Lower end of normal for amniotic fluid?

[connorlevismom]

Did anyone go through this? I went to the Dr. yesterday because I was having pain and during the ultrasound the discovered 2 things. I was on the very low end of normal for amniotic fluid and that the baby is much larger than it should be for my weeks. I am 32 weeks today and measuring 34 weeks with the baby weighing 5.5 pounds already. I am supposed to hear back from my Dr. today on what she wants to do but just wondering if anyone has had this before.

#1. I am nervous about the fluid because if the baby is that big and just going to get bigger, won't it run out of fluid at some point?

#2. The size of this baby is freaking me out. She said that if I am really 32 weeks I am looking at like a 10 pound baby if I go full-term.

Kristine

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I can only help you with the first part. Your body replenishes the fluid. My SIL's water broke at 24 weeks. They were able to keep her in the hospital until 29 weeks, obviously with much monitoring, when she then delivered my nephew at two pounds. He's a feisty 5 year old now!!

Best of luck and try to relax!!

 

[Steph9072]

No words of advice...but prayers going up for you and you baby. Take care of you and good luck

 

[kimnvbva]

I think I had the same problem with my 2nd child. I went in at 37 weeks for another routine appt. The doc did an ultrasound and I had no amniotic fluid! My water never broke. It was very strange! Needless to say I had her that day. She was 6lbs 13oz. Not bad for 37 weeks.

 

[justcantwait]

Have you had a fasting blood sugar test? During my first pregnancy, I had the diabetes test at 28 weeks, and it came back positive. From that week on, my doctor did weekly ultrasounds to check the level of amniotic fluid. At 37 weeks (I think), he decided the fluid was too low, admitted me, and induced the next morning. Brian was born perfectly healthy at 7lbs 2oz. So, in my mind, and I'm not medically trained or anything, low fluid levels and large babies go hand in hand with gestational diabetes. Glad to hear your doc is on the case, and hopefully will have some answers for you soon. Best wishes to you and the little one, and keep us posted!

Kathy

 

[connorlevismom]

Yes I did have the tests. I failed the 1 hour one but passed the 3 hour one with flying colors....so they say. I know the ultrasound tech asked me if I was diabetic due to the size of the baby.

My Dr. is not exactly "on it" as it was me who went in yesterday because I was having pains and the nurse was the one that did my appointment. The ultrasound tech found the low fluid and sent all the information to my Dr. to take a look at and she was supposed to give me a game plan today. Well, at 1:00 today I called because I had not heard anything and her nurse said that she had signed off on the ultrasound but did not leave any instrustions as to what to do. So the nurse had to send her a message asking her that I had called and was looking for some clue as to what she wanted to do. So now I am waiting for that information to get to me and don't have a lot of faith for some reason. This is a new Dr. and if this is how she handles things (by not getting back to people) I am going to be really irritated. My original Dr left the clinic last week (she moved) and she was all over everything so that is what I am used to. I am just really frustrated. I don't want to wait over the weekend and my next appointment is not until the 17th.

Kristine

 

[amb411]

Low normal fluid is still in the normal range. I suspect your OB will set you up for follow up scans, and tell you to take it easy and stay hydrated.

 

[connorlevismom]

Just heard back from the nurse and the Dr. wants me to have this ultrasound to check fluid levels and baby measurements every week and then meet with her after the ultrasounds. So they are keeping an eye on it, which I appreciate. Beter safe than sorry.

Kristine

 

[whenuwishuponastarr]

As an ultrasonographer myself, as long as ur fluid is still w/in range it is ok. As op stated they may schedule u 4 a f/u u/s to make sure it does not slip below. ALso, did u have an earlier u/s? How did the baby's size measure out then? We, in the field like the earlier scans for ranging size/age of fetus. As the weeks get further along, the baby becomes harder to image. Sometimes the head is down and that measurement could be off setting a trend to off set other measurements. On the other hand u could have a big baby. There is no guarantee of what size ur baby will be no matter what u eat /do personally. I always measured bigger with all my u/s. At birth my 1st child was 9#7, 2nd and 3rd 7#9, 4th-8#4. I gained the most with 2nd and least with 4th. Having a big baby is not the worst thing in the world! lol As long as baby is healthy, size does not need to matter! lol Relax, it will all work out!


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[connorlevismom]

As an ultrasonographer myself, as long as ur fluid is still w/in range it is ok. As op stated they may schedule u 4 a f/u u/s to make sure it does not slip below. ALso, did u have an earlier u/s? How did the baby's size measure out then? We, in the field like the earlier scans for ranging size/age of fetus. As the weeks get further along, the baby becomes harder to image. Sometimes the head is down and that measurement could be off setting a trend to off set other measurements. On the other hand u could have a big baby. There is no guarantee of what size ur baby will be no matter what u eat /do personally. I always measured bigger with all my u/s. At birth my 1st child was 9#7, 2nd and 3rd 7#9, 4th-8#4. I gained the most with 2nd and least with 4th. Having a big baby is not the worst thing in the world! lol As long as baby is healthy, size does not need to matter! lol Relax, it will all work out!


