Pre-Eclampsia experiences please

[pigleychez]

Im currently 20 weeks with DC2.

Had high BP towards the end of my first pregnancy which I had lots of monitoring but no other symptoms.
Already in this pregnancy ive been having high bp which is concerning the MW abit and has spoken about a consultants appointment.

Just wondering about other peoples experiences of High BP and Pre-Eclampsia. Did you have any symptoms that lead to Pre-E?
Ive been feeling fine generally with the high BP but in the past few days have been experiencing quite afew headaches and wondering if I should see the MW again to get checked out.

How did having Pre-eclampsia effect the rest of your pregnancy/labour?

[Tizzyjacko]

Headaches are not good and you should see your midwife asap.

I had pre-e for all 3 pregnancies and had 3 healthy babies but the third time was particularly unpleasant for both of us, emergency section etc, and took a long while to recover from. Please make sure they keep a close watch on you, better to spend some time in hospital and have a safe delivery....You can get sick very quickly.

Sorry to be doom and gloom. I have 3 healthy DSs!

[popsycal]

v quick as have to rush off
high bp with ds1 from around 18 weeks
closely monitored then hospitalised at 35 weeks when my feet swelled abd there was a trace of protein in urine. let out with a big 24 hour urine collection pt,then readmitted and induced at 37 weeks

I alswyas felt 'well' but think if headaches occur you ought to be checkedout as it is when you have three (i think) of the symptoms that they call it pre-eclampsia (ie for meit was high bp,swelling then protein0

ds1 was and is fine

[popsycal]

JUST TO ADD
I HAD HIGH BP WITH DS2 ALLTHE WAY through and he was fine

with ds3 it upped anddowned but noothing else

ds3 high in early stages then settled then rose in labour

[humptynumpty]

hi pigleychez. If you have headache, please phone midwife straight away. There are lots of signs of pre-eclampsia, as you know it is not a joke, I do actually know somebody who developed proper eclampsia and ended up in intensive care.
Some of the symptoms include: headaches, flashing lights in your eyes, a pain under your ribs, swelling of your feet and hands and some others.
It is much better to be safe than sorry and just because they keep a close eye on you, doesn't mean anything bad.
When I had ds, at 30 weeks I was taken to hospital with high blood pressure and protein in my water. I had to have steroid injections to mature the baby's lungs in case he was born premature. In the end, he was born at 38 weeks, so just right.
Please phone and get checked out. Pre-eclampsia is something that can come on very suddenly and should be taken seriously.
Apologies if sounds a bit scarey, it's not as long as you are carefully watched!

[humptynumpty]

here is a link to nhs site with more info if you are interested!

[AntPants1]

I had pre eclampsia with my daughter. I had high blood pressure very swollen hands and feet, ankles, wrists..you get the picture! Bad headache and black outs. Was induced. Daughter was fine. get yourself checked out. It can come on very quickly

All the best

[Tizzyjacko]

Also watch out for swelling of the face. My ankles never swelled up but if i look at photos my face was very swollen and your midwife is unlikely to notice this (she just thought I had a naturally fat face!). You could take a pre pregnancy photo to show her if this is a symptom.

[DefNotYummyMummy]

I had high BP and had to take pills for it in the last 4 weeks of pregnancy. I also had loads of headaches and protein in the urine. I don't know if it helped, but I drank and drank and drank and drank (water - not alcohol !) Then the protein seemed to be a bit more manageable. I was the size of a balloon. They tried to speed up labour as my waters broke naturally and nothing happened. Then the baby was in distress, I had a panic attack and had an emergency c-section under general. Wasn't pleasant, but I don't think I was as bad as I could have been.

Always worth getting checked out.

Good luck.

By the way - my second birth was an absolute dream. Normal birth, only in labour for 4 hours and so just because it happened once doesn't mean it'll happen again.

xx

[Pineapplechunks]

I was pre-eclamptic from around 30 weeks and was in and out of hospital from then until my DD was born at 39+4. I was prescribed methyl dopa to try and bring down my BP. At one stage they considered inducing but decided to leave things as they were and just keep me in hospital(it was terminally boring but I would rather have been in there being monitered constantly than risk being at home and somethng dreadful happening).

My symptoms consisted of high BP, swollen hands, feet and ankles, seeing small spots of light when I stood up sometimes(particularly after a bath) and after a urine test protein in my urine.

Your midwife would MUCH rather you gave her a quick call and either went in to see her or she made a visit than you got ill before she could help you.

Call her now and tell her about your headaches.