High Blood Pressure Outcomes?

[laurac1988]

Hi all,
Currently 25 weeks into my first pregnancy and have been diagnosed with borderline high blood pressure.
My readings in the last two weeks have been anywhere from 135/80 to 142/96. The hospital want BP to be below 140/90, so the fact that mine keeps going above that is worrying them.
I've been told all sorts of things and given a 50% chance of developing pre eclampsia - which seems very high to me but still.
The consultant asked me to take 75mg aspirin daily from this point until just before birth int he hope of improving the outcome.
I'm absolutely terrified. I'm scared they will have to take her too early. I'm scared of placental failure and pre eclampsia and all of the other scary things that they mentioned.
I have to go to BP clinic on Wednesday, then midwife in two weeks and consultant again in four weeks. If the BP is still high, he'll start me on more aggressive meds to try and bring it down.

Has anyone had high BP this early and had a positive outcome? Ideally I would like to go as close to term as possible and keep her cooking as long as I can. I just want to keep her safe.

Please tell me your high BP stories, ladies

 

[jlw617]

I haven't personally but I have a close friend that has had high bp/pre-e with each pregnancy and she's had 5 all her babies did have to be taken early but not too early, I think her 3rd was her earliest that had to be taken at 35/36 weeks but all her babies were totally healthy and even her earliest only had to be in nicu for a few days.

 

[minties]

My blood pressure was about 145/95 for most of my pregnancy with Sophie, it had been a steady 120/60 previously with my son. No one worried about it, I wasn't medicated and no one mentioned pre-eclampsia. I just figured it was a different pregnancy so different symptoms and my midwife seemed to agree.

There were no complications for me or Sophie, I had gestational diabetes and a previous c-section so we decided to have a repeat section at 39+2. Blood pressure returned to normal about 48 hours after she was born. Sophie was a decent size at 7lbs 15.5oz

I had growth scans in late 3rd tri and there was always a healthy flow of blood from the placenta. Placenta was normal and healthy at delivery.

Best of luck!

 

[sevenofnine]

I had high BP readings starting around 30 weeks, and made it to 40+4 before I was induced for pre-eclampsia. Textbook induction, started at 4:30pm on a Tuesday and she was born at 7:20am the next day. Nothing bad happened whatsoever.

I had to be on magnesium which was annoying, but all in all things went very smoothly!

My blood pressure didn't return completely to normal until 18 months later, but I was only on meds for 6 weeks after delivery.

Now we're trying for #2! Daily stretching (for like 20-30 minutes each day) can really help with blood pressure.

 

[Cornfieldland]

Hi, I have chronic high blood pressure without being pregnant. My first I was on medication the whole time and was induced at 39wks. The second I was not on medication and induced at 37wks due to BP rising. Now I'm pregant 11yrs later and on medication. Try checking it at home, mine is always good at home and high at doctors because I get very anxious about it. That will give you a true reading. Keep a log and show it to the dr the next time you go in. Mine is between 115-130/70 at home and like 150/90 at drs.

 

[VerbingNoun]

I was induced two weeks before my due date. But my blood pressure was extremely high...like I could have just died any minute.

But otherwise I had a normal vaginal delivery. DD was born healthy.

 

[vermeil]

aww *hugs* you should be fine, it sounds like you are in good hands.

For my first I have high blood pressure the whole pregnancy - and I didn't know! It probably contributed to my having a micro preemie. My son was born very premature, weighing 1 pound. BUT he's a happy, thriving 5 year old now! Pics in my sig. The placenta didn't develop properly so the blood flow was constrained.

For my daughter we were prepared. daily heparin shots, aspirin, blood pressure medication, etc. I still have high blood pressure but it was under control. I made it easily to 37 weeks, no issues beyond that.

I think high BP could be bad in the first trimester *for the baby* as that is when the placenta is forming etc. You are way past that point.

Then I think in the 3rd trimester they actually want your BP to be a bit higher as it increases the blood flow. at least that's what I remember, they reduced my BP medications gradually as my due date approached. Of course it could be an early sign of pre-eclampsia which is bad *for the mother*, and of course must be followed closely.

