Starting the Polyhydramnios Dance

Went in to see Dr. Walker this morning and learned that I have gained 4 pounds and grown 4 centimeters in just 2 weeks.  Which means I have finally caught up and gained enough weight this pregnancy.

But that is a huge jump in weight and size.  Nothing to be alarmed about but our best guess right now is that we have a little bit of Polyhydramnios going on, fairly normal for CDH babies. 

Babies in the womb process amniotic fluid by drinking it and then peeing it out continuously.  But because Maddie's stomach is all compressed in her chest cavity, it doesn't work correctly.  My body is expecting her to process it at a rate faster then she is able to, which is causing the amino fluids to build at a slow and steady rate.

The standard of care for Polyhudramnios is to watch and wait.  The danger over the next few months is that amino fluids will build up to the point that my membranes will rupture and send us into preterm labor.  Other dangers include stressing out Maddie, lowering or elevating both of our blood pressures, and other more complicated things.  I don't expect any of the more complicated things to be an issue since my pregnancy is being monitored so closely. 

If we run into any of these complications, we'll keep you updated and let you know what they are doing to take good care of us.  In the meantime, please pray that we can just watch and wait and this won't be an issue.