Still Swollen and high blood pressure at 9 days postpartum

[crowak]

Can anyone relate? I am now 9 days postpartum and my symptoms have only worsened. Will they ever go away? I would like to wear shoes again. My blood pressure is averaging about 150/103. This is scary.
Thanks,
Amy

[kerisue]

Does your doctor know? They can reassure you and/or adjust meds as needed. I had so much edema on board that it took a long time to work itself out of my system completely. 9 days pp isn't really that long. I thought it said 9 weeks at first! Def. something to check in with your doc about, but it could be just normal given you had pe.

[kellyo19]

I was swollen with edema for a few wks after my babies were born. Its all that fluid from pregnancy and takes awhile to move out of your system. With my daughter I had a lot of night sweats and slept on towels to save the mattress. You can let your dr know about the fluid if you need to. Continue to monitor your BPs and watch for PE symptoms or worsening symptoms - PP PE is possible. The dr may ask for another 24-hr urine and bloodwork to monitor PE. Meanwhile, I know its hard with a new baby, but try and put your feet up when you can, and if you nap put your legs up on pillows to help push the fluid out of your extremities.

[bernadic]

I would call your doctor!! I had to go to the ER twice for PP PE. My meds had to be adjusted each time and 4 years later I am still on bp meds so I am labeled chronic. Delivery doesn't always mean that PE will go away. That bottom number seems very high! Call to be on the safe side.

[mnmom]

If your doctor isn't aware of these symptoms, you really should go get yourself checked out. That said, my swelling lasted for a few weeks before it finally worked itself out of my system.

[rexelliz]

My swelling went down about 2 weeks post partum. The doctor also gave me some kind of leggings (i can't remember the term) but they reduced the swelling. Regarding blood pressure, I stayed in the hospital for 8 days because my blood pressure was also high at 150/110. They released me with medications. I'm still taking medication and i'm 4 months PP. Blood pressure is now controlled though, averaging at 110/75.
Hang in there. Stay positive. Stay calm. Writing here in this forum helped calm me down and made me realize that I am not alone.

[libby123]

YES, this is completely normal. I remember being in tears 2 weeks after delivering my daughter because my blood pressure was still in the 170s/100s. In fact, it can take the entire 6 week postpartum period for your blood pressure to completely return to normal, but it will!

I think it was about 2 and a half weeks after delivery that my BP finally started returning to normal. I knew it was because when I was still taking my labetalol, I got very lightheaded when I stood up and realized my BP was too low. I then went off the labetalol completely and my BP was normal.

Hang in there! The docs say that delivery is the cure, but it can take a while after delivery to get back to normal!

[celticepona]

Hello There. I am 4 weeks post partum right now and my bps finally came under control around 2.5 weeks after being put on two different bp meds. I was very swollen when I went home from the hospital and ended up back in the ER that night with sky high bps swelling and visual disturbances. I have had PE symptoms and issues postpartum with each of my pregnancies. I would get a hold of your doctor and let them know immediately you are having bp problems. They can put you on meds to get them back under control. I know for sure that on top of caring for a newborn and being sleep deprived that having to worry about bps only adds to the stress. Hang in there you are not alone and you CAN get it controlled. Are you breastfeeding? I was put on diuretics post partum after all my pregtnancies to get my swelling down, and losing all that fluid will help in bringing those #s down.