so... what's next?

[porenn]

I went to my midwife today.....
My BP is crazy all over the place, but my tests all came back negative- no signs of pre-e. there was talk of induction today, but I was sprung anyway.... I;m going back thursday for repeat labwork, to make sure that I still don't have pre-e....but I've pretty much risked out of my birth center birth.... the nurses in L&D said I can do pretty much anything in the hospital that I can in the birth center... but I really wanted to avoid all the intake crap.... They also said that since my bp probably wasn't going to go down and they wouldn't let me go longer than my 40 weeks....

I'm just afraid if I get induced that it will create all kinds of problems, and if I end up in labor naturally, I'll end up with all the crappy monitoring that I went to the midwives to avoid in the first place.

At the same time, if I'm in a legit bad place, I'm not going to not take advantage of all the techno crap available....

If I end up in labor, what are the odds thet they are really going to let me try to deliver naturally with my BP history??

My husband is worried that I'm being pressured into an induction that I don't want.... funny, since i totally thought that if there was ever a problem, he'd be fast tracking me to the OR with me kicking and screaming all the way.

What can I be doing to make this easier?

[spookymama]

Originally Posted by porenn

I went to my midwife today.....
My BP is crazy all over the place, but my tests all came back negative- no signs of pre-e. there was talk of induction today, but I was sprung anyway.... I;m going back thursday for repeat labwork, to make sure that I still don't have pre-e....but I've pretty much risked out of my birth center birth.... the nurses in L&D said I can do pretty much anything in the hospital that I can in the birth center... but I really wanted to avoid all the intake crap.... They also said that since my bp probably wasn't going to go down and they wouldn't let me go longer than my 40 weeks....

I'm just afraid if I get induced that it will create all kinds of problems, and if I end up in labor naturally, I'll end up with all the crappy monitoring that I went to the midwives to avoid in the first place.

At the same time, if I'm in a legit bad place, I'm not going to not take advantage of all the techno crap available....

If I end up in labor, what are the odds thet they are really going to let me try to deliver naturally with my BP history??

My husband is worried that I'm being pressured into an induction that I don't want.... funny, since i totally thought that if there was ever a problem, he'd be fast tracking me to the OR with me kicking and screaming all the way.

What can I be doing to make this easier?

Can you request a recheck by your midwife?

I've heard that eating cucumbers and drinking nettle tea (please double check to make sure its okay!! ) will help bring BP down. It could be up for various reasons. Stressful day, time of day, if you have a bigger arm and they were using a smaller cuff, the position you were in, etc.

remember honey, YOU are in control. Not them.

There is none of this "allowing" business. If you don't feel comfortable going over 40 weeks, that's one thing. But they can not force you to do anything. Especially that they are using the basis of "probably". what a bunch of hooey! Let's here it for evidence based medicine!

I guess it depends also on what your BP history is. How high?

Something worth looking into. There are a ton of midwives on here that you can also ask.. just make sure you do your research.

[porenn]

well- my bp has been holdng steady at about 120/80 to 130/80.... two fridays ago it was closer to 140/85 (ithink).

the midwife that I saw put me on the NST, sentme for bloodwork and sentme home.. called me later to tell me that all my bloodwork came back fine, but I was slightly dehydrated, drink lots of water (because she thought that my 6lb weight gain was in part due to retention. on monday, my bp was back down, and I'd lost two pounds... the midwife in THAT day said she wasn't worried since my BP was back down, and that she wanted me to be checked in a week. So, I went back today and my Bp was high- the midwife (yet a different one) woudb't tel me what it was because she wanted to recheck it. So, after trying to find my baby's heart beat, and not finding it for like 10 minutes..... she retook my bp, and moved me into another room and told me she wanted me to talk to the on call midwife.

The on-call midwife came in and told me that I was going to the hospital to be monitored, and they were going to run all the blood work again since my bp was soooo high. I asked what the readings were, and they were 140/100 (!) and 160/104 the second time (after trying to find baby's HR).

So we dragged my DH out of work, which was fine.... because if my labs came back abnormal, they said they were gong to induce me since I'm at term.

I went to L&D, was hooked up, and my bp immediatly went down to 134/84.
Subsequent readings were 148/88, 106/84, 137/85 and the last reading before I left was 146/80- something... she took it in the opposite arm.

