My pregnancy was very typical and uneventful until around the 30 week mark when an ultrasound showed that I had twice as much amniotic fluid as I should have had.
I was told that in 60% of the cases of polyhdramnios the cause is unknown. Other reasons could be multiple fetuses, gestational diabetes, or an infant with breathing/swallowing problems. Everything in my ultraounds was normal excpet for the fluid so we assumed we were part of the 60%. As I got closer to my due date the extra fluid made it difficult to do anything including walking or even sitting or laying. I decided it was time to begin my maternity leave. At my 37 week appointment the fluid was continuing to increase so the doctor ordered biweekly appointments for ultrasounds and stress tests. The stress tests never happened. Several nurses tried diligently to get the probes hooked on my belly but everytime they would apply pressure the baby would move away. The ultrasounds continued to be normal. They weren't able to get clear brain pictures in the end because of the extra amniotic fluid and the large knots that had formed on my lower belly.
The doctor stressed that we would probably need to do an induction because of the very risky situation we would be in if my water broke on its own. This could possibly cause the cord to prolapse putting the baby in serious danger. He didn't want to induce prior to 39 weeks just in case the baby was havng any /swallowing issues we wanted her to have as much development as possible. Babies swallow amniotic fluid in the womb and if she was having trouble this would explain the extra fluid. Based on all known facts my induction was scheduled for February 16th.
No comments:
Post a Comment