Preeclampsia? Any had it?

[cats7494]

Has anyone here had preeclampsia? What did the dr. do for you and what did you have to do?

Thanks!

 

[justhat]

A friend of mine had it with her 2nd pregnancy. I am only mentioning this as she's a huge advocate on educating expectant moms on it now, but I really don't think this is the normal scenario at all. Her dr ended up admitting her ot the hospital at 24 weeks and she delivered less than a week later because her pressue was so dangerously high. She had some other problems going on with her pregnancy too, so all combined they were too much for the baby and she only lived 2 days. They didn't know she had preeclampsia though until she was hospitalized. It was Christmas day last year and she thought she was having stomach pain from eating something bad for Christmas, but it turned out to be premature labor. She went from totally normal to very, very sick in a matter of hours so she really wants to spread the word to women so they can prevent the tragedy that she had.

 

[cats7494]

That is so very sad - but how brave and good of your friend to share her story to try to educate other women!

I am going in this morning for a dr. appointment - I have no idea if I have it..but I have a few of the symptoms and know to have it checked out quickly!

 

[mickeyboat]

My best friend from college had preeclampsia which was managed well throughout her PG, but became dangerous towards the end. She ended up having an emergency c-section, and had enough trouble and trauma that she has decided she will not have any more kids.

Denae

 

[kbkids]

Had an extreme form of it with both my pregnancies (HELLP syndrome). It is very dangerous. With mine, I didn't get any of the symptoms, so they really didn't know what was wrong with me until they ran some blood work. Doctor told me I was weird bird.

Anyway, both of my kids were delivered at 32 weeks - the first one by emergency c-section (that was when they figured out almost too late what was wrong), and the second by c-section with epidural. With my first, I was in the hospital at 29 weeks until they delivered my baby. With the second, I went on bed rest at 16 weeks (that's when levels first started showing elevated). With him, I went in the hospital every weekend starting at 28 weeks and then came home during the week - still had to go see my doctor every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He made me go in the hospital on the weekends because he didn't feel safe going more than 48 hours without seeing me. That was a REALLY LONG pregnancy!!


When second child was born, doctor told me I was done!! Had to say, I agreed!!

 

[kbkids]

My best friend from college had preeclampsia which was managed well throughout her PG, but became dangerous towards the end. She ended up having an emergency c-section, and had enough trouble and trauma that she has decided she will not have any more kids.

Denae

I can relate - took me quite a while to convince DH that I wanted a second child.

 

[jel0511]

I had preeclampsia with my first pregnancy. My first symptom was excessive swelling. When I was disgnosed, I was immediately put on bed rest and was monitored from home. Once it got out of control, at 37 weeks, I was immedately put in the hopsital for an emergency c-section. I was first diagnosted at 31 weeks. My second pregnancy was uneventful.

 

[kbkids]

Oh, and Magnesium drip - UGH!!! Avoid it if you can - it's awful!! But, it does lessen the likelihood of a stroke. It just makes you sooooo sleepy. I couldn't see clearly - had to close one eye and look like Popeye every time I looked at somebody. They wouldn't give me anything to eat. Went three days with NOTHING!! No food, no water, just IV fluid. I was not a very nice person!!

 

[cats7494]

Were there any symptoms that any of you noticed?

 

[kbkids]

The only thing with me that triggered that something was wrong was inactivity of the baby. But again, he said I was a weird bird! Typically, it's swelling, increase in blood pressure, blurry vision, sometimes back pain. I wouldn't worry too much until you see the doctor though and see what he says.

 

[kbkids]

Check here - more info than you could ever want!!

http://www.preeclampsia.org/FAQ.asp


or here

http://www.preeclampsia.org/symptoms.asp

 

[ZachnElli]

I had it with my first. I didn't have it really bad though. I didn't need to be hospitalized or anything. I was officially diagnosed at 35 weeks, but had been swelling for a good 6 weeks before. I went into labor on my own right at 37 weeks, but if I hadn't, my doctor would have done something a few days later. Good luck!

 

[CharityLynn]

My first symptom was the swelling like someone else mentioned. I had the sweling from my 5th month on, I never had protein in my urine or high blood pressure, at least not until the day I had my son. I was suffering from a really bad headache (another sign) and finally after 2 days I called and went in. I walked up two flights od stairs, they checked my blood pressure, it was a bit high. Then I sat there for a while and mt blood pressure steadily climbed. They say 150 is pretty bad I got up tp 220 which is when you can go into seizures. needless to say they took my son 5 weeks early, my preeclampsia was only harmful to me, my son was doing fine with it. But he did have the problems that most premies have.

