Well, my choice was fly home quick or go to the capital and the dr felt I needed to be in a better environment. There is no magnesium sulfate in the Dominican Rep. The reason is because its too CHEAP. It's crazy. I trust this dr wholeheartedly, but he would not be my dr if I went to the capital, and the dr there told him on the phone he wanted an immediate delivery, even though he hadn't seen me.....aside from swelling and 3+ protein, my labs are improving. I think my dr knows this is the best chance I have of our daughter surviving. I made it to the states and have an appt first thing in the morning. Surprisingly my bp has once again improved. Swelling has not completely subsided, but I've had a 4 hr flight so its to be expected. This is such an odd, twisted illness, isn't it? After going through what I did in DR, and meeting as many women there who have had the disease, I'm wondering what I can do to raise awareness in that country. To not have a life saving treatment (mag) because no lab in the country makes it since its not enough profit is unacceptable. Even my drs pharmacist wife couldn't get a hold of it. I feel for the women of Dominican Republic because they have no education on pre e and little help.

Has the doctor explained why he did not admit you to the local hospital and instead recommended to board a plane (other than for family reasons). I am not a doctor, but flying with your symtoms sounds scary to me. let us know how things are going if you are able. Will be thinking of you. ((hugs))

This weekend, I started swelling pretty bad, in the face especially. I went to my dr today, and my blood pressure was 140/100. At night it is even worse. My uric acid and platelets are looking great, but the protein dipstick was 3+. He wanted to admit me, but told me to go home? I was in complete shock. He said with my history, I need to be at home in a familiar environment. So, it looks like I am going to attempt to board a plane and go directly to the hospital. Scaring me really bad right now. What's worse, is my husband and family are here. He can come visit, but for the most part, I am on my own. Nothing I can't handle, but not looking forward to it. He will be able to take about a week off at a time, so I'm trying to figure out how that can work with our daughter being born. I guess what 's more important is her being born right now. We can cross that bridge when we get there. If they do not let me fly (doctor wouldn't give me a note, just told me to try), I will be packing up and going to Santo Domingo to be admitted for the duration of my pregnancy. Either way, I hope to have a good update. Thank you all for your replies. Although my husband has been with me through all of my preeclampsia experiences, this site has really helped me cope.

You are so right. What is crazy, is the doctor I had before I WAS comfortable with. He seemed knowledgeable enough for me to stay here on the island with confidence rather than attempting to get high risk coverage in the states when I could back when I was 5 weeks. Then came week 23 and he panicked, which sent me into a panic! I thank the good Lord for finding this new doctor....of course he constantly warns me to be OFF the internet, but its just too tempting I feel blessed to only have real panic for a total of a week or two this pregnancy. I know this ugly illness can get a hold of me rapidly, but I am feeling so good. It's amazing what a good doctor who is reasonable can do for a person. I stopped liking blunt doctors after the death of our son who was born 24 weeks. His doctor came into my hospital room the day I had to have him, and said he will die, he may not be alive long enough for you to say goodbye, and she left. Well, he made it 23 hours. Her shift ended a few hours after he was born, and her partner came in and discussed options like changing a few things (I can't think of it exactly but it was like a shaking incubator or something) and he lived 20 more hours. I'm not saying he would have made it, but I now know NEVER to underestimate my child! The bad part is, when her shift began again, she stormed into my room (in the ICU mind you) and demanded to know why I made the decision, as if I was supposed to just accept imminent death. And, while I need openness and honesty from my doctor, brutal bluntness is now something I cannot accept. Especially when the words are spoke before seeing anything. This doctor has been honest but willing to try anything feasible....and LISTENS! I know he knows more than me, but being heard is rare nowadays in the clinical field. We do so much research we may think we know more about something than we do, but we should at least be heard, and if needed, corrected on misinformation.

