new Pregnancy

I got pregnant December of 2004. On my ultrasound at 18 weeks I found out I had low amniotic fluid about 5 cm. My doctor screened me closely and did new ultrasound every two weeks until delivery at 36 weeks.As for my amniotic fluid the most I ever had was 7cm. They never found any problems with my sack or with my daughter but it was very scary. I also had problems drinking enough water. I was drinking over a gallon of water daily and I would still have protein in my urin sometimes. My blood pressure was also high unless they took it while I was laying on my side. I never went to a specialist but now that we are thinking about getting pregnant again I am starting to really worry about it. I just had my blood work done to see if there were any abnormalities. It came back fine except for my potassium levels. Which later I researched deal with fluid levels in the body. My doctor recomended I eat more fruit and vegetables which I thought was strange since I had been on a vegitarian diet for two weeks prior to the testing.

Do you have any suggestion for preventing low amniotic fluid or is there any connection with my potassium levels and fluid? Should I try to find a specialist for the next attempt?

[Darkestlight]

Do you eat a lot of salt?? Salt and potassium balance each other. So if your potassium is low then your salt lvls are too high and vice versa. which could explain why you had high blood pressure. Bananas, bananas, bananas!! Good for potassium. I honestly don't know if fluid lvls and potassium have any link because I have a hard time balancing the two , but my fluid lvls this pregnancy have been fine. Every pregnancy is different. I wouldn't jump straight to a specialist, but definitely if you start having problems with the next pregnancy don't hesitate to see a specialist.

[chellybeans]

i think the two are linked. if you have inadequate fluids then your electrolytes get imbalanced. one of them( from what i remember in school) is potassium.

maybe ask your ob if they feel like you should see a high risk ob. that's what i would do.

[Canadian_Mum]

My sister in law is having #2 and she had very low fliuds with her first pregnancy, so low in fact that they had to take baby by emergancy c-section at 34 weeks.  She is now over due, as of yesterday with baby #2 and her amniotic fluid has been totally fine.  When she was thinking about having #2 her concerns were the smae as yours.  Her OB siad every pregnancy is different and they kept a close eye on her throughout this pregnancy but everything has been text book.
Good luck!