**Calling all Moms who have experienced PTL/Pre-E**

We are trying to put together a thread for the moms-to-be of twins to use as a source of information - this thread will eventually be posted as a sticky in the Expecting forum.

We'd like the moms of Twinstuff that had PTL/Pre-e to please share any information that you think would be useful. Also, if you know of any sites that were particularly helpful to you, please post those as well.

Thank you very much! :give_rose:

 

I was the classic hypochondriac patient, so anytime I heard a preterm labor horror story, I was afraid it would happen to me and I'd hound my OB with questions looking for reassurance. I had a friend end up with Pre-E and had to deliver at 31 weeks. So I was scared I would get it too, and early like she did. My doctor said I was being monitored, but there was no reason to worry. I was always concerned about my swelling and got to the point I got tired bringing it up, because it was usually brushed off. My last appt at 36 weeks I half-heartedly showed him my feet, and he didn't seem that concerned. I don't think he remembered how small I really was to begin with, so to him it seemed normal. This was the day after Easter and when my mom and MIL saw me the day before they were really worried about me. I did not look like myself and my face was so swollen. My blood pressure was high for me, but still in the normal range. I brought that up since I was concerned, but he was not. I then found out I had protein in my urine. He still was not concerned - because my BP was still considered to be in the "normal" range. (Even though it was higher than I'd ever seen it!) But said I can go to L&D for faster results on further tests that would tell me for sure if it was Pre-E. I felt stupid going, but I did anyway. Turns out it was Pre-E and I had to deliver right away. So my advice would be trust your instincts and don't be afraid to push and ask questions. Even if you think you sound stupid. You know your body and what is normal for you and what is not. Looking back I also started seeing flashes of light occasionally in the last month of pregnancy. I felt stupid bringing it up, so I never did. But I later learned that was a Pre-E warning sign as well.

 

Don't forget post e, I never knew this exsisted until I got it two weeks after the girls were born. Not once did I have high bp throughout my entire pregnancy...it was a total surprise and I had no idea why my head hurt so much until they took me to a clinic and found out I was WAY high.

 

QUOTE(Melina @ Jan 12 2009, 11:17 PM) [snapback]1144457[/snapback]
Don't forget post e, I never knew this exsisted until I got it two weeks after the girls were born. Not once did I have high bp throughout my entire pregnancy...it was a total surprise and I had no idea why my head hurt so much until they took me to a clinic and found out I was WAY high.


Ditto that!

My bp was creeping up at the end of my pregnancy, enough that at 35 weeks I ended up on modified bedrest over a weekend and they would check me again on Monday. I ended up being admitted to the hospital Monday night for a blood clot in my leg and not the bp. But they monitored me and I was doing okay. Although, I was retaining enough fluid that they made me repeat a 24 hour urine test twice. They didn't believe that I'd pee'd as little as I had the first time. Thought I'd made a mistake in measuring...even though I was *in* the hospital and an RN who can do intake/output in her sleep!

A day after delivery however, I did develop pre-e. End up on mag sulfate for a day (most of which I don't remember, and I guess that's a side effect of the mag??) and then things slowly improved. I did have to take BP meds for 6-8 weeks after(that's a little fuzzy too!) but was slowly able to wean off of them. Most people are able to wean off, I know I was nervous that I'd never get off the meds, but my ob kept reassuring me. He also made sure that I was given a bp med that was breastfeeding friendly, so that was a relief.

 

I was on bedrest for 15 out of the 33 weeks I was pregnant. The bedrest was for various reasons....bleeding, shortening cervix and pre term labor. Bedrest was very challenging. People just don't "get it" and say the dumbest things like....."must be nice" "what are you doing with your free time" "I'll switch with you". Anyone who has been on bedrest knows it is so difficult. The best advice someone gave to me was to set a schedule. You think....how can I have a schedule for nothing? I did develop a schedule and it did help pass the time. My laptop was my sanity saver. I joined several online forums with other mom's on bedrest. It really helped to chat with others in the same boat.

 

I knew exactly when I developed Pre-e. I had a sudden headache and just felt "funny". I went to L&D, and my bp was slightly elevated 140/90. but because my urine showed no proteins, they sent me home with Ambien saying I was stressed and just needed to get a good nights rest.

What we all didn't realize is that I was producing so much urine (and it was so diluted) that with regular urine dipsticks didn't pick up protein,. It wasn't until I did the 24hr urine collection a week later, did they realize I had a really high protein level, they admited me that night and induced the next day at 35.3wks.

