Measuring Big, A Baby Update

29 weeks, measuring 36 weeks according to fundal height

I mentioned in my last pregnancy post that I was measuring big and that my OB wanted to follow up with an ultrasound to see what was going on. Thankfully I passed my glucose test, but my follow-up ultrasound showed that I am continuing to get bigger than what is considered normal.

According to Friday's ultrasound, the baby is measuring 3lb 4oz and approximately 32 weeks. I should only be 29 weeks. Measurements can be wrong and babies (especially second babies) can be big. But my fundal height jumped from 30cm (two weeks ago) to 36cm on Friday. In theory, the fundal height should correspond with the number of weeks in your pregnancy. If I'm 29 weeks, I should be close to 29cm, not 36cm.

So what does that mean? In addition to a big baby, the ultrasound showed that I have too much amniotic fluid with this pregnancy. Too much amniotic fluid can cause a slew of problems. If you want to know more, you can read this article on the March of Dimes website about Polyhydramnios. Thankfully the ultrasound showed a perfectly normal baby, but we are going to see a high-risk OB this week to see what she thinks. In the meantime, we are focusing on not worrying until we have a chance to get an opinion from the high-risk doctor. 

The good news is that the extra amniotic fluid explains a lot about this particular pregnancy. Around 23 weeks, I felt like I was suddenly huge and started having a lot of issues that I didn't remember with Jack. There have been constant Braxton Hicks contractions, I started to struggle with putting my shoes on much sooner, I have had ongoing light headedness and shortness of breath, extreme heartburn (worse than with Jack), an inability to eat much in a single setting, pain in my chest, and my belly would ache from the extra weight any time I lay on my side. All of this can be explained by the extra fluid putting pressure on all of my organs and lungs.

The other night Daniel and I went to the movies and I happened to time my Braxton Hicks contractions. I had 15 of them that lasted 15-20 seconds each over the course of a 2-hour period. Thankfully they aren't painful, but definitely not fun either. My sister (a labor and delivery nurse) tells me that I am in for a lot of the same for the rest of this pregnancy due to the extra amniotic fluid, and that I don't need to worry about pre-term labor until the contractions are 40+seconds each and occurring 6 or more times in an hour.

To be clear, I have not officially been diagnosed with Polyhydramnios (just extra amniotic fluid) and I do not currently have any restrictions. My plan is to continue working out (with my doctor's blessing) until I have a medical reason to stop. We will find out more at the high-risk OB and are praying for the best.