Amnio to check lung dev.??

wannabemomma

I have seen this mentioned, but my Dr. has not said anything... I have already had 2 shots of steriods, and they will def. deliver no later than 34 wks...I think they will give me more shots right before...what are the risks of not doing the amnio/how do we know about her lung development... I am so nervous for my LO...

pmkmp

I know "nbjenni" had one or two amnios for the same reason as you.  You might be able to find her on the multiples board.  I know of one person in real life who had this done earlier in her pregnancy and lost her babies because of it.  I'm not very well educated on amnios, but from what I understand they are sort of risky? 

Aidge

I had an amnio, but it was done at 16 weeks, so different than your situation. ?It was beneficial for me, as my AFP results were much higher (risk of having a baby with Downs) than the amnio itself causing a m/c. ?That being said, I'm not totally convinced it didn't cause DS coming early, as I had a front placenta and the needle went straight through my belly into the placenta to get to the amniotic fluid... so I won't be doing that again. ?At your stage, though, the risk is regarding the size of the baby (not hitting the baby with the needle). ?I'm sure there are others out there who have gotten it done at your gestational age... wish I could help more!

jlc071903

My friend who is diabetic in real life had 2 amnio's done at 32 and 34 weeks to check her daugther's lung development, apparently lung development is compromised (not at the same dev. level as it should be for gest. age) if the mom has GD or diabetis.....I'd trust those steriod shots, unless you had them more than 2 weeks before you delievered, my Perinatologist told us that those shots lose effectiveness after 2 weeks and that you'd run the risk of needing another set of them, and that after 2 FULL sets of the shots they were completely ineffective if you needed them a 3rd time...this was in response to me asking if we sh ould ahve those steriod shots when I was 28 weeks...which I wish they would have given me now, but we had NO sign that I was going to go into labor when I actually did.

mrs.amandamm

I can't remember your total situation, but didn't you say you had to deliver that early because of something important with you?  If you HAVE to deliver, maybe they wouldn't do the amnio because it wouldn't make a difference in the outcome?

jodynjames2005

mrs.amandamm:

I can't remember your total situation, but didn't you say you had to deliver that early because of something important with you?  If you HAVE to deliver, maybe they wouldn't do the amnio because it wouldn't make a difference in the outcome?

That is my thought as well. We did not do an amnio this time and we delivered at 32w3d. We knew their lungs weren't ready but, after two abruptions, it was time to get them out. By contrast, with my first two pregnancies, we did an amnio at 36 weeks with my oldest before delivering (pre-e, but not dire) and did an amnio with my first twins before delivering at 35 weeks (placental abruption at 25 weeks and iffy looking BPPs/NSTs).