How are you doing? I hope your bp ended up coming down soon after posting. When I had preeclampsia with my daughter I had a terrible time getting decent post partum care. It was very scary for me. Things got worse for a couple of weeks before they got better.

With bp's as high as you mentioned, I would expect they would try more/different meds and/or possibly even send you back to the hospital until they are better. (I'm not sure really how high of pressures they will tolerate when you aren't pregnant, but you are absolutely still at risk for a stroke or seizure.) Some women develop postpartum preeclampsia up to 6 weeks after delivery, so unfortunately you are not out of the woods.

Hope your bp comes down and you are feeling better soon!

Sorry it's taken me so long to update... it's been hectic. Amazing... but hectic. Hard to believe that a week has passed since my little guy was born.

My story:

As you know, I had been experiencing symptoms that were concerning me for almost 2.5 weeks. Last Wednesday I was alone at home. I remember using the bathroom and then waking up on the floor some time later. I pulled the toilet paper holder out of the wall somehow, and hit my left eye (luckily only a bruise!). My tongue was bleeding as well. I laid on the couch for a while until my mother in law came over to drive me to pick up my kids from school. (Since I had been feeling dizzy that week, she didn't want me driving). I assumed that I had only fainted and that it wasn't a big deal, since my symptoms were the same that I had been experiencing and telling my doctor about with no apparent concern from my OB. I told my mother in law what had happened, and she had my call my OB on the way to pick up my kids from school. My OB asked me to go into L&D to be monitored as a result. I figured this would be a quick "in and out" monitoring since my symptoms were the same as they always had been. When I got up to L&D at 7pm, my bp was 202/98 and my protein was +4 - this was surprising to me since my labs just two days earlier were perfect. Due to the high bp and protein, my OB diagnosed me with eclampsia and believes that my fainting episode was really an eclamptic seizure. I was prepped for an emergency csection, and my little guy was born at 8:26pm. He was 7lbs 6oz and absolutely perfect :)

I am exclusively breast feeding and he's doing amazing. I'm so happy that he's healthy and that I'm finally home!

My bp after the magnesium was great for about 24 hours. The day prior to my discharge, it went up again and has stayed at 160-180/100-110 ever since. My follow up OB appointment is tomorrow afternoon and I'm really not sure what he's going to do. I'm on 30mg Procardia XL once per day, but that hasn't brought my bp down. And my headache has come back full force as of two days ago. Sigh. I just want to be done with doctors and hospitals and finally feel better.

So... lots of questions for those experienced with this:

Does anyone have experience with post partum high blood pressure after eclampsia? Are there any risks of another seizure or anything else happening? Is there anything I can do to prevent? What is the typical treatment for this situation? Since I'm already one week post partum, does that mean I'm "out of the woods"?

Thanks again for your continued support!!

Wow...happy everything is good...but scary that it went like that....I guess it is a good lesson to us, your partner, your doc etc...sorry about the mag. Get some rest mama and congrats.

Congrats and welcome to the world Harrison! I am sorry you had to go through all of that in order to meet him. The mag is terrible, but it is better than not having it.
I am so happy to hear that he is healthy. I hope that you start feeling better soon.

Oh my goodness, how very scary! I'm so thankful that you are ok, and that baby Harrison is doing well!!

Welcome to the outside world lil' one!!

Lauren

A quick update: baby Harrison was born this evening via emergency csection. He was 7lbs 6oz and 20" - and is happy, healthy and looking great!! I had a seizure this afternoon (or so they think). When I got to hospital my bp was 202/98 and my proteins were "high" (I haven't got the actual number yet). They decided not to chance an induction, and csection went smoothly. I'm on mag now and am feeling pretty cruddy. Not to mention my bruised cheek and bitten tongue :(

Thanks to ALL for your support over the past few weeks!! I will update more soon and will hopefully include a picture of the little guy... I'm just so happy he's here and HEALTHY! :)

Oy, I'm so sorry your pressures continue to be so high. While I hope your labs come back all normal, I also think trusting your gut on when it's the best time to call in to be checked out at the hospital could be your guide.

We were one of those folks who spent the last week inpatient (36w-37w) because we had pressures similar to yours and we really wanted to get to 36w and our doctor was just most comfortable doin' that last week with all eyes on me just in case things went south fast, and they did at 36w6d. It was a big ugh to spend that last week in the hospital. I felt very guilty for being there so far along when I knew many patients were probably much earlier, at the same time it was also very reassuring, and I'm sure the serious hospital bed rest ie. meals brought to me, no cleaning etc. is what got us those extra days to make official full term.

I continue to keep you in my thoughts and hope the next few days are very smooth for you!

I am glad your little guy is doing well and your OB is running labs. I would call if you feel any worse at all or if you just can't take it any more. If nothing else, they could monitor you in the hospital until you hit the magical 37 weeks. PE doesn't really care how far along you are, and it is a very delicate balancing act between giving the baby as much time as possible and keeping you safe. Sometimes, it is better to try managing that in the hospital.
I waited much too long to call and go in because I thought that the end of pregnancy is supposed to be miserable. I assumed that everyone suffered as much as I did and you are now. They don't. Don't be afraid to tell him that you are increasingly miserable and cannot do this anymore if that is the case. Your OB might consider in-patient monitoring a reasonable compromise between toughing it out at home and delivering now. There is also nothing wrong with staying home if you genuinely feel better. Nobody likes to be in the hospital (one sign that you are not a hypochondriac), but many of us would rather gestate there than at home when things start to go crazy.

I had my appt this morning. My bp was still high - at 168/102. The little guy looked great on the NST, so my OB took blood and is running new labs. If the labs are abnormal, or if my bp or headache gets significantly worse he plans to induce this week. If the labs are okay, but my bp stays up through my next appt, we'll most likely induce next Monday. It's a balancing act between the maturity of the baby and my symptoms. In the interim, he told me to "call him and come in if I feel bad or my bp is continuously over 100..." my answer to him was that I've been feeling TERRIBLE for over 2 weeks now and my bp is fairly consistent over 100 at home. He just looked at me and said if I start to feel worse to call. So, in other words, I'm still confused about what the threshold is before I call him, but at least he should call me with the results from the blood work tomorrow -- maybe with some answers to why I'm feeling so terrible.

Thanks again to everyone for being so supportive!