Preeclampsia experiences please?

[YanknCock]

I know the symptoms, but would like to hear from people who've experienced this. Am 38+2, and I know they're watching me carefully to see if I develop preeclampsia.

Since about 35 weeks, whenever my BP is taken with a manual cuff (and I am checking it is the correct cuff size), my BP is high-ish, 140/100. I've got loads of swelling in my feet and hands (for last 6 weeks), but face doesn't seem to be any bigger. Today I have a mild left-sided headache, and am debating about whether I need to call someone.

For the last two weeks I've had to go to the day unit for BP monitoring twice a week. There's been protein in my urine (2+), but when they take my BP with the automated cuff, it is never high (worst has been 129/82 as of yesterday, and most readings were under 120/80 over last two weeks). Saw the consultant yesterday, BP high on manual cuff (144/100), sent to day unit where it was fine, and told to come back in a week to get checked again.

I guess I'm wondering....if I don't have preeclampsia now, how likely am I to get it? If you had it, did you go through a period like me where they watched you, and then it suddenly came on at the end?

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Hi there - this thread is a little old. If you'd like to know more about pre-eclampsia, we've got more information here. MNHQ

Fairimum and Strikeuptheband I am so sorry for your losses, PE is such a truely terrible disease It still shocks me that it can strike so early in pregnancy, so swiftly and yet be so difficult to diagnose- especially as in many cases we are first time mums with little experience of what might constitute something more serious than the usual pregnancy niggles- I was remarkably naive about how serious PE could be, when it might strike and what the symptoms were, in spite of reading the standard NHS literature. (I think the section on PE in Emma's diary or equivalent was in week 34ish, back in 2005, and I didn't get that far!)

Strikeuptheband so glad DS2 is doing so well. These little ones really are such fighters. Good luck with the doppler scan today- my first one is in 3 weeks. My DD was born at 36wks, and spent just a week in SCBU- she wasn't intubated and it was nowhere near as scary as it had been with my 30 weeker. She has CF so they now wonder if that explained her breathing/weight issues - I'd had antenatal steroids at 27wks and again at 35wks so we'd hoped to have avoided SCBU with her. This time I'm really hoping to make 36wks again and perhaps be able to keep my baby with me...fingers crossed!

Good luck to all you brave ladies xxx

I had no real signs of pre-eclampsia - no protein in urine, no raised blood pressure. I had a little swelling and a couple of headaches early on which the MW said was usual.

At 39 weeks, I had a day where I felt tired and had that spaced out feeling others have mentioned but it was hot and I just thought it was that end of pregnancy feeling. The next night I developed a pain under my rib which I thought was heartburn but couldn't shift it.

Overnight I went so far downhill I couldn't make any sensible decisions, including waking my partner up to tell him I was in pain. I remember thinking I must be really wimpy if I couldn't cope with what I thought must be the beginning of labour.

Looking back I was clearly delirious and my vision went a bit funny for a few moments. I had developed severe PE and HELLP syndrome and there had been a huge placental abruption which meant my uterus was filling with blood. There was no external evidence of this except my bump was quite hard. I was rushed to hospital and my baby was stillborn and I v nearly died. I was v poorly for a few days afterwards.

On the BP front, mine hadn't moved all pregnancy and was okish when I got taken to hospital in the ambulance. It is presumed I had an enormous spike in BP overnight causing the placenta to blow off my uterus wall. It dropped back down but when HELLP set in later it climbed and they could not bring it down. I was on labetalol for six weeks afterwards.

This all happened in a few hours and unless I had been in hospital there would have been little chance to realise what was happening -it was so fast and aggressive. The rib pain was key - I should have gone straight to hospital immediately and my daughter may have been saved. I did not know about HELLP

I have had another pregnancy since and was v closely watched and took mini aspirin. The mws at the delivery suite said if I ever felt weird or even just frightened, I should come in and stay for monitoring to put my mind at rest. If I was really distressed they said they would just admit me until my son was born to stop the worry. They were wonderful - my son was a planned induction at 38wks to pre-empt any possiblity of developing PE, he is 17mths old now and very well.