Trust your instincts!! You know your body best, if you feel weird, go with it!

 

I've had high blood pressure since I was 22. So during the pregnancy, the OB's office was always concerned about the levels of protein in my urine and making certain that I was taking my medicine. Initially I was in nearly every week for a blood pressure check (Finally got smart and bought my own cuff and started calling in the numbers). Lots of 24 hour urines were done but always came back fine.

I started bloating/holding water/swelling/getting cankles, whatever you want to call it at 4 months because the blood pressure medicine doesn't contain a diuretic like the ones that you can take when you're not pregnant do. It was a fairly uneventful pregnancy until 34 weeks, just constant dehydration and occasional morning sickness.

At 34 and a half weeks, I gained 16 pounds in 5 days (and up until this point I had actually lost weight during the pregnancy, but I'm overweight anyway, so it wasn't a concern). Wednesday I was more thirsty than usual and never peeing (all the water ended up in my ankles!!) and I knew something wasn't right but I had an appointment the next afternoon with the perinatal doctors. Then Thursday morning I had visual disturbances (I had the beginnings of a migraine), I called my regular OB, they had me come in immediately.

They had me pee in a cup, I couldn't. Finally after 45 minutes and 2 x 32 oz of water later I dribble out like a tablespoon of pee. It was almost orange it was so concentrated and cloudy. I knew at that moment, I was going to the hospital for the remainer of the pregnancy (hah, remainer of the pregnancy was all of 12 hours if that!). So the dipstick came back +3 protein (super high, off the chart), and off I went to the women's hospital. I was so happy to be going to the hospital, finally some relief for the thirstiness!!

They put in an IV and a catheter and gave me saline. 4 bags later I finally was not thirsty anymore. They gave me mag sulfate, then the epidural, then the c-section, glued me all back together, and that was that. Alice didn't do so good on her APGAR test because of the magnesium sulfate, it makes them a little more floppy and not as responsive as they should be. I was also on oxygen the entire time I was in the hospital, I'm not sure if that is related to the pre-eclampsia or not.

 

I had post-e right after I delivered my babies. During my entire pregnancy my bp was excellent. After I delivered, my feet were so swollen. They looked like an elephants feet ( I am not joking). I called the doctor and was told that this was normal sometimes after delivery. My sister kept insisting that I go to the doctor.

Therefore, a week after I delivered the twins, the day they were coming home from the NICU, I went to the doctor. My blood pressure was sky high. She gave me a prescription for some meds and told me to return the following day. My babies came home that afternoon. The next morning I went back to the doctor and she sent me straight to the ER. My blood pressure was so high that they admitted me right away. I could have had a stroke at anytime. They ran several tests and I was told it was post-e. I was given a combination of water pills and blood pressure pills and sent home in a couple of days. It took another week for my bp to return to normal.

This was a very difficult period for me as I was sleep deprived and really needed to rest to get better. My mother is deseased so I did not have any help. I was also very depressed because I had to be away from my babies the first few days that they were home. I got through it though. I guess you are never given more than you can handle.

After delivering, if you are not feeling good, please trust your instincts and go see your doctor.

 

I went on bedrest with my boys at 24 weeks b/c of gestational diabetes, ptl and pre-e. I kept telling my dr that my feet, face and pretty much everywhere was swollen, to the point that fluid would come out of my legs when I gave myself insulin injections. My dr still thought that there was nothing to worry about because there was no protein in my urine. My blood pressure was sky high (210/100) and I had all the other symptoms but that didn't matter to him until the day before I delivered, I could hardly walk I was so swelled! I gained 20 lbs (fluid) in 4 days. When I called and went back to the dr, he told me to go to the hospital and I had a c-section the next day at exactly 35 weeks. I don't think that drs realize how serious pre-e is sometimes, it made me feel like I was going to have a stroke.

