pre-e

[kamalynsky]

I swear, if there's a test I can fail-but-only-just, I'm doing it with this pregnancy...  Okay, technically I haven't failed the test yet, but I had to go in for it. 

I went in today, 1 day shy of 37 weeks, and had trace protein in my urine and slightly elevated bp (128/84).  The midwife, one we hadn't met with before, seemed very concerned and sent me to get blood drawn and big jugs to pee into for a 24 hour period (though I told her I wouldn't be able to do that until the weekend... because I can't keep a jug of pee in the fridge at work, thank you).  So now I'm waiting for results from the blood draw... I should get those this afternoon or tomorrow morning. 

After leaving the office, I hopped online to do research as to when exactly pre-eclampsia becomes a concern, and found that most places don't even test until you get a reading of 140/90 or see more than just trace amounts of protein in the urine, so her reaction now feels a bit like overkill to me... especially since taking my bp tends to be one of those things that makes my bp go UP (it's a test I can't study for, basically, and that stresses me out... especially when it's a new person).  But I'm still worried, since once these test come back I could be looking at the possibility of induction.  Ugh!  I really didn't want to be dealing with more stress... 

[xtara2003x]

*hugs*

I feel nervous about that too. I know I haven't been eating enough protein this pregnancy. I know that. I just can't seem to do it very well. I can eat all the fruit in the world...as well as carbs..but protein? Difficult.

I had my BP taken on Sunday and it was 104/80 the first time...then 104/70.  My lower number is usually 58-64 ish...so 80 is really really high for me...but the top number was good? I just don't understand.

I didn't have protein in my urine at all...thank god, but it was still concerning.

I hope your results come back soon and bring relief for you and not stress!!!!

[MamaChef]

With Pre-e, they can also look at a big jump in BP.  So if you were having a bp in the low 100s over low 70s or high 60s, it would be a concern.

Your BP isnt super high at all but paired with the trace protein, they sound super cautious.  Hydrate hydrate hydrate, up your protein... and ask if you can take the test next week since you are on weeklies now anyway.

However, if you are having any other symptoms like edema, headaches, floaters in your vision, etc.. think about just being safe and doing the catch.

((hug)).. sucks that you are having to deal with this.

[seafox]

With Z, my usual BP of 110/60ish jumped to something like yours 120's/80's in the last 4 weeks or so. I had protein in my urine, edema, etc. But it just stayed that way, didn't get worse. My ob/gyn said that's why they see folks once a week at the end just to keep an eye on it, and its a very common thing. It definitely got up to 140/88 at one point, but it was when I was at the hospital because I thought my water had broken/leaked, so I was a bit stressed more than usual but since it got no worse, so no induction. Z even came 11 days late! So it might not be an issue at all.

[tzs]

we were on the watch last time and for the last 2 months i was constantly around 140/something. i know one reading was 156/something since we referenced my previous chart for this pregnancy. i happen to have a very laid back OB so i was just more closely watched and came in more frequently up until we started every week (at which point i just came in every week like everyone else.)

he did threaten induction by 41 weeks but he does that with everyone.

the only issue was that my bp also shot up during delivery so i had to lie flat on my back the whole time. all in all, it worked out ok.

one thing that seemed to help was that we would always take a second reading if it was high. he'd let me lie on my left side alone for a couple minutes and repeat the bp to see if it would come down.

[L&K'smommie]

I was just checked for high bp myself...but my normal is 118/78-120/85 or so...I did have one jump higher and my MW told me to make sure I was eating regularly with lots of protein snacks and hydrating.  The next week I went in and was back down to 118/78...when I had the jump in bp it was with a different MW than I normally see as well.  I went to Dr Brewer's website(for the Brewer's diet) and read about high bp and such and now think that mine was caused by not eating enough food, not just protein,(I'm just not hungry much during the end of my pregnancies) so I've been taking better care of myself since then.

[Almamiel]

Good luck, kamalynsky - keep us posted! I second mamachef's suggestion of lots and lots of protein and keep hydrated. You're in my thoughts!

[kamalynsky]

So I have a rant of an update now.  Fun times!

I got a phone message from the midwife we had the appointment with, and she said all my numbers looked good, but they'd like to have me come in on Friday to retake my bp.  Unfortunately, Friday is my last day of work (like... last-last, not returning to the job after) and I have a full day scheduled, starting at 8am.  I called back to see how needed this was, since my next appointment is on Tuesday.  The nurse I was connected to... was not the best experience I've had.  She really did her level best to scare me into coming in. 