I guess I'd have to say swelling is your first clue (which doesn't guarantee it will progress to eclampsia) just keep an eye out on headaches and other signs of high blood pressure

 

[Rex Rules]

The pregnancy went well for me. Had early labor at 25 weeks - embryiotic (sp?) fluid was leaking. Stayed in the hospital for a few days and went home to complete bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. My pre-eclampsia happened during labor and my blood pressure (which had been normal and low during the rest of the pregnancy) shot up dangerously high. Scared DH really badly. He only wanted one child to begin with, but this pretty much sealed the deal for him. I had swelling in my feet and legs for several weeks after delivering. By the way, delivered at 30 weeks and DD was perfect and has been healthy as a horse her entire life. I don't remember all the details. Funny, my grandmother told me that the memory of the hard stuff would fade and it has.

 

[cats7494]

Thank you all for your stories and answers..I appreciate them very much! kbkids, thank you for the links!

I am going now for my dr. appointment - I called this morning to tell them of my symptoms and they asked me to come in now...so I am off to the dr.

Wish me luck! Thank you all!

 

[kbkids]

Just wanted to add that both of my kids are completely healthy as well - no ill effects at all.

First child had to stay in NICU for six weeks - not because anything was wrong, just took her that long to get to the required 4 pounds she had to be to come home - started off at 1 lb 13 oz.

Second child was only in there for 10 days. He came out bigger (3 1/2 pounds), but was in much better shape from the start because I had been on bed rest for so long.

He caught up growth wise by his one-year birthday, took DD until her four-year-old birthday to even be on the growth charts. But now, at 8, she's still on the slim side, but actually quite tall. DS, now 4, is one of the taller kids in his class.

 

[lindalinda]

I had it twice. I am sorry to say on the first time it caused the placenta to break away from the uterus and I had a late term miscarriage. On the second one I had to basically go to the Dr. every 3 days and have my blood pressure checked. The same thing happened with the placenta tearing but I was rushed to the hospital and they said basically , He's hanging on. I then had to have lots of time on my back to keep the blood pressure stable. I am mentioning the placenta tearing because it is very scary.....lots and lots of blood involved in this, but like I said, it doesnt mean it wont turn out ok. I ended up having my son 1 month early, and he was perfectly healthy. Take care of yourself and dont feel guilty about putting your feet up and resting all that you possibly can.

 

[Disney_1derland]

Has anyone here had preeclampsia? What did the dr. do for you and what did you have to do?

Thanks!

I had late onset pre-E with my first pregnancy. I was immediately hospitalized for observation and stayed for 2 days, at that point they sent me home on strict bedrest. One week later I had an emergency induction and had to be put on Mag Sulfate for 3 days during and after delivery. The Mag can make you very ill but it does help to keep the blood pressure down. Most times pre-E will start around 30 weeks, sometimes earlier, sometimes later and most of the time it's bedrest and sometimes hospitalization and usually you would be induced early because the only cure is birth. They will often give the baby steroids to help develop the lungs to prepare for early delivery.

 

[justhat]

I had it twice. I am sorry to say on the first time it caused the placenta to break away from the uterus and I had a late term miscarriage. On the second one I had to basically go to the Dr. every 3 days and have my blood pressure checked. The same thing happened with the placenta tearing but I was rushed to the hospital and they said basically , He's hanging on. I then had to have lots of time on my back to keep the blood pressure stable. I am mentioning the placenta tearing because it is very scary.....lots and lots of blood involved in this, but like I said, it doesnt mean it wont turn out ok. I ended up having my son 1 month early, and he was perfectly healthy. Take care of yourself and dont feel guilty about putting your feet up and resting all that you possibly can.

That also happened to my friend. They didn't know her placenta was detaching from her uterine wall until she was hospitalized and they did an ultrasound and saw it. Hers was bleeding right by the umbilical cord, and probably had been for weeks but they didn't know it. Also, she and the baby had different Rh factors, so when the placenta detached the blood mixed and her body was attacking the baby.

Cats7494, good luck at the dr's today. Hopefully you don't have anything to worry about, but either way at least you'll be under careful supervision for the rest of the pregnancy.

 

[m&m's mom]

I had started to have it on my 2nd pregnancy at 34 weeks but went into labor normally the next day so it was never too big an issue.
I was also going to say that if you are at least 29 weeks as on your signature you should be fine either way.
Unless there are other issues w/ your baby, a 29 weeker would have about an 90% chance of survival and should not have many, or any, lasting effects.
My 1st DD was a 24 weeker at 1lb 5ozs and she is a very tall, straight A 9 YO now.
Good Luck!