 great, hope it’s helpful to her.

Yes, they took a blood test to check for infections straight after my 36 week scan. I haven’t heard anything back on that, so eight days later I assume it was all clear - and since I was diagnosed with GD shortly afterwards, I think that is the most likely reason for the polyhydramnios.

I was told that if I can get my blood sugar under control over the next week or two, they could let me go to 40 weeks - but they like to ensure that women with GD have had their babies by 40+5 days, so if I don’t go into natural labour before then I will be induced. They might also do another scan at 38 weeks to check on the baby’s growth and make sure they’re not getting too big.

If I can’t get my sugars under control, I will have to take medication for GD and will probably be induced at 38-39 weeks.

@worried88 thanks again for all you're advice, for now I guess we have to sit tight and await test results and GD test. Will keep you posted! hope everything works out ok for you and baby as well over comings weeks. Take care

@worried88 Morning! Hope your pregnancy is going well. Just had a thought, was reading your reply again around the deepest pool of 8.2cm when you had scan and my wifes was only 7cm. But AFI was 21cm. Which think was just over the 20cm upper end? Like you say 8cm is the advised upper limit for deepest pool but our doctor seems to be concerned still? Maybe as the over all is just over limit? Sorry just nice to have someone to bounce off of with this.

@Tidlewave13 I didn’t have an AFI reading (they only measured deepest pool) but according to Google, 24cm is the AFI threshold for diagnosing polyhydramnios. I may be wrong though, as I don’t know a lot about AFI! It seems strange that they said your wife has it if her readings are in the normal range - maybe give them a call to clarify?