------------------------

 

i had normal BP before i got pregnant, but developed elevated BP around 16 weeks. that's too early to be considered pregnancy-induced, so they labeled me as "chronic" or "pre-existing." which made no sense to me because i'd never had high BP before. i was resistant to all of the special care they imposed on me because i felt like they were overreacting. week after week after week they kept monitoring my BP and making me do 24 hour urinalysis test after test after test. i kept holding strong but they put me on restricted activity around 25 weeks, which meant i worked from home and stayed seated as much as possible. around 30 weeks my blood pressure started creeping up so the doctor said, "don't leave the house unless it's on fire."

at 32 weeks we did our first non-stress test and heard owen's heartrate plummet. the doctor said he probably just rolled over on his umbilical cord but we should go to the hospital anyway. i was freaked out, and as a result my BP skyrocketed. the hospital was very busy so i was there over 12 hours before the doctor visited me even once, so that stressed me out, too. she uttered the words, "we may be delivering in the morning" and i burst into tears. she then walked me through the results of my blood tests and told me i was hovering on the brink of pre-e. they gave me steroid shots, sent me home and told me to stay relaxed.

the next day i started having contractions. back to the hospital, where they discovered my BP was still terrible. more tests. the results came back that i had tipped over the edge and was now considered to have "mild pre-e." they also determined that the contractions were false labor so they sent me home and told me to hang in there, and to call them if i had any sudden headaches.

not even 12 hours later i was back in the hospital due to severe pains from the contractions. BP was bad, and more tests showed that my liver function was starting to tank. at this point i was at 33 1/2 weeks and they said under no circumstances could they let the pregnancy go any further due to the risk to my liver. they hooked me up to the magnesium sulfate and we delivered a couple hours later. stayed on the magnesium sulfate for 24 hours and over the course of the next couple of days my BP went back down to a nice healthy level.

at my postpartum exams my BP has been slightly elevated again, and the doctor suggested that i should now be considered "chronic." i had no problems before, but pregnancy was enough to bump me over the edge and now i have to monitor my BP as ongoing health maintenance.

 

I had Pre-E at 30 weeks (bp was 170/100 when i got to the dr) but had no side effects and felt fine. I checked my bp at home every day because I was on Procardia for PTL and thats supposed to make your bp lower. By the time I had the c-section it was 200/120 and I felt perfectly fine. If you can afford to grab a cheap at home bp monitor just do it for your own peace of mind.
My PTL started at 20 weeks, spent 3 days in the hospital on Mag and sent home with the max dose of Procardia and bedrest. My cervix never dilated, but did efface a little bit so they were being extra safe.

 

I too was diagnosed with Pre-E at my 38th week doctor's visit and immediately delivered via C-section the following day. My blood pressure was slowing rising with each weekly doctor's visit and peaked on week 38. I also had very swollen hands (with carpal tunnel) and feet. I was wearing my husband's sneakers by the end of it!! Lastly, I had a very terrible headache (like a migraine) that just wouldn't go away. My doctor said that was a classic Pre-E symptom combined with the others. I also worked right up until the day before I delivered in a high stress sales job.

After delivery I was treated with magnesium for 24 hours. The doctor's warned me the side effects can be pretty bad but I lucked out. I just remember my skin being really warm and flush with the continual mag drip. It also made you sleepy which can be challenging when learning how to nurse for the first time.

Looking back, I really should have listened to my body at the end of the pregnancy. I think it was telling me to dial things down a notch and I was trying to do too much.

 

I developed Pre-e with my singleton. I was very fortunate as it started at 40 weeks, so I just was induced the day after I tested positive for it. For me, the post-delivery was the harder part. As another PP said, I felt very unfocused. I was physically "there" but mentally I was about 2 minutes behind everyone else in a conversation. I felt like I had a fever (warm and flushed) but when I felt my skin, I was cool. The mag-sulfate does some funny things to you and I wasn't expecting that at all.

 

Here is my story on pre-eclampsia. It's kind of long, but it includes lots of my numbers, etc.

Back on December 12, 2007 I was diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia. I was put on blood pressure medication, told to take it easy, and make sure I do kick counts, to insure the babies are still moving good. At this time my DH and I also went and bought a digital blood pressure cuff, so that we could keep track of my blood pressure at home also. The following Sunday, 12/16/2007 I was starting to get anxious about getting the essentials for the babies (namely another carseat, since we only had 1). I was figuring I would be put on bedrest soon and would not be able to go out shopping. So that morning we headed to Babies 'R' Us, and bought another carseat and a double stroller. I had not felt the babies move all morning, so I bought an apple juice while we were there also and drank that, to see if I couldn't wake those babies up. Still no movement by the time we got home, so I drank a Pepsi. (Find out later this was not a good idea with my blood pressure, oops). 30 minutes later still no movement, so I called the Hospital. I was instructed to lay on my left side, drink 40 ounces of water and do kick counts for one hour. I followed the instructions, and got a little bit of movement from one of the babies, but not the other. When the nurse called back, she advised that I come into the Hospital for monitoring, so off we went.

