Pre-eclampsia mentalling thread

[Fishandjam]

A place to come and kvetch/worry/chill for anyone at risk of developing pre-eclampsia in their pregnancy. We have buckets for those still feeling sick, cushions for those who are just plain knackered, and crisps and ginger beer for everyone else. Come and say hi!

I am 34 weeks with number 2. Number 1 is 18 months and the result of a premature emcs following failed induction.

I have my elcs scheduled for next month although tbh I got the distinct impression they'd have preferred me to vbac.

I didn't have any real symptoms either, I was fat tired and swollen - but then it was over 35 degrees without airco and I was heavily pregnant. In fact it was a fairly newly qualified mw standing in for my regular one who made the diagnosis.

The magnesium was awful, I thought I was going to die.

It was a good 6 months after before I realised just how ill the both of us had been.

Elcs scheduled for 39 weeks, would prefer it earlier tbh.

pony, I hope you're being monitored to the umpteenth degree?

I'm fine now thanks. DS is fine too and fingers crossed this pg has been fine so far. To be honest I didn't really think about how traumatic it all was until a few months later. With DS on the NICU for 3 weeks, expressing milk, and all the worries about him in the early days I didn't really have time to process it all. Also as the IUGR and early preeclampsia symptoms weren't recognised it all happened very suddenly. i.e. I went from a "normal" pregnancy, planned midwife - led hypnobirthing etc to emergency c section and raging PE within 5 days.

I did ask at my 12 week midwife appt whether there was someone I could talk through my various anxieties with. As a result I was given an appointment to see the VBAC midwife at 13 weeks but ended up cancelling as I had uterine artery dopplers done a 12 weeks which were very high and I thought I'd be heading for another preemie anyway. At 20 weeks they were normal though which was only last week. So now I have been thinking that I might possibly carry to term this time. I'm convinced I will get some degree of PE again though, and it's just a question of how early and how bad.

Fishandjam did you have to pay privately for a preconception consultant appointment? I was told in no uncertain terms by my GP that nhs wouldn't fund mine that is why I opted for the GP himself to do some digging and a debrief with midwife.

Agree about the magnesium, it was horrible. Felt like I was being boiled alive.

Really wishing you pregnant ladies a hassle free pregnancy with healthy mums and babies at the end. Such a worrying time, but hopefully in years to come you'll look back and it will just be a distant memory.

fishyjam pretty good I think, I'm now on weekly consultant appointments (same consultant) and I'm having weekly grown scans to monitor the placenta etc. I am certainly on the look out for symptoms this time and if my face goes puffy in Jan/Feb I'll know it's not just the heat. ;)

Wow Fishandjam great thread.
I am 14+6 with DC3. I had PE 38wks resulting in emcs DC1 and again 29wks DC2 resulting in emcs. GA for both, I was very ill after DC2 Liver failure came under control just as they'd called a consultant in from home (middle of the night).

Felt perfectly fine on both occassions but odema bp and protien were sky high. I am absolutely petrified of reoccurence. I cannot enjoy this pg at all. New partner hit the ground running on sight of bfp so have commenced pg highly stressed as it is.

Having consultnt led care this time, been prescribed daily asprin to ward off PE. Currently having course of B12 injections too.

This is so scary I really want to enjoy this pg but there is sooo much to worry about that I just can't let myself relax, which I know is dangerous in itself. Haven't told DCs yet, not sure why. Think i'm ashamed as alone again. Also scared and dont want them to worry they are 10&8 and both aware of struggle with DC2. He spent 13wks in nicu then came home on oxygen, his health is great now but he is still under consultant for bowel complaint pertaining to prematurity.

I'm keeping 'mum' for as long as possible.

