[Litcrit]

I'm 36 weeks 3 days and today my blood pressure, usually around 100/60, jumped to 130/90 at the doctor's office. I hadn't slept the night before, the weather is horrible (pre-rain heaviness) and I've been really stressed lately.<br><br>
I'm also experiencing swelling, which I did in my first pregnancy as well towards the end.<br><br>
The doc basically just told me to measure my BP 3 times a day. I don't have the necessary equipment to do so. She didn't ask me anything else, nor did she want to check for protein in the urine etc. I probably won't even see her again until after I give birth (she's my gyn, not my ob - that's the system here).<br><br>
How do I find out on my own if I'm having an onset of pre-eclampsia or if this is a stress-induced freak thing? And more importantly, what can I do about it on my own?

 

[umsami]

Here, one can buy urine dipsticks to test for protein at any pharmacy/drug store. Are those available over-the-counter where you are?<br><br>
As for measuring your own BP, you should be able to buy a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope pretty cheap.<br><br>
If these are too expensive or sort of freak you out, then I would consider going to the local emergency room or women's clinic to have them test. I would not do a wait and see for the next 3-4 weeks.

 

[karen1968]

Oh, wow, this is a tough one. How expensive/difficult is it there to get an at-home bp measuring device?<br><br>
When I had high bp and then pre-e with DS, I was put on modified bedrest - lay on left side as much is possible, don't do shopping, cooking, housekeeping, etc. If I were in your situation, I would check up on sypmtoms to watch out for - not just swelling, but the kind that leaves an indent, eye floaters, upper right quadrant (?) abdominal pain, sudden severe headaches, etc. The website preeclampsia.org has good info, but also some scary stories.<br><br>
Pre-e can come on strongly and suddenly, so IMO caution is best. Will you be seeing your ob soon?

 

[JTA Mom]

First, <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/hug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="hug"><br><br>
Pre-e is scary.<br><br>
Do you have a pharmacy nearby with those 'cuffs' for bp? Go there once a day at around the same time every day (not morning one day, night the next, etc).<br><br>
Stay off your feet. If your blood pressure is rising, it's best to stay reclined to keep it lowered.<br><br>
If you find that after a couple days of measuring your bp it's still high, go back in to your gyn office and demand a 24hr urine test. Don't leave until they give you one. Tell her how your bp is still elevated, etc. Don't let them tell you that your dipsticks are fine in terms of protein--those things are easily affected by hydration and can show negative when you are leaking protein. I was just a bit higher than the 'cut off' of leaking protein, but I never made a positive dipstick. It was early August, hot and I was drinking a lot of water.<br><br>
Signs to look out for: if you start getting headaches, any visual disturbances (blurriness, etc), any pain radiating around your ribs, but especially on the right side, massive heartburn (feels like you swallowed battery acid), go to the hospital immediately! Just head to labor & delivery, tell them your gestation, that you have had a spike in bp and your symptoms. They WILL admit you.<br><br>
You can't really treat pre-e on your own. The danger with pre-e is that the risk of injury/death does NOT correlate with the severity of symptoms OR amount of protein leaking. For me, the only 'clues' I had were high bp (normal was 120/80, highest I ever got was 140/90) and the heartburn. Some women have no symptoms only to seize.<br><br>
The good news? You are close to 'term'. My bp spiked right around where you are and the tests didn't come back until I was 37weeks +1 day.<br><br>
Best case scenario, it's just stress and your next few bp readings will be normal. Medium scenario, you order the protein test after high bp and it's just PIH (hypertension). I don't want to minimize the pre-e risk, because it occurs in 20% of all pregnancies, so it's a real chance. However, caught early, the risks are minimal and you and the baby should come out just fine. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/hug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="hug"><br><br>
Ami

 

[Kidzaplenty]

<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/hug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="hug"><br><br>
Rest, fluid, and monitoring. That is my choice of treatment.

 

[MittensKittens]

You can order urine tests from any private lab yourself. It isn't more than 1,000 din, if I recall correctly, but you have to know how to interpret the results, or go to a private gyn. Some pharmacies measure your BP for free.<br><br>
Sorry to hear about this. Hope you can relax.

 

[Litcrit]

Thank you all so much for responding! I don't have any of the other symptoms you mentioned and my BP has been normal (averaging 115/75) for the past 2 days that I've been relaxing (an elderly couple in my neighborhood have a cuff for measuring BP <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink">).<br><br>
I guess trying to tie all the loose ends at work when I'm already officially on maternity leave, trying to get everything done on some other projects in life (translations for extra money, doing research for my dissertation while I'm still relatively mobile w/o an infant), not getting enough sleep and racing around the city in horrible public transportation will do that to a very pg woman!<br><br>
Thank you for the advice - rest, fuids, etc. It did the trick. I'll behave the remaining 3 weeks. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/redface.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Embarrassment">