Fluid Level Is Too Low

I had this problem, due to my aversion to drinking water, and constantly driving, being on the road, and not bringing any drinks with me. I forced myself to drink juice and tea, and within a few weeks of re-testing, they found me to be fine, and the baby stayed well past the 39 weeks and was born a happy, normal baby.

try drinking lots of water. You can replenish the fluid. Stay off your feet as much as you can; you're almost there.

My fluid was low mid-way through my pregnancy........I was very worried...... But- at my next appointment, my fluid was through the roof.... Try not to worry too much..........you may not have that issue at your next appointment. Plus- those ultrasounds aren't really exactly 100% accurate.......... (especially for baby weights......my baby was going to be 'huge.' I had to have a scheduled C-section.........Of course he only weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces.)

Good luck! I am sure everything will be great. :)

Hang in there! As some of the other women said, it's really important to just relax and rest and stay calm, and do what your Dr. says. I had a very difficult pregnancy, with gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, and at an ultrasound at 36 weeks my fluid was too low. Because of this I was made to deliver my baby that day (36 weeks exactly), and I still attribute a lot of it to a very stressful week before that where I barely rested and was completely stressed over work. I have no intention on scaring you, but my baby's lungs weren't fully matured when she was born and she did spend 5 days in NICU. She needed a little extra time, but now she is 8 months old and very healthy and happy. The diabetes contributes to slow lung development, so that was likely the problem. Many, many babies are born at 33, 34, weeks and are perfectly healthy! I'm sure she will be fine, and I hope you can get as much rest as possible! Good luck to you!

Hang in there, and please listen to your doctor. My friend had no idea that she was leaking amniotic fluid until her baby stopped moving. She had an ultrasound done at 37 weeks, and by then she had NO fluid left. Her son was born via emergency c-section that day, and he weighed a little over three pounds. He survived and is now four years old, but he is delayed in all stages of development. The doctors believe that because there was no amniotic fluid left, he was deprived of essential nutrients during those final weeks. Had he stayed in utero any longer, he probably would not have survived.

You're lucky that you are now aware of your fluid levels. Hopefully, you can keep baby in there for a few more weeks. Good luck to you, and try to take it easy. This must be a stressful time for you.

Do what the dr tells you. Drink plenty of water. I had a problem also, I was sent for the normal non fetal stress testing and my blood pressure was so high they didn't let me leave. I was also having contractions that were 3 mins apart and didn't even feel them!! I am so glad that my dr decided to send me for the test as I would have had no idea that nothing was wrong. I was 34 weeks at the time and my son is and was perfectly healthy. He had to stay in the hosptial for 7 days and that was only because they wanted him to drink a certian amount of milk at each feeding. Don't worry, I look back now and it scares me to death that something could have happened if I didn't listen to the dr. Relax and drink lots of water.

i struggled with VERY low amniotic fluid in the third trimester of all three of my pregnancies, my kids were born at 35 weeks, 36 weeks, and 38.5 weeks - all induced. they were all fine, required no medical attention or time in NICU, and came home with me between 24-48 hours after birth. i was bedrested with the first two, just take it easy and pay VERY close attention to if you feel any leakage. good luck!

I was induced both pregnancies because of low fluid levels. The first time I was put in the hospital for bed rest at 35 weeks to ensure I was staying put and getting all of the attention I needed. Because I was pregnant with boys (both times) they wanted to push me to 37 weeks to ensure development - this is the point in which boys are fully developed. Let me also so that I was considered high risk and had one of the best doctors in the world (literally! - I was very luck to get this guy!!!). He told me that if I was having a girl, he would have induced at 36 weeks because they are fully developed, but boys develop slower than girls.

My suggestion to you is to stay put - no unnessesary walking around, lifting things, etc. Drink lots of fluid!!! And the most important part is to monitor her movement! I cannot remember the details, but they are suppose to move 8 or so times in an hour and you should monitor every other hour (something like that - you can check your baby books or online for that).

If she is moving and you are eating and drinking properly you are not doing anything to risk her development. If the fluid level continues to drop, that will be more detrimental to your baby than taking her early. They can always put you on steriods to develop her lungs withing a few days to take her. This is not a big deal as long as you follow the doctors orders and monitor her movement. It happens all the time.

Drink tons of water! Bed rest is not good for the baby because the babyis not getting good movement to develop a normal vestibular system. Your baby will be at risk of sensory integration dysfunction. Move everyday. Get a yoga ball and sit on it and gently bounce and move around so the baby can experience movement. Get on a porchswing, rocking chair or other thing that moves. Swim. Walk. Dont just lay there. Moving also helps the baby get into head down position. You may be low on fluid now but hopefully you can get checked again and see what happens in a few weeks. Do not let them take ultrasound after ultrasound. The sound waves make a child extremely sensitive to sound and auditory processing can be affected. Be your own advocate and do what you feel is right, Everything will turn out fine in the end and go to at least 38-40 weeks!!!

I think most maternity care professionals will tell you fluid levels fluctuate. So, they go up and down and it's possible that they measured you on a "down" day. Just rest (enjoy it while you can!) and drink lots of water.