Baby was non reactive fo the first hour, but started going crazy as soon as the changed my position.

All my labs came back fine, except that they think I might have a UTI... since it wasnt a sterile collection. but the midwives haven't addressed that, so maye its at the bottom of their lists of concerns.

She did say that I probably wouldn't go past my due date since mamas who have rising bp's are generally induced before then.

the L&D nurse told me that I shouldn't be suprized if they midwives tell me I've risked out of delivering at the center.... but that they would still attend me in the hospital. owever, don't hospital rules then supercede the birth center rules? Which means IV's and eternal fetal monitoring for at least 45 minutes on admission, I imagine more nurses and doctors floating around... I probably won't be allowed to go home right away... the more i think about it the more this sucks.

oh- and I'm sorry that my typing is so bad- i just don't feel like fixing it right now!!!

[porenn]

oh- and the irritating thing is that all my friends are pretty mainstream..... so they are all like, "just have the induction, get teh section, its no big deal!!"

So its not like they are a lot of help.

[BensMom]

Get ahold of a cuff and take it at home. A lot of people have "white coat hypertension" where the readings are higher in the office (stress begets stress, yk?) but fine at home.

140/90 is the cut off, so it shouldnt be a huge cause for concern (esp. considering a lack of other symptoms) if its just hovering around there.

One of the the biggest issues I think you will face in the hospital will be them wanting you to stay on your left side and hooked to an automatic cuff the whole time, which can make it hard to stay mobile and on top of the ctx.

[kjoy2]

Originally Posted by BensMom

Get ahold of a cuff and take it at home. A lot of people have "white coat hypertension" where the readings are higher in the office (stress begets stress, yk?) but fine at home.

:

This totally happens to me - (as in, I always have low BP around 100/60, but occasionally in clinical settings will be nervous and end up with something like 140/80 - NEVER get these high readings at home or at the MW's home).

Good luck and follow YOUR gut.

[scifimama]

i hope everything works out wonderfully for you and the baby! hang in there!

[Ironica]

For me, Induction + borderline BP = Never quite establishing a good labor pattern and ending up with a c-section. :-/ My readings were a lot like yours. I was induced because my water broke, not just for the BP, but then they wanted me lying down as much as possible. Yeah, *that's* the way to get labor going! NOT. I made the most of every bathroom trip, but only got to 8 cm in 30 hours of pitocin before my uterus just started getting fatigued and giving up.

Before you consent to induction, read up on the Bishop's Score and find out what yours is. Also, I wouldn't follow the instruction to stay in bed. Yes, the risk of having a seizure due to high blood pressure is real, and scary... but so is major surgery! Especially if you, oh, might want to have *another* kid someday.

Can't really help on the risking out issue as we were hospital birth all the way last time... but that's my BTDT advice.

[porenn]

nishops score.... off to google.

[Incubator]

Ok, I had this whole thing typed out for you and them my son touched the keyboard and BAM! it's gone forever...

I second the BP taking at home. With DS I had an OB. I went in at 37 wks and was told by the nurse to strip for a vag exam. I stated that I was not getting any vag exams, PERIOD. She asked me if I was going to deliver vaginally, to which I said "Yes, of course" so she said "Then YES, you ARE!" and threw the gown at me. So she leaves the room, I put the gown on, crying and my husband is telling me it's no big deal, just do what they say (that's a whole 'nother story. Needless to say he's changed his tune since we're having a UP/UC any day now. ) So after I put on the gown and I'm sitting there crying they come in and take my BP and the nurse nearly passes out (I don't remember what it was, but it was HIGH) She goes out and comes back and they're not even going to finish the office visit, they're talking about transferring me to the hospital for a C/S immediately. I told them not to be stupid, if their damn nurse would quit threatening me with a vag exam I was refusing I'd be fine, and then another nurse says oh I don't have to have the vag exam, no big deal, just swab yourself with this. So I do that and shoot the nurse a dirty look and they take the BP again at the end of the visit and it was just fine. Stupid nurse.

[eastkygal]

You can also try a calcium/magnesium supplement and a B Vitamin Complex. This is what my mw had me do when I had those same issues a few weeks ago. It totally worked. Now, things are fine. Try not to stress about it. I really hope something works out for you.