I wish everybody who is expecting and at risk of PE, very happy healthy eventfree pregnancies. Good Luck Ladies and babies.

tan - I had a meeting with consultant on the NHS, for various reasons (namely ongoing health probs) I contacted her directly and she saw me for a very long and detailed appt.

pony I had the same issue. Heavily pregnant in the boiling hot July 2010. My legs were swollen up to my knees. Could only wear flip flops. But the midwife thought it was all due to the heat. Had protein in my urine but had had a recent UTI, had epigastric pain and was glugging bottles of Gaviscon and was told all was well! Also fundal height was measuring 28 weeks when I was 32 weeks and was told that was okay too,

Interesting your doctors were also encouraging VBAC with a short pregnancy interval and previous prem section. As the uterine scar is proportionally larger, it is at more risk of rupture. I aspect they just encourage most people to VBAC and I guess we just have to stand our ground!

oh God titan, you've just reminded me about the Gaviscon! My epigastric pain felt exactly like dreadful heartburn, which is why I think it was ignored for a while :( It was the poo which finally swung it for me! Ladies, if you get pale coloured poo, FGS tell your medics.....

tan, I didn't have to go private - I just said to my GP that I was thinking about TTC again but I was a bit concerned about the PE and liver failure and I wanted to know whether I'd be taking a massive risk by doing it again. It helped that they had had a letter from the hospital explaining what had happened (and how things like Wilson's Disease, hepatitis, cirrhosis etc had all been ruled out ). I think they appreciated that I was being a responsible TTCer as I said I wouldn't consider TTC if there was a high risk it would happen again.

Titan their own hospital statistics suggested I wasn't a good VBAC candidate but still they pushed. One rather kind consultant told me to 'make a noise' as they couldn't refuse the elcs. At my last appointment I simply reiterated the fact that I felt vbac was not good for me, and then to my surprise she whipped out her diary and booked me in. What really made me think Wtf though was that I said I was prepared to do a 'trial of labour' before 37 weeks - she wasn't happy about that, which suggested to me that she thinks I'm a crappy candidate too!

Yes, emcs on 1st July 2010. They actually closed the maternity wing the day I left due to heat. Then what was it? Another 5/6 weeks before temps went below 30? No wonder I felt fucked! ;)

boys, sorry to hear that your pregnancy is already stressful. If it's any consolation, stress doesn't AFAIK cause PE. (You and I are at almost exactly the same gestation age, BTW - I'm 15 weeks today!) At least you're having good consultant care.

This is an interesting thread! I've not met anyone IRL who has been through severe PE so it's been good to read about other people's experiences. I had rapid onset PE in my first pregnancy. I had no symptoms other than water retention and my bp/protein levels were fine until 29+5 when they shot up. I developed pulmonary oedema and heart failure so had the baby by emcs at 30 weeks. I then had a 2 litre PPH some time later that night (is all a bit hazy) while I was ICU. My little one spent 2 months in neonatal but is doing fine now.

I'm 29 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby and getting pretty nervous now. I'm on consultant lead care and have been taking aspirin since early on. Things might be starting to go wrong. My bp is still low and I'm not having any symptoms except heartburn, but my latest test showed protein in my urine. The hospital are running more tests and my bp is being checked twice weekly by the midwife (though I also have a digital monitor at home for my own peace of mind). I'm trying not to get stressed out about it as that will raise my BP but it's easier said than done. Hopefully I will have test results in a week or so.

Fingers crossed for everyone else out there going through the same worries!

Thanks Fish we'll have to keep an eye on each other.

Malachite let us know how you get on. Try not to worry. (wishes she could follow own advice emoticon)

Well I'm actually off work sick today because I'm totally exhausted, headachy and nauseous. But according to my home BP monitor I'm 114/75, no oedema that I can see, my poo is perfectly normal colour :o and I appear to be peeing normally. Can't help worrying though!

Sorry I haven't read everything, does anyone else find it stressful just thinking about it, I can feel my chest tightening reading these accounts :(

I had pe with dd1 and dd2 both times I was induced and had a pretty rough time but we both recovered well, with dd3 I was on low dose aspirin from about 8 weeks (hoping to convince them to get started before 12 weeks again for a safety blanket feeling) and didnt get pe, not even a hint, the feeling of relief is immense but I'm terrified of getting it again this time. Hope you are all feeling well.