Don't take any risks - don't assume anything is 'just pregnancy taking its toll'. I wish I had never listened to all the 'its natural, of course it hurts, medics don't know best they just want to interfere, stay away from hospital for as long as possible, of course you feel lousy you are growing a baby'.

Good luck - have everything crossed for you. My story isn't v cheerful but I wish I had been someone who came on here for advice because it is so brilliant and supportive and you are obviously v aware.

YanknCock - I had mild pre-eclampsia at the end of my pregancy (from about 36 weeks), bp was up, swollen feet and hands if it did any excersion, but urine generally only had a trace of protein. Like you I was at the DAU and GP's almost daily, alhtogh this was over the xmas and NY period, so not quite as many appts as usual. Although I was in the DAU on boxing day with a headache.

In the end my GP referred me for a consultant appt, and on that day I started vomiting and feeling really quite ropey. I went for out-patient appt (and am not ashamed to admit stood there crying in front of grumpy old receptionist when i had to wait for an hour for my appt despite them knowing i was regularly chucking up).

Anyway upshot of all this was consultant decided to nip it in the bud before it got any worse, I was 39+5, and my beautiful gorgeous DD was born bang on her due date.

My only advice is keep doing what you are doing, report every symptom and change and don't be brave. My GP and midwife were very clear that if I had headache, vomiting, further swelling (and other syptoms I forget) that I was to call them. If you are at all worried just keep bothering them, and good luck with everything. 7 months later you will be struggling to remember about it while you are learning to do weaning and coping with the nappies that come with weaning[]

yankncock - I've never had pre-eclampsia but came here because I am higher risk this time due to having twins. It's a useful thread, thanx.

One thing I'd warn is that the manual blood pressure measurements are more likely to be the correct ones as automatic cuffs can be less accurate.

My PEC also came on very quickly with DC2.

BP as slightly raised at MW appt at 36 wks, had appointment with cons at 38 wks to monitor. Cons tested blood, urine and BP, then looked at me with a worried look on his face saying "do you feel ill?". Apparently my BP and protein levels in urine were so high he thought I should be about to collapse. But I felt absolutely fine, no oedema and not even a slight headache. I was shocked I could be so ill and have no outward symptoms.

Was immediately admitted (not allowed home at all even though lived 5 mins walk away) and told would be induced that evening.

In the end was actually in hosp for a week before finally induced with no BP meds in the meantime, but that's a whole other thread...

I was diagnosed with PE at a routine MW check at 39 w. the protein was so off the scale I thought it must have been caused by contamination from the almond oil I'd been using for perineal massage and even the midwife thought that might have been the case...until she took my blood pressure and it was sky high, and rechecked the protein. I'd had no symptoms till then except swollen ankles and the slightly not there feeling others have spoken of.

Had to go straight to hospital without going home and was induced that evening. Happily the labour kicked in itself early the next day and i had a straight forward labour and birth. One thing a couple of MW's said to me was that high blood pressure can = a quick labour and that seemed to be the case for me.

I hate those automatic cuffs, I have an irrational fear that they will over-inflate and my arm will fall off!

I had pre-eclampsia with dd1, only symptons were high blood pressure from 16 weeks, constant sickness, protien in urine from 16 weeks and headaches during the final week (35) I was only admitted to hospital because dd had stopped moving,(my mum pushed for me to go!) my stomach was very hard to touch and we are 2 hours from the nearest hospital. On arrival at the hospital the consultant said 'We must deliver baby now!', which they did, dd up to SCBU and was fine, we were 'very lucky'.

Always trust your instincts and make sure you are checked out if there is any worry at all!

Good luck.

First pregnancy fine but 2nd pregnancy my BP started to rise at about 24 wks, though not significantly, and I had a trace of protein at about 30 wks. I thought I felt OK - a bit tired but I was pregnant plus toddler- went for MW check up at 32+ wks and she thought her BP equipment was faulty. She took the reading 3 times (!) before saying straight to hospital. It was 150/110 and 3+ protein.

