Sudden pre-eclampsia and currently being induced!! Any experience, advice or insight welcome.

[GoT1904]

Hey! The last few days have been an absolute roller-coaster.

Midwife apt on Wednesday. Perfect BP and trace of protein in urine.

I was due to have a growth scan Friday as my baby girl has been over 99th percentile for some months now and is by all accounts a giant. However DP and his mum had covid so thought I'd better test before going.. Covid positive on Thursday 😑 puts me on day 3 now as its technically Sunday.

This evening (Sat) I stood up to start cooking tea and noticed my feet felt really weird and tight, looked down and they were ENORMOUS. They just ballooned all of a sudden. Took BP at home and it was 165/101. Get to the hospital and due to my covid status got my own room straight away which was pleasant. High protein in urine and poor kidney function. So I've been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and sent upto the induction ward!

I'm there now (own room again, go covid) and I'm maybe an hour in to the 24 hour propess pessary. My bishops score was sadly only 4, which is frustrating as this is baby #4 and I've been having contractions for weeks. Cervix is however soft and 'nearly 1cm', but still fairly long.

I am very nervous, as whilst this hasn't exactly been a straightforward pregnancy I naively thought that due to my parity induction would be easier. Also I've never had pre-eclampsia before and I'm so terribly swollen it's actually giving me health anxiety. I'm definitely putting in a lot more fluid than is coming out. Has anybody else experienced this and did it settle after the birth?

Also if anyone can let me know what to expect with propess that would be good. I've had the drip before with my past DC as my waters went spontaneously but labour never begun, so I'm pretty aware of what happens from breaking waters etc. I've just never had to be induced from scratch.

Hoping to be able to sleep soon although I've another blood test in 3. 5 hours.. I'm just so nervous. I don't even feel excited about meeting baby currently as all I feel is worry about the induction, her possible size, and the pre-e. It's all taken me by surprise today.

Thanks for reading. X

No insight but I imagine being induced with covid must be tough and add on pre-clampsia.

However thinking of the positives - you are in the right place. You will atleast miss being on the postnatal ward and continue in a private room.

My last was induced and I was worried after hearing everyone's horror stories and kept repeating - it's probably only going to be a couple of days of pain etc and I can get through that.

Good luck and keep us posted. We can keep you company. Assume you can't have anyone in?

Hi @GoT1904 - how many weeks are you? I'm guessing close to 39 if they've decided to induce right away. I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia suddenly at my routine 38 week appointment when I was 38+4. I was admitted right away and induced the next morning with propess pessary - unfortunately it didn't work and didn't really do anything. When it was taken out after 24 hours I was max 1cm gone so Doctor recommended prostaglandin gel with examination 6 hours later and it was while I was waiting for this examination after approx 6 hours application my waters went and everything kicked off (albeit very slowly) - one thing I didn't know was that when induced and waters go, it is apparently normal to feel irregular contractions for an hour or two after and then stop. I had no idea as FTM so was sure it was the start of established labour. Baba didn't actually arrive for quite a while after that, but as you're on baby #4 things might go a lot quicker for you, or you'll know more than me on what to expect from that point. Best of luck! 💐

Thank you for your kind words. This is baby #4 for me and I'm really nervous this time and feel unprepared. I'm not sure if that's just because I don't feel 100% though. Was your induction successful?

Hiya, I am just 38+1 today. Aww that's a shame it didn't do much when you had the propess. I'm happy to take it slow and steady but I'm really scared of the pain coming. I've had the drip before and it was fine so I'm not sure why I'm being such a big baby this time.😂

Wowww that's frustrating. I'd have thought contractions starting was the start of labour as well. Thanks so much xxx

I had preeclampsia at 34 weeks, had a c section at 34 weeks plus 2. A 38 weeker should do just fine. The preeclampsia should go quite quickly once baby arrives. Mine was quite severe so I was in hospital for a week but the majority of people are fine quite quickly. Best of luck!

Hi @GoT1904 - I had a c-section at 38+1 due to the exact same symptoms as you. It was all fine, if a little unexpected. What I would say is keep an eye on your blood pressure after the baby has arrived - I ended up with post-partum pre-eclampsia which I didn't even know existed. Was put on labetalol and it settled fairly quickly though.

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply. I think baby will do good, I just want this induction to work! Sorry to hear you're was severe. Thank you xxx

Did they keep you in after delivery? The doctor has already told me I'll be in for monitoring for a while after. I'm a bit gutted about that but know its necessary. I'm taking labetolol currently too. Thank you. Xx

They tried to keep me in but they were massively overcrowded so agreed to letting me come back every day for monitoring.

I had preeclampsia with my first 2 years ago. Came on very quick and I was induced within 8 days of diagnosis at 36 weeks. I had the pessary, my waters broke 6 hours later and she was born 3 hours after that. Swelling went down within about a week but tests wise they were happy with me leaving the hospital 2 days later.

Ahh thats great to hear! Thank you. I'm very much looking forwards to the swelling going down!

Ive had the pessary in for 17 hours now and getting pains x

Hi, back been a busy day with the children. My induction well - never got to labour. I had the pessary, managed to get to the point of breaking my waters but my baby started 'moving too much' and they couldn't get a normal baseline so off to theatre for a c-section.

So for me a painless induction and a healthy baby so I called it a success.

Good luck! You have this

Thank you ❤️☺️ how many children do you have?

I'm a bit disheartened as I've been having pains and my cervix remains closed after 21 hours of propess. Although it's gone from 2cm long to 1cm long. At 1.15am I will be examined again and given the 6 hour gel. Hopefully that will nudge me in the right direction. I just want to be able to access pain relief other than codiene at this point!

Thanks for replying xx

Fingers crossed the gel does the job for you. I went straight to gels both times. Had two rounds of gels with my first, and a single round with my second to get me to ARM range. I only ever went into labour with the drip though.

I've had pre-eclampsia with both my babies, albeit very mild. I was definitely swollen with my first. I don't remember much in the way of swelling with my second. The swelling subsided in the days and weeks after birth in the form of frequent loo trips and night sweats.

I was in after delivery both times for two nights. First time I continued on labetalol for 6 weeks post birth. Second time I stopped all medication before I left the postnatal ward as it was sending my BP low.

Best of luck! ❤

Thank you for your reply. It's very helpful. :)

An hour until gel time for me now! Everyone was expecting me to be easier to induce with this being baby 4. I kind of wish they weren't so confident now as I was also swept up with it.

I'm hoping the gel may help things along :) I'm no stranger to the drip and don't mind it.

That's great to hear about the swelling! It's become very uncomfortable now. I'm a little gutted about staying in afterwards as I miss my kids, but then I think it will be lovely to just focus on baby and getting a good start to breast feeding. Xxx

How are you getting on? @GoT1904