If it's in the normal range, it isn't too low. :D

Glad Caryn chimed in with all the awesome info! That stuff is all greek to me! :)

My husband and I were similar- only one could freak out and worry at a time, and usually it was my turn! :) The hospital you plan to deliver at might have a mental health department where you might find someone. It was helpful to see the person at the hospital so that I could also get used to being there.

Keep posted!
Lauren

Hi Caryn,

Thanks for the info I guess I had super-imposed preeclampsia. It developed so quickly into hellp & eclampsia but I also have a positive ANA so not sure what all my issues were. I think I just wanted to feel a sense of relief that its completely normal this time or in the normal range I should say Pap-A was .75 and HCG was .84 so I felt relief for a second now I'm concerned about it being to low... I guess I'm just terrified I started having itching and problems with liver enzymes and bile acids being high at about 16-17 weeks and I'm 16 weeks tomm...which was diagnosed as cholestasis and then at 24.5 weeks I had an eclampsia seizure and hellp syndrome... Lost my daughter and so I am having a lot of panic attacks worrying that it will happen again and I don't think that's helping my blood pressure any...


Thanks for reading :-)

Low PAPP-A is correlated to either a higher risk of Down Syndrome and a higher risk of placental diseases like preeclampsia or late miscarriage or HELLP. An elevated PAPP-A can signal coronary artery disease, which if you had it as an underlying issue would raise risk of what they call "superimposed preeclampsia."

So either way they fret a bit because the measurement isn't in the middle of the bell curve. However, given your history they'll be watching you more closely in any case. There's no therapy that alters the way the placenta implants and develops, so what an abnormal test does is track you into the "watchful waiting" category. These pregnancies after preeclampsia are always monitored and I've started to think of the tests as hints that *might* give your doc intuitions about the way in which problems might progress if you were to develop them.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for sharing your story so happy that you have made it so far and your still doing great :-)! Hope your birth experience is amazing. I have been reading through and it seems that the dip comes a little lower so I'm still hoping I will have that and get some breathing room. I am also going to ask my MFM about the hypnosis. Don't know if my husband will go but I definitely will. He always feels he has to be so strong and positive and never seem worried bc he knows I will panic if he gets worried but I def think my emotions are taking a toll on both of us... I appreciate all you ladies replies it soothes me to know its possible and many ladies here have had success..did any of you ladies use at home protien dipsticks? And where did you get them? When did you start getting your uterine artery Doppler? ( hopefully that makes sense) I'm going to ask my dr when I see her? The other question was the Papp-A & HCG in the first trimesters screen? My first pregnancy my pAp-a was higher then average but they still considered me negative yet I know that should have been a warning sign for pre-e based in an article I read here? Was hoping someone might be able to explain it better what are the cutoffs? My dr agreed that its negative, and that even if its a little higher or lower then the normal it would only cue her into watching me more carefully and she is going to do that either way?

I think normal is 1 MoM right? What numbers cause worry I have googled to no end but it seems more related to ppl having issues with the screen bc of Down syndrome and trisomy 21?

Sorry this is so so long

Thanks to anyone that reads this.. ;-)

My BP averaged a few points lower in the second trimester this time around—like 105/62 instead of my normal 110/65—but nothing so dramatic I'd call it a "dip." I was hoping to see something, since I saw someone post here that in the pregnancy where she had PE she never got a dip, whereas with her later, non-PE pregnancy she did notice one, so I was looking for reassurance... I kept thinking, "is this it? is this it?" but nothing dramatic ever happened. But I haven't gotten PE in this pregnancy yet (and I'm full term tomorrow!), so maybe there's no connection. (My BPs have been climbing slowly all through 3rd trimester, to a morning average now of about 120/80, but at this point the docs aren't worried; they can do the c-section any day if necessary. Otherwise I'm scheduled for a week from tomorrow.)

I tell ya, it was awesome for us, and we even focused on it to get me through the labor (which was the scariest part of my daughter's pregnancy), and after our son was born our MFM said that our labor was like a yoga class! Peaceful as could possibly be. The practiced relaxation we did and hypnosis all played into that, I'm still so grateful for it and still practice my breathing. When during pregnancy everything is so out of your control, being able to at least control my breathing really gave me peace of mind.

It was our MFM who made the referral for us- he was at the same hospital our MFM was affiliated with. You might ask your OB or MFM if they have folks that patients have had good experiences with who have also had scary previous pregnancies.

I do remember reading about the 2nd trimester dip... and someone posting an article about pressure throughout pregnancy... sorry I don't have time to search for it... but maybe try in the search box just "dip" or something...

Best,
Lauren

Thank you so much for the support I had read through how scary it is to go through a pregnancy after loss but its so so much scarier then I could have imagined. I second guess every appointment and use my Doppler at least 3 times a week bc my husband doesn't let me... Lol
We lost our sweet little girl at 24.5 weeks so Im pretty sure for the next 22 weeks hopefully I make it that far will be like walking on pins & needles. I love the idea of using hypnosis I have never tried it but I think it could help a lot with the stress/anxiety.. Where did you find them? Through a hospital or just online? Also I have read everywhere that there should be a dip in bp in second trimester? Has anyone experienced that and when does it usually happen? I read between 18-28 weeks?

Thanks

Glad it went down and ya have some breathing room. My total non-doc understanding is that makes sense for you BP to go up a bit if you're moving around while taking it. Just like if you take it while doing an activity it would be differently because the body is needing different things. I also think encouraging that it goes lower when you retake, probably a sign it was higher because it was stress related, and resting brings it back down to where it normally wants to be.

For my second pregnancy after my first ended with my daughter being born prematurely and ultimately dying, I saw a psychologist that specialized in medial trauma. It sounds so hokey, and I never thought it would be something I would do, but we did hypnosis and made personalized guided relaxation CDs that I could do at home- I swear it it what allowed me to make it through my pregnancy someone sane!

I also blogged/wrote throughout my pregnancy all my worries and fears out. It allowed me to have a place to put all my fear and anger, and I found when I let it out on paper (or the computer) a huge weight was lifted and I could move on with my day instead of circling around in my thoughts whatever I was currently worrying myself about.

This is such a journey- lots of folks here to walk it with you!
Lauren

Thanks ladies I took my pressure about 2 hours later and it was 100/70 but I was wondering about movement if I put my cuff on & then move around it comes out higher like if I reach for something even with my other hand is that normal? And if its a little high I re-take it right away & it usually comes lower? I am pretty sure it's my emotional stress but the only way I used to get rid of stress is working out but my dr has only okayed pre-natal yoga which doesn't do anything for my stress levels.. Lol and I'm only aware of 1 studio that offers it & I have a friend whose going there so I don't know what to do...I can't get out of my head and I don't want to hurt my baby :-(... We lost our first little baby and it I can't stop thinking about everything that happened :-(