Mild oligohydramnios

Sound scary? I am terrified.

I got a call from my midwife today indicating that the results of my ultra sound showed that I had low amniotic fluid. She told me that everything looks fine but that she wanted me to go for another scan in 4 weeks. She expects that the condition will reverse itself but it could also be an indication of kidney problems or other disorders. I was on my way out for lunch with coworkers when I got the call, so I couldn't really say much. (Honestly, when I saw my scan in the first place, I thought it looked different, usually the sac looks so nice and round and mine was irregular and the baby looked a bit squished but I chalked it up to a different angle or something since the baby looks so great in his/her first photos)

When I got back to the office I googled it. Horror stories. "Prognosis is ominous in first trimester occurrences". I freaked. I left work and called DH crying my eyes out, put together a list of questions and called my midwife back. Thankfully she was still in the office and was on the phone within a minute. Some of the additional information I got from her was that the ultra sound report said "mild oligohydramnios" which was defined as "amniotic fluid which is somewhat less than normal". The baby was measuring spot on, the two measurements they use for dating came back at 13 weeks 3 days and 13 weeks 1 day, and according to my own ovulation date I was exactly 13 weeks the day of the scan. The heart rate was good (150bpm), Nuchal Translucensy was good.

She was pretty comforting. She said that she has never had a mother with low amniotic fluid before, but that one of her colleagues had one with low amniotic fluid but with a baby that was measuring perfectly and that it reversed itself. That she would expect that if something is wrong with the baby, that it would be apparent by a lack of growth. If this is the case - why is the fluid low? Is there anything I can do to increase the amount of fluid? Google is just not giving me any good answers... just more horror stories and uncertainty.

I also told her that I could not wait for 4 weeks, I will go crazy. So, she agreed that I could go earlier, 2 or 3 weeks, but that I need to know that it may not have had time to reverse itself in that short timeframe. I discussed with DH and we decided to do one at 2 weeks as well. At least that way, if things aren't looking better (or if they are worse) we will get a referral to an OB and can hopefully start working on getting answers.

Ugh.... what if the baby has kidney problems? What if there are chromosomal issues? What if the baby has actually already died in there... would I even know? What if the baby falls asleep on the umbilical cord since there's not enough fluid and doesn't get the nourishment s/he needs? If I sleep on my stomach (like I sometimes do) will the baby get squished since s/he doesn't have enough cushion?

To make matters worse, we are supposed to drive 10 hours to see my grandmother on our long weekend to tell her the good news. I won't have my next scan until after this trip. I'm not sure I can tell her anymore, at least not until after I have some answers.

DH thinks everything will be fine, as does my Mom. My poor mother... I made her cry on the phone today. I'm trying to stay positive but I'm a worrier by nature so you can imagine where my head is at. I honestly never thought I'd have to think about anything like this - just assumed we are healthy and young and everything would be just fine. Today is my 14 week anniversary and I finally convinced myself I am in the safe zone, then at lunch my world crumbled.

Has anyone experienced this? Have you seen any happy endings? Any suggestions for increasing amniotic fluid beside staying well hydrated?

PS - Midwifes are the way to go. First off, I called the office and explained who was calling and why and she was on the phone with me within 1 minute. She was calm and let me cry and sympathized with the fact that I was stressed, saying she knew that even if she told me with 99.9% certainty (hypothetically) that things would be okay that she knew I would still worry. She let me move up my next scan. She told me to call anytime with questions or if I am worried. She asked me to call her the day of my next scan to remind her and she will call the lab personally to get a verbal report so that she can let me know the results right away.