Polyhydramnios

[superflippy]

I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, so my OB has me going in once a week for a non-stress test and biophysical profile. One thing that the BP measures is my fluid levels, and about a week before Thanksgiving it was kind of high (around 25). But the next time she measured it, it was down to acceptable levels (around 22).

Well, the most recent measurement was high again (around 26), and my OB is very concerned. She's worried that if my water breaks, the baby will fall on his cord, which is really dangerous.

Has anyone else had polyhydramnios? If so, what ended up happening? Did your fluid go back down, or did you end up being induced? I'm at 38 weeks right now.

[Starfish11]

Well, the day before my water broke (literally 12 hours later) I had an appt. My m/w was worried about this with me as I was measuring 42 at 36w5d so she ordered an u/s to determine if it was in fact what I had. The u/s was scheduled for Friday--the morning I ended up giving birth. SO it's almost certain that this was an issue for me given that my water broke so soon after the "worrisome" measurement. That said, Evangeline was born with no complications.

[avivaelona]

Ok think about this a moment though, waters do more often break after you go into labor not before, but frequently enough they break first. What would make it more likely that the baby would "fall on their cord" just because there is more water in there? I'd ask on the main pregnancy board or the birth and beyond board about this condition. There are some risks, but try to get a better sense of what is real and what is your OB panicking. Also I don't think 26 is very high, though I don't know the measurement standards so maybe I'm wrong about that.

[sbrinton]

Is your baby head down? Is he still flipping around?

I had polyhydramnios that developed between 26-29 weeks of pregnancy. My fluid levels were 26 on the day my water broke at almost 30 weeks. By some sort of miracle, my baby, who had been breech that morning at the ultrasound, was head down when my water broke. His head engaged and we did not have any trouble with the cord. I am a small person and at least for me, measuring 26 at 29 weeks felt huge. I was measuring 6 weeks ahead as a result of the fluid and the polyhydramnios is probably what was causing my preterm labor. After my water broke, I was able to stay pregnant for another 11 days and then I went into labor naturally at about 31 weeks. My placenta did abrupt partially near the end of labor, but my son was born less than 15 minutes later.

Normal levels of amniotic fluid are 10-25.

There are some risks with polyhydramnios. One of the main risks is preterm labor, but you are already far enough along! If your water breaks before labor starts, you probably want to be checked right away to make sure there aren't any problems with the cord. If the midwife or OB rupture your water during labor, they may want to do it in a controlled fashion to try to prevent cord prolapse or placental abruption. That said, these risks are uncommon.