this is gonna be a long post ladies so sorry, but i would appreciate ANY advice, honestly, i feel so lost

Well as some of you may already know, i went to the hospital on wednesday afternoon because i was having period like pains and LO wasn't moving that much.

They took me in and did my bloods, my blood pressure and my urine, my blood pressure turned out to be high, and my urine contained quite a bit of protein, but my blood results came back ok?

So they strapped me on to the monitors and listened into baby, who apparantly is very happy and said i'd have to stay a few hours and have my BP & urine re checked etc

They decided that as my blood pressure hadn't gone down and my urine still had a high protein content, they wanted to keep me in over night at least, to monitor my BP, as they think it could be pre-eclampsia developing

Thursday afternoon came and i was allowed home as my BP was not as high, (but still classed as high), my urine sample from that morning still contained protein, but they allowed me home anyway (which i was glad about)

they hooked me onto the monitors for a last time, just to make sure baby was ok before they let me go, and yep she's perfectly happy!

Anyway I had to do a 24 hour urine sample at home, which meant everytime i peed i had to collect it in a huge sample pot (what a pain in the ass)

dropped that off yesterday morning and i felt fine all day, up until last night i was lay in bed watching a DVD after resting pretty much the whole day, and i started to feel really sick, with really bad heart palpatations (sp),

it felt like my heart was beating too fast and my lungs weren't taking in enough air to cope, i was really tight chested, and i really didn't feel right at all! But LO is deffo back to her old self, wriggling away etc

i woke up at 2.30 am and went downstairs and took 2 paracetamol, which seemed to help a lot (as i fell back to sleep) i hoped that by the time morning came i'd be feeling ok again, but i woke up at 8.30 am feeling even worse

i have had headaches throughout the day (not extremely painful, but definately noticeable iykwim?), I've actually been sick once, and continued to 'feel' sick all day, the racing heart is still there, and so is the 'short of breath' feeling in my chest! My hands and feet are very badly swollen (which they have been for a few days - i put it down to the heat) and i've got a mild pain (like kind of tender feeling) through my rib area, which seems to be worse on the right? Also i've had the runs (sorry TMI) twice today, which is also rare for me!

anyway, my midwife is doing a home visit to me tomorrow, to check my BP and my urine again, so i put off going back to the hospital today as i'll be seeing her between 9 and 12 tomorrow morning, when she comes i plan on explaining all this to her too, and we'll have to see if she wants me to go back to the ward or not!

now i'd appreciate any advice on all this guys, is it pre-eclampsia? if it is what does it mean for me and my baby?

I'm terrified because i've been told by two midwives now that if it, or if my BP continues to remain high, they will probably deliver me early will my baby be ok? Will i be ok?


thanx for all your help ladies, and sorry its such along post, but i do just feel so scared and alone

What exactly were your BP readings? And how much protein did you have in your urine? 3+ and over is classed as pre-eclampsia.

It can take a while for the blood chemistry to fluctuate, but so long as it doesn't you are 'safe'. With DS1 it took 2 weeks before the blood chemistry got to dangerous levels and I was induced. I was however hospitalised in those 2 weeks to be medicated as my BP was a steady 160-180/100-115, proteinurea was 1+ - 2+.

For a start seeing as you do feel very ill you need to call the hospital as your blood chem could have gone haywire by now, causing the sickness. Please don't wait till tomorrow, they have to see you when you are ill.

What may happen is any of the following...

You go up, are kept in again over night for obs and improve by tomorrow, or sent home and told to rest.

They start you on medication such as labitalol and continue to monitor you either at hospital or at home/mw.

Your blood chem is scary and you have to be induced or em c section. You may or may not get steroids for babies lungs at this stage, usually they will as a precaution.

Expect lo to be in special care for a little bit (a day or more) as going from sudden high pressure to being born can leave them a little shell shocked and cause them to have some problems controlling their temperatures and blood sugar levels, as well as an increased risk of jaundice. They do however recover quickly, but I wanted to make you aware of it.

You are one of the ones who get a complication such as abruption, seizures....

Hence I say call them and get checked out. I've had an abruption and full blown eclampsia and it is life threatening to both you and lo. It is the mothers life who is primarily at risk with pre-eclampsia not the babies. Most babies are quite happy to go along with the higher pressure and the mother thinks everything is ok because baby is moving while her kidneys slowly start to fail.

Hope you feel better soon!!! Have I scared you too much? I'd rather scare you into going up than tell you it will be fine and you stay at home and you get worse.

I definately think you should go to labour ward get everything checked out. Pre-eclampsia really is dangerous, and you can never be too careful!! Thinking of you xxx

Get to the hospital hun please xx

Please call the labour ward and be prepared to go straight in, Ash, this is really scary and you don't need to be alone and worrying with it. Like the other ladies said, it's you not baby who's in greater danger right now... LO needs you fit and well...

thinking of you. xxxxx

you should not wait sweetie and go like the other said...
take care

I agree with the others go to the hospital hun. The thing with pre-eclampsia it can come on, or get worse SO quickly. I was induced with my first at 35 weeks due to it, so if you wanna chat pm me x

yeah go in definitely if that is the case they can control it if you're in there, i was diagnosed at 28 weeks with my daughter and held on until 39+6 to have her with medication and hospital bed rest etc. so it doesnt have to be terrible just go where they can sort you out instead of staying at home worrying about it

Firstly thank you all so much for replying guys, i really really do appreciate it!!!

i"ve just had a bath and taken 2 paracetamol, so i'm going to give it an hour then see how i feel, the hospital is literally 2 minutes from me (i only live two roads away) so if feel the same i'll go.

Star dust, no you didn't scare, me this is exactly the kind of advice i needed

they haven't written all the results in my notes, the only reading i have is from yesterdays routine midwife check up which was 140/90 (which i think she said is borderline), and this had dropped a bit since wednesday night, i couldn't tell you what my protein results were hun, as they aren't written in at all, but the midwife who took the sample said "there's a high protein content in your urine", i have no idea what "high" is tho

i'm really hoping i don't have to have LO early, as i really want her to have the BEST possible start, but if the dr's say it needs to be done, it's good to know she has a very strong chance, so thanks a million for your advice xxxx

I can only repeat what others have said, please please get yourself checked out asap. I had Pre - Eclampsia at 34 weeks with my first DD. All I knew about it was a terrible pain in the back of my neck which went away after a few mintues. I got myself to hospital and after a few days being monitered and trying to get my BP down I got rushed in for an emergency C-Section. Lauren had to be taken to SCBU for 6 weeks for montoring but she was completely fine and has grown to be a happy healthy little girl.

Please go get checked out and let us know how you get on!

Huge to you hon

xxx