Preelampsia at 24 Weeks

[Kathrynwwjd]

Just came across the preeclampsia foundation after coming home from hospital. I lost my baby at 24 weeks on Wednesday 30th May 2012 and gave birth (stilborn) on Thursday 31st May 2012.

Just thought I would come on here for some support.

I had no symptoms of preeclampsia it was just lucky that I happened to have an appointment with a consultant when it was picked up that my blood pressure was critically high and protein was in my urine. I felt perfectly well in myself. I am only just coming to realise how ill i was and how my life could also have been lost.

We are awaiting the results of the post-mortem and hope that it may provide us with some more answers.

I am now on blood pressure tablets and have been told not to try for another baby until my blood pressure has stablised.

I only had one high blood pressure reading at 10 weeks but the midwife thought it might be down to the fact she had just taken blood from me which was not an easy process and that I had got a bit distressed over it. THe rest of my blood pressure checks were within the normal range for pregnancy.

I am feeling so lucky to be alive but incredibly sad too.
Does anyone know how long it takes for preeclampsia to leave the body?

thank you

Kathryn

[cgoodi1]

Hi. Good to see that you have found the website. I lost my baby in February at 21 weeks pregnant and I am still going through tests. I have had countless blood tests which happily have all come back normal, however I still (almost 4 months later) have protein in my urine. If my next test comes back with protein I have to go see a nephrologist. My blood pressures returned to normal about 2 weeks after the birth. This was my first pregnancy and I am now going to see a high risk doctor in June to make a plan for when we try again. There are many things that they want us to do differently next time around to decrease our chances of having the same outcome.

[wooleybear]

I am so sorry for you loss, like me I just lost my baby girl, Soleil Sophia, about a week before you. I was 32 weeks however. I had some symptoms, but the ones that are usually associated with pregnancy, like swelling and headaches. My bp just crept on me like you. I found this site fairly early, it will really help you to try and understand everything at this difficult confusing time. I really learned about this condition reading things on here. Im still on bp pills, but I started at 4 a day then 2 a day and now down to 1 all within 2 weeks, my bp started going almost way too low from the pills. I also bought a fairly cheap bp cuff at CVS to monitor it everyday. You want to make sure you take it easy on yourself for a little bit, from questioning of the doctors, the pre e can last up to 6 weeks after giving birth. But make a plan with your doc. My doc gave me certain times I can drive, swim, exercise, etc. I think my laying low has helped my bp return to normal with the pills, but everyones body is different. The poster above says she is still experiencing the protein, and Im sure your doc will keep an eye on that. I just went to my doc today and he said my proteien levels are lowered than last week and that it wasn't even that high last week. Keep coming back to educate yourself and keeping you in my thoughts.

[kerisue]

Oh Kathryn, I'm so sorry. Preeclampsia took my baby away too. She was also born at 24 weeks, plus a few days. It's the worst, worst thing to have to live with.
You asked about how long it takes preeclampsia to go away and it really depends on the individual... I started to improve rapidly after delivering (though I've remained on low levels of blood pressure meds) but others remain pretty sick for weeks.
Who was diagnosing/treating you? If you did not see a high risk pregnancy specialist (perinatalogist/maternal fetal medicine specialist) you might consider that. I saw one about a month or two after giving birth and they were able to give me some detailed info about what had happened to me medically, as well as some info on future pregnancy plans and options.
Again, I'm so sorry that your precious baby is not with you.

[Kathrynwwjd]

thank you all for your replies it is such a great help and comfort to be able to be in touch with other people who have been through the same thing.

The protein in my urine had stopped before I was discharged from hospital on Saturday. The doctors say it is a complete mystery why I had high blood pressure. The strange thing is I myself was born at 24 weeks but my mum went into premature labour rather than anything like preeclampsia.
The doctors are meeting with me in 6-8 weeks time to discuss the post-mortem and to plan for future pregnancies. I have been told not to get pregnant until my blood pressure is stable.
I did go to the GP yesterday as the hospital wanted me to be put on some different blood pressure tablets but his response was the ones from the hosptial are working so I see no reason to change them. I am currently on adelat retard and I take 2 tablets a day.

The more I find out about preeclampsia from this website and others the more I realise that I was showing symptoms but the symptoms are conditions that you see in pregnancy anyway. Due to being born at 24 weeks myself my pelvis is out of line and my pelvis started to hurt and my legs became stiff. I just put this down to the problems that I was already aware of. I also started to put weight on my arms, neck and face. Again, I just assumed this was normal pregnancy weight gain.

At the moment I do feel very anxious and I feel breathless when walking up stairs. Again, I have discovered this is all part of the preeclampsia.