It is so helpful to feel more positive. Stable labs, BP medicine that works, feeling the baby move; but most of all, I found that seeing a doctor whom you can trust is so very important and can make a big difference in how you feel. If my doctor did not worry, I did not worry. Your new doctor seems to know what he is doing. I hope you will be able to get as far as possible.
Enjoy the little kicks

I'm glad hope has reappeared as well....it has helped me tremendously! My labs have somehow gotten better. Uric acid went from 4.8 to 3.8. Platelets went up from 161000 to 183000. No protein trace in urinalysis. Everything seems like it just temporarily it better in that retrospect. My fasting glucose was 63 and the glucose test then was 153. He's having me modify my diet again....no biggie. The amniotic fluid has increased to healthy levels, and everything is measuring right on target of 26 weeks 4 days. Except the head is 25 weeks. But that is not too concerning. My placenta is a grade 2, which I'm not happy about but my blood pressure has been a roller coaster so it's to be expected. My dr is pleased but still started the steroid round being that I have a history of rapid onset of severe pre e. something that I'm really worried about is the umbilical cord is wrapped around her neck once. The dr said we will keep an eye on it, but is that all I can do? She is breech and he's hoping she stays that way, but what if she doesn't? I'm thrilled with the other news, but I know this cant be good.

Hope pre-e stays away. Glad your hope returned. Hoping for a healthy baby and Momma!

Well, I had a seemingly good visit. We have to wait until Tuesday for more labwork and Wednesday for an ultrasound, as there is a Christian holiday weekend going on here. The dr looked at my lab results that had my last dr telling me we will deliver within two weeks a week ago and said there may be a sign preeclampsia can come, but it is not here!!!!! I think I knew that, but hearing that from a dr made me feel like a million bucks . He prescribed me an antibiotic for a UTI. He also questioned why I didn't have a baseline protein....good question but until I got high bp, I avoided all preeclampsia related sites to do the appropriate research to know, and unfortunately I don't think my last dr knew. So there is a SLIM chance the 273 is close to my baseline or the infection raised it. My uric acid was 4.7, which he says they don't like it to get to 5. Other than that my numbers seemed fine to him. He is starting the steroid injections next week though to make sure her lungs mature in the event anything rapidly progresses. I never thought I could face pre e with hope after our experiences, but I have it! The dr actually said he's HOPING for 35 weeks (9w 1 d away), but said assuming dates with pre e is impossible. Things are definitely not as bad as I initially thought! It feels great to have hope again and enjoy the little things like feeling her kick.

I found a new dr Monday that shuttles back and forth from where I live to the capital 2 hrs away (btw the hospital he shuttles to and from has the only nicu on the island!). He is AMAZING. He didn't get much time with me Monday as I literally just walked in to meet him. He still did a quick u/s for heartbeat and weighs me, bp (which was perfect). My blood pressure before finding him an hr earlier was 150/110. He literally put me at ease immediately. His wife delivered prematurely due to pre e, so he is extremely informed and emotional which I need. He doesn't seem as alarmed as the initial dr either. I go back tomorrow to do a thorough exam, u/s, and labs. He said we will know where to go from there, but that we are putting the cart before the horse talking about delivering that quickly. Especially when as you said my numbers are not alarming, and my symptoms seem to be improving since I left the stress of the previous dr. My husband and I know we found the right dr. He did say with my sudden onset pre e history that we will be starting steroid injections next week, so he understands my previous situation with developing it so severely so rapidly. My bp has been controlled all week and I've taken it easy as my amniotic fluid is a little low. So no swelling all week, no bp issues though I am on 1500 mg aldomet and 120 mg procardia. But it's working and it's not maxed out! I will update my appt results tomorrow. As far as the growing, she has been measuring perfect but my last normal u/s was 22 weeks. When he did the quick u/s Monday he measured her head and I saw it said 23 w 5 d. I was 25 w 2 d. But I know her position changed from transverse to breech and it was extremely fast. He didn't even mention that and doesn't know I saw it. I think he wants to see all my records and get a better u/s before scaring me, if there even is anything going on. At 22 weeks my placenta was still a grade 0, so I have high hopes it was just a bad measurement. Her estimated weight at 22 weeks was 1.2 lbs. I truly believe I'm going to hang on longer than a few weeks....of course pre eclampsia may decide otherwise for me. I just know how bad off I was last time and we held it off 4 weeks. I'm faithful with such few symptoms this will progress more slowly. I have to have that faith or I'd be a mad woman!

Hi I'm sorry your going through this is there any way you could get a consult with another Mfm? Maybe it would help you feel more comfortable, I'm not sure but your urine/protein level doesn't seem bad or even alarming? It might just be the blood pressure? Have you tried bed rest? Or maybe you can convince him to put you on hospital bed rest in the 2 weeks time instead of delivering? I know it's scary but hang in there I really hope things turn around for you... How is the baby growing? Could you try to get an appt with a nephrologist that could evaluate your levels and discuss with your dr?


Good luck