Those of you who had severe PE and are currently pregnant how often are your consultant appointments?

I asked my GP to refer me at 6 weeks and saw the consultant at 9 weeks. At that appt he made a plan to see me at 20, 28, 32 and 36 weeks with scans before each. Obviously if anything shows up I may be seen more frequently. There's not much point in being seen lots early on as PE can't develop before 20 weeks by definition so it's just a case of watching and waiting and I guess picking up any problems so the baby can be delivered at the appropriate time.

pony it seems you are being seen and scanned alot more frequently. Is that just your consultant's policy when you have had severe PE before?

I have just got off the phone with the scan unit at the hospital where I will be delivering. Starting from 32 weeks (so in a little over 3 weeks time) i will be having a scan + non-stress test one day a week, and fetal monitoring at my OB's office another day a week. Hmm, my boss is going to be unhappy about this, but never mind. So, I guess they are taking this pretty seriously, which makes me feel better, even though it is based on 1 high BP reading early on. Well, better safe than sorry by the sounds of it.

I'm mentalling.

My BP is up 20/20 from 8wk obs, mostly in the last 2 weeks BUT still below the 'risk' figures at 120/82. Persistent headache with flashing lights (though it had esaed for a bit today) - been having them on and off since about 23wks, put down to migraine. No sign of anything in urine. No eipgastric pain. Nothing in urine. Being seen next Wed for a checkup with MW and have promised to ring if anything gets worse... (oh, currently 38wks).

Only about 3/4h ago I randomly puked. Felt like a sudden bad bout of indigestion (post DTD, probably not relevent), and then BLEURGH. About 20mins before that headache stepped up a notch and the flashign lights became more prominent...but no worse than it has been at its worse IYSWIM.

Don't feel too bad now, but the headache's bugging me slightly.

Someone tell me I'm just being mental....

Do you normally get migraines with flashing lights? i.e. before you were pregnant?
My bp was only 120/80something when I was diagnosed with PE. I was told it was significant as my booking bp was only 90/60 and an increase of more than 20 in the diastolic was significant.
Either way, if the headaches aren't normal for you I would definitely call the midwife or labour ward and get checked out. You are full term now anyway. Good luck and don't panic!

Tan, I have had hospital appointments every 4 weeks throughout the pregnancy with scans at 7,8 (to confirm pregnancy) 12, 20, 24, 28 weeks and will continue with that pattern until the birth. I am now being seen two weekly due to the protein result. On top of that I have my regular midwife appointments.

Oeisha, I think you should call the hospital and get checked. Hopefully everything is fine, but better safe than sorry. If I hadn't seen my midwife at a drop in clinic last time then I don't think I'd be here now and I went in there thinking I was being a pain and there was nothing really wrong!

Yup, hideously bad pre-pg migraine (disabled me for about 2 years at one point). Got them under control eventually and then TTC ater coming off meds, and these really don't feel like migraines...yet that's what they think it is.
Not really panicing, as they keep telling me there will be something in my urine if I have PE, and I last got seen yesterday by MW.

I really don't want to have to go in for monitoring if the puking's not relevant.
Paracetamol usually dulls the headache enough to have it be less invasive too. Have been prescribed codeine, but really don't want to take it, and feel no need to at the moment.
Have just managed to eat dinner and it's settling ok...

I say "not really" but I did promise MW I'd ring if anythign 'got worse'. Just whether or not vommiting once counts as "worse"...

Hmm. I'd still phone and discuss with someone tonight if I were you. It's probably just migraine- related vomiting and, as you say, the headache is no worse than previously and your symptoms are settling. But just for reassurance. They might just say pop in tomorrow to be checked instead of waiting till Wednesday. And you did say you would ring if symptoms changed so fair enough to do so! (and if you're feeling up to DTD I'm sure it's a good sign )