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Original poster

Start of pre-eclampsia ? ?

34 replies

tink08 · 01/09/2009 16:39

Hi i went to see my consultant this morning (28 week check ) and my blood pressure has shot up since thursday ! it was 120/70 and this morning it was 149/87 ? i did feel funny yesterday with dizzy spells and floaters but just put it down to general pregnancy tiredness etc .
Anyway i had no protein but they took bloods to check too and i've got my midwife coming to my house twice a week for the next 2 weeks and got to go back and see consultant again in 2 weeks too see whats happening
The reason i'm seeing her is because i had severe pre-eclampsia with dd1 and ended up in hospital on medication at 36 weeks and delivered via emergency c section at 38 weeks . All was fine in the end thank goodness .
I'm just thinking that this is the start of it all again ! She said she'd probably only let me go to 36 weeks anyway for my elective c section but if my blood pressure does'nt settle i will be admitted before then and could have a section anytime in the next 8 weeks !
has anyone got any experience of this in detail because i can't really remember what happened with dd1 (6 years ago) and i certainly was'nt monitored and saw it coming !
Will baby be ok ciming early ? i am measuring 32 weeks at 28 weeks and have a scan booked at 32 weeks to check her size .
Help !

OP posts:
LuluMaman · 01/09/2009 16:41

does sound like it, in my non medical experience.

high BP and visual disturbances and previous pre eclampsia would point to it happening again

Original poster
tink08 · 01/09/2009 16:54

but i'm only 28 weeks i'm scared they will section me and baby will be too early

OP posts:
reikizen · 01/09/2009 16:55

Because of your history I would be concerned that your pre-eclampsia had returned this time. Your blood picture should confirm this. I'm not sure what you are asking? If baby is delivered early the hospital staff will talk you through the prognosis depending on the gestation. Hopefully your BP will either settle or be controlled by medication and your pregnancy can continue to almost term. Pre-eclampsia can be very serious but it sounds like your midwife/consultant are on the ball.

JumpingJellyfish · 01/09/2009 17:01

tink, as someone who's had PE twice I really empathise with you, but try not to be scared. Even 28 weeks is a pretty good gestation, believe it or not, and a good milestone to be at. My DS was born due to severe PE & HELLP syndrome at 30wks, ended up spending 8 weeks in SCBU, but was fine and is a very healthy (& tall) 4yo now. DD was born at 36 wks, spent 1 week in SCBU, and is also fine.

It can take a long time for PE to become "full-blown" where the risk to you and baby is too high to do anything but deliver, so you may be very fortunate and have many weeks left- just keep with the monitoring and if you do get severe headcahes/epigastric pain/visual disturbances go straight to the hospital to be checked out, as PE can develop suddenly too. They may well be able to medicate you to stabilise your BP and buy you time. Officially PE usually has to include protein in urine, or blood work that shows elevated liver enzymes etc., and so you may be a while (hopefully) off that- and it may not happen at all- your BP today could be a "blip". But as you know you must keep a close eye on it all.

If you are worried or have questions try to see an obs consultant sooner rather than later. Unfortunately a prior history of PE makes you more likely to develop it in subsequent pregnancies, but usually it is milder.

Good luck xx

Original poster
tink08 · 01/09/2009 17:16

thanks for your responses , i think its just been a bit of a shock even though i knew i was at higher risk i was'nt expecting it all to start until much later on .
i suppose i just came out of my appointment and panicked

OP posts:
Original poster
tink08 · 02/09/2009 21:21

any advice from everyone would be grately appreciated
ok so i've been feeling dizzy all day and i have a heavy feeling at front of my head . I went for a lie down this afternoon and actually went to sleep for an hour and now i have pains in my left wrist and pins and needles in my hand ? ( only came on just over an hour ago )
I don't feel right and no-one has been in touch since my appointment yesterday , am i just over worrying or should i get checked over ????

OP posts:
ZippysMum · 02/09/2009 21:26

Call your Midwife. NOW

That's what she's there for.

Or call the Delivery suite for advice.

Hope you are ok!

TwoIfBySea · 02/09/2009 21:27

If you are worried get it checked out no matter what. If you get stressed then it won't help your bp.

I had pre eclampsia with dts, had an emergency c section at 36 weeks.

Best wishes to you Tink.

Original poster
tink08 · 02/09/2009 21:46

i'm going to go to bed i think and try and sleep and see how i feel in the morning because it's dd1's first day back at school so i want to make sure she goes and if i still don't feel right at least i can call midwife during working hours x x

OP posts:
JumpingJellyfish · 03/09/2009 09:42

The heaviness in the front of your head sounds like a BP-related headache. Pins and needles in your hand and pains in your wrist may be carpel tunnel syndrome- fairly common in pregnancy and a result of extra fluid retention. However, such extra fluid may also be related to pre-eclampsia.
Please phone your midwife or your maternity hospital and ask for an evaluation today, as much as anything to stop you worrying- a BP check, protein in urine check, and if they think necessary blood test to check platelets, liver function etc.

