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July 2015 Moms
hmmullen88
member
Pre-eclampsia screening (long post sorry)
hmmullen88
member
So for about 2 weeks now I've been trying to explain to the Dr my bp is elevating and I'm getting headaches daily. Also this week my hands are lightly stolen and I get random sharp pains on my right ribs. On Monday I was at work and my hr was between 130-170 and I was short of breath so I went to l&d and my bp was 170/90 and hr was 130 they hooked me up to the monitors once they knew the baby was ok they called the on call Dr. He ordered an ekg, labs, and urine sample. Urine came back with a trace amount of protein and labs were good so after 2 hrs in triage the Dr released me to return to work the next day. I didn't feel comfortable with that so I called out. The whole time I was there he never came to see me. Yesterday I saw the high risk Dr I've been going to periodically throughout this pregnancy and my urine showed +2 protein and my bp was 148/96 so he told me to go to the hospital in that town (about 45 minute drive from my home). When we got registered and admitted to triage I told the nurse about what's been going on, she actually seemed concerned (thankfully, everyone's been brushing me off). They hooked me up, bp was 142/86 hr 100. Again once they knew the baby was ok they called the Dr and got the same labs and urine orders as Monday. After about 1.5 hrs a Dr came in and took an u/s of my liver and kidneys. While she was in the room my bp was 162/78. She said well with that bp were probably going to keep you tonight but let's watch your bpa little more and we'll go from there. My bp came right back down and stayed down so after 5 hrs they released me was a 24 hr urine bin and told me to start it before I went to bed (it was 9pm when they released me) and come back after collecting the 24 hr sample. So I started the collection last night and am going back tonight after 10 pm. They said they may have me stay and wait for the results and if the protein is greater than 300 they're going to admit me. I'm really worried because I'm 31 weeks today! This is to early to already have this issue. Plus I'm supposed to work this weekend (Sat, Sun, Mon) and have to call them to see if I can be taken off the schedule.
Re: Pre-eclampsia screening (long post sorry)
I'm not sure about the sharp pains in your ribs and I didn't swell but I have had issues with elevated BP and large amounts of protein in my urine during all 3 pregnancies.
With my first it didn't occur until 39 weeks, since we induced we didn't do a 24-hour urine test so I'm not sure exactly how much protein I had but it was a 2+ dip at my 39-week appointment. I changed OB with my next pregnancy since my OB was very anti-natural birth in general and I wanted to attempt a VBAC with my 2nd. I guess my new OB is definitely not typical since most people I've read with issues similar to mine were put on bedrest, triaged in the hospital, etc.
With #2 I developed high BP (145/90s) and at 32 weeks and had +3 protein at my appt. I did a 24-hour urine collection and my protein was 1500 mg. I was put on BP meds and we monitored weekly with bloodwork and urine collections. My protein dropped a bit initially and everything else was fine so I was even able to return to work at 38 weeks (I'm a teacher and we were off for the summer). Between 39 and 40 weeks, my protein jumped 1000 mg to over 2600 so we decided to induce at my due date.
With #3 (my current pregnancy) I developed high BP at 24 weeks and had a +2 protein count at my appt (24w5d) so I was put on BP meds again and did lab work. My 24-hour collection put my protein at 1314 mg. My liver/kidney enzymes and bloodwork were perfect so he simply scheduled a follow-up 24-hour collection for the following week. I did some reading and found out about the renal diet which may help proteinuria so I've been following that as well as lowering salt intake for my BP, which is also part of the renal diet. I did the follow 24-hour collection 1 week later and managed to drop my protein to 400 mg so we're going to wait to do another check-up at my next appt (6/2). My BP is still a bit of an issue (mainly my diastolic fluctuates high 90s to over 100) but with no other issues we're simply monitoring me for now.
I want to mention that the main reason my OB has been comfortable just monitoring is because my bloodwork has been perfect each time so I would definitely see what your doc has to say about your liver/kidney enzymes and platelet count (assuming they did bloodwork). Anyway, just wanted to give my experience. I hope everything goes well and you can keep baby inside for a bit longer
I'm just curious since I've seen some hospitalized for their BP and others just medicated or monitored weekly after having BP issues.
I had a similar experience with different OBs in the same practice. One told me yesterday modified bed rest wasn't nesecary (I've been on it since 31+1 and I'm currently 32+6) and he disagreed with his colleague. So I decided to go to IKEA to get some shelves and I had back to back contractions for three hours straight after. I almost called the doc but when they finally subsided I figured I was simply on my own to deal with it. (I have an irritable uterus).
We have to be our own advocates even if it pisses off the doctor on the other end. I'm sorry you are dealing with this.
In the meantime I'll be seeing my doctor for a Non-stress Test and with the perinatologist for an
ultrasound once a week, so I'll be seen every 4 days.