At the hospital I got hooked up to the monitors and of course the babies started moving right away. The doctor put me on bedrest and sent me home with instructions to talk to my regular ob the following day.

I saw my regular Dr. on Tuesday (12/18/2007) of that week. I got hooked up to the monitors again, and had to start a 24 hour urine collection. I had done one the previous week, with results of 416 mg. (A regular result would be 150). The doctor advised that when it reached 1000, I would need to be admitted to the Hospital, and if it reached 5000 they would deliver the babies immediately. I also received the first of a series of 2 steroid shots to develop the babies lungs quicker. The results of the collection came in Thursday night, and I got a call from the doctor that they were at 939, and I needed to go to the Hospital. I would be at 33 weeks gestation the next day, and I was not thrilled about the fact that I was already being admitted to the Hospital.

Thursday night, 12/20/2007 I was hooked up to the monitors again. My parents met us at the Hospital and took my son home with them, and I started another 24 hour urine collection. I stayed in a labor and delivery room until a little after midnight, at which time they moved me to a smaller post partum room. I was on strict bed rest at this point, and was allowed to get up only to go to the bathroom. Saturday, at about noon we got the results of the last collection. They were at 3500. It was getting close to time to deliver, and I was barely at 33 weeks gestation. They started another 24 hour collection, with the indication that it would come back over 5000, and we would have to deliver the babies on Sunday, 2 days before Christmas. 33 week old babies would definitely be spending a good amount of time in the NICU. Their lungs were probably ok at that point, since I had had the steroid shots, but they have not developed the ability to suck and swallow yet, so they would need to be fed with a feeding tube. We asked what we could do to lower the protein levels and we were told that nothing lowers the levels. Right now they might stabilize, but we could probably only buy ourselves no more than a few days.

My desire throughout the entire pregnancy was to have the babies come home with me from the Hospital. I did not want them to have to stay in the NICU. In order for that to happen, my believing was that they needed to be born after 36 weeks gestation. We prayed about it, and I only ate extremely healthy foods over the next 24 hours.

Sunday 12/23/2007 the test results came in at 1200. The hospital staff was in complete awe. This never happens. They start another 24 hour collection that evening. Wow, amazingly I felt like I had bought myself quite a bit of time. Now, I was going to be in the Hospital for the long run, including Christmas and New Years, but at least my babies were not going to be born yet. The next test results came in on christmas morning, and they had dropped to 870. Once again, the hospital staff is in awe. I ask whether I can go home then, knowing full well the answer will be no, and lo and behold, they said yes, I could go home.

I was on strict bed rest at home, only allowed to get up to use the rest room, and go in for Dr. appointments. I was still taking my blood pressure medication, as well as doing my own blood pressure readings 4 times a day. I was not to be left alone, in case I had a seizure (one of the side effects of pre-eclampsia), and I was to call the hospital immediately if my blood pressure went too high, I developed headaches, or blurry vision. (The funny thing is one day DH and I were watching football on tv, and the cameras went out of focus, I immediately told DH I was developing blurry vision, and he laughed, he too was developing blurry vision.) So the next few weeks I spent laying on the couch, or on the bed, and going in for Dr. appointments to be hooked up to the NST monitors. I saw the perinatologist and he said to go in on January 11 for a c-section. Awesome, that put the babies at 36 weeks gestation, and I had full believing that they would be born healthy and need no time in the NICU.

That is exactly what happened. My baby girls were born on January 11, 2008 at 36 weeks gestation. Neither one needed any time in the NICU and they both got to come home with me when I was discharged.

My Pre-eclampsia lasted for about 6 weeks post partum. I continued to take the blood pressure medication, and I monitored my blood pressure for the next 6 weeks. Then I weaned off the medication. I went to see my ob about 6 months after the babies were born. She told me that my case absolutely amazes her, and she has never heard of another person improving their pre-eclampsia condition without delivering.

 

My BP was in the low 100's throughout my entire pregnancy and as soon as I had my C section, it shoot up very high and my legs and ankles were sooo swollen that I couldnt even weat flip flops...I was walking around the NICU barefoot b/c socks even hurt to wear!! This lasted for several weeks then it went away! I was so excited to see my ankles and not cankles!

