Polyhydramnios

[goingfor3]

I had a scan yesterday as I was suddenly measuring big for dates 42 weeks at 38+1. The scan showed the baby is already 9lbs and I have polyhydramnios. I knew the baby was big so that doesn't really concern me but I am worried about having polyhydramnios. Has anyone any expereice of this?

[DarrellRivers]

bumping for you

[Klaw]

No personal experience but have these links saved on a resource thread that I update. I hope you find them useful.

www.gentlebirth.org/archives/polyhydr.html
www.homebirth.org.uk/htwostories.htm

[spicemonster]

I had it in my last pregnancy. If you haven't googled it already, I recommend that you don't - you'll only scare yourself witless.

They gave me a further scan to check everything else was normal and monitored me weekly after that.

I ended up giving up work earlier than anticipated (although as you are 38 weeks, I'd imagine you're not going to be working much longer anyway) as I was so uncomfortable. I ended up having to have a cs as the fluid meant that the baby couldn't engage properly and just floated away every time he tried to get into position. They gave me the option of waiting for a natural birth but because of the risk of cord prolapse, they wouldn't let me leave the hospital so I decided to go for the cs. Cord prolapse and a major flood are the main risks. If your waters do break, get on all fours and call an ambulance - that will minimise the risk of cord prolapse.

Finally, they told me my baby was huge and he was just under 7lbs so I wouldn't hold too much faith in their calculations on that score! I think it's a bit tricky to measure when there's so much fluid.

Hope that helps and I haven't scared you - I would have found it helpful to know what to expect earlier than I did so hopefully you feel the same way

[goingfor3]

spicemonster thanks for replying. I admit I did google it so it's nice to hear from someone who has experienced it!

Just over a week ago the babies head was 3/5 engaged but yesterday was only 2/5 and today I'm sure it's even higher, I'm sure the baby is making the most of all the fluid and is really moving around alot.

I am being admitted tommorow night so I can have a gtt on monday to see if that's the cause, if it is they said they will induce me if it's not wait a few days. I'm very tempeted to ask for a c-section but it's a matter of weighhing up the risks, it does sound as if the changes of having an emergency c-section are fairly high. You haven't scared me, the dr's didn't explain themselves very well which left me in a bit of a panic, hopefully I will find a dr who can asnwer more questions for me on monday.

[spicemonster]

Glad you found that useful. I was originally going be induced (because I was term and sooo uncomfortable), then they decided to do an ARM and then when the consultants came round to see me, they found that the baby was just bobbing away so decided an ARM would be too dangerous because of the risk of prolapse. I suspect that until they get you into hospital, they're not sure what might happen. In the end, I took 45 mins to decide to go for the CS (which was the only option left bar waiting on the labour ward for labour to start naturally) and after I'd decided, the MWs came back into the room and told me that they thought I'd made the right decision as my main priority was keeping my baby safe.

But each case is different so it may well not be like that for you. Hope you get the answers you need on Monday.

[wheresthehamster]

I was admitted to the ante-natal ward because I thought I was in labour but wasn't. They discovered I had polyhydramnios and recommended I stay in until the birth because if the waters broke at home I only had 20 mins to get to the hospital (can't remember why now) and I lived about an hour away.
I had never heard of it so blissfully unaware of any dangers.
Three days later I went into proper labour and was swiftly propelled down to the labour ward where I had a controlled water break. Dd2 was born naturally 7 hours later.

[liahgen]

i've had this twice now and each time had a very managed water break involving 2 mw's and a doctor present.

1st mw, holds baby in place with firm vice like grip on your tummy

2nd mw breaks waters very carefully with one hand stemming the flow, literally and letting it out a bit at a time, She sat on the end of the bed for this as it took a while, and was quite funny.

as others have said, if your waters go, all 4's and call ambulance.