Last week, during my 28 week visit at the OB, we did all the normal things you would expect....weighed in (still only 1 lb of total pregnancy gain), urine check (trace protein), measured tummy growth (on track), listened to Owen's FHR (150's), checked Owen's growth via ultrasound (50th percentile and on track) and we checked mommy's blood pressure. And unfortunately, at 28wks, my blood pressure decided that it wanted some attention because it was elevated. Normally during pregnancy, the "typical" BP cut off is 140/90 - and mine was in the 150's/90's which was a HUGE change from what my BP has been in the past. So, after much discussion with our OB, we decided that it would be best to start me on a low dose of Labetalol, which is a commonly used beta-blocker during pregnancy.
So, why did my BP start to increase? During pregnancy, every woman is at risk for something called pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) which means your BP goes up simply because you're pregnant...it can strike anyone at anytime and for any reason and I just happen to be one of those lucky gals. **Now, let me stop the handful of folks out there who might pass judgment and think that just because mommy is on the "fluffy" side that that is the reason why my BP started to elevate. That is NOT the case...plenty of stick figure mommies get diagnosed with PIH or worse, pre-eclampsia.** Pregnancy induced hypertension can only be diagnosed in a patient who is at least 20wks pregnant and who has had NORMAL blood pressures up to this point.
Now, what is scary is that PIH can quickly turn into pre-eclampsia and while you can give the mom meds to help with PIH you cannot cure pre-eclampsia with meds, only delivery will stop the pre-eclampisa progression. Typically, the diagnostic difference between PIH and Pre-E is the presence of protein in the urine, and I did have a trace amount, and changes in your blood chemistry...however, my OB did some Pre-E blood work which all came back total normal, so for now we're considered to be more under the PIH label rather than the Pre-E label. In addition to that, I'm not having any of the Pre-E symptoms such as headaches, visual changes, epigastric pain, rapid weight gain or severe edema.
What does this mean? Well, for starters, I'll be seen on a weekly basis from now on just to follow my BP's and watch out for signs of Pre-E. Then starting at 32 weeks, I'll have a weekly fetal non-stress test (NST) performed at the office. NST's are super easy, all that happens is I get hooked up to the FHR & contraction monitor, hit a button for each fetal movement that Owen makes while we record his heart rate and then look at the patterns. The reason why mommies with PIH or Pre-E need to have NST's done is because any form of hypertension (PIH, Pre-E or Chronic HTN) can cause the placental vessels to prematurely age & if that happens, it can affect fetal circulation and cause stress in the baby.
Thankfully, the labetalol is doing it's job b/c at my OB visit yesterday, my BP was in the 120's/70's - so we're hoping that this is all we needed and that it won't progress into anything more severe. Cory and I are hoping that this is the last road bump in Owen's pregnancy...between all our losses, having to do daily lovenox injections and now dealing with PIH we are ready for him to get here and for all of this to be behind us!
So, why did my BP start to increase? During pregnancy, every woman is at risk for something called pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) which means your BP goes up simply because you're pregnant...it can strike anyone at anytime and for any reason and I just happen to be one of those lucky gals. **Now, let me stop the handful of folks out there who might pass judgment and think that just because mommy is on the "fluffy" side that that is the reason why my BP started to elevate. That is NOT the case...plenty of stick figure mommies get diagnosed with PIH or worse, pre-eclampsia.** Pregnancy induced hypertension can only be diagnosed in a patient who is at least 20wks pregnant and who has had NORMAL blood pressures up to this point.
Now, what is scary is that PIH can quickly turn into pre-eclampsia and while you can give the mom meds to help with PIH you cannot cure pre-eclampsia with meds, only delivery will stop the pre-eclampisa progression. Typically, the diagnostic difference between PIH and Pre-E is the presence of protein in the urine, and I did have a trace amount, and changes in your blood chemistry...however, my OB did some Pre-E blood work which all came back total normal, so for now we're considered to be more under the PIH label rather than the Pre-E label. In addition to that, I'm not having any of the Pre-E symptoms such as headaches, visual changes, epigastric pain, rapid weight gain or severe edema.
What does this mean? Well, for starters, I'll be seen on a weekly basis from now on just to follow my BP's and watch out for signs of Pre-E. Then starting at 32 weeks, I'll have a weekly fetal non-stress test (NST) performed at the office. NST's are super easy, all that happens is I get hooked up to the FHR & contraction monitor, hit a button for each fetal movement that Owen makes while we record his heart rate and then look at the patterns. The reason why mommies with PIH or Pre-E need to have NST's done is because any form of hypertension (PIH, Pre-E or Chronic HTN) can cause the placental vessels to prematurely age & if that happens, it can affect fetal circulation and cause stress in the baby.
Thankfully, the labetalol is doing it's job b/c at my OB visit yesterday, my BP was in the 120's/70's - so we're hoping that this is all we needed and that it won't progress into anything more severe. Cory and I are hoping that this is the last road bump in Owen's pregnancy...between all our losses, having to do daily lovenox injections and now dealing with PIH we are ready for him to get here and for all of this to be behind us!
1 comment:
oh goodness Julie! I think you deserve an easy pregnancy and I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. Sending you big hugs
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