Pregnancy-induced hypertension/Pre-E

Rachel&Joe · May 2009

Hello ladies!

I had my 28 week appointment on Friday with good/bad news. The good news is, my baby is growing (it had been measuring 2 weeks behind via u/s & my OB was worried, but it grew alot these last couple of weeks & now is measuring just a bit below average). I also don't have GD & my CBC looked great!

The bad news is, 2 seconds after I hit the third trimester, my feet & hands swelled up like stumps (the only shoes that fit are flip flops, people gasp when they see my ankles, I had to have my rings cut off, the fingers on my right hand just tingle all day, etc.). AND, my blood pressure was bad (so bad that the nurse wouldn't even tell me what it was. She sent another nurse in to take a second blood pressure and it was still terrible (140/100), so my midwife had me lay on my left for 5 minutes & then took it again & decided that it started to come down enough that she wasn't too concerned. Thank GOD there was not any protein in my urine, but the severe swelling & bad blood pressure readings has me a bit worried. The other bad news is that my cervix has shortened from 5.1 at 20 weeks to 3.6 at 24 weeks to 3.3 at 26 weeks to now 2.4 at 28 weeks (the last two were measured vaginally).

So today I was with my mom & sister (both L&D nurses) & they both took my blood pressure. They got 168/98 & 186/95. So I decided that I am going to call my OB tomorrow and see what he thinks. My mom & sister were pretty concerned with these numbers and honestly, it makes me sick to think that after making it through the hell that I have gone through in this pregnancy & making it this far that my baby might not be getting enough oxygen & that my life may also be at risk. So we will see what he says.

I was wondering: those of you with PIH or pre-e--how were you diagnosed, what were your symptoms, treatment, what week it was discovered, if the baby had to be delivered early, any other information you think I might find helpful??? My OB said they he will be inducing at 38 weeks because of my clotting disorder. I am on pre-term labor watch since my cervix is shortening a bit prematurely, the baby is a little small, etc. (but baby looked great during NST & u/s on Friday). I am just worried that this blood pressure thing is going to get out of control if we don't get a handle on it & the baby is going to be at risk.

Thanks in advance for your help!

ECUTeacher · May 2009

I wasn't diagnosed until I was in labor. I had been having weird symptoms that went along with the swelling such as headaches, dizziness, and finally the day before I went into labor, I went semi blind for about 30 mins. But my BP was weird. It would shoot up then fall again so every time I had it checked, it seemed normal. While I was in labor, they could see what was going on. I think that they can control some BP issues with meds. I was on a med to control some pre-term contractions and my dr told me she could give me the same one to help with the BP after I delivered.

ashs · May 2009

I'm not sure if I was technically diagnosed but my blood pressure fluctuated a lot be was generally pretty high for me. I also had bad swelling and protein in my urine. I was induced at 38 weeks when it started to get worse. I don't have any advice since it was something that happened late and he just induced me instead of doing anything to control. I'll be thinking about you. Good Luck.

MrsWarner · May 2009

Mine hit my last week, so it was fine and I did end up getting induced. My midwives told me to eat more protein, lots and lots~like eat the protein bars all day. That has been shown to help. Watch for headaches and pain in the upper right side of your belly. Don't let them tell you it is ok because it comes down when you lay on your side. If you are not going to aly on your left side for the next 12 weeks make them do something, and everytime you see a blood pressure cuff, get it checked. Keep your feet elevated and if you can I would stop working now.

HTH

MrsMSG · May 2009

Rachel, I wish I had the energy tonight to answer all of your concerns, because I have BEEN THERE and I know you are scared.

Your ob should be able to ease your mind, and start monitoring you closely for more true signs of pre-e.

I'll be thinking of you.

PS -- thank you so very much for the necklace. It is beautiful. It was a welcome sweet surprise to find it when we got home to TN on Saturday,

Rachel&Joe · May 2009

I own my own business (I am a wedding florist). Luckily, I only work like 2 days a weeks (design the flowers on Fridays, deliver them on Saturdays) & my DH does all the lifting/carrying. The bad thing is I don't have any employees so there is no substitute for me.

Anyways, I couldn't agree more on the I can't lay on my left side until the end of the pregnancy sentiment. I thought that was kind of lame (that my midwife had me lay on my side to make my BP go down--if it's high, it's high!). I have been drinking protein shake fruit smoothies in the morning for breakfast, but I will talk to my OB about protein bars--thanks so much for the tip! Thankfully I have not had headaches or pain in the upper right side of my abdomen but I will definitely monitor those things.

