I rarely venture into this area of the forum as it is not my world, but today it is.
My big sister is 6 months pregnant, and she had to go to the doctor today as she had spotting. I did not use a "capital "d" for the Doctor as he was an ass.
He told her she had too much amniotic fluid, and to please come back on Monday to do a diabetes test for the baby.
I have read up on it a bit, and I am a bit concerned. Is it something to be worried about?
It has only happened in the last week, and the baby is "quite large". Maybe they have got the conception date wrong, or maybe there is something wrong?
It's very difficult to accurately tell how large a baby us in utero, but the fact they are watching it is good. Your sis should have had diabetes check already but again the fact that they are looking into it now/again is good. I assume the doctor was a frauenarzt??? You can't really get good advice online so best to see a specialist and no point worrying unless you are told there is something to worry about. Good luck to your sister!
They should do a diabetes test as standard around 26/28 weeks I think. I think spotting can be common. What else did he say? Did he not seem concerned? Maybe it is nothing to be concerned about? Baby being large could be gestational diabetes
Hopefully more knowledgeable ladies can help. I have no idea really. Didn't realize too much amniotic was an issue... I had too little and my bump was never huge due to the lack of fluid
Well, I'm currently sitting waiting for the imminent birth of our first.....but since I'm not the one with the bump, I guess I am a victim of your rules, so you don't want my input??
I understand that the specialist is the one that gives advice, but when you go to the Doctor on a Saturday afternoon they are always busy. She waited for 4 hours.
She is in Austria at the moment, but I just want to know if it is something to be worried about?
Ah so she didn't see a gyne just a normal doctor? maybe on Monday she just goes straight to her gyne - if the spotting is heavy then tell her to go straight to the hospital - better to be safe!
Our first-born was eye-wateringly huge. (9lb 11oz - 4.4kg). So for our second they wanted to do a diabetes test. I don't know about now, but at that time there was a risk associated with the test, so my wife refused. Second was fine, and much smaller (less than 3kg). Still no diabetes.
You probably know most of this but here's what I know....
Its not common to have elevated levels of fluid, and in most of the cases they don't know why and it doesn't cause any issues. The fluid is actually mostly the urine of the baby, and it is actually consumed by the baby in there....and so if there is too much, it can be that the baby can't swallow properly or that the baby is producing too much. So they will often try to see if there are conditions affecting the baby
The condition can also sometimes be related to maternal diabetes, particularly the diabetes which comes in pregnancy.....so I guess they are testing Mum, not baby (although its not what you wrote?)
Its like all these type of things.....mostly its mild and they will just keep an eye on it and they will never truly know why its happened. But when it is severe, they may want to intervene......so they will probably keep her under close observation for a while
So nothing in itself to worry about.....but a tiny alarm bell that they will just react to for a while
Did they do an ultrasound? It's rather odd they just sent her home without getting a look at that baby. It could be rather undramatic, so don't get too excited until she gets a bit more information. Spotting happens, often meaning nothing.
As for the fluid, well, I didn't put much weight on when I was pregnant and didn't show much and, on one of my last check-ups (which was fun since I had just moved back to the US from the EU) the doc measured me with a tape measure and promptly sent me downstairs for an ultrasound. An hour later, I'm back upstairs with her informing me that I needed to go have this baby right away (I was at 39/40 weeks). To make a long story short, they tried everything they could over three days to induce me. I think there's something in the Geneva conventions about said torture but....that baby was perfectly happy to hang out in there, even with the so-called 'low fluid', it took a knife and a vacuum to get her out. So, don't sweat it. The docs can only rely on what they see on the outside and a woman knows, or should know, if something really serious has gone awry with a pregnancy.
the diabetes test is simple. They test the urine - then you have to drink a disgusting sugary drink - wait 2 hours and they test the urine again. Hope she doesn't have it
I had gestational diabetes with the youngest. They found out by the standard test at 26 weeks they perform in the US.
I had to take medication and go on a diet and also had a special ultrasound at the perinatologist.
Because my 3rd was "stuck" during birth (head out, shoulders stuck, which is dangerous if it takes longer then 90 seconds due to lack of oxygen going to the brain) I had to have a C section. I was not pleased with that and tried to have a normal birth till the end but luckily I listened....Diabetes can cause extra fat around the shoulders of the baby which can make giving birth the "normal" way a bit hard. By monitoring her and making sure the baby is not growing to big to want to prevent that to happen.
If she does have gestational diabetes a special diet (no sugar what so ever) and perhaps medication (I had pills, no injections) will help. My daughter was born at 38 weeks, weighing 3606 grams.
Natasha, your sister shouldn't hesitate to get a second opinion.
If she's afraid of offending her doctor by doing so, she can go to the maternity of the cantonal or public hospital.
As Nicky said some spotting can be normal, but also it might not be.
For me the spotting was bad news, it indicated the beginning of Placenta Abruptio (placenta tearing and starting to coming off) and I had an emergency c-section at just 8 months.
So I really do agree with you, make sure she's being monitored closely.
Spotting should not continue.
Can't help you with the gestational Diabetes, all that I do know is that in many many cases it reverses at birth and the mama is no longer diabetic.
Pregnant mamas should not worry about what doctors think, it's her baby, her body.
Gestational diabetes has nothing to do with family history - it's more common in over weight mums, maybe older mums too, and if you crave and eat lots of sugar in early pregnancy it can bring on GD. It only occurs as Sky says mainly during pregnancy - rarely can you still be diabetic afterwards. Also you can have GD with one baby and not with your second - or vice versa