Just found out that we are expecting again.....I NEED HELP!

[Teresa_mom2three]

Well hello again Blythe! What a great help you are being:) I know this is going to sound ignorant...but, I hate to complain or sound crazy....I'm trying to wait until Tuesday. I know that my pressure is horrible...I'm a medical assisting student an last term we learned bps. That's why I have a cuff and know how to properly check my bp. It is a great idea to have a plan and know when I should call/come in ect. I'm going to check my bp again before bed...and if it's extermly high, I'm going to the dr. on call. Thank you agian so very much.

Could you call the doc on-call or L&D and let them know your pressures? Maybe they can play with your med dosage before Tuesday. As I understand it, 160/110 is in the "severe" category. I'd also ask them what bps are "too high" for you personally - when they want you to call in, and when they'd want you to just come straight to the hospital.

[blythe]

Could you call the doc on-call or L&D and let them know your pressures? Maybe they can play with your med dosage before Tuesday. As I understand it, 160/110 is in the "severe" category. I'd also ask them what bps are "too high" for you personally - when they want you to call in, and when they'd want you to just come straight to the hospital.

[Teresa_mom2three]

Thank you all so very much for the replies. I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to reply to my post...I'm just learning my way around the forum.

I fianlly saw a regular dr. and again, my blood pressure was 140/110. My dr prescribed 250mg of methyldopa twice a day. I have been taking it since the 3rd of this month. I have a manual blood pressure cuff that I had to buy for school. I am a medical assisting student. I took my blood pressure twice today. Once in the morning and once this afternoon. Both times it was about 160/110. I don't know how long it takes this type of medication to work but it doesn't appear to be working yet.

I have a follow up appointment on Tuesday. I know this high BP is not good for myself or for my developing baby. I'm 8 weeks and 2 days now. I don't know when I will have my first prenantal appointment. They are booked through November. I feel so lost and hopeless.....

[lennoxlm1]

Congrats on baby four! How exciting for your growing family! If you can’t see a doctor yet I would buy a home blood pressure monitor and do twice a day testing so you can show your doctor when you do him. The store monitors aren't always accurate.
It's great that your exercising, I did that with my third child and we stayed healthy until 37 weeks!
Hoping the best for you, and that you get to see your doctor soon!

[libby123]

Also, at 5-6 weeks along you would not be developing a clinical case of preeclampsia, as pre-e develops after the 20th week when the fetus gets bigger and the placenta releases more hormones into the bloodstream. There are cases of high BP in early pregnancy that can be related to other potentially serious pregnancy problems, or you may have chronic hypertension that needs to be resolved and managed throughout the pregnancy. In any case, get checked please!

[libby123]

I completely agree, get those pressures checked AGAIN. If I got a reading of 110 diastolic I would be concerned even without being pregnant, but especially so while pregnant. Diastolic BP is generally of more significance than systolic, because diastolic remains more constant while systolic will fluctuate throughout the day more. I believe that Target has some clinics in their stores that will check your blood pressure for free. Or you could buy yourself a cuff to use at home.

Seriously though, not trying to scare you, but as you know we have all been through scary things with our blood pressures and know first hand what can happen when they get too high. Get checked out!

[hopkins]

Congratulations on the news of being pregnant...but u need to see a doctor about the blood pressure SOONER then later...even without insurance there are free clinics and with it that high u might be better off just going to the hospital yes it will be expensive but it's safer for u and the baby to get this under control now the hospital can't turn u away for no insurance...think positive thoughts and try and rest as much as possible...ur in my thoughts...keep us all posted and good luck.

[caryn]

I promise it's not something you're doing - it's likely either that the placenta is a bit busted, or that your body just doesn't like hosting this placenta, which is foreign and doing something to tick off your immune system. Check out the articles linked in my .sig to see how researchers are thinking about this disease these days. Usually if your pressure goes up before 20 weeks in a pregnancy that isn't your first, it's the second one - and a lot of the time it's "unmasking" of your genetic tendency towards chronic hypertension. I'd definitely make an appointment to talk to a high-risk OB or an MFM about how this pregnancy will be managed.

This just happens to about one in every twenty pregnancies. It's why the prenatal care schedule is structured the way it is, with visits coming closer together as you progress and early visits to check and see if anything obvious is wrong.

[blythe]

Welcome Teresa! I'm glad you found us but sorry you had to. I'm mainly just posting to agree with everything Alviarin said!

I also wanted to add: being healthy has very little to do with preeclampsia, so please don't blame yourself. Second, we do have very scary stories around here and horrible tragedies and there are no guarantees, but I really like this recent thread and Laura's post:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=43666&p=342586&hil ... er#p342586

Mainly, we want women to be aware of their risk factors and their symptoms so *if* they get sick they can get to medical care quickly and be able to ask the "right" questions to work best with their doctors.

Oh - my main advice at this point is to get checked out asap, and if possible, by an MFM - a doctor specializing in high-risk pregnancies. https://smfm.org/default.cfm - search by state and look especially for doctors who specialize in hypertensive issues in pregnancy.

Please stick around and ask more questions, we're not docs and can only share our experiences and what we've read, but we'll do our best!

[alviarin]

I would not be comfortable walking around with a diastolic pressure of 110. Store machines aren't always accurate since who knows the last time they were checked or calibrated? Just a thought but is there any way you can double-check your BP? (whether at your GPs, a friend who is a nurse or a paramedic, free clinic, your local fire station....)

Although preeclampsia isn't diagnosed this early, high blood pressure alone can be dangerous. Assuming your pressure is indeed that high, I would want to see a doctor tomorrow, regardless of insurance status.

I hope this helps, please keep us posted as you are able.