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Yeah I have had about 4 ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy and the baby has always measured 2 weeks ahead of schedule. So I am just wondering if my dates are off or I do have a big baby in there. My first was 9 lbs 2oz so I am no stranger to the big baby. LOL I just really wanted a smaller one this time. I had a horrible delivery with my first, he was big AND face up so he was a barrel of fun to get out. LOL

Kristine

 

[whenuwishuponastarr]

Oh my Kristine! Well now I know ur pain! lol Well like I said my 2nd was almost 2#'s less than my 1st. I used to scan myself all the time and he always measured bigger. I will send u some pixie dust to help that be ur case! Ultrasound is not an exact science. So keep ur hopes up that this one will be not quite as large!!! lol

Trudy

 

[PoohHappens]

Hi, OB nurse here. I am glad they are going to do some follow up ultrasounds. Also you said you have had 4 ultrasounds and have always measured 2 weeks ahead. Did you have an early ultrasound like before 12 weeks and did you measure 2 weeks ahead then???
Also I am sure everyone wants to know this but here goes, amniotic fluid continues to be made because the baby swallows it with their practice breathing and urinate it out. Low of normal is probably not an indicator that something is wrong, but it should be watched. If it continues to get lower and lower they will need to try and figure out why, and may consider early delivery. We do not always know why. One of the things they will want to watch is the babies kidneys, if the kidneys are not functioning properly then the fluid gets swallowed and not cleared. Other things that can cause low fluid are dehydration, diabetes, and a placenta that is not working well. There are some other fetal anomilies that can cause this but since you have had other ultrasounds with no developmental problems I would not worry about that at this point. You have had a big baby before and ultrasounds can be wrong about size, it is an estimate. At this point try not to worry. You do not have a serious problem at this time at all, just something worth keeping an eye on. Your next level may be higher. They measure pockets of fluid to determine the amount and they just might have not gotten good views. Also your baby could have had a full bladder and a few minutes later you could have had a slightly higher lever. Terms you may hear
AFI amniotic fluid index we like it to be above 5cm depenidng on the kind of measurements they are doing.
Oligohydramnios- the technical term of documented low amniotic fluid
Hope the rest of your pregnancy continues smoothly.

 

[kpm76]

I had low fluid which was discovered at about week 35. I was monitored until week 38 and the fluid level kept dropping. No explanation. I was induced at 38 weeks and have a happy, healthy 2 yr old now. Prayers and best wishes for you and the baby

 

[2cutekidz]

Just heard back from the nurse and the Dr. wants me to have this ultrasound to check fluid levels and baby measurements every week and then meet with her after the ultrasounds. So they are keeping an eye on it, which I appreciate. Beter safe than sorry.

Kristine

I had this with DD. I went in for a routine ultrasound around 32 weeks. Dr. found low fluid and that DD was breech. I had an ultrasound weekly from then on out. They even did a nonstress test at 35 weeks. At 36 weeks, the fluid level was too low and I was scheduled for a c-section (she was still breech and because of the low fluid, trying to turn her was not an option) They never did give a reason why my fluid level was low, and DD was fine. I didn't have the low fluid with DS, but he was breech

 

[mjkacmom]

I don't know about the fluid (the last time I had high end of normal), but u/s can be very off. Most of my kids measured 2 weeks ahead, and were large babies, not huge (well, they told me dd8 was 7 pounds, and she was born almost 9 pounds the next day).

 

[willibl]

I had this problem with my DS more that once but it improved each time with LOTS of rest and water. Good Luck to you!

 

[Madzac]

AS everyone said, USs are less accurate the further you get out. In first trimester, they are within a few days, but the further you get, it is more like within a couple weeks. Plus all babies come out different sizes!

With that said, all of mine measured on track at early 6-8 week USs but were measuring ahead already by 12 weeks. All were about a week ahead at the 20 week, and by 32 weeks a good 2-2.5 weeks ahead. All three were born between 39-40 weeks and weighed 8lb9oz, 8lb9oz and 7lb15oz. Good size but not huge.

With your history of a previous big baby, I am guessing baby is going to be decent sized.

As for fluid, drink and rest! Baby replenishes fluid constantly. I am sure they will watch this, but low normal is still in the normal range. It has to get pretty low to be of concern.

Good luck!

 

[connorlevismom]

Well, back from my Dr appointment. Looks like the rest and LOTS of water helped because my fluid level is back up in the normal range and looks great. I still have to go back every week to check it but at least I know for this week, it looks good.

They had me do another non-stress test and while there I did have a contraction but they said that was OK. They had a really hard time getting the baby to move so they gave me apple juice and brought this buzzer thing in to scare the baby. It was really wierd. It was like this wand that they put on your stomach and it makes this really loud buzzing sound and it freaks the baby out. So they did that a couple of times to make sure she was still moving OK.

As for the baby being so big, they scheduled me to be induced at 39 weeks on September 25th. Part of me thinks, why bother, just let it come if you are only going to do it a week early. But I like to have a schedule as well so we will see what happens from here. They don't want to take her before 37 weeks and I will be 33 weeks this week so I have a few weeks to go!

Kristine

 

[PoohHappens]

Glad your fluid volume is back up. Not unusual. The buzzer you are talking about is called acoustic stimulation. It does not really scare the baby but the should hear and feel the vibration and respond with movement and therefore and increase in the baby's heart rate. With the non stress test they are watching the pattern of the heart rate for some increases. I am guessing that was enough to wake the baby and result in a response or they would have done more monitoring. Sounds like things are just fine. Hope all continues well for you. The extra week induction time is normal, since you have delilvered a large baby before they know you have a proven pelvis. That last week should save you about a 1/2 lb of baby. In general do not like to induce before 39 weeks except for medical concerns. Babies just do better then. Not just lung development but even suck/swallow and eating. I am so happy things are going well. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and thanks for the update.

 

[LuvMy3Monkeys]

I had this with DD2 and DS. With DD1 I had at least double the normal amount of fluid, or so the Dr said. Then with subsequent 2 kids I had very low levels and what they called astage 3 placenta (also was referred to by Ultrasound chick as an "old" placenta.. whatever??). Anyway... they asked if I smoked. I said no, never in my life. Asked if I was exposed to smoke or worked in a factory, I said no. They just shook heads and said hmmm very strange. Was never diabetic, during pregnancy or otherwise. Evidently, it just "happens" sometimes without cause