If you had pre-eclampsia more than once, how many weeks did it start at?

[HamblesHandbag]

I'm 32+6 with DC3.

PE started at 39+ and 35+ with my first two DC and now I'm anxious and just waiting for my BP to shoot up and to be in and out of hospital...

I KNOW nobody can predict the future for me but in the absence of a crystal ball, is it likely to happen again? And will it be sooner?

anyone?

hi Hambles - I know what you mean about the waiting game. Apparently if you do get PE in subsequent pregnancies - it's on average 2 weeks later - so your previous experience seems to be a little different.

The NICE guidelines give an idea of the percentage chances of it happening again: www.nice.org.uk (called hypertension in pregnancy)

I had severe, early PE in my first pregnancy at 28ish weeks - have been told my chances are 30% of it happening this time. Am shitting myself!!

Are you on aspirin? Assuming you've had uterine artery doppler around 22ish weeks? growth scans? regular bloods? On consultant care? Hopefully yes to all of these, and a consultant should be able to give you a reasonable figure.

Good luck - wishing you a long & boring pregnancy x x

ah, thanks cheese. I like that statistic about 2 weeks later! Maybe I'll make it a bit closer to full term this time then.

I'm on aspirin, had growth scans (normal), under consultant...not sure what the uterine artery doppler means though?

I'll have a look at the nice guidelines, thanks. I hadn't been able to find any concrete evidence, just vague advice from MW/registrar.

Are you pregnant now, or just worried about future pregnancies? 28 weeks is so scary you poor thing.

the nice guidelines are really enlightening!

here they are if anyone else is interested:

Hypertension in Pregnancy

Hiya, 3 times here! 37+2, 40 weeks and 35+5. Pregnancies 1 and 3 were the worst in terms of BP and bloods going off badly. Pregnancy 2 my BP was up but not so much protein and bloods were ok ish.

I thought the guidelines were interesting, but I don't think they are well adhered to. Hope things go ok for you.

thanks Hambles, for posting the link - you're far more clever than me!!

A uterine artery doppler is a scan looking at the blood flow through arteries supplying blood to the womb - it's not a hugely accurate indicator of predicting pre-eclampsia & there is debate about how useful it is, usually done around 20-22 week stage.

and yes, 28 weeks was hellish - I had no symptoms at all & was picked up routinely at a midwife check - got HELLP syndrome too - nasty condition related to severe PE. DS in neonatal unit for 95 days, home on oxygen for 6 months, doing great now - just small as he had stopped growing at 24/5 weeks - so we've been really lucky in a sort of way

so am scared shitless! 8 weeks at the moment, got early scan booked for Friday (had molar pregnancy last summer) & a whole load of extra scans/appointments.........

thanks for posting your experiences lyndie. I suppose that goes to show it's difficult to predict a pattern and it's a case of wait and see...

Cheese, your experience sounds horrific - your family must have been so worried for you both. And then extended time in neonatal... it doesn't bear thinking about, but glad your DS is doing well now. I can understand why you're scared now.

Not knowing is the worst bit isn't it? If I knew how things were going to pan out I could prepare somewhat. So far so good, but for how long?

Thanks for the link. I will look at it in a minute. I had PET and +/- HELLP (had many of the symptoms but by then I was too poorly to be paying much attention, and we can't remember what was said about it) last time. It was picked up at a routine appointment at 28+3 and I was hospitalised and then DD was born at 29+5. I am 31 weeks today, and have been on aspirin, do daily home BP monitoring, which has started to creep up, but still a little way off my consultant set threshold; I have had trace protein since 20 weeks and my uterine artery dopplers showed some resistance. I have had growth scans every 4 weeks, and yet I am still crapping myself.

Yep, it's a horrible waiting game - I'm only 8 weeks just now & still at the miscarriage paranoia stage - which will then be replaced by PE paranoia. Planning on having hospital bag packed by 20 weeks in case get admitted again. Feeling awful about the possibility of knowingly putting another baby through the whole neonatal thing. And how I'm going to cope psychologically with the pregnancy...

I guess the thing I learned the last time was that I didn't control my BP & that PE sets it's own course. Nothing I could have done to change that.

And of course there's a majority chance (70%) that it won't happen. Just trying to focus on the positive.....

Hang in there ladies, hoping the PE stays away for us all.

Ps Hambles: might be worth asking to see the consultant at clinic - should be able to answer your questions & reassure you.

Hi, in my 1st pregnancy with dd I had hypertension from around 35 weeks then protein from 38 weeks. Didn't progress to full blown PE and she was born normally at 40 wks.