 

I didn't have PTL so to speak, but I had a lot of non-labor contractions throughout my entire pregnancy. Several times I went over the 6/hour threshold but fortunately there was no dilation. I had to be on many restrictions, but no real bed rest. I guess it was modified bed rest as I wasn't supposed to stand more than 15 minutes at a time, or walk that long. I wasn't supposed to walk more than a mile per day.

My story is more to do with pre-e and possible HELLP Syndrome. In my 3rd trimester my blood pressure went up at around week 33. It only went mildly high so my doctor was watching it. I didn't have any protein in my urine. I had weekly NSTs. At week 37's NST my bp went higher than mildly high, so I was told to monitor it over the weekend and to go to L&D if it didn't go down (I have a reliable home bp monitoring kit). It didn't go down so I checked into L&D on Sunday night. Still no protein in my urine but the bp was continually getting higher. They wanted to deliver the babies then but I had eaten a granola bar while in L&D so they said they would have to wait 8 hours and that would put them at the next shift so they told me to go home and call my OB the next morning to see what she wanted to do (I had also begged them to let me go home for a day because I had work issues on Monday morning I NEEDED to resolve, long story). I called my OB the next morning but she wasn't in. I also resolved my work issues that morning then slept the rest of the day. My OB called me first thing on Tuesday morning and told me not to eat or drink anything and go get another NST. My bp was higher at that NST and by then I did have some protein in my urine but it was really low. I was sent straight to L&D. They didn't have room for me at L&D so I had to wait 3 hours in the waiting room. I got in for the c/s that evening and my babies were delivered at 9pm. They had difficulty stopping my bleeding and it turned out I had low platelets (a symptom of HELLP) and they talked about a transfusion. Fortunately, after some IV meds and iron supplements the platelets started going up. My bp only seldom went lower, but only a few readings over the next few days were in the normal range. On the Saturday, my 4th day post-partum, I was released from the hospital because my bp had gone normal for a couple of readings in a row and my platelets were improved (still not normal, though). The next night, Sunday night, I felt terrible. My feet and legs had swollen so large I couldn't get even my largest stretchiest slipper socks on. My body shook and I couldn't even walk the 20 feet to my bedroom without convulsing to the floor and I needed assistance. My bp was 192/110. I know, I should've gone to the ER right then and there, but we waited and after a brief nap, my bp went down to 162/102 and we thought the improvement would buy us time until the next day when I had a doctor appointment for the babies. At the babies' appointment I mentioned my own problems and I was told to see my OB immediately. Again, my OB was out (she's off on Mondays) so I saw someone else, he sent me straight to the ER. After 8 hours in the ER they admitted me back into the hospital for pre-e and possible HELLP Syndrome. My liver enzymes were elevated and I still had low platelets, but at that time I had no protein in my urine. My condition seemed to baffle my doctors. They monitored all fluids for most of my stay, which again was another 4 days. After being released, I had weekly doctor appointments until my bp was consistently normal without bp meds (I was taken off the bp meds 2 weeks after I was released) and subsequent blood test confirmed that my platelets and liver enzymes were back to normal.

I don't have any advice, but perhaps my story might help someone else.

 

Like one of the previous posters I had high blood pressure from the very beginning of my pregnancy and was listed as "chronic" vs. Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) as it was considered too early in the pregnancy to be related. I argued with my doctor frequently over the designation because I had years worth of blood pressure measurements that were never over 120/80. My blood pressure stayed constantly in the 140-150 over 90-100 throughout the early stages of my pregnancy and I was put on blood pressure medicine around 12 weeks. Like others I bought a monitor that I carried with me where ever I went. Around 28 weeks I noticed that my bp was really starting to sky rocket any time I exerted myself (like a trip to the bathroom by that point... ) and my pulse ox (O2 saturation - I am asthmatic, too) was dropping as well. And at my 24 week ulltrasound a slight growth discrepancy was noted. The discordancy increased to 23% at my 28 week appt. Around the same time I took my second 24 hour urine test and while I don't remember the numbers my protein levels were increasing. So after talking to my doctor about my concerns for the umpteenth time she finally agreed to put me on bedrest. Over the next few weeks of rest my blood pressure stablized to around 150/90. I continued to do urine tests every 2 weeks and monitored my blood pressure througout the day. At my 32 week ultrasound the growth discordancy dropped back to 16% - a good sign that the growth discordancy wasn't being caused by placenta problems, but more likely due to lack of oxygen (which I was told was a result of blood pressure crossing a certain threshold). At 36 weeks the swelling in my legs and ankles became constant, and looking back at pictures after the fact had also started in my face though I didn't realize it at the time. My blood pressure once again started to rise and hit about 160/105. My 24 hour urine also came back as elevated. And my weight gain over the previous 10 days was almost 15lbs. Based on increasing signs of pre-e and the fact the boys were already considered term I was scheduled for an induction at 37w0d. Luckily the boys were born vaginally with no problems & came home with us 2 days later.

