Welcome to the Preeclampsia Foundation

Thinking of you and little Levi. How are you guys doing?

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry to hear you go so much sicker so quickly, but glad you and Levi are on your way to health.

Postpartum PE can get worse up to 6 weeks PP, so please continue to take care of yourself and report your bps and symptoms to your doctor.

Great news that Levi's lungs are healthy and strong, and that he's slowly figuring out this eating thing - and good luck with breastfeeding, it's more challenging with our little ones but quite a few of our members have managed it. Is there a NICU lactation consultant to help you if you need it?

Definitely prayers that Levi can come home soon!

Sorry to hear you developed HELLP, but glad to hear you were delivered safely.

I pray you and your little one will both be home together soon. Please keep us posted as you are able.

Well, I never made it to my Tuesday ultrasound and dr. appointment. I developed HELLP syndrome on Friday night. I was induced and gave birth on Saturday to a beautiful 3 pound 14 ounce baby boy. I had him out in 9 pushes. I am now on blood pressure medicine because my blood pressure readings at the hospital were still high.

I came home from the hospital today but am staying in a hotel close to the hospital. I had to fight back the tears as we were leaving at the same time as two other new moms with their babies.

Levi is doing great in the nicu. He had no problems with his lungs. The only thing wrong is he was having trouble eating. He is beginning to eat much better now and is up to 24 ml of formula or breast milk at each feeding. They have let me try to breast feed him twice and he doesn't quite know what to do yet but we are working on it. He has a feeding tube that he has pulled out once and they finally gave up on his iv. He pulled it out 4 times before the dr. said they could just leave it out.
thank you for all your advice and help. Please pray for our new family and that our baby boy will come home with us soon.

Sorry you are in that crazy stage right now. Glad your numbers are better, but don't be fooled by them. As long as the headache is present, be extra vigilant about any other symptoms that pop up and notify your doctor immediately. it could always be "nothing", but better to risk there being nothing wrong than risk you and baby's health.
Still hoping you can make it a little further!

I ended up back in the hospital again last night for a severe headache and high blood pressure again when I went to return my 24 hour test. Nothing they gave me helped my headache but my blood pressures went down again. The 24 hour test came back about the same as the first one about 329 protein count. My dr. now says they will induce after 2 weeks if I can make it that far. I have an ultrasound on Tuesday to check for his growth and another NST.

I just want this headache to go away. I have some loratabs that I've successfully avoided taking for my kidney stone (3rd one this pregnancy) and I'm really thinking about taking one. My blood pressures are great this morning and I have no dizziness or blurry vision.

Thanks. That makes me feel better and not so crazy about why they keep rising and then going lower again. No I'm not on medication as of now.

With preeclampsia BPs tend to be labile before they become, and stay, high. I could not see from your post whether you were prescribed any BP medication?

Thank you for your advice.

I ended up in the hospital this afternoon because my blood pressure went up to the mid 150s/110 (1 reading over 160). When I called my dr., they said to go in to get monitored. I had 1 high reading in the hospital then it leveled off again (140s/90s). They sent me home with another 24 hour urine test and I see my dr. tomorrow.

I don't understand how my blood pressure can fluctuate like that. All of the sudden I can be dizzy and light headed with high blood pressure but by the time I get to the hospital, its gone and they never see it.

I will definitely ask my dr. about the things you suggested.

Welcome to the forum sorry you had to find us, but glad you did.
Like the previous poster said, know the signs and symptoms and report anything you feel is out of your ordinary. No, the worrying doesn't help, BUT it actually does not affect PE in any way - so don't stress about being stressed... right?
I would ask your doctor all of these questions. Ask him/her to be upfront and honest with you about how they think things might progress.
Do you know what your BPs were before getting pregnant? or at the beginning of pregnancy? No high BPs are good, but when you bottom number goes 15-20 points over *your* normal, that is significant and concerning. For example, hypertensive (outside of pregnancy) is generally considered to be consistent 140s/90s. My normal is low - 90s/60s. So in pregnancy, my doctor won't let my BP get above 135/85 - that number is too high *for me*.
"Serious" - PE in general is serious. The only cure is delivery. It is a placenta problem, so it will not go away and will not likely stay the same. Obviously, high BPs are dangerous for anyone. With PE, we worry about it moving quickly because it is so unpredictable. Some women are diagnosed at 30 weeks and make it to 37 with little to no trouble. Some women are diagnosed at 32 weeks and must deliver immediately. There is no way to tell who will become severe and who will continue to sail through to the end unscathed. If you have a slow moving case and everything remains uneventful, I would say there is a chance you'd be allowed to go into labor on your own, BUT I am not a doc (and more importantly, not YOUR doc). Because of the unpredictability, you probably won't be allowed to go past 37 - the benefits of inducing outweigh the risks (seizures, comas, strokes, etc.). However, inducing and sections are also risky with PE patients, so you should discuss this at length with the doctor who is the expert on your case.

I hope you can sail along and not have a bit of trouble and make it to a nice ripe 37 weeks. Please lean on us for support and answers to any questions you may have!

Welcome and sorry you had to find us.

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.

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).

Are there any specific questions I should be asking my doctor? I see her tomorrow morning.

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.

How bad are blood pressures consistently ranging in the 140s/90s?

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. )

I believe those blood pressures aren't very serious but at what point does it become serious?

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. )

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?

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.