Thanks for the help!

Rachel&Joe · May 2009

Mrsmsg, I am so glad you got the necklace & that you like it. I was not sure if you were more of a silver or gold girl, but I just loved the botanical print on the gold locket & hoped you would like it. So, yeah!

I do LOVE my midwives, but sometimes I feel they are a bit too laid back for me (would be fine if my pregnancy were going well, but it's not & it hasn't been going well this whole time and I need my OB to shake me & calm me down because I am freaking out & he always makes me feel better).

It's frustrating because I am not done being pregnant yet. I want to give my baby the best shot at a healthy life and would do anything to go full term. But I don't want to keep the baby inside of mean if it means I am going to stroke out or something. I am just terrified 24 hours a day and it's not healthy.

I appreciate your feedback though. It's nice to talk to other women that have been there.

XOXO

SuzP · May 2009

I had DD at 37w3d due to PIH. I had been swollen for awhile, but I wasn't too concerned about it because I was more swollen with DS and didn't have any issues. I just figured swelling was just common for me. My blood pressure started going up at 33 weeks, I was taken out of work at 35 weeks, and then had DD 8 days earlier than my scheduled c/s.

I never really felt bad, never had protein, I was just swollen and had high bp.

I hope you are able to get everything straightened out at your next appointment and that you are able to get all of your concerns addressed.

MelissaSue81 · May 2009

I did not have pre-e.. I just want to say that I HATE that you are dealing with yet another complication!! Why can't it just be easy for you? I definitely think you need to talk to your OB.. My bp was quite a bit lower than that and my Drs were semi-concerned at one point.. They got nervous when it was in the 130/80 range.. they said it wasn't "too bad" but since it wasn't normal for me.. My BP also got really high when I was in labor I don't know what the numbers were though.. but it was enough where they were worried and made me lay on my side..

FredsNey · May 2009

I had PIH which was diagnosed at 36w3d. In hindsight, my BP had been jumping around for a couple weeks but I had not believed the monitor at the grocery store (shame on me, I know). I had pitting edema, my reflexes were much stronger than usual, and--I don't know how to explain this properly--my ankles felt like they were "sticking" when my doctor moved my feet...like a clock ticking along rather than a smooth movement. I can't remember which one, but one of my labs came back funny too...I never had protein in my urine so it was considered PIH. I was put on modified bedrest when my BP was first elevated because it would come down if I would lay on my left side.

At 37w1d my BP was 150/100 and would not come down so I was put on Labetalol and complete bed rest. At 37w3d, they took my daughter via c-section because she wasn't moving, failed her BPP, and my fluid had dropped. My BP was better that day, but she wasn't. She was on the smallish side, but was OK.

Definitely pay very close attention to your body and do not let your doctors/midwives dismiss this. I had no idea how sick I was and thought it was OK that I felt so very bad during that first week after delivery. My BP went up during and actually stayed up after my c-section. They doubled my Labetalol, but when I was released from the hospital my BP was still 160/100. Luckily my husband called my OB because it was apparent that I was not well. When my daughter was a week old, I got readings of 183/110 & 190/115 so they added Hydralazine and I was put back on bed rest. Luckily the six BP pills per day and the bed rest brought it back down to around 140/90 so I did not have to be hospitalized.

Please take care and keep us updated. ::hugs::

Gregsbride22 · May 2009

I started having high bp around 12 weeks. My high risk started monitoring me for pre-e and I went on bp meds at around 18 weeks I think. I had to do 24-hour urine tests every other week and had weekly NST's starting at 30 weeks. I always had protein in my urine and even on meds my bp was high. I had awful swelling, it was not fun! If my water had not broken at 35 weeks, I would have been induced at 37 weeks (or if things had gotten worse quickly). HTH and sorry you are dealing with this.

Mrs.KAP · May 2009

I had PIH starting @ my 36 wk. appt. after I was seeing "spots" and my pressure was 156/96 and was put on bed rest ASAP. I only had really bad swelling if I was at work or on my feet for a while. Once I put them up it would go away. And was only spilling a small amount of protein. I would go into the office 2 times a wk. for them to check my pressure, urine and labs. I also had a BP machine at home that I used to take my pressure. I was brought in to be induced at 38 wks. 2 days because the bed rest wasn't really helping. Sorry you are going through this.

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