2nd preg was twins. Hypertension from quite early (around 24 weeks I think). Admitted to hospital with PE at 31 weeks and stayed there until they were delivered at 35 weeks due to deterioration on scans.

I think it can be hard to predict.

it really is hard to predict, isn't it?

I don't actually see the consultant, just registrars so far, but they've been saying a vague kind of, "yes, you will probably get it again". In fact, I have been told that:

• If you get it once, then you are less likely to get it again if the baby is with the same partner (due to a kind of immunity effect).

• But, if you get it twice, regardless of the father, you are more likely to get it a third time.

I'm also home monitoring BP (creeping up, but not bad yet) and ordered some urine analysis strips so I can check for protein too. Like some of you, last time was only caught by chance; this time I'll know as soon as anything starts.

missingmymarbles, no wonder you're crapping yourself I really hope you are in the majority of the population who don't get it again.

and cheese, the stats ARE in your favour. I've also had my bag packed for weeks, expecting to need it any minute. The worry makes the pregnancy feel so much longer...it's day by day by day.

I have now read some of the link. This is how paranoid I am: although my percentage for 2nd pregnancy is 25% or whatever based on previous severe PET and prem birth

Marbles: I'm in the same category - picked up at 28.5 weeks, by which point things were very severe so was delivered right on 29 weeks - so am "between" categories.

I saw a consultant (two in fact, such is my paranoia!!!) pre-conventionally before this pregnancy & she estimated my risk to be around 30% range. To be honest, if it had been 50% I don't think we would have gone ahead. She was actually fairly encouraging & optimistic about this pregnancy for me.

It's very unlikely that HELLP syndrome strikes twice, if that's any consolation.

Should have also have said PE, if you get i
it again - 2nd time round tends to be less severe - so that's some consolation for us. Plus you're so carefully monitored that they'll pick it up at an earlier stage.

And finally there's also PRECOG guidelines on PE too. Again, I'm not clever enough to link it here but you can google it

Yeah, I know it is supposed to be less severe and develop later and I have looked at the PRECOG stuff before. I think it is just waiting and hoping and praying, but in some ways I am positive that it will be OK. It is a really weird place to be.

Hamble, cheese, lego et al, may I invite you over to our very own pre-eclampsia support thread? Here.

aaah, mentalling buddies, that's what I need!

Cheers Fishandjam

During my first pregnancy I developed Pre-eclampsia during established labour at 39 weeks pregnant I managed to avoid having a C-section and my bp stabilised within a week of giving birth.
During my most recent pregnancy (baby was born 23rd May) I attended my ante-natal clinic appointments and was told that my risk of developing PE was pretty low as A. It was the same father B. Its a second pregnancy, the consultant did not think I needed Aspirin but booked me in for growth scans at 32 and 36 weeks.
I developed hypertension at 30 weeks and was monitored frequently for 3 weeks, at my 32 week scan the baby was estimated at3lb 14oz putting him just below the 50th centile so I was happy with his progress.
At my consultant appointment I was again told that my risk of developing PE was still very low and that I should have bp checked at 36 weeks of pregnancy as she did not see the hypertension developing into PE, I put my trust in the Dr and assumed that everything would be okay.
At 35 weeks and 4 days I had a growth scan, myself and my husband thought it would be like the previous one and we would come home with a nice 3-D image of our baby..WRONG!!! The sonographer was very quiet at first then told me she had extreme concerns about our baby boy as he was now estimated as being 4lb 4oz, below the 5th centile and therefore extreme IUGR, his heart rate was also 119 bpm with no variablilty, I had my bp checked and shockingly it was 207/156, I was diagnosed as having severe PE and had to go straight to the maternity hospital.
Cut a long story short I began having seizures, the babys heart rate plummeted to below 60bpm and I was taken to theatre for a C-section under General Anaesthetic, thankfully myself and my little boy Fraser are alive to tell the story (the consultant told me I'm a lucky girl to come through the birth relatively unharmed as bp was dangerously high)...Fraser is still in neo-natal unit but gets stronger every day.
Personally after this experience I have made the decision not to have anymore children as my chances of PE a third time are very very high, the PE would develop rapidly probably without prior symptoms and I would never ever risk mine or my childs life like this again.
The scariest thing of all was that I thought I would be able to tell if I had PE given that I had it in my first pregnancy but in reality I was walking around with dangerously high bp and I didnt have a clue. I was told by the consultant that even if I didnt have a growth scan that day (thats what alerted them to the PE) I would most certainly have been hospitalised at some point in the day whether it be due to seizures or coma..so honestly girls if you have had PE in a first pregnancy make sure you are monitored closely in subsequent pregnancies, I feel that my midwife and her team let me down badly.