Baby Update: 31 Weeks

Due to my increased risks with this pregnancy, I am going to be writing weekly updates for my benefit and for family and friends who want to know how things are going. I am incredibly grateful to have another week under my belt and that baby is sitting tight for now.

 Baby #2, 31 Weeks

To kick off this week, we all got a stomach bug (thankfully it only affected me for 12 hours). I just need to catch a break with this pregnancy! Yesterday I went to my post-hospital, follow-up visit with my OB and received some good news. My belly size (fundal height) and the amount of amniotic fluid in my belly have not increased in the last 7 days. This is encouraging since the last few visits have shown significant growth. My fundal height is currently 36cm and the amniotic fluid is 25cm. Both of these measurements keep me in the category of having Polyhydramnios but it is not progressing at this point.

Baby #2, 31 Week Ultrasound

  
As anyone who has googled symptoms of illnesses knows, the internet can be a scary place and Polyhydramnios has some frightening potential complications. Thankfully my doctor put to rest a lot of my concerns  – like explaining why cord prolapse is unlikely to happen to me. She is very pragmatic and used my pregnancy with Jack to remind me that I carried him to term and therefore my body has proven it has a strong uterus. I am currently not on any restrictions, I just need to listen to my body. As for the ongoing Braxton Hicks contractions, well they are going to keep happening. It's just a part of this pregnancy. Next week I will see my high-risk OB for her assessment. It looks like I will be having weekly follow up visits with both doctors until this baby comes. We are praying Baby #2 stays put for the entire 40 weeks, but we would be thrilled with a little more time in utero!

Comparison: Pregnant with Jack, 31 Weeks

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.