Blood pressure question

kmdendy · March 2014

I went in for my 35 week appointment and my blood pressure was 140/88. This is the first time that it has been kind of high. The doc told me that I should monitor it from home with a blood pressure monitor/cuff. If it gets higher than 140/90 and doesnt get better I should go into labor and delivery to get tested for preclampsia. I took my blood pressure like 5 times last night and it was always high. I wasn't sure how accurate the readings were so I went to the grocery store to get it checked on one of those machines. It was like 153/101. I was freaking out. I then called labor and delivery and they said that they are trained to tell me to come in but they mentioned that home monitors and machines from the store are not very accurate.

So today.. I brought my cuff monitor to school (I am a teacher.) It read 183/101 and I freaked out! I asked the school nurse if she could take my blood pressure and she did. It was 140/90 which is an OK number.

How the heck am I supposed to monitor my blood pressure if my home monitor and the store monitor are not reliable??????????

mcgeeva · March 2014

Honestly you need to call your doctor and be seen. When my bp got to 188/90 something I was rushed in for an emergency c-section because I had a ton of protein and went toxic. Funny thing is I had an apt twice a week due to other pregnancy issues and it happened over night. So if you not getting accurate readings you want them to at least show you what to do and be on the safe side. I was 138/86 two days ago and my doctor said it was fine. So you never know. Just better safe then sorry

kmdendy · March 2014

True! I just talked to them and they are going to call me back. I guess I just feel like they are inaccurate readings. They are going to talk to the doc and call me back.

mcgeeva · March 2014

good stuff! always better safe then sorry

kmdendy · March 2014

That's the thing... I would be A OK with seeing the doctor. It's just when I call, they say they don't want to see me and that they want to send me over to labor and delivery at the hospital. That freaks me out because I never know when it is serious. I am a first time mom. I called once to ask about swollen ankles (a common pregnancy side effect) and they said they wanted to send me over to labor and delivery... LOL. I didn't end up going.

It's like.. come on.. what's the real deal here????

iqwedding3 · March 2014

As someone experienced in the monitoring of pregnancy blood pressure (since day 1), a few hints. If you take it when you're at work or running around, it will be higher than if you're hanging out at home. If you want to look for a sustained increase, take it at around the same time each day when you're unlikely to have events that would artificially raise it, and try taking it the same way (sitting, standing, whatever).

iqwedding3 · March 2014

Also, this is the cuff I'm using, it's worked pretty well:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004H4B3VK/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

kmdendy · March 2014

thanks

Justabean3 · March 2014

Fire departments can do them accurately also if you just need to know.

The more you freak yourself out the higher it will go.

MapleLeafMama · March 2014

140/90 is considered hypertension. Do not take it lightly, especially at the end of pregnancy. My ob has told me numerous times (I'm on meds for bp) that bp tends to go up at the end of oregnancy, that's why they watch it so closely. If they tell you to go to I and d, go.

rdbabygrl · March 2014

I have high BP without being pregnant. I also have an Omron blood pressure cuff that is very close to when my doc checks it. And like PP, check it at relatively the same time every day. 7-10 days should give you a good idea of what it is consistently. There is also an app I use called iBP to keep track of mine and can just email the chart to my doc if needed. Hope this helps.

MapleLeafMama · March 2014

kmdendy said:

That's the thing... I would be A OK with seeing the doctor. It's just when I call, they say they don't want to see me and that they want to send me over to labor and delivery at the hospital. That freaks me out because I never know when it is serious. I am a first time mom. I called once to ask about swollen ankles (a common pregnancy side effect) and they said they wanted to send me over to labor and delivery... LOL. I didn't end up going.

It's like.. come on.. what's the real deal here????

Yes, swelling is common in pregnancy. However, combined with high bp it's also a Common symptom of preeclampsia. If they tell you to go to l and d, there is good reason for it.

kmdendy · March 2014

I went in to the obecc. Everything is fine. I just have gestational hypertension= high blood pressure in pregnancy. I need to keep an eye on it.

I am glad that I now know everything is fine... after 5 hours of waiting/monitoring lol.! I am glad I could go home and come to work today and hopefully work until my due date!

I just gotta tell myself that the $800+ bill is going to my deductible and not freak out lol.

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