Too much amiotic fluid??

[MyZymurgy]

I'm tired of getting scared by Dr. Google, so I thought I'd ask some level-headed mamas here what they think...

Last week I had an marked decrease in fetal movement at 29 weeks. I have PIH and my bp had been very high (170/100 range) AND I had a head cold that made everything worse. After our little girl failed the kick count tests at home, I had to go in to the doctor for a biophysical profile. This is a timed test, which I was pretty familiar with since I had pre-e last pregnancy. Well, they couldn't get her to move during the test depsite countless buzzers, having me move, and having me drink sweet stuff. I was close to getting sent to L&D, but at the very last minute (we are talking minute 29 or 30) she finally moved, ever so slightly, but it was enough to get a passing score on the test.

I was so relieved to have passed and so emotionally exhausted that I sort of rushed out the door as quickly as possible. The doctor reviewed the test results but I didn't really mentally digest them until I got home. She said the baby is measuring one week behind (she had been on target up until now) and that my amniotic fluid level was high.

Given my high bp and the lack of movement, I really was worried I'd have low fluid if anything... so I was surprised. I don't know how "high" high is... and I'll get clarification at my appointment next week.

But... has anyone had experience with too much fluid? Any complications as a result? Is this one of those things where if a doctor looks hard to enough to find an issue, they find an issue...or is this a legitimate reason to be concerned?

Thanks...

[Kidzaplenty]

[lunarlady]

I'm not really clear on the test itself. Is it an ultrasound test? How do they measure fetal movement?

For what it is worth, if heard of both high and low fluid levels being incorrectly diagnosed, but I'm sure the low fetal movement levels are worry some for all.

Let us know what happens!

[MyZymurgy]

Originally Posted by lunarlady

I'm not really clear on the test itself. Is it an ultrasound test? How do they measure fetal movement?

For what it is worth, if heard of both high and low fluid levels being incorrectly diagnosed, but I'm sure the low fetal movement levels are worry some for all.

Let us know what happens!

Sorry, I should have explained. The biophysical is an ultrasound test - so they look for fetal movement, reflexes, heartrate, and measure amniotic fluid.

The good news, which I also should have added, is that she is kicking more now and passing her kick count tests at home. I have no idea why she went through a long period of not moving or passing kick-counts... but it may have been related to me feeling sick.

So I am thrilled that she's moving again... but still worried about what the high fluid levels could imply. I hope you are right and it wasn't accurately measured. We're often led to believe that these ultrasound tests are more of an exact science than they really are!

[lunarlady]

If it is ultrasound those can be very inaccurate. I know one woman who was told due to ultrasound that her child would be 9 lbs plus, but the baby came out a very normal 7 lbs. It is very hard to measure something without a very good reference point. Being off by a few mm can be the difference between normal and abnormal. And a moving object is even harder to measure.

Go in for an addtional test (if that is what they want) but try not to worry too much. I think fluid levels can vary quite a bit from test to test.

[linchi]

Hi Mama,
I was told at the 7th month ultrasound that my amniotic fluid levels were high, and for a real scare if you listen to Dr. Google that there was a excess of fluid in our baby´s brain! There was nothing we could do, so we waited for the specialist visit. The visit with the specialist was the most painful thing I´ve had to endure, with them poking and prodding, trying to move the baby to be able to measure everything.
This is my first baby, so I am not sure if amniotic fluid levels fluctuate, but it turns out they are on the high side and nothing for us to be concerned about. Now we just have to wait for baby to arrive!

So, it´s hard, but don´t freak out over the first assessment. They also sent me in for the glucose test which I never did before as it's not standard in the country I was living in. Turns out I'm not positive for GD. Have you done that test?

[Mom2M]

I went through almost the same thing except it was late in my pregnancy so I don't know if that makes it different.
I have no idea if the fluid levels were high earlier because I had not had an u/s for quite a while before the one that said they were high.

Anyway, my OB practice starts Bio physical profiles at your due date and they do them a couple times a week when you are overdue.
So my first few were fine except for the high fluid.
Then I had one on a day where I had been sick and couldn't even keep water down.
I had not eaten that day either. She would not move at all during the u/s no matter what the tech did.
Then, I got over to the NST and she was kicking and having a response with her heart rate too.

But the dr came in and said she failed due to lack of movement in the u/s and I had to get to the hospital.

When I got there, I explained I had been sick all day, they wanted to put an IV in and I said no (I was a VBAC and afraid they would push more interventions once that was in) and I told them I would drink as much as I had to drink. I was able to keep it down, drank a ton of water and then she was very responsive on the monitor. They did another u/s and she passed easily.
So, I got to go home.

Maybe you didn't have enough fluid? I never noticed any change in movement when I drank sweet stuff but when I was completely rehydrated, she was fine.

Oh yeah, when I did deliver, the nurse said she had never seen so much amniotioc fluid, lol and was trying to measure it by how many of those big chucks got soaked but it was more like a flood for a long time! It was an incredible relief when my water broke.

The only other thing was that her head never came close to engaging until after 7 cm when my water broke but then she came down just fine and had a nice round head!

I think your situation is different because of the pih, but as far as the fluid level, I wouldn't worry too much especially if she is fine anatomically on the u/s.

Good luck!

Deb

[MyZymurgy]

Thanks so much for your responses. I knew you guys would be better than Dr. Google!

I have had the one-hour glucose test (standard in my office) and passed easily. (I had a 112 reading - and I think 140 or lower was passing). That was almost 3 weeks ago, though, so I suppose I could have developed GD in the meantime.

I wouldn't be surprised if I was dehydrated when I did the bpp. I'm glad (if that's the right word) to hear that you had a similar experience while sick, Deb. Although I was trying to drink a lot of water, I was coughing and mouth breathing due to a cold (both of which can definitely dehydrate you). I also felt lousy overall and wasn't eating as much as I should have been.

I'll find out just how "high" high was at my appointment this week. Maybe it was just borderline high, in which case I could see that the inexactness of ultrasounds could be to blame.

linchi - I'm so sorry you've had to go through a scare! Did the specialists conclude anything about the fluid on your babies brain? Or do you just have to wait until birth to know what, if any, impact that has on your child?

I always find pregnancy so much more stressful than having a newborn in my arms. Maybe it's because I'm always having these high risk pregnancies and medical dramas... I really always thought I'd be a better pregnant woman than this. I thought I'd be "built for making babies". Guess not...

[*Aimee*]

I had polyhydraminos with my last two pregnancies. My Dr said most cases are asymptomatic. I never had any complications because of or from it. The thing they were the most worried about was my water breaking and the cord prolapsing but my water didn't break until I was in the hospital both times.

I know it can be caused by gestational diabetes too.

Oh and ALL of my kids measured 2.5 weeks ahead in the womb. And they were totally fine. So I'm sure that measuring a week behind is totally normal too.

Stay away from Google!! It scared the crap out of me with my pregnancies

[khaoskat]

Fluid levels in the uterus fluctuate during the day. Believe it or not, your little one is drinking the fluid and then pee'ing it back out. It can also be affected by how much/little you are drinking, time of day, etc.

What they do is find several pockets of fluid and measure them. They then get an average of pocket depth between/among the pockets they have measured.

I have had it numerous times. Most recently DD2, and the biggest concern is that if the baby is not engaged when your water breaks that your cord could prolapse. It also might mean that the closer you get to your edd, if you maintain high fluid levels, your baby could easily move around a lot more, and be breech past 37 weeks....which could mean they try to schedule you for an ECV or elective c/s for breech presentation, when the baby could actually turn just fine (all of mine have been breech until the day they were born or the day before).