Pre-Eclampsia Watch Dog on the loose. - Page 8

[gossamer]

It sounds like you are doing well and being well monitored. Did you get any blood work done to check your liver enzymes? That is the next thing I would advocate for if you didn't. I hope the little guy is doing well.
Gossamer

[emmasmommy]

I was hoping I could avoid this thread this time around, but I don't think I will be so lucky. I'm only 13 weeks today and my blood pressure was 134/90 on Wednesday. My doctor is concerned because of my having pre-e with my first, but he thinks it's too early for pre-e to set in. Is it? I'm starting to really worry that I am going to have a very premature baby, and I don't want that of course. My doctor hasn't discussed meds yet, but I'm sure it will come up at some point if it doesn't go down on it's own. Is there anything I can do that will help it go down naturally. I am trying to eat better and up my protein intake (but I can't and won't follow the Brewer diet - I think it's far too restrictive and I can't live like that for 6 months without a guarantee that it will work anyway). I am also going for walks every night after supper, though those are not very strenuous as they are at the pace of my 2.5 year old. I slept really bad last night because I started thinking about all this when I woke up to pee at 3am.

[jillene]

I don't know if they checked my liver enzymes or not, though the midwife did mention the upper right quadrant pain as being something to head into the hospital for. They did check my platelet levels and they were normal.

[jillene]

I think trying to stay as little stressed as possible, practice deep breathing and relaxation techniques, and just taking care of yourself in general will help a lot with the blood pressure. Do you knit or crochet or paint or anything like that? It helps me to relax and gets my bp to go down, I've noticed. Are you nervous/anxious at all when you go in for doctor's appointments? It may have just been high from that. When did you develop preeclampsia the first time?

[emmasmommy]

I don't really know for sure, but my bp was elevated at 24 weeks last time, but since I had no checks from 8 weeks until then (that's how pre-natal care in Sweden works, they do almost nothing in early pregnancy, I had an u/s at 18 weeks, but other than that, nothing) I don't really know when it started going up. I do want to get a home monitor and will ask my doctor if he will prescribe one so my insurance plan will pay for it. I have had a lot of stress the last couple weeks with work and a sick kid and then a sick husband, but that has all died down, so hopefully now that my life is a bit calmer, it will go down.

ETA - I'm glad I am back in Canada this time where there are more checks early on in pregnancy.

[crazy_eights]

Originally Posted by emmasmommy

I was hoping I could avoid this thread this time around, but I don't think I will be so lucky. I'm only 13 weeks today and my blood pressure was 134/90 on Wednesday. My doctor is concerned because of my having pre-e with my first, but he thinks it's too early for pre-e to set in. Is it?

Some women get 'gestational hypertension' which is not pre-e. At only 13 weeks, I'd suspect that was the case and yes, it's too early for pre-e. However, it *might* make you more suceptible to pre-e later ('hypertension with superimposed pre-e').

[emmasmommy]

Thanks Mom2six. That actually makes sense. My blood pressure was high long before I started showing other symptoms of pre-e (33 weeks, but I made to 37 before baby was born thankfully).

[jillene]

Just wanted to give you guys an update on how things are going with us. I had an OB appointment on Friday and my proteing was at 1+ so she ordered another 24 hour urine. I turned that in this morning. I go back on Friday for the results of that and for the vaginal exam. Oh joy. I've been having a lot of pain in my cervix and crazy braxton-hicks. She said if I went into labor she wouldn't stop it since it's looking like they'll have to take him early anyway. At least I could have the benefits of a vaginal birth that way rather than scheduling a repeat cesarean. So now I'm just hoping I actually go into labor before it gets bad enough that they have to deliver him. My blood pressure has been good and I haven't had too many problems. Last Tuesday I started seeing spots, and I told her about that. I think a lot of what happens next will depend on how the 24 hour urine comes out. My protein goes up and down though. Some days it'll be negative, others it'll spike up to .3 and the next day it'll be back down to trace or negative. So I'm trying not to worry about Friday's spike to 1.0 since Saturday it was only trace and today it's .3. I didn't test it yesterday since I was doing the 24 hour collection. I wasn't sure if that would contaminate a sample.
So that's the news from here. Just wanted to let you know what's going on so you don't worry. :-)

[gossamer]

Jillene,
It sounds like you are doing a good job of keeping an eye on it. That's great.
Gossamer

[jillene]

I'm trying to. I've been monitoring it closely. I don't want to miss anything important but I don't want to rush to the hospital and have him too early because I'm overreacting either. I'm trying to find a happy medium that keeps me pregnant as long as possible and both of us healthy.

How are you feeling?

[cherubess]

This thread is so valuable.

When my pregnancy was confirmed and some weeks thereafter, my GP talked about how I could possibly be a high risk candidate for pre-e (pre-existing high BP and on meds prior to pregnancy). He made me aware that pre-e wasn't a good thing however I didn't realise how dangerous it was until I found MDC and this thread.

Armed with the knowledge of the consequences of pre-e and the symptoms it scared me into action.