I didn't have swollen ankles or hands - in fact the hospital seemed a bit put out about this for some reason so I felt irrationally guilty - maybe a slightly puffy face. Spent the next day ( my birthday) confined to bed being told they'd get the BP down with medication and I could go home. Within another 24 hours it was obviously not going to plan, I had a headache and couldn't understand why the nurses were looking jumpy (!). Quick pow-wow round my ( small) bump and it had been decided that DS2 needed to be out - now.

So off we went for an emergency section. I knew it must be serious as my consultant came in specially on his day off. DS2 was born weighing 3.5 lbs, small for dates but, thankfully, healthy. My placenta had almost stopped functioning and he would have died within hours if he'd been left. I recovered well and didn't need BP drugs beyond a week and he did well in SCBU coming home at 4 weeks and grew like a weed.

I still feel grateful for all the medical care I ( and DS2) received. Pre-eclampsia can just creep up on you without you realising how ill you are ( as others have said) so never ignore any symptoms.

I AM a little about the fact that my BP appears to be raised now when taken manually. My booking in BP and BP at the GP's office later in the pregnancy were done with manual cuffs, and both were fine. It does seem weird that all of a sudden at 34 weeks taking it manually results in raised BP, but automatic is fine? Day unit staff and consultant don't seem to think this is weird though.

Turned in my big vat of urine this morning, not sure when they will have the results from the 24 hour collection. I feel okay at the moment, other than uncomfortable braxton hicks, and thinking I MAY have had a real contraction in sainsbury's earlier today! Low down abdominal cramping pain, enough to stop me in my tracks and double over a bit. Seemed to fade after a minute and was back to the usual twinges. That was about two hours ago, nothing like it since.

Had PET twice - both times coming on very early 30 weeks or so. DS was delivered at 38 weeks because even with betablockers my BP was incredibly high, I had dizzy spells and +++ proteins. Was in hospital for a month.

With DD felt absolutely fine, they said I had PET and I thought they were joking because I felt just dandy. Five days after DD was delivered by CS after a failed induction my liver took a dive and I was in for a while and sick for months afterwards. As others have said, it is an insidious disease.

I think in some people you will always get it and I've just been bloody lucky to get two healthy kids out of it.

Hi YanknCock,

Sorry have just scanned through other posts so I am probably repeating what everyone else is saying. I had PE in both pregnancys. In the first I felt fine had BP that was always normal and one headache but the neighbour was creosing the roof so put it down to the fumes. 3 days later had routine check with midwife BP V high and protein +++ but still felt fine. I was admitted and started feeling poorly epigastric pains and headaches and had DS that night by emergency section.

With no2 I was watched like a hawk and felt fine but they planned to give me an elective section at 37 weeks as they remembered how poorly I had been and BP kept being up but quickly normalised. Good job they did as all my bloods were off the day of planned section.

Looking back on it all I didnt realise I hadnt been feeling well as it was so insidious. I hate making a fuss about feeling unwell and am so grateful for my routine appt that day with DS1 as I can see I would not have called until it is too late so as not to make a fuss.

What I am getting round to is listen to your body. Dont be afraid of making a fuss. Any midwife worth their salt knows how quickly things go pear shaped.

Sorry hope this hasnt scared you. You are far enough along that delivering is safe for your babe so you will be the priority. Look after yourself and Good Luck !

Hi YanknCock, my BP was always very low though I had swollen ankles, legs, wrists and face. A routine check at 37 weeks showed a rise in my BP so I was asked to come back a few days later for another check. This time it was so high that they put me straight to a outpatients centre for a 5 hour monitoring. I was then sent home. 2 days later at another check my BP was so high that I was sent straight to the delivery unit. The put me on betablockers (Labetalol, which I hated!!) to control my blood pressure. It stabilised my BP and an induction was planned at 40 weeks. Apart from the swellings, high BP and light headaches I had no other symptoms. I actually went into labour myself but ended up with emergency csec after 20 hours, and a BP of 180/160 (220/160 after delivery!). I was put on watch afterward but recovered fairly fast. I still had to take this horrible betablockers for a further 8 weeks (they made me feel really sick). My boy is 10 months old and a healthy little chap

