Hi Panda, I had pre-e with my first pregnancy starting at 27+2, for me it was very fast to progress going from trace protein to +4 and my liver starting to fail within 5 days and having to deliver DD at 28+0, but it's very rare for this to happen. If you don't have high blood pressure issues prior to pregnancy then its likely to be slow to progress, they'll usually monitor your blood pressure and test your urine at least once a week from now on. They'll also do a growth scan every 2-4 weeks, depending on how things look on that depends on how they treat you.
It is likely you'll be put on an anti-hypertensive, labetalol is the most common first line of defense, however as you won't be on it for very long (12 weeks max) they may decide on Methyldopa. Both can have side effects, most commonly mild headaches or fatigue which tends to wear off after about a week once your body is used to them. Bed rest is prescribed if and when they feel they need a bit of a hail mary pass to buy them some time until the meds kick in, or to buy you a few more days or weeks to deliver. Medication is used before they go for bed rest, as it very literally means lying down which is hard to do all day every day, your bp rises simply by sitting up, or crossing your legs. For bed rest to be most effective you should be flat and laid on your left side.
Incidentally pre-e becomes full eclampsia only if and when you being seizing. It is very, very rare for it to progress to this stage. Most often pre-e will increase in severity over a few weeks, leading to black spots in your vision (floaters), headaches, nausea or sickness. If you feel unwell, go to the hospital, get checked out. If your bp has risen they can up your meds and get control again, but if they leave it too long it goes past the point of no return where they can't get ahead of it again. In rare cases (as with me, about 5-10% of women) pre-e doesn't affect the kidneys the hardest, but the liver. In this instance you'll get severe pain on the right side under your rib cage (put your open hand below the bottom of your bra around your ribs fingers touching the centre of your body, about where the lower two fingers are), it's like your liver sending out an sos. If you feel this kind of pain (and you cant miss it, its not a bit of a twinge, its constant and hurts like hell) go to the hospital immediately. It's rare as I say but worth mentioning as its a major warning sign your body isn't responding to treatment.
I had bp over 160/120 for 6 weeks, headaches, hallucinations, sickness, but it still took a long time before they decided to deliver, so if you do get a headache do not panic that this means they definitely are going to deliver! They want that LO to keep cooking as long as possible. However if they do need to deliver anything past 30 weeks is considered a feeder and grower, yes they'll be small, and its very scary for you, but not for the doctors and nurses, who will expect your baby to just spend a few weeks learning to eat and put on a few lbs, then go home with you to a completely normal life x
