Re: new here..just diagnosed and now worried
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 639570 4:50 pm
Thinking of you and little Levi. How are you guys doing?
https://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/
https://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=45008
The best thing to do is keep an eye out for symptoms or symptoms getting worse. Swelling getting worse (tough to judge right now), headaches that don't go away with tylenol, upper right quadrant pain, nausea, seeing spots, feeling "off" all warrant a doctor call/visit if not a trip to L&D...I would monitor your bp at home a couple times a day and do regular 24 hour urine tests (weekly or every 2 weeks).Is there any way to tell when and if things will go bad? I'm very worried now which probably doesn't help my blood pressure.
I would want to know what numbers to call about, why they won't induce you at 37 weeks (the current rec for best outcomes for mom and baby) as per the HYPITAT study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19656558for even mild preeclampsia or hypertension, if steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs are still an option (often after 32 weeks they don't give them, but it may be worth asking about since some doctors will), I would ask for NST's at least twice weekly and monitoring of baby's growth, along with regular 24 hour urine testing if they don't already plan to do all of that.Are there any specific questions I should be asking my doctor? I see her tomorrow morning.
I am not a doctor or medical professional in any way, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I am a big believer in it depending on what is normal for you. If your blood pressures earlier in the pregnancy were normally 100/50's, 140/90 is a pretty huge jump. If they were normally 120 or 130/ 70's-80's, 140/90 isn't ideal, but it's not crazy high. (This is why you should ask your doctor at what numbers do they want you to call. )How bad are blood pressures consistently ranging in the 140s/90s?
Unfortunately, preeclampsia is very unpredictable. Your blood pressure can go high very quickly, it can stay the same for a long time, or things can get bad even without your blood pressure not necessarily getting much higher. (In my case I developed severe preeclampsia/HELLP without pressures that were very high at all...like most of them under 140/90. My other symptoms got much worse, though. )I believe those blood pressures aren't very serious but at what point does it become serious?
It doesn't go away until after delivery, but it sometimes stays mild for a long time. The average timeframe from diagnosis to delivery is 2 weeks, factoring in people who limp along for months with it, and people who end up delivering the same day they are diagnosed. The study I referred to earlier found that the best maternal and fetal outcomes are delivery after 36 weeks outweighs the benefits of waiting longer. I have a friend who just was induced with only cervadil and managed to go without an epidural, so induction does not necessarily mean you will have to have an epidural or anything. That's not to say that you can't go longer, but preeclampsia can get ugly quickly, so the longer you stay pregnant with it, the longer that risk is present.Can pre-eclampsia go away or stay the same for the rest of my pregnancy and I can deliver naturally without being induced if that happens?