Start of pre-eclampsia ? ?

[tink08]

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 !

hi all thanks for your messages , i'm home again and bp has settled again so just got a midwife coming to my house every couple of days and see my consultant in 2 weeks aslong as i feel ok in the mean time

Tink that's great that you're home, and sounds like there is good monitoring in place. Definitely go straight back if anything feels wrong. Really hoping you have a good few more weeks left before LO has to make an appearance! Take it easy- lots of resting on your left side I was told- if your DD1 lets you!

JoBish so glad your DD is fine, it's amazing how tough preemies can be. Like you my BP has taken a good while to stabilise post-delivery each time I've had PE- with DD it took 4 months, 3 months with DS, and was on labetalol and methydopa for that time, with some not so pleasant side effects. Just relieved though that all did settle as have read some who have had ongoing hypertension following PE.

ali I think if I recall rightly the swelling should always resolve within a couple of weeks of delivery, as it's more PE and pregnancy related than BP related. High blood pressure doesn't normally cause swelling when not pregnant.

no i had pre eclampsia which causes raised blood presure due to the increased protein output from kidneys.They said it shud resolve soon after the birth, but as myself and JOBISH found, it can take alot longer.

the dangerously high blood pressure was caused by pE and was confirmed as no blood pressure treatments lowered it. the swelling and water retention was due to the damage done to my kidneys due to PE

sorry aly think misunderstood each other- I know swelling is caused by PE (though for some is normal in pregnancy) but was just wanting to reiterate that swelling should resolve quickly once baby is delivered, even if it takes a lot longer for BP to come down. Know after DS was born (at 30wks due to PE and HELLP syndrome) my swelling disappeared within a week but it took ages for BP to come down. I think it's hard to always know what causes what in PE- they know it obviously starts with blood flow in the placenta, and it's now thought that PE may be some sort of immune reaction to the baby, resulting in inadequate blood supply crossing the placenta causing a reaction that increases blood pressure in the mother to force more blood through, which in turn damages maternal blood vessels which releases chemicals that are processed by the kidneys- putting them under too much pressure causing a cascade of probs such as protein in urine, oedema etc.
Found some very interesting info at: www.preeclampsia.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16607 especially the answer from Caryn

Good luck Tink- am a couple of weeks behind you (27weeks tomorrow) and praying PE holds off, having had it twice know it's almost inevitable but hoping to get to 35/36 weeks first!

PE, i was told is caused by the structure of the kidneys changing and letting the larger molecules of protein into the urine. This is why they test the urine for protein with suspected PE and during normal pregnancies too.
if the protein carries on enlarging the membranes in the kidnyes it can cause permenant kidney damage. The resulting increased,protein problems then precipitate the high Bp. my consultant said that when the kidneys repair themselves the bp returns slowly back to normal...but it can take a while depending on how severe the PE is. The damaaged kidneys then cause water retention and hence the swelling.

wow interesting stuff alypaly and jjfish
I'm hoping to get to 35/36 weeks too but we will see , midwife is coming to see me 2moro but i feel fine today and bp was perfect saturday morning so guess i'll just have to take it each day/week as it comes

good luck

Hi again i've been quite stable for last couple of weeks although i went to see consultant yesterday and bp was 148/99 so shes put me on 200mg labetalol twice day and got to be seen by midwife every 2 days again
She's also booked a growth scan for next tues when i'll be 32 weeks and she wants to discuss the results after
I also think i'm having some side affects from these tablets i keep going all shaky and feeling sick within 30 mins of taking them ? anyone else had them ? i was on methlydopa last time and was fine with them x

i'm on labetolol at the moment as my bp went mad in labour 3 weeks ago and didn't come down after. i didn't have sick and dizzy side-effects but did feel quite dizzy at first when i was due a tablet. hang in there, every day counts and i hope your bp settles now.