Anyone else had undiagnosedpre eclampsia?

[TurquoiseKiss]

Hello there, my first child was born by EMCS 2 months ago (the EMCS happened due to a large volume of meconium in my waters after I'd gone into labour at 40+4).

When contractions ramped up I arrived at hospital and my BP was over 200. As labour progressed they tried to bring it down with tablets and a magnesium drip. I developed the most awful headache and (looking back on pictures) my face was quite puffy. When I was 5cm my waters were broken to speed things along, that's when meconium was found and EMCS happened shortly after.

Throughout the pregnancy i'd been low risk with no BP issues. However I went down as having severe, late onsetpre eclampsia, and had to stay in hospital for 7 days while they got my BP under control withhypertensive medications. The good news is my baby was fine (hadn't swallowed any of themeconium despite there being so much of it in my waters) and I was discharged for the GP to manage my BP issues. I've physically recovered very well.

However I can't stop thinking about the what ifs. My last couple of midwife appointments were cancelled due to Covid and me being a lowrisk pregnancy. Was advised to call delivery suite if I had any concerns. On my due date (so 4 days before labour started) I had slight blurred vision but I put it down to being tired and it went away after 20 mins. My hands and feet were a bit swollen but didn't think much of it given I was full term. Had a sweep and BP check done at 40+2 and there were no signs, I didn't mention blurry vision episode as i'd actually written it off as tiredness.

I didn't know a huge amount aboutpre eclampsia beyond the signs they always ask about in the community midwife appointments, but since having my son I've read a lot and I can't help but worry if I hadn't gone into labour naturally when I did things could have been potentially very bad for both of us the longer the pregnancycarried on.

I'm wondering if anyone else had undiagnosedpre eclampsia and how you felt (mentally) afterwards? The consultant spoke to me while I was still an inpatient and explained sometimespre eclampsia doesn't always show in the most obvious ways (i.e. high BP) and/or can come on in the final days/hours of pregnancy, so I'll never know how long I had it for ahead of the labour and birth. I guess i'm also coming to terms with the fact that if we have more children (which we would like to) that subsequent pregnancies will be very different and i'll be monitored more closely/consultant-led (no bad thing but I guess I'll be a lot more on edge than I was during my first "low risk" pregnancy).

I know above all I should be thankful my baby and I are doing fine; and i'm trying to see the positives i.e. the knowledge that if I get pregnant again i'll be a lot more vigilant looking out for symptoms no matter how small they may seem.

However, grateful to hear from anyone else with similar stories x

Yes, my story is almost identical to yours. I was seen several times in midwife clinic and day unit in the weeks before my hypertensive crisis and no one listened. Looking back I looked terrible, I could write my name in the lymph around my ankles and it stay there like a stress ball.

I think for me, having a second pregnancy with no preeclampsia and with masses of extra screening, helped me recover mentally.

I’m sorry you went through it, it shouldn’t have happened x

Thanks IamPickleRick for your reply, I think sub-consciously I keep thinking about the blurred vision episode and scalding myself for not calling/going in to be checked out. I wrote it off as nothing and I was also (selfishly maybe) not wanting to go to triage in the midst of f*cking(!) Covid alone when it was "probably nothing".

That's great to hear you had a more straightforward 2nd pregnancy. Will you have any more DC do you reckon?

Its scary to think of midwife appointments being cancelled during Covid and therefore PE symptoms not being picked up! In my area they are only doing them at 28 and 40 weeks for low risk pregnancies. I'm now the owner of a BP machine and I've told pregnant friends to ensure they check their own BP at home if they can, especially if no midwife will be checking it for them.

Yes I have three and only preeclampsia with the first, although I had planned cs with the youngest due to other issues.

This is the kind of thing that can haunt you mentally, thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong. You just have to remember that that didn’t and believe the universe was on your side that day. With my situation I was rushed in at 38 weeks, in the night with liver pain and diarrhoea, I was almost unconscious so don’t remember a lot of what happened to me. I’d had protein in my urine since 22 weeks with no follow up. I was induced the next morning once the BP (220/180) had stabilised and he was born very small but healthy. My second one was almost twice his weight for comparison.

Your little one is only 2 months, it’s still all fresh and I’m assuming you might even still be on beta blockers as I was for 6 months, but I promise you, the memory does fade or we wouldn’t have more babies

Thanks for your detailed replies and well wishes, my son was also on the small side (5lb 8oz) yet I was full term, he's healthy however I keep thinking if I indeed had developed PE much sooner without me or the health professionals realising that possibly his growth was restricted as a result.

That's reassuring to hear you only had PE in 1/3 pregnancies. However awful there was no follow up when protein was found at 22 weeks!?