She first said that my numbers were *mostly* fine, except for my alkaline phospatase, which was 'slightly elevated', and that was probably why they wanted me to come back in.  When I sounded reluctant, she asked if I had any symptoms.  I told her my feet would get a bit swolen over the course of the day, but always went back down again when I got home and propped them up - but other than that, nothing.  She paused for a moment, then told me that the fact I had no symptoms didn't matter, and I needed to come in because I could be walking around and feeling just fine, when my bp could just suddenly shoot up to 180/110 and I was putting both myself and my baby at risk (keep in mind, my bp was 128/84 on tuesday). 

At this point, she was definitely starting to worry me, but I was a little irritated too.  When I'd left my appointment on Tuesday, the doctor said that if my bloodwork looked fine, I wouldn't need to do the urine test, and here I am basically being told I could kill my baby, based on one 'slightly elevated' number.  So I backed her up and asked her what on earth my alkaline phosphatase levels were.  She told me they were "just over 200", when you want it below 115 - so, as I could see, I was almost double what was safe.  To me, this doesn't sound either 'fine' as the midwife had indicated, or 'slightly elevated' as the nurse had first stated. 

So now I'm feeling a bit scared and VERY cornered.  I didn't have any research in front of me, and my reading into preeclampsia hadn't really mentioned alkaline phosphatase, so I only had her word for it that this was serious.  So at this point, I told her I'd talk to my boss and get back to her about Friday.  She ended the call by reiterating that I could be harming my baby, and that unless she heard otherwise, she was booking an appointment for me at 7:30 am.

I got home, went into research mode, and found that yes - if I were a normal, non-pregnant person, my levels would definitely be elevated... but that I'm well inside the upper bound for normal for third trimester (and particularly last-month).  So now I'm feeling extra stressed and a bit pissed off at this nurse... and I have to decide if I'm going in on Friday, or whether I'll just be too stressed/angry at that point to even give a normal BP.  Ugh!

[HappyMamaBeth]

Wow, I'm also surprised she reacted that way.  At my 35 week appointment, my BP was 140/89 and I had trace protein in my urine, so she sent me for bloodwork, but didn't make me do the 24-hour urine collection or anything.  At my 36 week appointment (just this Monday), it was 139/95... so they had me lay down for a bit, and I think it went down to something over 85 (can't remember for sure), and apparently there wasn't any protein in my urine this time.  I don't mind them keeping an eye on it, but with blood pressure readings like yours, I'm surprised they made you do the 24-hour urine collection.  Oh--my labs were all fine by the way. :)  She did of course tell me to watch for signs of pre-eclampsia (pain under ribcage, headaches, swelling, etc.), but since I'm seen every week at this point, she seems to be fine with it (and she even consulted with an OB and he was fine with where I'm at as well).

[geekgolightly]

jeez! Why didn't she just suggest going to a Walgreens or something and taking your BP with their machine? You can take your BP there daily if you want. If it's really hard for you to come in bc of work, she really should not have strong armed you when there are easy solutions to be had.

[L&K'smommie]

Originally Posted by geekgolightly 

jeez! Why didn't she just suggest going to a Walgreens or something and taking your BP with their machine? You can take your BP there daily if you want. If it's really hard for you to come in bc of work, she really should not have strong armed you when there are easy solutions to be had.

I agree with this and I'd also call back and request to speak to the MW only.  

[kamalynsky]

Well, I got a hold of one of the midwives and worked out a far more sane plan.  This woman told me that basically the midwife I saw on Tuesday had rethought things after I left and decided "better safe than sorry", so wants me to do the 24-hour urine collection, but if I couldn't make it in on Friday, that was okay.  When I drop those lovely jugs off on Saturday, I can page the midwife on call, and she'll check my blood pressure then.  She was much more laid back than the nurse had been (who, in the last message I got earlier today, had demanded to know why we hadn't dropped off the 24-hour urine collection yet... which even originally I wasn't going to even be starting until Friday when I got home from work). 

I may take a few minutes to talk with the midwife on Saturday and just sort of... express how poorly I felt the nurse handled the situation, down to lying about my test results.  But I think I'll wait until after the BP to get into that stressful discussion. 

So yeah - things definitely look better now, and having someone sit there and calmly explain things to me rather than just throw "OMG, think of the baby!" at me helped a lot.  Now here's hoping for good results from the labwork and the BP reading!

[jr'smom]

Crazy!  Glad you figured out a better option.

It all sounds like an overreaction to me.  My BP was near or sometimes over 140/90 for the last 6 weeks or so of my third pregnancy and I almost always was spilling a little protein and my midwife never made any big deal out of it.  She just said, "Drink more water.  Eat more protein."  We never did any further testing or anything.  I even had pre-e when I went into labor with the 2nd pregnancy--but still no concern with the borderline signs in the third pregnancy.  And I never did develop pre-e and went to 41w +3d before delivery.