My blood pressure dropped immediately after delivery and at my hospital release check up 2 days later was 100/75.

 

I had some elevated bp in my 37th week with swelling on my left foot. My OB was not concerned but I developed severe back pain and said either the OB sees me or I go to the ER to deal with the pain. He saw me and decided to admit me into the hospital that night to induce labor since I was 37 weeks, slighty contracted but in so much pain. After I got my epidural my back felt better but my BP went from 190/92 to 60/40 over the course of 8 hours and I was not producing any urine. My OB was not concerned over the high BP and didn't want to be notified unless 92 went above 96, however the nurses were, but when it dipped that low and I had to be put on O2, he saw that the babies were in some distress, and decided to do an emergency c-section. I was fine until two days later, I woke up with decreased vision and felt sick to my stomach. I went for an MRI and after 1 hour, I lost most of my vision and had a mild seizure with some mild disorientation. The MRI confirmed swelling in my brain behind my eyes. My vision slowly came back over a course of three days,but I spent a week in the ICU with tubes everywhere, one particularly, the arterial line, very painful. I do remember giving birth to my twins, thank goodness, but I did lose some recall of a day or two and some events later in the day after their birth. And I was very out of it for a few days I was on BP medications for three months and require glasses to read now, but everything is fine. I realize now that I should have pushed the issue with my swelling and my BP, but I trusted my OB and really was not aware of eclampsia.I was always concerned more about having pre-term labor. He was quite upset over what happened since usually giving birth is the solution to eclampsia. The worst thing was not seeing my twins for days but they did surpise me by bringing them upto the ICU towards the end of the week.

 

*Bedrest at 18 weeks for shortening cervix-my doctor knew how paranoid I was the entire time (we were IVF-ers)
so he put me on bedrest, which I was FINE with
*At 19 weeks had another check, shortened to 2.1, cerclage put in the next day!
*Continued bedrest until just before 36 weeks
*Water broke, c-section, big healthy babies, NO nicu time whatsoever

During pregnancy everything else was fine--no major contractions (I was on a home monitor), all blood
tests and other tests were always great, nothing but the cervix.

HOWEVER...
AFTER delivery I got pre-eclampsia...yes, like other posts said, it came on AFTER
*my blood pressure was 160 over 90 something at one point, the beeper went off in the room and I started freaking
out!
*had to go on Magnesium for one night
*my twins were released after the usual c-section 3 night stay, but, I was the one who could not go, so we
all stayed for five nights!
*my legs and feet were SO SWOLLEN I couldn't look at them because it made me sick to see it
*I kept asking the nurses if that was normal, they reassured me it was, but I was still flipping out about it
*blood pressure stayed up for a couple weeks when I got home

 

At 20 weeks I had some strange sensations almost like the babies were somersaulting violently in my belly. I felt lower back pain and menstrual cramping. Unfortunately I hadn't educated myself on the signs of PTL and I asked some ladies I'd met online (different site) about the feelings which they assured me were all normal pregnancy feelings. 3 days later I went to a regularly scheduled appt where I was discovered to be 3 cm dilated and in active labor, contractions 2-3 minutes apart. And that is where my nightmare began. I listened in stunned belief as my peri told me, the babies are coming now, there's nothing we can do. I begged him to do something and he left the room. 5 minutes later he was back with a white face, saying, ok, I'm willing to do an emergency cerclage but you have to understand that your chances are next to nothing. I may be able to get you a few more days or even a few more weeks, but the likelihood of you making it to viability is very low. Abby's (baby A) bag of waters was bulging through the cervix and there was a huge risk of puncturing the bag and even if that didn't happen, the continuing contractings could bring the babies or infection could set in. They admitted me to the hospital and started me on magnesium, a horrid drug that no one should ever have to endure, at least not in large quantities. But it worked! The next morning the contractions had slowed down to 3-4 per hour, so I was prepped for surgery. We made it through the emergency cerclage and then it was just a waiting game. My doctor came all the time and constantly gave me hope. We counted down the minutes, the hours, the days, the weeks. I continued to contract the whole time and was of course in the hospital and continuously on niphedipine with terb shots when necessary. Mag was threatened, but thankfully after the first few weeks I was never on it again. On my birthday June 14, almost 11 weeks since I had been admitted to the hospital, my contractions broke through the medication and my cervix begin to tear. After about 36 hours of painful contractions, my peri decided to remove my cerclage. I quickly dilated to a 9, my babies were born within 2 hours on June 16 at 31.5 weeks. 4 weeks of NICU time, now healthy, healthy babies.

