# PREECLAMSIA, Gestational / Pregnancy induced Hypertension, High Blood Pressure



## Betheney

Hi girls

It's a bit of a long one so i don't mind if none of you can be effed reading it all. lol

I don't have chronic hypertension and have no history in my family or myself of any blood pressure problems and had no BP problems in my first pregnancy but i have strangely developed gestational hypertension now in my second.

At a routine check up at 28+6 my doctor found my BP staying around 130/90-95 he tried to get it down by having me relax on a bed and rest but nothing worked. 4 days later it was constantly 140-150/95-105 so he sent me to hospital for monitoring who over the course of 3 hours couldn't get it below 140-150/100-110 so i was started on 100mg of labetalol and kept over night. 12 hours later they had done nothing so i was upped to 200mg told to take it twice a day and was kept in for another night after about 6 hours my BP started to stay around 140/90-95 and i was told it would come down a little more in the next 24 hours.

The doctor who came around in the morning was lovely and within 5 minutes had told me i am now to attend a fetal monitoring unit at one of the bigger hospitals in Melbourne that is 45 minutes away TWICE a week. At both of the check ups i will receive a CTG monitoring of the baby (similar to NST), blood pressure checks over the course of the appt (about 1-2 hours), an ultrasound on the placenta and how it is functioning, an ultrasound on the umbilical cord and blood flow and also a check of my fluid levels. On top of this she said i'm going to be discharged from my GP OBs care straight away and be moved to the high risk unit at another hospital and have ONCE weekly check ups which will just be like a normal pregnancy check ups including urine tests at every single one. I will also be receiving a growth scan ONCE per fortnight. I also THINK i'm getting ONCE per week blood tests although that one i can't be entirely sure.

now i had my very first check up at the hospital the other day and the CTG and BP checks and scans all went really well. My BP was about 135/82 and 132/85 so great numbers.

Now i'm unsure if i'm in denial or not... but... i can't help but feel it's unnecessary for me to be on such an intense amount of monitoring. I mean as long as my BP stays in the 80s the doctor told me there should be no reason at all for my placenta to stop working. So why not just give me 3 check ups per week on my blood pressure and IF it starts to rise then check my placenta and other organs. I mean there seems to be women that have much worse circumstances than i do and are on alot less monitoring than i am. I am not complaining and do not mind all the extra travel and of course i feel that it's better safe than sorry. I just feel it's a bit unnecessary. Like i said... maybe i'm in denial. But i can't help but think i'm going to be one of the women who had high blood pressure became medicated had their BP stay stable and carried on with no problems and deliver as per normal.

My other concerns is also about what will happen from here on out if my BP DOESN'T stay stable and my chances of PE and so forth. I'm trying to find posts with women in similar situations and i can't find much. I mean most posts i find about gestational hypertension are all women who develop it past 36 weeks and so the discussions are all about being induced and delivery. Not many women are medicated or having the monitoring i am because they're further along. All the posts about chronic hypertension are about women who have had long struggles with BP and have been under monitoring since the beginning of pregnancy and are alot more dangerous than i am and i feel by trying to join in their conversations i'm going to look a bit silly as like i said i wonder if mine is really that serious at all.

I don't seem to fit... anywhere...


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## Jakkiw2

Hi, 

I thought I would respond to your post. My first pregnancy from 32 weeks my BP sky rocketed. Having a history of unstable bp ( goes high then settles) that doctors wouldnt medicate - i think contributed to my BP going to PIH then PE.

I ended up on Labetolol from 32 weeks , it got doubled and then trippeled to the extent I got started at 37 weeks . I had twice weekly blood tests and BP measurements and placenta checks, growth checks because when PE strikes it can come on so quickly and so badly they just dont take the chance.

My BP would settle then it would climb again hence why they kept such a close eye on me... hence how they were able to up my dose of labetolol accordingly..

Thats why they are keeping such a close eye on you because although your BP may have settled, it may start to climb to dangerous levels.... ( i dont wont to scare you xx)


Unfortunately for me after Gregor was born my BP soared even Higher 175/135.. I ended up with PE that didnt get better straight after the wee man was born...