I was diagnosed with Pre-eclampsia at 34 weeks. I had high blood pressure, swollen ankles and 2+ protein in my urine. I was monitored every day at the hospital for a week. My blood pressure & protein increased in this time so I was admitted to hospital at 35 weeks.
Had to do 24 hour urine samples and had my blood pressure checked every 3 hours. BP at its highest was around 140/100 (it's the 2nd number thats important apparently) and I had 4+ protein. I was induced at 37 weeks although never felt ill.

Please don't worry about my BP reading being the same as yours, they were only concerned about mine because it was low when I booked in, so 140/100 was very high for me.

Also, regarding headaches.....I panicked every time I thought I felt a niggle, but when I spoke to the midwife, she told me to take paracetamol and if that shifted the headache within 2 hours, it was fine. She also told me that if I had a Pre-eclampsia headache, I would know about it!!!

A word of advice.....get as much rest as you can now, because if you do have to be admitted to hospital with Pre-eclampsia, they disturb you constantly for blood pressure readings and foetal heart monitoring. You'll be shattered by the time you finally get home with baby !

Hope that helps.

I had PET in my first pregnancy. As others have saidm I ahd really bad swelling on my hands, feet and face and nasty heartburn (which had me swigging Gaviscon from the bottle) for the last few weeks of my pregnancy. Plus a return of what felt for all the world like morning sickness agian. I had a few flashing lights before the eyes but never any headaches.

Due to reduced movements from DS, I was in the day assessment unit for about a week beofre I was admitted to be induced. I think the final straw was my 24 hour urine test which showed +3 protiens along with my high blood pressure. I ended up with an emcs.

This time, no-one seems to be too bothered about the previous PET. Probably because so far I am only 21 weeks and my blood pressure is actually low! I'm keeping an eye on me though.

Good luck with your urine test and I hope you have a safe delivery when baby is ready

Jumpingjellyfish - Yes I agree it's good to bring up the 'not so usual' symptoms as I had no idea it was pre-eclampsia/HELLP as my orignial post shows. If it wasn't for L&L posting on here both myself and DD would have died

Glad to hear that you DS is doing so well. DD is now 20mths!!! and doing great. Developmentally she is absolutely fine. She is still small just about on the 0.4th centile and in 6-9mth clothes but perfectly in proportion and cute with it

Would love love love to have another one and slowly coming to terms with what happened but unfortunately in the middle of a divorce so no baby on the horizon just yet!!

The words pre-eclampsia were never actually used during my pregnancy, but that is exactly what I had.

I have hereditary high blood pressure anyway and am on medication for life. It just so happened that my GP wanted me to come off my medication so he could monitor my blood pressure for a short while with no meds. This was very good as I soon found out I was pregnant and the medication I was taking wasn't compatible with pregnancy. My GP then put me on more compatible meds as my BP was increasing.

My check ups were regular and my BP was being controlled - thank goodness.

At about 28 weeks I went for a check up with my GP (I lived in the caribbean and there weren't such things as midwives on my particular island, just GP's and Obstetricians)and my BP was high (about 140/90)so I was told to stop work and go on bed rest.

I was extremely worried as I was due to fly back to the UK to have my baby. The flight was fine, but as soon as I landed I went to see My UK GP and he imediately sent me to the local maternity hospital to be monitored for a few days.

After that I had a midwife come to see me every day to check my urine and my blood pressure. I have swollen ankles and feet and my face had started to puff up also. I ended up on the anti-natal ward again due to headaches and general feelings of unwellness.

At 37 weeks my Consultant booked me in for induction as my blood pressure was not good and my baby was failing to grow. This is not uncommon in babies of mothers with pre-eclampsia as the placenta starts to fail and so the nutrients aren't going to the baby in order to grow.