Another factor I read about online was that women who are in high stress jobs are more likely to develop preeclampsia. I am a teacher and I was undergoing so much stress at work. I am now on maternity leave and to be honest I am looking forward to taking a year off and relaxing. I don't think I realised just how stressed I was. I am hoping that before I am due to go back that I will be pregnant again.

I just wondered whether anyone else was stressed when they developed preeclampsia?

[Kathrynwwjd]

I have now been back to the doctors and have been put on a very low dose of blood pressure tablets. I am due have a blood pressure check this week then will see the doctor again the following week. Hoping to then come off the medication.

We had our baby girl's funeral on Friday it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Still waiting for an appointment for the post-mortem results and to plan for future pregnancies.

[bsherricca]

I am so sorry for your loss. I know how you feel .......i also lost my first 5 weeks ago at 26 weeks due to PE. I came on here as i have my review this afternoon and i am not sure what to ask the doctor and i came acfross your posting .

This has easily been one of the most traumatic experiences and i have spent the better part of the last few weeks thinking i am just not going to wake up ...... during my pregnancy i never missed a doctors appointment i really really tried as i had had problems getting pregnant. I think the worst part for me is that the minute my gynae realised i may have PE (after what i realise was weeks of symptoms) he pretty much dumped me in the hospital.....by then i was diagnosed as severe PE within a week the baby died. i ended up delivering alone in the wee hours of the morning 2 days later no doctors to attend me no nurses no medication ...i pretty much almost died and thank God everyday for sparing my life . i still havent heard from my OBGYN for all he knows i am still in the hospital he dumped me in and my review this evening is with a DR recommended by a coworker who came to visit with me while i was still in hospital

Like some of the other posters i was extrmely stressed out before the PE set in due to work stress and I wonder if that had anything to do with it ..in fact today was my first day back at work and my boss was so ashamed of the pressure he put me under in the weeks before i had to be hospitalised that he didnt say a word to me all day in fact he didnt even acknowledge tha i was back at work ....

i have seen a counsellor twice in the last few weeks. if you think it might help you should find someone to talk to i found that talking to the councellor really helped me especially since friends and family mean well but just dont fully understand ....you are in my prayers

[kerisue]

bsherrica, I'm so sorry for your loss too. You're right, going through this experience of a serious medical illness, almost dying, and losing our babies is one of the most- if not THE most- traumatic thing we will ever go through. I'm sorry that you felt so abandoned by your doctor. In my case when I became as ill as you were my doc literally couldn't treat me- they were calling in the specialists immediately. Frankly, you would probably want a specialist treating you during that critical time anyway. So today was your first day back at work? So tough!! I remember hating my first day back bc I was surrounded by pregnant people and no one knew what to say to me. As for the stress issue... I recall seeing some literature tying stress in with preeclampsia, but I don't remember the specifics, nor how reliable the research was. More recently Caryn posted some good research she found showing no connection between stress and preeclampsia. If I have time later I'll try and see if I can find it.
Again I'm so sorry about what happened to you and your precious baby.

[Kathrynwwjd]

So sorry to hear of your loss.
I too have been wondering about the stress connection. I am from Uk and got in touch with a charity that specialises in pre-eclampsia. They said that stress has nothing to do with it. The pre-eclampsia is there right from when the egg attaches to the womb lining.
I am lucky I am on maternity leave as the law says 24 weeks was a viable pregnancy. I have up to a year off work. I may go back sooner but I just could not face work at the moment.
I also find it hard to look at or be around other pregnant women.
You are right people just don't know what to say. I think the worst thing I have said to me so far is someone offering me a cuddle with their baby. It's the last thing I feel like doing right now.

We are still waiting for post mortem results. All I want to do is be pregnant again it's the thought of being pregnant that's keeping me going. Although the pre-eclampsia charity said I have a 50 % of getting it again due to having it so severely. I am still waiting for an appointment to see my obs to plan for future pregnancies.
I'm now on a really low dose of blood pressure medication. I'm hoping to come off the medication this Friday.

It's great we can connect on these forums and support each other.

[kerisue]

Kathryn- up to a year off work? Wow! My employers would never have allowed that- they gave me exactly what they legally had to- 12 weeks. Like you, I very much needed that time. I couldn't have gone back to work right away. That's cool that you've gotten involved with a charity supporting preeclampsia research/advocacy. I would caution you about the 50% odds they gave you though. That kind of prediction is best coming from a doctor who can review your particular medical records and situation (and even then it's a best guess). Keep in mind too that even if you do get it again in a second pregnancy, it may present later or in a different manner so you could (hopefully!!) have a very different outcome.