Anyone diagnosed with pre-eclampsia? Or had docs worried about it?

seckert · December 2010

Hey ladies. I'm just shy of 34 weeks and had an upsetting check up this morning. I have been retaining an unbelievable amount of fluid in my legs over the past three weeks - I've put on about 25 lbs in the past month and most of it is water weight! Needless to say, my legs/ankles are swollen all the time.

My dr was not concerned with the swelling at first because my blood pressure and urine tests were fine. Well today I went for a check up and my BP was up ("nothing to be alarmed about just yet, but borderline") and they found trace amounts of protein in my urine. So the big 3 symptoms of pre-e are there now, even though the BP and urine aren't too bad yet.

So now I have to do a 24 hour urine collection and get blood work done to test further. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm hoping I'm worried for nothing but I can't help but slightly obssess over it. Baby''s heartbeat was A-OK and I still feel him/her moving around in there all the time! This is so stressful.

SarahTx5701 · December 2010

your 24 hr urine will tell you more.

If your bp isn't that bad yet, you could just have a bad case of swelling.

If you have pre-e you will usually have really bad headaches, that was my first sign that things were going downhill, after the swelling of course.

My entire pre-e story is in my bio if you want to read it.

Try to stay calm, stress will only make things worse.

audgleigh · December 2010

I had a similar experience last week. I have had heart problems for most of my life, so I was high risk to begin with. I went for my 32 wk check up and complained about a pain in my side, which apparently alerted my doc of pre-e. I went and had all the blood work done and did the 24 hour test. i got the call today that all of my tests came back perfect. (though we are still on the lookout for pre-e in the future because of chronic HBP). But for now, I'm safe. Good Luck with your tests!!! Keep us updated.

seckert · December 2010

Thanks, will do! I just called my dr to get my BP numbers from today and at the beginning of my appt it was 142/85, they checked again right before I left and it was down a bit to 135/85. She said these numbers are borderline so I'm trying not to worry. Hoping all tests come back normal!

JessiRaye · December 2010

I had pre-e with my first. No headaches, wasn't seeing spots, didn't feel horrible...Just out of nowhere terrible edema and BP shot up to 190/110. It sucked.

Hopefully yours will stay borderline or go down. I hope your 24 hour urine collection will give you some good results. Good luck:)

elissabell · December 2010

Last week I suddenly had high BP (136/ 90) and swelling, tho no protein in my urine. My midwives told me to rest on my side twice a day for 1/2 hr and drink 3 liters of water a day. I was really diligent with the water, not so diligent with the resting... went back today for a visit and BP is back down to 130/70 (even though it was high yesterday)

So I'd say take it easy if you can and try not to worry!

Hyfagal · December 2010

I've had pre-e pretty much my entire third tri. I now have weekly BPP and 24 hour urine tests and NST twice a week to monitor the situation.

I'm also on Procardia to keep my BP down and it's helping to lower the protien spill over.

It can be really scary but as long as you listen to your Dr. and stay aware of warning signs you can easily keep it from becoming a dangerous problem.

seckert · December 2010

Thanks for the re-assuring post! I think my biggest worry is... I don't see my dr again for a week. Can it progress that fast? Can something terrible happen? I know.... breathe, stress only makes things worse. I've been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy up until this so I guess I'm just a little taken off guard! I'm going to go home, rest, drink tons of water and think positive.

thanks for all the posts ladies! xoxo

Hyfagal · December 2010

I've had a few scary nights where my BP got high and then another when I got a headache that lasted about 12 hours despite pain medicine. Both times I went in to L&D for monitoring and it turned out to be nothing.

Your Dr. would be more aggressive if you were showing definite signs. I was showing signs of high protien for 2 months before it actually turned into pre-eclampsia and my BP didn't start creeping up until after a few more weeks of monitoring.

I was told to watch for changes in vision (blurring, black or white dots in line of vision), feelings of time passing without being aware of time or place (signs of seizure or stroke), sudden light headedness, severe headache, sudden swelling (swelling is normal in pre-e so you just want to watch for sudden onset of extreme swelling), fainting or blacking out, and go to the ER immediately if I had any of these symptoms.

lizsites · December 2010

This sounds exactly how my appointment went today. I've had a superstar pregnancy the entire time, and today she decided between trace protein and my obnoxious swelling, it's time to do a 24 hr urine test and blood tests. I'll go to the lab tomorrow, and see what happens, I guess.

Hopefully it's no big deal, but I'm just a little freaked out about it considering that I have had *no* issues throughout this entire pregnancy, so it's a bit scary.

pawcall · December 2010

I'm about 5 hours into my 24 hour urine catch now. My BP skyrocketed between my 34w appointment and my 36w appointment (today). That got me sent up to the antepartum unit for monitoring and bloodwork. I'm doing the urine collection now and will have more bloodwork when I turn it in tomorrow. I have another NST scheduled Wed morning. Then they'll decide whether it's pre-e (eek, scary, they'd take my little guy early) or pregnancy-induced hypertension (not so scary, weekly NST's, BP meds twice a day, and bedrest until I go into labor).

Like you, I'm just thankful that my baby has a great heartbeat and looked great on monitoring.

Good luck, and try not to worry until you know what you're dealing with.

bakemecakes · December 2010

I had HBP with DD and they were concerned about pre-e. My 24 hr urine was borderline. I had some spikes in BP (190's over 100's) periodically around 28 weeks, and my BP stayed elevated from about 30 weeks on, although it stabilized when I was put on bed rest at 34 weeks. I also had major water weight gain around 28 weeks as well, which was a tip off to keep an eye on things. I could literally tell when my BP was spiking by how my hands felt and my headaches.

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Anyone diagnosed with pre-eclampsia? Or had docs worried about it?

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