Early on I adjusted my diet, made sure I exercised, rested when my body said I needed to and generally looked after myself. I am being looked after by a high risk OBGYN who has also since referred me to a physician/internist because of my pre-existing high BP.

I am now 28 weeks pregnant and both my OBGYN and Physician are pleased with my progress so far.

I am now on maternity leave (I left early based on medical advice).

However I am not silly enough to think that things won't change so I have on my fridge the warning signs of pre-e. I am doing all that I can to prevent it (if it is possible) but also being aware that if I get some symptoms to get it checked straightaway.

I want to say THANK YOU to all you ladies and Gossamer for making me aware of how dangerous pre-e can be.

[kir]

Wow, this thread is amazing, and there is nothing like hearing other people's stories to make the threat of Pre-E more real. It's definitely something i'll have in the back of my mind.

I have a question about baby aspirin. When i found out i was preg. a friend gave me a few of her prenatal vitamins and some baby aspirins to take til i saw a midwife; these were from her own doc, since she's trying right now. then the midwife said don't worry about the aspirin. now that i know i'm preg with twins, is aspirin a good idea, since there is at least some reason to believe i could be in a pre-e risk group?

k

[gossamer]

I am so happy to hear from you ladies that my little thread has brought around so much awareness. My goal is to just make sure that Mary Rose did not die in vain and hopefully her story can help prevent similar tragedies.

Ange, please be sure to keep us updated. We will want to see pictures of your little one when he is born.

Kir, I would only take a baby aspirin on advice of your midwife or physician because taking aspirin during pregnancy has been linked to miscarriage. It become a point where you have to weigh the risk reward ratio. FOr me, it was worth the risk of miscarriage because my pre-e was so severe.
Gossamer

[shannon0218]

Kir, as someone who was on aspirin my entire pregnancy, honestly, don't take it unless directed to do so. I was on aspirin and heparin injections and the risks of heparin injections is actually significantly lower than the aspirin!
Aspirin can be used to prevent miscarriage in women prone where implantation issues are suspected because of clotting, but if you don't have any clotting issues, it can indeed cause miscarriage.

[taradt]

i have also been asprin my last two pregnancies. though this was after discussing the risks and what else i was taking.

tara

[kir]

ok thanks. this makes sense.

[jillene]

latest news

My protein has been at 1+ the past two OB appointments (today and last week). But my bp this week was only 118/68. Last week it was pretty low too. I get to do a 24 hour urine every week now. My protein is going up but slowly so they're not delivering yet. If I don't go into labor naturally by June 2 (my due date is June 7) and I don't suddenly spike in my protein spillage, she's going to do a repeat cesarean then because she doesn't want me going long with that much protein spillage. It's at about 450 mg right now. When I had Aidan it was at 2500mg (got that high suddenly. One week urine was negative the next it was the greenest it could be and the 24 hour came back at over 2500 so they induced and did the cesarean within a couple of days of getting the lab results back). She said if I get up to 1000mg they're going to have to just deliver the baby, which means repeat cesarean since it's not safe enough to induce.
There's a more detailed update in my pregnancy journal (link in signature). But that's where we're at now. Just monitoring my protein and bp and hoping nothing goes wrong and that I go into labor before June 2. I really want to avoid another cesarean if possible.

[jillene]

bad news

My urine has still been at ++ today. I've been dumping the last couple of drops from the cup for the 24 hour collection onto the test strips to keep checking it. It's been at ++ all day. In addition to that, I've been drinking a ton but my output is pitiful. There's not much urine in the jug at all and it's a very dark orange, almost brown color. Not good at all. Don't be surprised if I have the baby by the end of the week.

I'm going to call Dr. Bredin in the morning and see what she wants me to do. My bp is alright, no swelling (for the first time in weeks), mild headache, no spots, no liver pain. Baby is moving (currently I'm having a contraction) regularly and responds to stimulus. I'm just spilling protein like crazy again. Lovely. I'll be 36 weeks on Tuesday.

[SaraMama]

I'll be praying for you and baby. Just try to think positively. I had Aaron at 34 weeks and Colton at 37 weeks. They were both born healthy, with no health problems at all... didn't even need oxygen!

If you are getting Pre-e it will be much better for you (and the baby) for him to be outside rather than inside!

[jillene]

I had DS at 36 weeks because of the same problem, crazy protein spillage and he ended up in a NICU over an hour away for 16 days. I didn't get to see him until he was 4 days old or hold him until he was a week old. It was not a fun time, it was very scary and bittersweet. Not something I want to repeat, that's for sure. Though I know I'm lucky because he was able to come home and so many babies don't. It was definitely hard on me though and I don't know if I can handle going through all of that again plus reliving those memories and feeling like I'm torn between my 2 yo at home who still needs his mom and my newborn in the hospital who also needs his mom. I don't know how I would handle that. I think that's my biggest fear about the whole NICU thing.

I'm really hoping I'm right about my due date (I think it should be 5/26) because then I'm closer to 38 weeks and have a lot less to worry about.