Things I wish I knew:
1) If you feel funny, don't hesitate to call your doctor, that is what they are there for and it's not worth the risk. Twin pregnancy is not the time to be brave!
2) If you end up on bedrest, don't give up on hope ever. Do whatever you have to do to cling to it. I read success stories, talked to my babies, prayed, meditated, and kept positive.
3) Also if you end up on bedrest, stick to a routine. I swear it's the only thing that keeps you sane, especially on hospital bedrest. Come up with a care plan you can live with and get your nursing staff on board.

It does help if you can find someone who is in or has been in the same situation.

 

I had early pre- E. I noticed swelling but that can be common with pre- E especially in our hot summers. The doctor who examined me said that the swelling around the shin bone was the most concerning. He checked my reflexes which can also be a sign. I had purchased an at home BP machine which I knew was fairly accurate. I would check my BP every 3 hours or so. I limited my activities as best I could. I was put into hospital for 3 days and amazingly my BP came back down to normal !! When I returned home it shot back up again. My base-line BP is normally 120/60 sometimes less. I got up to about 160/100 at my max. The doctor said it is the diastolic number that they watch for (the second number) for people under 45 yrs old. I had an ultrasound to determine the blood flow to the babies. The doctor was able to get me to 36 weeks and then decided it was time to deliver.

I noticed when my BP was high I was so agitated. I never realized that with Pre- E that things can go bad really quickly in say about 4 hours time. I had a friend who had severe Pre-E so I was very cautious when I realized I was at risk. Having the blood pressure machine was the best.

I agree with a pp that mentioned that often you can doubt yourself, and my doctor made me feel that way too. Just remember you have two babies in there to take care of, so be as cautious as you want to be.

heather

 

I am another one who developed post pardum issues. I carried my sister's twins to 38w3d and went in for my scheduled c-section. My BP remained consistent through my entire pregnancy, approx 100/65. Even at my doctor's appt the day before my scheduled c-section, my BP was 110/70. That was the highest we ever saw it get.

Everything went fine during the c-section, but my BP started going up during the delivery. When I was in the recovery room, I saw that my BP was consistently 160/90 or there abouts. I didn't feel great, had a headache, but just assumed it was all because I just had a c-section.

After about an hour in recovery they moved me to my post pardum room and I was just hanging out ... feeling out, still had a headache, but my neck really hurt, so I thought that maybe I had pulled something and it was just a result of that. Suddenly my doctor came in and said to me "Erica, you are really sick. You have developed something called HELLP syndrome, and we are moving you to the ICU and putting you on Magnesium Sulfate for the next 24 hours."

I was so scared. They diagnose HELLP through a blood test. HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening obstetric complication usually considered to be a variant of pre-eclampsia. Both conditions occur during the later stages of pregnancy, or sometimes after childbirth. HELLP is an abbreviation of the main findings: Hemolytic anemia, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelet count.

I was put on the mag and BP meds. I was in ICU for 24 hours, at which time I was moved to a regular post pardum room. At this point, all my levels started moving in the right direction, and I was pretty much had a normal recovery. I was in the hospital 4 days, same as the babies.

The day I was released, I had a hard time sleeping, and heard a crackling noise coming from my chest when I was laying down. I ended up going to the ER, because I felt shortness of breath as well. The ER did a chest x-ray and CT Scan. Turns out that I had a build up of fluid in my lungs (pulmonary edema) which looks like congenital heart failure. Turns out to be another side effect of HELLP. They gave me a diuretic to help get rid of the fluid, but said that because my kidneys were healthy, my body would get rid of the fluid naturally.

