Pre-eclampsia at 28+0 and delivery at 31 weeks??

[hopedance]

I was admitted to hospital last sunday with high blood pressure and protein in my urine, yesterday (or the day before?! the days are starting to merge now) a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia was confirmed. My consultant said she expects that we will need to have the baby delivered early - in approximately 3 weeks time in order to stop me getting extremely ill and/or dying. I will have to stay in hospital until then.

i'm 28 weeks and 2 days pregnant at the moment, i will about 31 weeks when i give birth.

i haven't been to any ante-natal classes yet, i don't know how giving birth works!

i originally wanted a home water birth with little or no intervention at all. Now that is not possible, I have to choose between being induced or having a c-section.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of being induced this early? Or has anyone else had a baby early - what are the babies like at 31 weeks? They've told me to expect him to need to be in hospital for 4-8 weeks. And has anyone had a c-section? Has anyone had pre-eclampsia diagnosed so early?

I think I just want to hear other peoples experiences, this was so sudden and unexpected, I can't even begin to understand what is happening and what is going to happen.

Also, I was wondering if anyone knew how high protein can get in a 24 hour urine collection? The doctor told me that 500mg is the highest they'd consider normal in pregnancy, mine was 2270mg, but I'm not sure if this is extremely high, or if some people get it much much higher?

 

[thrussell]

i was induced at 33 weeks with my son and he was fine hun went home the next day. dont worrie you will know what to do. all i can say is i would op to being induced it will be better for you hun good luck and let us know when you lo comes xx

 

[Christine33]

i suffered from dangerously high blood pressure when pregnant, although they could never decide if it was preeclampsia or just high BP. I was going to get induced at 34 weeks but my bp came right down after taking high bp tablets, although at around 36/37 weeks it went dangerously high again. i went into a natural labour and had a very small baby boy (just over 5ibs). he was quite sick when he was born and in the neonatal unit.

personally, looking back, i wish i had been induced at 34 weeks as i never realised how dangerous high BP is/can be when pregnant.

good luck hun. i saw lots of babies in the NNU who were below 34 weeks doing just fine,

 

[hopedance]

thanks both of you. i think it is just such a big shock. my bp is high but not terribly so, sometimes it goes up to things like 162/110, but is more often around 140/95 and so on. they say it is not high enough for bp meds though (yet). the protein in my urine seems to be climbing so fast though, it was 1+ on saturday, 2+ on sunday, and 3+ today. i'm only just starting to get vision disturbance in the last couple of days.

i'm starting to feel a bit safer knowing he is going to come out of me soon as it doesnt seem fair on him to keep him inside a body that can't provide everything he needs. it just seems so unnatural though.

 

[Christine33]

tbh i think you baby is better out of you hun. if i had had the time again i would have gotten Ali out at 34 weeks, i would have insisted. the bp tablets did very little to help. they just zonked me out and made me gain lots of weight. also, they reckon Ali had stopped growing at around 34/35 weeks anyway.

its not all gloom, now he is a bright, lively 11 month old baby! he is spot on developmentally and thriving!

if you ever want to PM please do as i have loads of experience with pregnancy induced high BP.

all the best.

 

[ClaireRJM]

Ah hun what a shock this must have been! Exciting in one way but can imagine how your worried in another. So is a high BP/Protein in urine a sign you have Pre-eclampsia, that how they knew?

 

[florabean1981]

I dont have any experience with this, but i just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you & I hope you'll be okay over the coming weeks until your baby is born, even if it is early.

 

[hopedance]

that's really good to know Christine. do you think he is equivalent to other babies born when he was born, or with babies who were born when he was due to be born?

claire - yes pretty much, if you get a positive for protein when the midwife dips your urine, then they collect all of your pee over a 24 hour period and find out exactly how many grams of protein your kidneys are letting out. plus high blood pressure, but it is only preeclampsia if you also have the protein.

thanks flora

 

[Christine33]

that's really good to know Christine. do you think he is equivalent to other babies born when he was born, or with babies who were born when he was due to be born?

in terms of size he is more like a 7 month old baby i would say. he is very petite and has never caught up well in growth. developmentally he is very much like an 11 month old baby. he can walk, crawled pretty early, sitting up very early, good eater, rarely sick. so in terms of size i would say he is behind but his physical/emotional development is defo like his age group.

when he was born he was tiny compared to all the other babies born that day.......

don't worry hun. it will be okay. like i said, i think your baby is better out of you. it is safer. Ali received fab care in the NNU and is a right little diva now

 

[Aunty E]

My nephew was born at 32 weeks and went home after two weeks - my sister had had two lots of steroids, as she'd been threatening labour for a while, and he had some problems with reflux, but he's great now.

 

[baby.love]

No advice to give hun, but lots of

 

[Tam]

I just want to wish you both well hun, I am sure things will be just fine. x

 

[Mumof42009]

Hiya

Just wanted to give you some

As you can see from my ticker ive had 2 lo's born at 32 weeks and 1 at 28wks they were in hospital around 4 weeks (32 weekers) they did have few problems but the nicu unit will give your baby all the care it needs to make them better if you ever want to chat or have any questions pm me xx

 

[AP]

Alex should be 30 weeks this week - check out her diary for recent pics - she's just simply a mini baby.

Her complications however are because she was much earlier(27+4), so dont worry!

 

[mommieofthree]

I am 31 weeks and 2 days and went to the doctor today and he put me on full bedrest. I have been on blood pressure pills since I was 16 weeks and I have been loosing weight constantly. My last visit was 3 weeks ago and i have lost 8 pounds since then. I also had to take my wedding ring off due to swelling in my hands and my feet are swelling just as bad, and I noticed the other morning when I went to the bathroom my eyes were really puffy that my eyelids werent showing no more. My blood pressure was high at my visit today so I am doing a 24 hour urine analysis and having an ultrasound in a few days to see how develop and big my baby is. But he is thinking I am preclampsia and I am hoping he doesnt take my baby early. My last baby was delivered at 37 weeks and her lungs werent ready and we spent 46 days in Childrens Hospital here. But every baby is different. My friend had her baby a week from mine and she was 25 weeks along and her baby left the hospital the same week as mine did. So just keep your head up and dont stress over this cuz stress will cause your bp to go up too and good luck!!!

 

[proudmumgoth]

Just sending you loads of hugs x

 

[tannembaum]

My bp became high from 28 weeks with dd and I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia but luckily it was kept under control with bp meds and frequent hospital trips and stays so they changed my diagnosis to hypertension in pregnancy. I was induced at 39 weeks as they didn't want me going over due as she had stopped growing. She is now an amazing little almost 14month old Who reaches all her milestons early!

I hope everything goes well for you!

 

[tannembaum]

Also if you look back through my posts to April time 2010 lol you should find a post I made about my 24hr urine collection.

Sorry I would usually find it for you but I'm on my phone!

 

[ashley2pink]

This thread is old, but looks like she is pregnant again and due in October. Hopefully she wont get pre-eclampsia this time.

 

[hopedance]

hi ladies, thanks for the new responses - it was strange to see this pop up again 2 years later!!!! My son ended up being born at 30 weeks, 3lbs4, and spent 6 weeks in hospital.. but he is a VERY gorgeous almost 2 year old now!!!!

However, I am indeed pregnant again, 29 weeks tomorrow, and expecting another preemie again due to ever increasing blood pressure.. I imagine I'll probably be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia again in the next few weeks but we're working a bit later (gestation wise) this time thank goodness.