The first induction failed. The second induction wasn't working very well at all. I was only 2 cm dilated. They decided to kickstart the labour with meds (which didn't work) and then my blood pressure went through the roof (with the systolic reading going over 200!!!!!!!) and my baby became distressed). They had to rush me into theatre and DD was born by emergency c-section. She was 5lb 9oz at 38 weeks which is small.

I had to stay in the delivery suite for 2 days after the op so they could keep a very close eye on me and then I was on the post natal ward for a further 11 days. This was because they would only let me out when my diastolic figure went below 100!

It took a while for my BP to get back to normal, but I am still on meds.

They said that the chances of this happening again is fairly high due to the fact that it has happened before and I have BP problems anyway.

Listen to your instincts. If you feel unwell call your midwife asap.

Eclampsia means "bolt from the blue" so it can strike very quickly. I had severe early onset PE which was picked up at 20 weeks as my DD was very small for dates and I had bilateral notching of the uterine arteries. I felt fine but in hindsight, my face had started to swell. I was hospitalised at 27 wks as BP was going up but stayed steady (systolic was around 150)and had significant proteinuria. Felt fine the whole time and two weeks after being hospitalised, felt ill on the Saturday night and spent all night vomiting (was 28+5). Taken up to delivery next morning in a pretty poor state and they were going to stop baby's heart to save me as weight wasn't considered viable but consultant scanned me and decided to give her a chance.

Delivered by section next day of a 1 lb 4oz darling baby girl who lived for 6 weeks. I feel the 1st hospital I was at let me down as they focused on the baby (and rightly so) but told me I would be fine. Eventually sent to tertiary referral centre in West London (QC) where I had great care. I was fine after the birth and had a DS 5 mths ago with no recurrence of PE (9 lb 1oz).

Just keep an eye on your symptoms....the headache I developed would not shift, delivery cured it. Best of luck......later onset PE while still risky has a much better outcome than those develoing it before 28 wks.

My sympathies are with all of you who have lost DCs to this awful disease. I just cannot imagine what you have been through This thread makes sobering reading and certainly suggests the need for wider awareness.

It also goes to show how great MN can be. Rascal - your story has had me sobbing. Thank goodness you had a happy ending. I only wish that could have been the case for everyone.

I don't think I have anything new to add in that my PE was fairly straightforward - swelling in feet (had to wear DH's shoes), hands and face, protein in urine, visual disturbances etc.

The pg had been going pretty well for a twin one and then we got to my 32 week check up (I had scans and checkups every 4 weeks) and everything went haywire - nurse had to take BP reading several times, suddenly they were checking my urine. I then happened to mention I had some slight itching on my skin and they started taking bloods etc.

It turned out I had PE and cholestasis, a liver disease which I think often turns up with PE.

I can't remember any of my readings but basically I deteriorated quite rapidly from that point onwards

I was admitted a few days later with visual disturbances, hospitalised for a week,given loads of betablockers, then my DDs were born by emergency section at 34 weeks when my BP got worse and my liver counts rocketed.

The main way I can describe my symptoms apart from the obvious ones such as swelling and visual disturbances is basically feeling crap. I felt really anxious and uncomfortable all of the time. I put this down to being pg with twins but looking back that sense of unease was very much symptomatic of the disease. I echo what everyone else here says - if you feel things aren't right then seek help immediately.

Mine is one of the stories with a happy ending as my girls are here today and are beautiful, happy, healthy 18 montholds.

Their birth and the time afterwards was traumatic with NICU/ SCBU time for DDs and high dependency for me - it took a while for my BP to stabilise and I was on betablockers for 6 weeks after the birth.

My organs were on the verge of failure apparently but I was mostly just pissed off that they wouldn't let me go and see my babies and that they wouldn't let me drink anything but a sip of water every few hours in case that finished my kidneys off. I don't think I quite appreciated the severity of the situation!

Despite it being a hard time I really do appreciate that I am one of the lucky ones because we are all still here.

Hi,

I knows its scary, not just saying that it is frightening especially if you have readup about it or have heard a few scary stories from friends. But you have to let them do their job and try not to think about it.