Good luck xx

TwoIfBySea · 03/09/2009 13:24

How are you today Tink? I hope you got that seen to.

xx

Original poster
tink08 · 03/09/2009 13:38

hi i rang my midwife this morning but she is on holiday so a different community midwife is coming to see me at 4 this afternoon . I still feel a bit woozy as such and my hand is the same but is not swollen up ( she asked me that on phone )
will let you know if my bp is up or if its just me worrying

OP posts:
Original poster
tink08 · 03/09/2009 20:52

i've been admitted due to protein in my urine so got night on maternity ward oh joy !

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mummytopebs · 03/09/2009 21:17

Hope you are ok Tink x I had pre-eclampsia with dd and now am pregnant again and petrified of it happening again. Just use the time on the ward to totally relax and try and not worry to much x x

JumpingJellyfish · 04/09/2009 09:58

Hope you are ok Tink and if it is PE they can manage it for a while and buy you and LO a few more weeks. At this stage every day counts though, and even if your LO has to come early I am sure things will work out ok- 28wks is a good gestation.

oneofmany · 04/09/2009 10:03

Hope you are ok. I was admitted at 36 weeks with PE but BP was stabilised with meds and I went to full term.
It did mean repeated hospital stays though.

alypaly · 04/09/2009 10:14

tink08 ...i had really bad pre eclampsia with DS1 ...blood pressure went to 180/104 and i was admitted to hospital for complete bed rest 6 weeks prior to delivery. My fingers face ,feet and everywhere just swelled up and i put on 3.5 stone. This was really worrying as i only weighed 9.5 stone to start with.Also had massive protein in urine. Felt as if i was going to burst. Had to have total bed rest as they said it would endanger baby even if i got out of bed.
They were going to do an emergency c section but for some stupid reason decided to induce me...how stupid was that with such high blood pressure. They gave me an epidural and whatever is in that suppposedly lowers your blood pressure. Gave birth to baby...half the placenta was shrivelled up due to high blood pressure detaching it and DS1 only weighed 4lbs 4 oz becos he was not getting enuf nutrients. Left me topped up with epidural for 36 hours as there is no way of medically controlling blood pressure due to pre eclampsia. Then i had to remain in hospital for a further 6 weeks becos my BP wud not go down. I was really frightened and thought i was going to die

alypaly · 04/09/2009 10:15

4got to say that although i was delivered at 36 weeks,DS1 had stopped growing at 32 according to measurements

Original poster
tink08 · 04/09/2009 10:18

they are doing a 24 hour urine collection although my bp did come down to 71 but then its back up to 87 ? why would it jump about ?

OP posts:
alypaly · 04/09/2009 10:22

87 isnt massively high.anything up to 90 is ok...its when it starts getting permanently higher they start fusing.It jumps about through stress aswell ...try not to worry and it will go lower. Maybe they are eeing what your protein output is over a 24 hour preiod incase it varies throughout the day.

JumpingJellyfish · 04/09/2009 10:24

tink before pre-eclampsia properly "gets going" BP is often labile and measurements go up and down a lot- now experienced docs recognise this as warning that PE may well develop in the forthcoming weeks, though it's hard for them to predict how soon things will get serious. If you already have protein in urine then the 24-hr collection will help quantify this, and some hospitals use thresholds from this to decide on how best to manage your care. Also BP shows a daily rhythm so you may find at certain times of day it is consistently higher than at others, so it's good that they're monitoring you properly to get a good feel for what's going on. They probably won't give you BP meds though until it is consistently high, however again this varies depending on your other symptoms and each consultant has slightly different ways of managing PE.

How are you feeling in yourself? Have they discussed what they may do in terms of yours & LOs management if they think you are developing full-blown PE?

JumpingJellyfish · 04/09/2009 10:26

PS. I have been told that diastolic BP is not particularly affected by stress, unlike systolic, so that is partly why it provides a better gauge for what is going on. Also although the threshold of 90 is often used to officially diagnose hypertension, they do have to consider what your background BP was earlier in pregnancy, and if the diastolic has increased by 20 or more relative to that, then it can also be diagnosed as hypertension before reaching 90 (i.e. if it was 60 and is now 80). Hope that makes sense!

alypaly · 04/09/2009 10:29

my gynaecologist said that none of the Bp products work for high blood pressure related to pre eclampsia as it has a totally different mechanism and affects the kidneys. In most cases it disappears quite soon after delivery but mine took 6 weeks and alot of rest. Saw cardiac specialists and they aslso agreed that none of the conventional BP treatments lower BP related to eclampsia

JoBish · 06/09/2009 10:41

tink I know just how you feel. I was admitted to hospital with preeclampsia at 32 weeks with dd1. The 24 hour urine collection is certainly an experience!
Just wanted to put your mind at rest about an early birth, as my bp did not come down with drug treatment and protein levels v high I was delivered by emergency section at 33 wks.
Baby was only 4lb8oz and admitted to scbu however she was fine and just needed time to establish feeding. All was well and she is now a thriving 15mth old. Had I not been delivered early things could have been very different.
Try not to worry you are in good hands.
P.s. Unlike alypaly my bp took 6mths to return to normal.

alypaly · 06/09/2009 15:01

JoBish ..gosh that was a long time...i wa told 6 weeks was a long time...did you stay all puffy for that time too?