Could any pre-eclampsia experts advise me, please?

[fluzle]

I wonder if any pre-eclampsia experts out there can help me?! I am currently 31 weeks pregnant with my second, after being taken ill very suddenly at 33 weeks with severe pre-eclampsia and having to be induced a couple of days later with my first. Apart from being early and in special care for a few weeks because of this, my baby was fine and a very good size for her gestation (5lb 10), it was really my health (dodge liver and kidneys and the rest) that was jeopardised. This time I have been having more midwife appointments and I'm watching my blood pressure like a demon and everything so far is ok. However, I had a scan and a consultant appointment earlier this week which showed that this baby is on the weeny side (just about 10th centile - midwife had measured bump even smaller) and the doctor said that this could be a sign that the dreaded P-E is on its way, but that this time it might be the baby affected rather than me. He said that apart from my b.p. going up etc, the next signs that the baby was being affected would be less fluid about the babe and a dodgy Doppler reading. I am not due to go back for a scan for another 4 weeks, (extended from original suggestion of returning after 2 weeks, I think because of the Jubilee bank hols!! ) and I am concerned that these symptoms could not be picked up in a routine midwife appointment. Can anyone put my mind at rest and tell me that my trusty midwife could indeed measure these, no problem? Or is there anything else I might be able to monitor myself?
Also - and SO sorry for the terribly long and boring rehash of my medical history! - could anyone explain the Doppler reading? Mine was 0.65 - is this good, bad or average? I know it measures resistance, but at the risk of sounding a simpleton, I don't understand whether a higher reading is good (I'd have thought not?) and what the scale runs to.
I would be so grateful if anyone with a better understanding of these things could take the time to reply - trying not to stress, but...
Thanks

If I remember correctly, you're meant to have a lower value for resistance on the Doppler. Mine are both higher as well, but my growth scans thus far seem to be OK (currently 31+3 weeks; previous baby born at 29+5 in similar circumstances to yours, actually a very healthy baby but I was critically ill).
I so understand what you mean about sitting waiting and watching. I also am vigilantly watching my BP, which seems to me to be creeping a bit, although I still have a little way to go before I get to the Consultant set level.

Come and join us on the mentalling thread here

Thanks marbles - it's a very frustrating position to be in, isn't it. Best of luck with your pregnancy; I'll pop over and look round the thread later!

I'm sorry you are having to worry about this again. I'm not an expert, but I had fulminating pre-eclampsia and HELLP at 26 weeks in my first pregnancy and my DD1 did not survive. I almost died too. We both went through hell. My next pregnancy and DD2 was normal and healthy though. I was terrified of going through it all again though, so I do understand your fears.

If your baby is small due to the possible onset of pre-eclampsia, you would expect the abdominal measurement to drop the most (with the head being "spared" i.e. relatively bigger). Is this the case, or was the baby just small everywhere? I think you could worry less about the latter situation.

Hope this helps

Oh, Jules, I am sorry to hear about what you have been through and very pleased that you had a happy outcome the second time. Thanks for replying - I think my baby is just a bit teeny all over, and yes, I think you're absolutely right about this seeming less worrying than the other scenario. I'm probably making a fuss about nothing, anyway, but it's so hard not to worry - I feel like I'm just waiting for P-E to strike. And I'm usually quite the optimist! Sigh.
Thanks again x