New prospective father

[paul1968uk]

I came home from visiting my wife in hospital, and typed pre-eclampsia into google, and ended up here.

My name is Paul - I am 35, and live in a beautiful little picturesque village in England. My wife Sarah is 29, and as we speak is just shy of 34 weeks pregnant with our first child.

Last wednesday, my wife asked the midwife who was taking our parentcraft classes about how often she should feel the baby moving, as it had not moved in about 24 hours. midwife noticed that her feet were slightly swollen - blood pressure was taken (high), and a urine sample which had protein, and we were asked to visit the ante-natal ward at our local hospital the following day.

Thursday - we visited the hospital - blood pressure was lower (but still high) - no protein in the urine, baby's heartrate fine, but the ultrasound showed that the baby was in an extended breech position, and the ambiotic fluid was low, so is unlikley to turn.

Friday, we visited the consultant. no protein in the urine, blood pressure back to normal, but he is a little concerned about the lack of fluid. asked to visit the hospotal saturday and sunday for monitoring, and to see him again Monday. In the meantime, my wife has a swab taken, and given a steroid injection to speed up the baby's lung development in case it needs to be delivered early.

Saturday - baby's heart rate normal, no protein in the urine, blood pressure still normal. Second steroid injection.

Sunday, baby's heartrate normal, but protein in the urine again, and blood pressure high. They decide to keep her in. still puffy feet, and noticeably swolen face.

Today we saw the consulatant again - blood pressure high again, protein in the urine, feet still very swollen. The plan is to keep her in for the time being, and monitor her and the baby daily, almost certainly delivering her early by C.section because of the breach.

And that is about where we are right now - in a kind of limbo. I am fairly calm - calmer than I probably should be, but I figure the consultant knows best, and as he said, the best medical treatment the baby can get right now is in the womb. as soon as it stops being the best place, they will deliver it.

No-one has actually confirmed pre-eclampsia yet, but i'm guessing that it almost certainly is.

Anyway, it is nearly 1am here - i need some sleep - i still have dogs to walk in the morning and a business to run, and will visit my wife again tomorrow afternoon.

[aimeejane]

Paul, welcome. I'm sorry to hear about the concerns you and your wife are facing. I'm glad she is being monitored so closely and has such good caretakers (you included).

Please stop by and let us know how she's doing. You'll be in my thoughts.

Aimee Woolwine
Georgia State Coordinator

Ds Nicky - 3/24/00 (28 wks - eclampsia)
Ds Kalen - 7/10/03 (36 weeks - preeclampsia)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/k/kalentyler/ (Pswd: ilovemommy)

[sandy]

Hi Paul,
I'm sorry to hear you and your wife are going through this. Having a baby is supposed to be a joyful experience; especially your first, and here you are dealing with things that you didn't anticipate.

From what you wrote, it sounds to me like your wife is receiving the correct kind of care, due to her symptoms, which is good.

I'm glad you found this site for support and information. When I was pregnant with my first and I was admitted, living in the hospital for the same reason your wife is, my husband had no one to talk to about this. He is a business professional and it was so hard on him trying to stay focused at work, managing things there, running things at home while I was not there, knowing at any minute I could call him and tell him something was going wrong or that the baby was about to be delivered.

They kept me there until it was not safe for either me or the baby anymore, because the best place for her was growing inside of me. Just what you've heard; and that was true. And the "shots", the steroid injections; good that your wife got those. I did, too. The doctors may start now, doing more complete tests of her urine (called "24 hour urine tests" here in the states), and they may start doing lots of drawing of her blood...it got up to 1 and sometimes 2x's per day for me. And I'm sure they're monitoring the baby's movements a lot. I was in very good medical hands, and although all these tests are invasive, know that they are necessary.

I think the most difficult thing for my husband was the "not knowing"...sounds like it's a waiting game at this point for you. It was emotionally exhausting for him, having both my health and the baby's health constantly on his mind. I wish he had known of this website!

Please continue to post and let us know how you and your wife and the baby are doing. She's really done well; making it to 34 weeks is pretty good.
Sandy.

[taras mom]

Calm is good, Paul![:)] It sounds as if Sarah and the baby are getting good care. Please keep us posted.

Carol (38)
DH Bill (40)
Tara Mairichi
12/7-12/9, 2002
The Mightiest Little Angel

[paul1968uk]

quote:

---

The doctors may start now, doing more complete tests of her urine (called "24 hour urine tests" here in the states), and they may start doing lots of drawing of her blood...it got up to 1 and sometimes 2x's per day for me.

---

That is exactly what they have been doing for the past 24 hours.

She has spent so long peeing into sample bottles, plastic jugs and bottles, that I'm worried that when she returns home she may have forgotton how to pee in a toilet [:D]

[mada]

Too funny Paul. Just wishing you and your wife good vibes!! I am glad she is getting this level of attention and care. That's great!! 34 weeks is a great number!! Let us know how things go!!

Mada Harpster

Sam 6-29-00 36weeks P.E.
Ben 11-03-01 No P.E.

[catherine]

Good luck Paul and Sarah, I know that this probably isn't how you anticipated the end of pregnancy but hopefully things will go well for you all now.

Keep up with those classes now... our son was delivered at about 35 1/2 weeks while we were still taking ours. We brought him on his first outing to the final lesson. I don't know how prepared you feel, but as I'd practically throttled my dummy baby at the "bathing practice" the week before... I felt the need to continue learning!! There was one aspect of the class that we really enjoyed. We sat cuddling our baby while everyone else went through "puff pant" rehearsal. We had taken our final... and passed!!!

Catherine
Mom to Finn, Lucy (preeclampsia and HELLP) and Chloe.
Moderator HELLP Syndrome Survivors

[deerhart]

Paul
You may also want to contact APEC, which is the Action on PreEclampsia in England
http://www.apec.org.uk/

They have tons of information on the condition that they can forward out to you as well as some things that are more specific to England.

I know its hard to stay calm, but it really is one of the best things you can do for your wife, to reassure her and to see that her and the baby get the best care possible.

GL
Erin

Moderator - First Time Moms, Parents of Preemies
Missouri State Coordinator
Mommy to Alex and Mason

[paul1968uk]

Thanks for that website - I'll take a look

I'm sure everything will be fine - it's just kind hard not having her at home. the dog keeps sitting by the door waiting for her :(

As for parentcraft clases - i have spent enough time changing my younger brother's and my nephews nappies for it to be second nature to me, but it of more help to my wife who has never handled a baby.

That said, we both handle dogs and horses - it really isn't that different, just a little less muck to clear up.

[catherine]

Thanks for the flashback Paul [:)], my husband and I are Irish, although we have lived here in the USA for over 10 years now. I'm always being taunted on the phone by my parents and parents-in-law for talking about diapers. We used to say nappies but nobody here knew what we were talking about!

Catherine
Mom to Finn, Lucy (preeclampsia and HELLP) and Chloe.
Moderator HELLP Syndrome Survivors