With Alison I went on bedrest at 31 weeks for high bp but had no protein in the urine. One week of that was spent in the hospital, two weeks then at home till I was admitted for low platelets and delivered at 34 weeks. I had no bp issues up until 31 weeks. I had a c-section with Alison but had she gone to term we would have done a sceduled c-section anyway. I did not want to take any other risks with her birth and neither did my ob.

I did get the steroid shot for lung maturity when I was.in the hospital because my bp went up. At 34 weeks, Alison did very well, never needed oxygen (although they did have her on some for the first few hours till they realized she didn't need it) she was 5lbs even and was in the NICU for two weeks learning how to eat and maintain body temp.

I had sections with both pregnancies - Henry was due to my not progressing after maxing out on all the goodies and my water breaking on its own (he was born at 34+2) and Sofia was due to fetal distress (her umbilical cord was wrapped under her armpits, behind her neck like a backpack).

I was on bedrest for 5+ weeks with Henry - and from 27 weeks on with Sofia. But Sofia was born here in Germany and the care here was much different IMO - more supportive from a household standpoint. (We had household help - a woman who came in and did everything "I" would do on a daily basis - it was hard letting things go and listening to my son play with another "mom" as he called her ... whereas back in the States my hubby had to do everything - of course though, I was hospitalized more with Sofia than with Henry, including being on mag for nearly 2 weeks before being released again on bedrest.)

Thank you both for your comments!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. This calms my nerves a bit. I am starting to work through all of the pre-pregnancy prep work and this forum has helped me learn a lot about high risk issues related to bp. Thanks for letting me know what you both have experienced. Jen, thanks for the tips of things to do as I get pregnant, it will help me when asking questions of my doctors. I look forward to hearing more from anyone who has experience. Another question, were either of you on bed rest? and did you deliver via c-section?

Jen has given you excellent advice.

I am now chronic, but only since Sofia's birth. But, I was on BP meds during both pregnancies. I have seen no health issues related to my BP meds and have successfully breastfed both children. Weaning seems to be more of my issue - Henry weaned due to me being hospitalized during my 2nd pregnancy at the age of 2.5 and Sofia is 19 months old and fighting me on weaning.

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

I also only have one kidney. I had Wilms Tumor as a child and had a right kidney nephrectomy when I was 6yrs old. I was also on labetalol while pg. Alison had no bp issues after birth, and you can breastfeed while on labetalol. My experience was that when I was pg, the labetalol made the baby less reactive during things like NST's, which often led to more testing, but in the end, she always passed those. The MFM told me that was a common side effect which makes sense since it often made me sleepy too after I would take it. I have seen no long term side effects in Alison and she is now 18months.

As for the kidney, I would suggest making sure to get a baseline 24hour urine before pg, and imediately after you find out you are pg. That way they will know exactly the level of function your kidney has before pg and can measure any changes as the pg moves along. After my first PE pg with Abby, my kidney returned to completely normal function (it had gone into failure) within six weeks and I had no issues with lower function in my second pg.

HTH and feel free to message me directly if you have any other questions! Also, I would love to know how you came to only have one kidney if you wouldn't mind sharing.

Hello all, this is my first post. I am inspired by hearing all of your stories. Thank you for sharing. I have not been pregnant before but would like to try soon. I have chronic hypertension and one kidney. I am currently on labetelol in preparation for trying to get pregnant. I'm concerned about the effects on my future baby from the medication. How many of your babies have to blood pressure issue after they are born? Was breastfeeding possible? Have any of you seen any potential long term effects from the medication. I'm not sure what to expect and am having a hard time dealing with the thought damage I could do to my future baby due to my health issues. Thoughts?