It has been a long weekend. Thursday, I went to my normal doctor's visit and my blood pressure was really high (132/92). My doctor immediately put me on bed rest, diagnosed me with Pre-Eclampsia and sent me over to the hospital to get checked out. Once I got there, my blood pressure was back to normal and the baby sounded really good (after being monitored for 2 1/2 hours). They did find a trace of protein in my urine though. So I took Friday off from work and the doctor wanted to see me again. Friday, my check-up was good, but I still had to do a 24 hr. urine collection. I dropped that off on Saturday. The doc also ordered me to do 2 stress tests a week and to see him once a week instead of twice a week. I went and did my stress test yesterday and everything looked great. I see the doctor tomorrow and hopefully everything still looks good. I had a four day weekend (Memorial weekend) off from work, so hopefully that time off did me and the baby some good. I got permission from my doctor to come back to work today, I'm trying really hard not to get stressed out.

I hope that I don't have to be on bed rest this early because we really can't afford it. I only get 6 weeks maternity leave (paid), the rest of the time I can use is FMLA and it's not paid but it guarantee's my job back. I just want the baby to be healthy and I will do what the doctor says. I am just confused as to why my blood pressure was so high one minute and the past two check ups have been good. I'm scared to even clean around the house (even if I do little bits at a time). I guess only time will tell. My stomach has been cramping a little bit today, but other than that, I feel fine. I'm just scared and hope that everything will be fine and I can carry him to term rather than too early. I'm actually 33 weeks instead of 34 weeks (they told me at 20 weeks I could be a week early) so that is why my ticker says 34 weeks.

Aww hun at least you are getting monitored now even though it does seem up and down.

Try not to get stressed (easier said than done i know) and make sure work gives you extra breaks etc and put your feet up. Try some relaxing techniques too.


Im constantly eating red grapes.....i heard somewhere on the grapevine(sorry crap joke) that they lower BP. Not sure how true this is as i never looked into it properly.
Really hope you will be ok

It's good that your doctor is keeping such a close eye on you. Have you told your work about it? They may be able to help reduce your work load/stress level.

Thinking of you

ah thinking of u hun and just try and take things easy xx

http://www.usaweekend.com/food/carpe..._eatsmart.html
There is that to look at and if you google red grapes and lower blood pressure lots come up.

Might be good to try to check some of those foods out to doubly help you

Thank you all for thinking of me.

Sonny- I've actually been trying to eat red grapes, thanks for the info. I'll look it over as soon as I get a chance, I'm at work right now and really swamped.

Vickie- Everyone knows about my situation, but that doesn't seem to phase anyone around here. I still have the same work load and actually now I'm trying to catch up on Friday's work since I couldn't come in and this is like a Monday since yesterday was a holiday. I am just swamped, but I'm trying not to get stressed because I can only do one thing at a time and they will have to understand that. Everyone just keeps asking me how I feel and tell me to take it easy, which is good.

I'm so sorry to hear that I posted this somewhere before, but I'm sure it's gotten lost now. But I was diagnosed with PE the last month of my first pregnancy. So here is my unsolicited advice:

1) Check out this website. He believes a lot of pre-eclampsia is diet based- it is more likely to occur if you are not eating healthfuly. I will say, with my first, when I followed his diet, all my numbers (bp and protein) came down, and when I would fall off the wagon they would all skyrocket again. I know- you can't really tell anything from one person, but I figure there is no harm in following it so if there is even a chance it will work, I'm doing it. Here you go: http://www.blueribbonbaby.org/ .

2) Eat lots of nutritious foods. When I'm pg I crave lots of foods that are bad for me, so I let myself eat those, but I make sure to eat lots of nutritious foods on top of it (which means I tend to gain a bit more weight). Vitamins/nutrients from food are MUCH better than from the prenatal vitamin. So eat lots of fruits and veggies.

3) Watch your salt. You don't have to eliminate it, just make sure you are staying in the lower range of normal amounts.

4) Exercise, exercise- at least as much as you feel safe doing. If you are stressed, this will help relieve that. But also, exercise will help your cardiovascular system become stronger, which will decrease your bp.

5) Drink tons of water- I drink between 80-100oz, even though I HATE water. The more water in your system, the easier the blood flows through your system, which will decrease the bp. If you notice you are swelling more than a little (which is normal, but excessive swelling increases your bp), drinking lots of water will help, as will swimming or taking a bath.

6) Learn how to meditate or do a relaxation exercise and do this several times a day- it will help your system tune down a little.

I hope this helps. I was so frustrated and worried when I was diagnosed the first time, so I feel for you. And it seemed like the docs just scared the crap out of me talking about how if gets too bad I could have seizures. I will tell you this, and this just depends on your comfort level, I rarely followed my docs orders to be on bedrest. Only because I knew laying about, gaining more weight, and doing nothing good for my cardiovascular system, couldn't be helpful. So I did very light exercise (usually swimming) while on "bedrest." Again, I noticed when I did not follow her orders AND I ate better, all my numbers improved. I had a similar problem to you that my numbers would all be really high, they would send me to hospital for monitoring- and everything would come down. It seemed so inconsistent, which is another reason I felt okay disobeying orders (not to mention I'm generally a disobedient gal) But I will say I threw in plenty and good amounts of rest, so that is important too. Hang in there and if there is anything I can do to help- by all means, ask!!