Your worrying is only going to raise your BP. I had high BP in both my pregancies and protein in my urine +2. In my 1st pregnancy I developed pre-eclapsia in labour. With my second I didn't. My mum had pre-eclapsia and that makes it more likely as does a long list of things.

The protein in the urine can be triggered by all sorts of things including eating and your body not digesting the food or even the way the baby is sat causing protein to escape when it wouldn't normally. Which is why they do the bloods if the urine shows anything. IF the bloods come back showing anything they admit you into hospital. If worse comes to the worse they deliver the baby early, if before 37 weeks they give a drug to help the baby to develop his/her lungs to give them their best chance. At 38+2 you are due anytime.

I am not trying to suggest that these checks aren't important because of course they are but you need to try not to let the what ifs take over your every waking thought. Just rest up after all its not long to go and then you will have a gorgeous little one showing you what sleep deprevastion is.

If you develop pre-eclapsia at any point they will continue to monitor you in hospital for at least 10 days after the birth to ensure it doesn't turn into eclapsia.

Have a good birth short and painless I hope ;-)

Well, I ended up at the hospital last night as the baby only moved once during the day and wouldn't move at all in the evening even with 40 minutes of me prodding him--this is quite unusual, normally I'm begging him to settle down.

Fortunately he seems to be perfectly fine, and started moving more after about 10 minutes on the monitor. And of course when I got home and tried to sleep, he was doing his usual dance.

BP was 153/93 when I got there, and that was the automatic cuff. They put the top number down to stress, but were concerned about the bottom number as it didn't go any lower than 89 even with them trying a thigh cuff (my arms are quite big) and the manual cuff. The manual cuff put me at 140/100 again.

They had the results of the 24 hour urine, and it was .3g (supposed to be less than .15). The midwife consulted with the registrar and they decided I should come back to the labour ward on Sunday to get my BP checked again, since I'm not scheduled to see the consultant until Wednesday (day after my due date). Am just hoping I will naturally go into labour before that!

Am very appreciative of everyone sharing their stories. Seems like a lot of variation in how pre-eclampsia manifests itself, makes me much more aware to pay attention to what is happening and report anything weird to the MW or consultant or labour ward.

Glad they are watching you closely YanknCock, it does unfortunately sound very much like early PE, just hoping it's the gradual variety and you get a chance of natural labour before anything gets too much more serious. Definitely keep a close eye on your symptoms, even just feeling unusually tired/spaced out, and go straight to DAU. Do you have urine dipsticks at home to keep an eye on protein? You can get these prescribed and may be something you can keep en eye on at home.

Good luck with Sunday's monitoring and really hope all goes well x

Just seen this thread.

I got pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome with dd, in retrospect I was getting unwell from around 30 weeks with persistent proteinuria though my BP was fine until 32 weeks when I suudenly became very unwell, I had to go to hand in a 24 hr urine collection that had 6g in it and then got headache, epigastric pain, visual disturbance etc etc. I had dd later that day and she was in SCBU for 4 weeks, we are both now fine and I'm pregnant again (22 weeks tomorrow) and a bit paranoid tbh.

It's great that you've got to the gestation that you're at but if you feel ill in anyway then please take it seriously and get straight on to the labour ward.

Hi remember you have got to 39 weeks so if they deliver your baby now, you and he/she will be absolutely fine.

I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia at 26 weeks , they told me they would be happy if i got to 36 weeks, then they told me 30 weeks in the end they delivered my 2 lb baby at 27 weeks - very scary.
I remember my protein had got up to 14 and my bp was very high I also had swelling in feet and face, awful headaches and was burping all the time (can't remember the medical term!)
SO well done on getting so far in your pregnancy.
My ds is a happy, healthy 20 lb 1 year old - good luck

No urine dipsticks for home I'm afraid, but a bit of positive news (I think)....I've lost my mucus plug! About 4 hours ago now....hoping this means it will all happen on its own, though I think I've read you can lose it and it doesn't mean anything is happening. I am counting my blessings that I've made it to 39 weeks, but at the same time would like it over now please!