High blood pressure?

[PretzelBaker]

Hi. I am not having a homebirth with this baby because it didn't work out for various reasons (I will *make* it work with the next, trust me). So I'm seeing these OBs and planning a hospital birth. Today at my 39 week appointment my blood pressure was slightly up but no protein in my urine or symptoms of pre-eclampsia. My OB is sending me in for bloodwork though and says I will get more bloodwork when I arrive at the hospital in labor. I wasn't real clear on what was going to happen based on this bloodwork, but it sounds like he's probably going to make me have an IV in for some reason. (also says I cannot refuse the constant fetal heart monitoring and will have to go to a"birthing center or one of those places" if I don't want one. kept telling me it was to have a healthy baby, like that's not why I'm requesting to *not* have one). Listen, sorry to complain like this. The reason I am posting is, I am wondering how a midwife would likely handle such a situation: you're 39 weeks and your blood pressure is up a bit but no other symptoms/problems. I feel it is up because he makes me nervous at these appointments lately. I feel this could cascade into some kind of intervention. What do you think a midiwfe might make of this? Anyone have higher blood pressure at end of pregnancy? Thanks for your help....

[ObsessiveAndrea]

I have never had high blood pressure but a friend of mine was on blood pressure meds and recently started taking garlic at the recommendation of another friend, she has since been able to stop taking her blood pressure meds, and has reported that her blood pressure is better than ever. This could be something for you, but I would research it really well before doing it.
HTH and I pray for you to have a birth free from complications.

[PerennialMom]

Being nervous could very well make your BP go up. You could monitor your own BP at home at various times of the day. At the end of the day, your BP will be higher than at the beginning. Do you have a doula or an independent childbirth instructor that you could connect with for more information? Maybe a midwife that would be willing to consult? I would ask to look at your charts ASAP and take a closer look at the increase in BP. What is high for one person might not be high for another and vice versa. I'm not sure of what your OB is concerned with or what your history is, but it seems to be a bit of a leap to automatically assume something is wrong and be so conservative.

You could also switch Drs now. It's never too late and if he is making your feel uncomfortable now, he's not going to make your labor any easier. I know a woman who switched while she was in early labor because her Dr wanted her to get to the hospital to start her on pitocin right away.

Good luck!

[anothermama]

wow........I actually am going through this right now!

I am 40 weeks and just saw my MW's yesterday......my blood pressure is up slightly, which concerned them a bit because it's generally consistantly low. And I'm a bit more swollen in the ankles.

As it's so close to the end, they just said to watch my diet but NOT restrict salt......in fact, make sure I keep salting my food and drinking things like Gatorade. Other than that, unless I notice other things like dizziness or swelling elsewhere, that I just should take it easy because it's almost over anyhow. They weren't terribly concerned, just wanted to make sure I'm getting lots of protein right now and fluids. So, here I sit......eating a protein bar, drinking my Gatorade as I write this.

For what it's worth......my daughter went to nearly 43 weeks and in those last three weeks I was even more swollen with a *slightly* elevated blood pressure as well. I had a midwife then too and she basically did the same thing.....just kept an extra watchful eye out but other than that the baby was fine so no real intervention for it.

And now I kind of think this is just maybe normal for my body when it gets to 40 weeks. Who knows.

[MamaAllNatural]

Every woman's BP rises a little at the end of her pregnancy. It sounds like it could've just been white coat syndrom too. You can up your protein (lean proteins) to 100 grams per day. Also liquid chlorophyll is good. How high was it btw? Some doctors are way too dramatic about BP. Good luck.

[acystay]

wanted to add i had a midwife w/ last pg and it was dramatically different from having a dr. (fp)

w/ last pg, i did take it daily at home and towards the end it did rise again. not pg in the beginnig day i'm about 117/68 by the end of the day it'll go up to 130/85 but it does go back down. I do have serious white coat!

My mw had me doing garlic. I haven't done that in a long time and trying it again to see how it effects bp. Also I would notice no swelling and better bp drinking smart water (don't like gatorade now that i've discovered this!) try drinking some valerian root tea as well to calm yourself. ask if you could take it at home and see what it's like. and try some daily mediation. I would imagine the ocean waves coming and going and deeply breathe. I would envisoin the "bad' pg going out and a good one coming in. Worked wonderfully for me! MW would joke that I could control my bp in the weirdest way b/c it would be high and then w/ relaxing, she take it again and it'd be much better.

and it's true, you'll get those interventions. I had them w/ first birth that had to be induced. Looking back and experience my homebirth I realize that I didn't need the induction. My advice...get a doula and stay at home as long as possible. Your bp will naturally be high during contractions too. Oh, and the IV actually made me swell! Read Ina May's newest book on this IV. She really explains well what causes swellling w/ IV's.

Take care hope it all turns out better for you