preeclampsia & early delivery

[2point4pets]

I have been in the ante-natal ward all morning while my BP was tested 5 times (2 different machines!) all over 140/90 and had 2 urine tests (protein present). I am now home, but am wondering if this is considered 'mild preeclampsia' which will be monitored? A blood test will confirm later on today, but if it is confirmed, will they likely want deliver early? I am 37 weeks tomorrow, and booked for Elective Caesar in 2 weeks in any case for an unrelated medical condition. If they do decide to deliver early due to the preeclampsia, would it be soon (days?) or later (maybe next week at some stage?). Have had dream pregnancy so far - baby is slightly small for dates apparently, but this is going by the old 'tape measure' test so I am not too concerned about that. I have no other symptoms (swelling, headache etc) so far. Any advice appreciated!

Hiya, you can probably be reassured that they would have kept you in if they felt it was severe...I went in for monitoring and wasn't allowed home due to BP and protein levels being too high for comfort. Im guessing they will keep a close eye now tho...but your baby is 'old' enough to be fine so try not to worry. (Tho you are right Im afraid, you may well not make your due date if the condition worsened.)

But I had it badly, from 31 weeks, but DS is now 3 and a gorgeous bundle of mischievousness so all was well in the end!

I developed pre eclampsa at 38 weeks and went in the same day to start induction process.I had high blood pressure for about 3 weeks before and really bad swellings, also my bp was much higher then yours. Think they will probably give you a caesarean soon but if they have sent you home it cant be too soon. When have you got to see the midwife again?

i had same bp as you and protein present also.
i had daily monitoring at the hosp for the last few weeks and was finally induced at 39+5.

good luck!

May be when they have a bed ready. That happened for me with ds: I was in the ward, 36 weeks- nurse came in one morning and said 'right, we'll be sending you home today, dear'. So I ordered everything I could think of off the menu for lunch, to make the most of the facilities while I had them.

About an hour later, the doctor came along and said 'no, I think we'll keep you in and see if you go into labour naturally'. So I sloped off the ward for a bit. Came back for lunch and was accosted by a midwife: 'Have you heard the latest? We're inducing you now!'
-But...but...but...what about the lunch I just ordered.
-Never mind, dear, you just eat it.
So while they monitored and applied the gel and did whatever they were doing, I tucked into hotpot and roast potatoes and bakewell tart. And an hour later, they told me most apologetically that I would have to have an emergency caesarian because ds's heartbeat was going down. Well whatever. But I did feel ashamed of myself for just having pigged out. Still only had an epidural, so the bakewell tart did absolutely no harm, just helped to sustain me

And ds was fine, though he looked quite small.

2point4pets I had a similar experience at around 37 weeks and was monitored almost daily. I was reluctant to be induced and was given an extra scan (I think it's called a doppler) which measures the blood flow down the umbilical cord to make sure the baby isn't being affected by your condition. This came back fine and with daily checks I was able to hold out until I went into labour spontaneously the day after my due date. Make sure your doctor is letting you know all your options and good luck! It sounds fairly mild and I'm sure you will be fine.

This happened to me today.....BP 143/110 this morning (37+3) and 135/90 at hospital this afternoon. took PE bloods and get results tomorrow. This is borderline really and MW is coming to house tomorrow to take my BP.

I have CS booked for Monday week as well, so is a real pain.

Hopefully not having to drag myself to MW at 9am on a cold rainy morning in open toed sandals cos my feet are so swollen and struggling to find somewhere to park, and trying to keep my 19month old quiet, will help keep my BP normal and stay at home a bit longer.

Good luck and hope you're ok

I have had a similar experience to you, in fact twice. Both times I was monitored daily. Both times I was induced about 2 weeks early.

My blood pressure was about the same (bottom ranging from 90 - 105) from 32 weeks when I was taken into hospital and monitored everyday. They wanted to get me as close to 38 weeks as possible. I think in the end I was induced at just after 38 weeks when bottom one shot up to 125 and I had 3* protein.

I was induced in my first pregnancy too, at 37 weeks; but only partly for my own blood pressure, also because dd was failing to grow.

All I would say is keep an eye on your baby's movements, I had no swelling, but I did have protien in the urine, white spots in my vision, headaches and was horribly sick....from about 24 weeks (don't know why they did nothing about it, didn't even know what pre-eclampsia was, first pregnancy) then I felt my tummy go hard and no movement for two days....went to doctor, sent to hospital (35 weeks at this time) had an emcs....luckily baby was fine and so was I. I don't want to scare you just make you aware, as I wasn't.

You can ask for your c-section to be done at 38 weeks, my last 2dcs were, due to my blood pressure.

I was also due to have a planned CS for other medical reasons, but did end up with it earlier due to suspected pre-eclampsia. I had gone to hospital at 36+1 to get checked out as felt unwell, was admitted and then blood tests showed my liver and kidneys were being affected. Some protein in urine but, oddly, my blood pressure was perfect and had been throughout the pregnancy. Nevertheless, my consultant felt that the most likely explanation was an atypical presentation of pre-eclampsia, and said he wanted to move up the CS to 2 days' time. The upside of this was that I insisted on being allowed to go home in the meantime, and they were fine with this - it was felt that the CS couldn't wait another 3 weeks as planned but 2 days would not cause any problems. So I had a mad 2 days of trying to organise everything I had thought I'd have 3 weeks yet to do, and had a rearranged planned CS at 36+6. My DS was low weight but healthy and perfect and is doing really well, plus the CS was smooth and easy and went fine. So don't worry too much - you may also be able to bargain for a few days' space to get your head ready for it, IYSWIM. Good luck with it all.

Thank you all for this advice - it turns out bloods are OK, but seeing midwife again over weekend to be careful. At least forewarned is forearmed, so any changes regarding feeling ill/swelling/movement I will be right on top of :-)