The survival rate after 25-26 weeks is very good - trust me I know ALL the preemie statistics by heart

good luck!

 

[Cornfieldland]

I think you will be just fine, as long as it's monitored. They can always put you on medication if it gets to high. I don't know why they have to scare you with all the worst case scenarios, instead of just saying they would keep a eye on it.

 

[calm]

My blood pressure was always high the first reading, and no-one made anything of it, as once I rested on a bed for a few minutes it would come down. I gave birth at nearly 35 weeks, and then developed pre-enclampsia after, though I think I had it before. Monitor if you have problems peeing (that hardly any comes out), if you swell up a lot. Watch out if you see any bright lights, have bad headaches or an intense stomach ache. Any of these symptoms could mean preenclampsia. Its just something to watch out for, doesn't mean you will get it X

 

[laurac1988]

Thanks for your input and outcomes ladies

To be honest it has actually got a lot better from that point. My BP at clinic has come down a little and they've given me a new target of under 150/100, which it has never actually gone above. They started me on aspirin 75mg but apart from that it's just a case of monitoring at home. At home it is always below 140/90 and it has been recently at clinic too.

The BP clinic discharged me immediately and said they don't want to medicate at the moment as they would consider where it is at the moment to be "borderline". If it goes consistently above 150/100 they will medicate and go forward from there.

I also had a good chat with my consultant about realistic outcomes and she doesn't believe that we will actually have a problem. I was originally told that my risk of pre eclampsia was 50%, but she told me it was actually 20% and took me through exactly where that number comes from, which was appreciated.

I had an extra growth scan at 28 weeks and will be having another at 34 weeks. The consultant said the reason for that is that in some cases of high BP they see placental failure, but she also said it's usually women with much higher levels than mine. Better safe than sorry!

Basically I'm feeling a whole lot better about the situation! Urine is clear of protein, although they haven't done a 24H collection. I'm happy that I'm being monitored closely and baby is happy, so we're just running with it at the moment and see where we end up.

Bascially the first doctor I saw scared the hell out of me for no real reason!

 

[Smanderson]

I developed high bp at 30 weeks similar readings to yours, I was monitored 3 times a week at the day assessment unit at the hospital, put on labetalol and induced exactly 40 weeks. I did have protein in my urine most times though so I don't know how much this affected treatment. I was written off work from around 34 weeks and my bp settled better with the extra rest. Try and rest as much as you can. Hope all goes well

 

[Ameli]

I had similar high bp with my last pregnancy. I ended up being put on bed rest at 34 weeks and had a c-section at 38 weeks. Everything turned out just fine. It was stressful for a few weeks though, with extra testing and ultrasounds. Good luck, I hope everything is OK for you too. I am nervous that this will happen to me again this pregnancy.

 

[SCgirl]

I started experiencing high bp right around the start of the 3rd trimester. At 30 weeks I was put on bedrest because of it, and they had me go in more often to monitor it. At 31.5wks I was put in the hospital because it was high, and given steroid shots. They said I'd be lucky to make it to 32 weeks but that was the goal. After 3 days in the hospital, I was sent back home because it stayed higher end of normal and I had normal protein in urine. At 33.5 weeks I was sent back to the hospital for the same reason- a bit more protein, but not enough for pre-e. BP still around the same, so they let me go home (still on bedrest).
At 34.5 weeks, I was sent back to the hospital agian because my BP had jumped up very high- they said they were going to have to deliver that night. But it went down a bit while I was there, so thankfully they didn't. But the protein in my urine had gone up, so I had pre-e. They kept me there until inducing me at 37w.
Baby was fine, I didn't need magnesium during delivery (which is good because i had an unrelated complication and lost so much blood my bp no longer registered and almost didn't make it!)
Baby was a bit small (5.5lb) but very healthy! (a week or two after delivery I was put on BP meds... never while pregnant though- go figure)

 

[SCgirl]

oops- just realized this was from 2m ago!