I am wondering if anyone else has been in this situation. I have posted this on a few other boards, but it seems very few people have experience with my particular situation.
I went in for my 19 week ultrasound and discovered I had pretty much no amniotic fluid - it measured at .52 cm. My baby was also 3 weeks behind in growth. We knew that my due date was not incorrect because I had a first trimester ultrasound and a 14 week ultrasound, both of which were pretty much on track. Everything was perfectly fine at that time.
Since then, I have had 2 additional ultrasounds, and the fluid situation has not improved. I went on bed rest for 2 weeks - no improvement. I've been drinking a gallon of water a day since all this happened - no change. We also have confirmed my baby has a heart defect - the echogram showed 2 holes in the heart's av canal - one in the upper chamber and 1 in the lower chamber. They are treatable through surgery, but the baby would need to weigh at least 5.5 pounds before they would attempt it, and without the surgery, the heart condition could have some implications on the baby's survival.
We are facing a decision about hospitalization once the baby is 500g. When I was a little over 23 weeks (I'm a little over 24 now) the baby only weighed 350g. The earliest a baby can survive outside the womb is 500g. My baby is growing consistently now - we have seen growth at each of my most recent ultrasounds. We don't know why or how the baby lost 3 weeks, but consistent growth is what we are hoping for going forward. If that is the case, then hopefully our baby will reach 500g before too long.
So I'm wondering if anyone has been through this or has any insight into my situation. We were leaning against hospitalization because with the heart defect, an emergency c-section at 500g may not improve the baby's chances of survival anyway. However, they would only do the c-section if the baby were to show signs of distress, which I guess is pretty common in situations with low amniotic fluid. We don't have to make this decision yet - but we will soon. Against hospitalization is the fact that they may not be able to save this baby anyway, and my husband isn't sure he wants to put me through it. I was feeling the same way until last night when I started reading more about amniotic fluid - I didn't realize from my appointments that is the reason they probably want to hospitalize me.
Any advice or insight would be appreciated.