Now my BP is being tested once a week just to ensure it doesnt get out of control again... luckly its the lowest its ever been yesterday - I was 105/72 .

I hope that you keep well for the rest of your pregnancy and remember stressing can cause anxiety and that puts BP up too xx


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## Betheney

Thanks so much for getting back to me! 

It's driving me nuts not knowing if my dose will keep my BP low and happy for the next 10 weeks or if it'll constantly need adjusting like yours did.

Do you remember how long the labetalol would work for before having your BP jump and needing more?

What gestation did your PE set in? Did they induce right away?

So glad to hear your BP is behaving itself, I hope it continues to behave itself for a long time yet!!!!

Thanks again for replying. I just want someone who knows a bit about it all to talk to. Lol

<3


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## Jakkiw2

It would normally work for about a week and a half, but im quite a anxious wee thing so my bp would jump knowing it was being taken and take ages to settle... that probably didnt help the PIH.. This time round im trying to be as laid back as possible as I know the more relaxed i am the less chance of the bp going high and staying high which will help to buy me time..

I remember going to my twice weekly check up at 37 weeks and by this time I had extremely bad swelling.. I couldnt even fasten my trainers my legs arms face had ballooned bp was 150/110 even on the high dose of labetolol so the doctors decided enough was enough... Im assuming thats when PE kicked in. I got admitted next day and started right away.

I do believe that if they had started me at 36 weeks the PE wouldnt have been so hard to treat after the birth.. I ended up on meds, ace inhibitors etc for about 6 months after the birth.

I will be striking up a course of action with my doc for this baby... If I show signs of unsettled bp on medication, me and baby will take our chances at 36 weeks ... That way I know I and baby will have a chance.

Just try and stay calm about it, I realise now that not being calm was my downfall and most certainly didnt help. Ask the docs about their plan of action to give you some piece of mind... Trust me they have you on a short leash, you will be well looked after xxxx


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## Betheney

I hope your pregnancy this time is much less stressfull than last time!! You'll have to keep me updated with how you get on as time progresses.

I TRY not to stress about PE because it's completely unpreventable. Two doctors told me no matter how medicated i am, it wont prevent PE, if i'm going to get it then i'm going to get it.

I had really bad chest pains this morning and now on PE watch i don't know what's a digestive issue and what's not. lol. So i went to my local chemist and tested my BP and it was 130/84. Then i noticed the pain had gone and hasn't returned since so i'm sure it was just a digestive thing.


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## reebee1979

Hey Bethany.. you made it further than me... I had pregnancy induced hypertension from 22 weeks!!!! Had twice weekly checkups from 22-28 weeks on 3x 100mg Labetalol per day.. at 28 weeks was so stable my visits were spread back to 2 weekly.. was admitted at 35.5 weeks for fluctuating bp, not all that high just unpredictable, and liver function tests (only done screening for pre eclampsia) started showing odd changes. Was induced at 36.4 weeks and had healthy little little little girl lol.. bp back to normal immediately, as were liver n bloods. 

I too did research n panicked at early onset bp, but as my midwives reassured me, its probably 'less' pregnancy induced that early on..

Hope this helps...


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## Betheney

Oh that does help thank you so much!!!

I kind of convinced myself that I'm going to be fine and my BP is going to stay stable until at least 36 weeks. I've just really convinced myself that I'm going to be perfectly fine.

So would you believe I'm at another BP check up today and despite my BP being perfect and everything relating to BP being perfect including fluid levels, placental function and cord flow. The babies heart rate drops every time I have a Braxton hicks and they've now administered me with steroids in case things don't improve tomorrow.

Here I thought my BP was always going to be my downfall.


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## reebee1979

Ouchy... don't those steroid injections hurt!!!! Fingers crossed you keep going hun, I'm sure all will b ok..r u still on labetelol? Only side effect i found post birth was no milk..at all lol. But with bub safely in my arms, it seemed a necessary evil... hope ur well x


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## Betheney

Oh my god do they effing hurt!!!!!!