Do you have high blood pressure? Or are you leaking fluid? Measuring small? Did they say anything about the placenta? If none of those things are an issue, they probably just want to be cautious. But these would all be fine questions to ask the doctor. You are entitled to know if there are other factors that made them concerned about the fluid level. They should tell you what conditions they are worried about, and all your treatment options.

I am a bit concerned if you're doctor is jumping to "taking the baby early" already. Maybe get a second opinion if the doctor doesn't seem open to the idea that you may resolve this.

I do know that my best friend's baby was born at 34 weeks and he is AMAZING now at five years old--so healthy and smart and fun. So enjoy your bed rest :-) Try not to worry--I know it's hard, and feel free to ask the doctor questions--you pay them to answer!

Hello B.,

Hang in there and drink lots and lots of water. and bed rest means BED REST.... I know it's hard to stay in bed, but you have to. God Bless!

~C.~

I have four children, and experienced the same thing with my second, a daughter. At about 32 weeks, my fluid was 6 or 7. They waited a week and then it was 4 or 5, so I was admitted to the hospital at 33 weeks. The doctors wanted to try and get me to 35 weeks because most babies at that gestation do really well.

The first 24 hours they monitored the baby continuously, and also pumped me full of fluids (while I drank tons of water, as usual). My fluid level barely changed, so they took me off the IV and began only monitoring the baby twice a day for an hour at a time. It was scary because they told me that the danger of having low fluid is that the umbilical cord can get compressed, causing the baby to lose oxygen, which can be quite serious.

After a week in the hospital, it was down to a 3, so my doctor gave me three choices: c-section that day, begin an induction that day, or wait about 5 more days (to get to 35 weeks) and then have the choice of c-section or induction. She did caution me that the baby is at risk and that if the baby got distressed, I would need an emergency c-section. The NICU doctor also came and spoke to me about what to expect. He said by 34 weeks, many babies do quite well, though the most common difficulties are with breathing and eating. There's a good chance that they'll have to go to the NICU, but maybe not.

I chose to do the induction (I've had all my children naturally, with no pain meds and wanted to avoid c-section). Even though I was 2-3 cm dilated when they began the induction, they started it really slow so as not to stress the baby. Exactly 24 hours later, my daughter was born (after just one push!). She was 5 pounds, 1 ounce and 18.5 inches long. They didn't tell me until hours later (after I wondered why they hadn't brought her back yet) that her sugar was dangerously low and they had to take her to the NICU immediately and get her on an IV. (She never had trouble eating or breathing.) She spent 4 days in the NICU, which was very hard (I had to wake up throughout the night and pump my breast milk for her), and after much fighting, I got her out. She weighed only 4 pounds, 13 ounces when I brought her home!

She will be 3 years old on March 9, and is a very bright child. As an infant, she reached her milestones on the later side of normal, but still in the normal range. Today, she knows her shapes, colors, numbers, most of her letters and some of the sounds for them....she is quite a precocious talker....the list goes on and on. I do not see any lasting effects from being born at 34 weeks.

I would say that the hardest part of it all was being away from my children. My oldest daughter (now 4) was 14 months at the time, and being in the hospital from March 1-11 was very difficult--it was the first time I was ever away from her. Then I had to come home 2 days before my new daughter, which was very painful. I do feel blessed that her stay at the NICU was short, though! However, to be honest, it was harder to bond with my 2nd daughter. I think there was some unconscious resentment about being away from my first child, and not having the birth experience I had dreamed of. I also had some postpartum depression, I believe.

I'm hoping not to scare/worry/upset you, but I just want to be honest about it, since you asked. Physically and mentally, my daughter's wonderful! It was me who had the more challenging time!!!! Thankfully, she's Daddy's little girl. I'm still not as close to her as I am with the others, though that could just be a clash of personalities....

Best wishes to you!!! I hope that all goes well, and that you and baby recover quickly. Let us know!!!!

The first thing you need to do is BREATHE and as hard as it seems, try to stay calm. Your mental state will affect your baby. Right now, it sounds like your baby is still okay, if she's moving around and her fetal heart sounds are good, then so far, while your fluid is low, she sounds okay.
When I was pregnant with my son, my fluid level dropped a little and he induced me, but I was only four days from my due date. You said you're only 33 weeks? Full term starts at 37 weeks; he will probably keep you in bed for a few weeks to give her a little more time to develop, but lots of babies born at 33 weeks are fine and healthy.

You need to talk to your doctor about your fears and ask him exactly what will happen if he needs to induce or perform a C-Section before your due date. Good luck and let us know what happens.

I hope the link will provide some extra comfort: http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/33/

MY friend had the same problem as you. Her doctor told her it was best to induce labor at 36 weeks instead of going to the full 40. Her baby was born perfectly healthy and developed normally. Her baby is now 18 months old and perfectly fine. Do not worry, just make sure the doctor watches the baby during the pregnancy. The impotant thing for you to be doing is taking it easy and eating properly. Take advantage of the bedrest and try to do as little as possible. Relax, everything will be fine.

Never been through that, but remember to stay calm...and if they have to take the baby early, at 33 weeks everyhting will be just fine. You are most likely out of the clear for all the bad premie stuff. Hang in there momma!