did anyone have pre eclampsia?

[elliej]

hi,
had a midwife app today and she found that my blood pressure has shot up. its not been high throughout the pregnancy but i have had it high before, just when i was about to move to France, (stress, me thinks) but i was sent to delivery to be monitored, hooked up to heartrate thingumy for LO and checked out. BP stayed high but LO was fine, happily knocking 7 bells out of my tum! lol. had blood test and urine test and both fine. Have been worrying lately about not being ready in time for LO and also about my cousin who has just lost her baby at 34wks, and midwife said probably just a little stress but we need to watch for signs of PE. on BP tabs for a while, need to be checked for BP tomorrow and going back to clinique on mon.
so
my question is, did anyone get PE in their pregnancy and what were the signs you got? how did you know? one thing the doc said to watch for was pain under the ribs and since i got home i remembered the pain i keep getting there. its not constant, mainly when i slouch for a while or sit so i just presumed it was LO wedging her foot under there. also i was strggling to read the info on sky the other day but just thought i was tired, (my eyesights not great anyway).
what effect does it usually have on delivery? i was really hoping for a natural as possible but if i get PE will i have to have a CSec?
any advice please,
thanks

 

[HideiLu]

Hi hun

There is a link to my birth story in my sig. i had pre-eclampsia which unfortunately developed into full eclampsia - dont panic as eclampsia is still very rare, it was more due to the lack of care i received that things ended up that way.

It does not necessarily mean a c-sec at all (my c-sec was due to breech). If things do become a cause for concern, an induction is more likely. But a natural birth is perfectly possible and you should be closely monitored.

The symptoms I had were

- Constant Headache
- Visual Disturbances
- High BP
- Increased Uric Acid in blood
- Severe swelling in face, hands and feet/ankles
- Pain in right rib (they do say it should be on the right side as it is to do with your liver

My BP was hanging around 140/90-160/110 - to show the difference stress makes, I took a reading while waiting for an abulance when OH was taken ill and it had shot up to 178/118 which I ignored as knew it was more down to the panic then.

The drugs I had (Methyldopa and now on Labetalol) did seem to do the trick but think they left it a bit later with me

If you want to know anything else hun, please feel free to PM me. Hope everything works out ok for you.

Just to add, a few other members including 1sttimemum and Fly also had PE and we all have happy healthy babies! xx

 

[elliej]

thanks for your reply, i have read your birth story and it seems that you didnt have a good time of it. i am hoping that it doesnt become pre eclampsia and will keep an eye on myself, i have a light headache this morning but the nurse has just been and my BP has gone down a bit, 120/90 instead of 152/ 112 that it was yesterday.
congrats on your beautiful little boy, hes lovely.
thanks again

 

[Fly]

Hi Ellie

Charlie's over ten years old now but i had pre-eclampsia with him diagnosed at 30 weeks...
Symptoms I had was raised BP, Protein in urine and swelling. They admitted me to hospital bed rest at 32 weeks and he was born by emergency c-section at 34 weeks. On the day he was born I had BP raising that was out of control, severe swelling all over my body, the worst headache I have ever experienced in my life, hyper crazy reflexes and over 4+ protein in my urine.

Charlie was born absolutely fine and healthy, pissed all over the theatre staff I fitted comin out of anaesthetic and was touch n go for a bit but it was all alright in the end Charlie's a fine strappin lad and I've got no signs (thus far) of pre-eclampsia which I am bloody thrilled about as you can probably imagine

If you ever want a natter bout it or some links to a eclampsia-specific forum I know of then drop me a PM.

Love n Hugs n low BP's Sarah xxxxxx

 

[soverign]

Hi hun, I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia at 32 weeks. My symptoms were high blood pressure, severe headaches, ++protine in urine, visual disturbance (blurred vision, seeing spots and flashing light) swollen ankles, legs, fingers and face, pain in my rib ( I cant remember which side though). I was but on labetalol. It helped reduce my blood pressure. They tried their hardest to leave induction until the last minuet and ended up starting it at 38 weeks.

Personally I would not worry until you have other signs as well. Your blood pressure could go up with the stress and worry. Just make sure if you do have any other signs that you do mention them to your midwife straight away.

 

[elliej]

thanks for your reply soverign, i am trying not to worry, and have tried so hard not to do anything today. which is hard here, trust me! lol, but then i went and walked up to check my horses and noticed that my wellies felt a bit tighter than normal. my feet dont look swollen but do you think i should say anything? my headache has gone. i just dont really know if i am now over noticing things, wondering if it is a sign.
what do you think?