I told the MW I'm told they can hurt and she said no more than a normal injection, I said that's good I've had pethadine, maxalon and the injection to help expel the placenta and I don't recall any of them hurting.

But boy oh boy did it hurt. When she jabbed me I was like "oh my god it hurts.... I'm sorry I'm complaining..... oh my god hurry up.... oh I'm so sorry I'm whinging.... oh make it stop" and she kept saying "just wiggle your toes" and I'm like "THAT'S NOT HELPING!!!" even the pain in my thigh for the 20minutes following was terrible.

When did you get the injections????? Far from delivery?????

Labetalol affecting my milk has me massively concerned..... :-( breastfeeding my daughter meant a lot to mean and she only weaned recently. If I cant have that this time around.....


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## reebee1979

I had my injections the night before and morning of being induced.. and thqt tingly burn still haunts me lol...ouch..

They say labetelol shouldn't effect breast feeding, but i see no other answer to zero milk.. bub was on n happy but still nothing. Lactation specialist said it was the bp pills but docs refused to acknowledge link.. but had milk arrived, the labeteol is safe, which is good to know...see how u go, maybe totally different, and i was on a higher dose than you i think.. ur previous bf experience will help u too!!


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## Betheney

Oh I thought they only gave injections pre 34 weeks.

I don't know why I thought that.... I'm trying to pretend even tho I've had the steroids I'm still not delivering for 10 weeks. I keep thinking it's an over reacting, worse case scenario precaution. I haven't called any family to tell them I'm in hospital I'm convinced I'll be fine tomorrow and they'll send me home


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## reebee1979

How's it going hun... R u still in hospital??


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## Betheney

It took nearly all day to get baby to stop having decels during the Braxton hicks and it also took a long time to even get my Braxton hicks to kinda stop.

So overnight I stayed but the second day had fantastic traces with baby and baby looked happy and healthy on the monitors so after my second steroid shot I was allowed to go home.

Yaaaay 

So I'm told baby was probably sitting its fat bum on the cord and it just took that long to shift bubba.


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## A_K_and_K

Wanted to stop in and say hi.

My doctor is being induction-happy and insisting on an induction in a few days based off of ONE high blood pressure reading this past Wednesday. 

We are refusing the induction because all my blood work is normal, no protein in urine, fetal assessment monitored baby and she is 100% fine!, her heart rate is great, and she's practice breathing/moving/etc. I have no symptoms of high blood pressure (pre eclampsia such as seeing spots, headaches, etc), and I have told the hospital I have White Coat Syndrome (my BP goes high around hospitals and doctors). 

The hospital and doctor are NOT impressed we are refusing induction. I am very pro natural birth and no interventions, and as long as baby is fine as per fetal assessments, and my BP doesn't go insane (it was about something /94 last time)...we will let baby cook as long as she needs.

I am just getting harassed and given scare tactics by the doctors. It's really frustrating.


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## Betheney

what a silly bunch of doctors, high blood pressure on it's own can cause problems and dangers, but if you've had fetal monitoring then they will see those dangers such as reduced blood flow to the umbilical cord or reduced fluid aren't a problem as of yet making an induction incredibly silly. Not to mention you shouldn't really be diagnosed with high BP unless you've had so many high BP readings over a certain amount of time and a few days apart.


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## Betheney

MY fetal monitoring check up today

Friday fetal monitoring appt.

CTG - went perfect, probably took about an hour but everyone was happy
SD ratio (umbilical flow) - 2.4 or 2.7 (i can't remember) but that's good.
AFI (fluid levels) - i think it was about a 12 which is again good.

BP readings - One was a little higher than normal 135/85 and 140/95 
Urine protein - +1 First time i've had any protein show
*Sent me to my delivery hospital as they are my primary care to review if my meds needs adjusting as i'm showing protein AND slightly elevated levels*

BP readings at 2nd hospital (roughly) - 140/90, 135/85, 145/95 
PCR Urine test - Fine
Blood tests - Fine
*Doc Happy to continue on my current dosage until next week at least to see if my BP get's any worse as they're more borderline bad and my next appt is only on Tuesday*


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## Jakkiw2

Hiya.. Just checking in to see how you are getting on !

