Preeclampsia with 1st DC. Still on BP meds 2yrs later. Shall I try again?

[WhatsMyUsername89]

I kind of need some positive stories.

Had preeclampsia with first DC, and they were born at 32+6. My BP has not come down and I am still on medication for this.

we want to look at having another child. But would having another baby while on BP meds be a silly decision? and what is the risk of preeclampsia again?

I am on Amlodipine which is safe to get pregnant on and continue on during pregnancy.

Desperate to expand our family but so very scared

i had preeclampsia and also had my baby early at 31+6 and still have a high blood pressure and feel the same. Don’t no where to start

I had preeclampsia with my first baby a year ago my blood pressure is still high in the process of getting some medication sorted. I’d love to have one more baby but feel scared I could get preeclampsia again and go through the NICU experience all over again. Has anyone had preeclampsia and then gone on to have 2nd baby with high blood pressure medicated and not got preclampsia ??

I had preeclampsia with my first, was on meds for quite a while after. With my second I developed high blood pressure again but it didn't get to full blown preeclampsia (they got baby out soon as my bp started rising, just to be on the safe side)

I'm not medical but here's my experience. High bp (not pre-eclampsia) two weeks before I had DD1- resolved 8weeks pp with labetalol. High bp but again not pre-eclampsia from 13 weeks with DD2. Commenced labetalol from 25 weeks. DD2 born with labetalol toxicity and IUGR. 1 week in NICU and still tiny for her age at 3 although genetics play their part. I'm still on BP meds but no experience with amlosipine. Honest advice in your position would be to speak to a doctor/ obstetrician before getting pregnant, things turned out ok for us and I wouldn't be without DD2, but watching her suffer because of my meds was hard and I still hate myself for it

I had high blood pressure with my second, I was admitted at 37 weeks with high blood pressure. I had an early c-section but not due to the blood pressure, I went into labour naturally early. Took blood pressure tabs for 6 months or so, tbh it’s still a bit high a lot of years later…… I was told it was very unusual to have pre eclampsia in a second and not a first. Hence the no preeclampsia diagnosis. My first was born at 35 weeks though so I wonder if I just had her too early for preeclampsia.

My third was fine though, whatever the issue with number 2.

id ask for a discussion with a specialist, if possible.

I had undiagnosed hypertension discovered in pregnancy at 16/40 with my first, a v challenging pregnancy culminating in a emergency section at 31+3, NICU stay, etc. Child is now 6y and doing v well.
She was a v bad sleeper and we didn't fancy a second one initially as neither of us was ready for it! I did some things to reduce my risk (lost weight, made sure BP was well controlled) and had kind of thought about a second when covid hit, and as I'm an nhs worker, any thoughts of pregnancy flew out the window!
Fast forward 3y as I was v unwell with covid and have been recovering and we started thinking again about pregnancy but husband especially was worried about risks. We requested referral by GP for preconception counselling with the lovely obstetrician who delivered our first. (and agreed that if he said it was a bad plan we'd stick with one!). He was v sensible, said BP was well controlled and although there was still a higher than normal risk (quoted likelihood of repeat pre-eclampsia as 1/4), there were mitigations from before - eg I was within 10y of prev pregnancy and had same partner.
We decided to go for it and I am currently 25/40. It's been quite challenging mentally but actually BP has been v well controlled, had to decrease my BP meds (just gone back up to my usual dose this week) and I have had a couple of extra obs appointments plus will be booked in for growth scans from about 28/40. It's been a bit challenging physically (I'm 6y older and have a child so much more tired! Plus more aches and pains and morning sickness has dragged on) but actually feeling OK generally. I've been having some counselling as have been more nervous generally given last time! Interestingly this one is MUCH more wriggly than the last one and I'm wondering if that's because last one was struggling with a bad placenta from the undiagnosed high BP, or if it's just that I'm more aware (or this one is just going to be a pickle!).
Who knows what the next 15 weeks hold 😬 I'm just trying to stay calm and accept whatever comes, and remember that we're in a much better position this time round as we know about the risks and are mitigating them as best we can - BP was well controlled from the outset, I'm on aspirin and having growth scans, and am in a trial looking at calcium in pre-eclampsia, so feel well looked after!
I'd request some preconception counselling, it was really helpful for us.
Good luck!

@ChimpiestoftheChimps how did it all go? Interested to know in calcium study!