Not much fluid around baby

[Kitty33]

Hi Guys,
Just wanting to get this off my chest and maybe hear from any others that may have had the same thing.... and hoping you will tell me I am worrying about nothing!
Had my MW appt monday and they informed me (1 appt and 6 weeks too late) that my hemaglobens are showing that I am anemic, my blood pressure is low and they also told me that bubbas is on the very boarderline of being to small and average and they also told me that there is not much fluid around her and that this can be distressing for the baby during labour.

So I am on the iron suppliment, drinking sustagen to get my protein up and a bit of weight on if I can and in all honesty not complaining that she is small as I am going for a VBAC

But DH and I are a little worried about the lack of fluid and can this effect baby too much. the MW did say it can stress them out a little during labour.

By eating up and putting some weight on and getting my iron levels up again will this assist in getting more fluid around her???? Should I be drinking 1000 litres of water a day?? Will this help get more fluid???
Or is what fluid that is in there it and I should just stop worrying.......??

Sorry about my rant but DH seems to be worrying about it and I cant answer the questions he has for me (which are mainly just my ramble above

Any experiences or advice would be very much appreicated at this stage!

Thank you so much
xo

[Kitty33]

29 looks an no one can say anythig at all.............................

[Tobily]

Hey Kirstie
How did they come to the conclusion there's not enough fluid and the baby is small? Did they do an ultrasound or did they tell you this by feeling your belly? If they did a scan there is a measurement they would take of the fluid around the baby called an AFI (amniotic fluid index). If you have your report it would have the results on it. It's worth bearing in mind that this measurement isn't particularly reliable - it can be redone a day later with a completely different result.
And definitely drink more water, that should help.

[Alan]

Hi Kristie
Your baby and you make fluid all the time although towards the end of your pregnancy you do make less fluid. Drinking plenty of fluids will help to provide more amniotic fluid, you should aim for about 3 litres a day especially on hot days. Did the doctor tell you what your AFI was? I would be interested to know. (Normal AFI is between 5 and 19) The only effect that a low amount of fluid will have at birth is that you birth passage may not be a lubricated as it could be and therefore increasing your chance of tearing and yes causing some increased stress for your baby. But for this to happen your fluid level would have to be very low.
To help increase your haemoglobin you should also eat red meat and lots of leafy green vegetables.
I hope this answers your questions.

[Mollygirl]

For no known reason, in my last pregnancy I had PROM at 15 weeks and lost almost half the fluid. I know it is a different stage of the pregnancy and probably everyone is different but I rested for a week, took the time off work, sent the toddler to the MIL and drank as much fluid as I could and when I went back for a scan the following week the level was an acceptable amount. She was born at 37w 5 days and ok, although almost a kilo smaller than my DS born at 38wks.

Only letting you know what worked for me.
Goodluck I hope everything goes ok.

[Kitty33]

thank you soooooo much for your posts! Sorry about my little sulky post above... I was just a little bummed no one had answered at the time.....
They didnt give me an AFI... they were just going from measurements and poking about i think.
I will ask them when I go back this week for my blood tests.

I have had a false labour scare today.... its kind of still going but the tightnings/contractions have eased off.. they started about 3pm and have only just eased off now... so hoping she will hang on for another couple of weeks as just ticked over 35 weeks.

I have been hooking into the red meat, green veggies and drinking more water... no quiet 3 litres but if thats what it takes I am there!
Thank you so much again I really appreicate your advice and again sorry for my little sulk
xo

[Alan]

Hi Kitty
Don’t worry about the sulk
There is no way that they can accurately measure the amount of fluid around your baby by feeling your tummy, they can only guess.
The contractions you have been having sound like they could be Braxton Hicks.

[Kitty33]

Thank you Alan!
Can braxton hicks get as bad as feeling like the real thing?? I had about 4 contractions in a row where I had to breath through them and was almost ready to say WHOA this is it... But after those 4 they eased off back to tightnings.

[Alan]

Yes for some women BH can be quite painful
Normally BH do not have a pattern to them. That is to say that you may get 1 that lasts for 3 mins then the next one may only last for 30 seconds. The time between contractions also is not consistent, it can be anything from a couple of minutes to quite a few hours.
With true contractions each contraction lasts about the same length of time as the one before it. The length of time between contractions are also consistent to a degree. And although this time shortens as you get closer to birth there is still an obvious pattern to it.

[Mez80]

I had low fluid too and was so worried about it..accept they told me that drinking more water wouldnt help....but i drank it anyway coz it made sense to me. I vagely remember them saying they could give me something or do something about the low fluid thing when i go into labour but i cant for the life of me remember what it is...and didnt end up using it as had emergency c section..(not bcoz of low fluid) hmmm i didnt help much did i? :P maybe ask if there is something they can give u during labour to help with the low fluid thing..? Best of luck and try not to worry to much