I think some of those readings are anxiety based ... If your BP was genuinely high... all your readings would be high ...

Ask if they could give you a relaxant (if at all possible) about an hour before readings to see if that does the trick ... 

I recognise these fluctuating readings as ones i had and I put quite a few down to being anxious.. I.e aww i hope this readings low... dont want it to be high... OMG if its high am I pre eclamptic blah blah blah ... If you recognise this mental pattern then maybe let your consultant know ..


hope your keeping well other wise x


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## A_K_and_K

Checking back in with an update.

We were offered the chance to speak with a different doctor on Friday morning, and went in to discuss. 

It was a very frustrating, battle-worthy process, but after about an hour of asking questions, demanding answers, and statistics, the doctor finally admitted that twice weekly fetal monitoring was an absolutely fine alternative to an induction. Why that would not be offered FIRST, and induction SECOND, is beyond me and makes me really pissed.

An extra mural nurse came to my home on Friday afternoon to take my blood pressure to see if it was normal at home (as opposed to hospital). Well, it was! It was 140/84!

We are going for fetal monitoring tomorrow morning, but I think I may wait until Tuesday when the nurse comes back to my home to take the BP, as opposed to tomorrow in the hospital where it will be undoubtedly high.

I am due today, but not expecting baby any time soon. 

I'll keep you guys updated...


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## A_K_and_K

Hi ladies,

Just wanted to update.

We went for the fetal assessment this morning, and baby was AWESOME. She was active, practice breathing, LOTS of amniotic fluid (I think it was at 14 or 16), she was turning her head and kicking like crazy...heartrate was excellent and as for me, no protein in my urine.

I initially refused to have my blood pressure taken. I told them they knew it would be high. However, they pretty much begged me, I made sure they noted that it was expected to be high, and it was... I think 142/98 or something.

The extra mural nurse is going to be coming to my house tomorrow to take my blood pressure here, so I know it will be lower, if not in normal range, here at home.

Otherwise, the doctor told me I didn't need to come back in for another fetal assessment until November 12th (next Tuesday). Funny how she went from demanding an induction, to wanting biweekly fetal assessments, to now saying that we can wait a week for the next one........ interesting....

So that's my update for that!! I will keep you all posted :)


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## Betheney

glad to hear all is well!!!!

So after my last fetal monitoring post on Friday i had another fetal monitoring appt today, after all day friday having high readings and on Sunday i had a wicked headache which was accompanied by visual disturbances i expected today to show continued high BP readings and today my meds would be changed.

But this morning i woke up and for the first time in ages i felt pretty good!! my hands didn't tingle or hurt, i didnt' have a headache and i felt pretty good. So i felt like today my BP was going to be good. Sure enough i arrived at the hospital and it was something like 135/76!!!!!! i haven't had any below 80 since i started the medication. 

So needless to say i was pretty darn happy.

The midwife said the terrible symptoms on Sunday could of been put down to the incredibly warm weather, alot of womens BPs play up in that weather. She was also happy to say that Fridays high readings were probably down to the fact i THINK i forgot a tablet on thursday morning. Because now we're back to being on great levels again :)


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## A_K_and_K

Right on Betheney! That's great news :D


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## bumpsmum

Just read thru your thread and glad to read your bp has settled again, I have had PE twice now desulting in delivery at 30 and 33 weeks and am preg again, both times was not given labetalol til AFTER delivery, had my first midwife appt today at 7 weeks (ish) and bp was 120/90 she was not happy with my diastolic pressure as its so early so being seen next week at early pregnancy for full bloods and scan I've already asked for low dose baby aprin as a few folk on here had it and it did help hopefully in the later stages I get labetalol as a semi-precaution as my bp is the last to shoot up my bloods and severe swelling were first in both pregnancies, already very nervous with this pregnancy :( xx


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## lucy_x

Managed to keep mine settled with Asprin until i had my 28 week appt :(. Was 196/110 :(

They said had i been futher along i would have been induced there and then, but instead iv been put on the devils spawn (Labetalol) which gives me cracking headache, shakyness and makes me very weepy :( - frankly i wish i had been 37 weeks, i don't want to stand another 9 weeks of this. To make matters worse i failed the GTT too. Fantastic.

Oh well, BP is down to 126/73 (lowest its ever been in my life) but im not happy. :(


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## Betheney

Bumps mum - your BP is so high so early!! You must be stressed. Fingers crossed that you don't develop Preeclampsia again... I have seen lots of mummies have it in some pregnancies and not others.

Lucy - we sound exactly the same. Shot up to terrible heights at 28weeks (well I was 29). Put on labetalol and now it's controlled well. just like you so many doctors said "if you were further along we would just deliver". Did you have problems with your first pregnancy? I didn't... everyone thinks it's crazy that I have BP problems for the first time in a second pregnancy with the same father. Sorry about the GTT :(


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## Betheney

Went in for regular fetal monitoring. BP was crazy high got up to 160/110 but ranged from about 140/100 - 150/110 the whole time i was there and refused to come down over like 5 hours. Did a urine test and *drum roll* preeclampsia..... kept me in over night to review my meds. I'm now on labetalol 4 times daily.


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## bumpsmum

Ohhhhh no are you still in hospital?

Hopefully the med changes keep little bean in a bit longer.

I had a follow up with practice nurse and pleased to say my bp down to 126/76 so very happy with that xx


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## Betheney

They tried to keep me in for two nights and I burst into tears because I just wanted to go home so they compromised and if I had good BPs up until 7pm I could go home. So I got to go home!


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## nov_mum

Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I BF three babies on labetalol and I don't have an over abundant supply either. I didn't find it overly effected my supply and it took me weeks to reduced my dose post partum. In my second pregnancy I didn't start labetalol until a week pp too so I don't think it effected it for me. I hope your pregnancy goes well.


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## bumpsmum

Glad to hear your home, if it helps any my first wee boy came at 33+4 was a good weight for his gestation, was only in SCBU for 17 days and would have been home sooner but took a bit to establish BF xx


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## MommaDucky

I got sent to L&D this past thursday for high BP, at one point I was at 170/120. Got admitted and did the 24hr urine which thankfully came back negative. My resting BP is around 130-140/90-100. Because my resting BP is high but not dangerously high and baby is doing well they didn't put me on any meds, but I am on bed rest now. Heading into the doc on Wed. I'm hoping they will deliver him sooner, My head kills all the time, bed rest bites esp with an almost 3 yr old running around.


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## Betheney

Hiiiiii

My yellow bump turned blue on 21-11-12 our little man Remi was born 1.9kgs (4lbs 3oz) at 33+5 we didn't have another growth scan booked until 34 weeks but my blood pressure from my preeclampsia was being incredibly uncontrollable and the hospital decided enough was enough. I was told I was unfavorable for induction as cervix was posterior, high, 2cm long and closed. So was given Cervadil at 5pm and told I would have my membranes ruptured in the morning and started on the drip. My body and baby had other ideas and he was born at 3:46am very quickly and suddenly. He was breathing straight away but because I was actually still in the maternity ward not a birth suite there was no oxygen tap in the room and he was quickly ran next door to a birth suite with an oxygen tap. But he's doing so well since. I'm so proud and just in love!!!

https://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/254815_10151331507109468_1304949237_n.jpg


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## nov_mum

He is just gorgeous! Congratulations and I hope your PE is resolving.


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## bumpsmum

He is adorable Hun xx


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## saffy1984

Congratulations hun, what a cute baby! Seems a good weight for his gestation too. I have been reading this thread to see how you were getting on, glad it has turned out so well xxx


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## Torres

He's beautiful! And what a good weight too! Congrats Mama! Are you both at home now? Have your pressures gone back to normal?


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