Now, at 4 weeks post pardum, I pretty much feel back to normal. I'm still on BP meds. I started off at two pills a day. Now I take a half a pill twice a day, and my BP still seems to be fine. I'm really hoping that I will not be on the meds forever, but I do know that it is a possibility.

Unfortunately, in my situation, there were really no warning signs. I was fine during my entire pregnancy. Nothing felt wrong or out of place until AFTER giving birth. My doctor did say to me that the treatment of HELLP is to immediately deliver the babies. Luckily, I had already done that. I guess I would just ditto all the other women who said if something don't feel right, follow your instincts!

 

I went in for my 33 week appt and told my doctor my blood pressure was slightly elevated at a health fair we had at work that day. It was a little better by the time I went for my appt. I had gained a lot of weight in a short amount of time. 5 lbs one week, 7 lbs the next week and 5 lbs the last week. At first he said I could go home but would need to get a blood pressure monitor and then when I mentioned a pain under my right rib he said he was going to admit me overnight for observation. Well, they did a 24 hour urine catch and it came back high - 520. He was very surprised by this number. When they just dipped my urine it was only a 1. They also were concerned about my platelet count. They thought they were going to have to deliver me 5 days after I was admitted if my platelet count went below 100. Luckily it kept going up and down but never went below 100. I was in the hospital for 4 weeks and delivered my babies at 37 weeks 1 day. I'm not sure why they didn't think I needed to deliver sooner. Probably because my blood pressure stayed slightly elevated since I was on strict bedrest. They never did another 24 hour urine catch but my urine dip had gradually gone up to a 4 by the time I did deliver. I don't know if this is related or not but even though I was drinking a decent amount of water prior to the 33 weeks I wasn't really going to the bathroom a lot. And once I was in the hospital when I would go it seemed like my urine amount got less and less. So that may be something to look out for as well.

 

We found out we were expecting twins at 22 weeks along and everything had been and continued to go great until we got to about 31 weeks. My blood pressure started to get a little higher and their was small amounts of protein in my urine so I was told to take it easy. By the next week I was told to stay in bed except for to use the restroom. About another week later my blood pressure had gotten higher, there was more protein and I was having some contractions that showed up on the non stress test even though I had no idea. So I was put in the hospital on bedrest. They gave me terbutaline to try and stop contractions that were becoming more regular and mag sulfate to lower blood pressure. The hospital I was at doesn't have a special care nursery or a NICU so they were kind of freaking out and in the process giving me too much mag sulfate. The terb was not stopping the contractions so they decided to do an amnio to check for lung development, the test came back that both babies lungs were not ready. So I was given a steroid shot to speed their development up. At that point the hospital was no longer comfortable keeping me there so they decided I would be put on a leer jet headed to Swedish Medical Center in Seattle,WA. I was told this at about midnight and had to call and wake up DH to tell him, thankfully his parents were in town for an eye appointment and were okay with taking care of our 2 year old. Early the next morning I was sent to Seattle when I arrived I had a bunch of doctors all around me, people taking blood, it was nuts! They were upset at how high the mag levels were so they quickly starting lowering the amount. They were able to get my contractions under control. After 2 days I woke up with contractions and they decided that since it had been a few days since I had been given the steroids and because they had a level III NICU that they would go ahead and deliver me. Mainly because my blood pressure was continuing to go up. So I ended up having my babies at 35 weeks and 3 days. They were tiny especially Alicia because of IUGR but both did awesome! Ashley stayed in the special care nursery for one night and Alicia for 10 days as a feeder and grower.

I didn't really notice the signs they saw to be aware of with Pre-e, I just didn't feel right but I wasn't seeing spots (until later in the hospital) or having bad headaches. I was lucky that when it started for me I was already having weekly appointments or else we may not have caught it in time. So if you ever don't feel right even if you feel silly for calling, CALL! Better safe than sorry.

 

I had “mild” pre-eclampsia, and I’m very, very glad and thankful!




The reason I’m glad is it put me in the hospital, where I was being closely monitored, with THREE Non-Stress Tests for the babies a day. This was key and vital. The day before the babies were born, I noticed some drops in baby B’s heart-rate. They said it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. The day the babies were born, baby B had several heart decelerations during the thirst Non-Stress Test for the day. They rushed me over to Labor and Delivery, and within an hour the L&D doctor ordered an emergency C-section. Baby B had the cord wrapped TWICE around him in two different directions, TIGHT, with no extra give. The doctors told us that a cord being wrapped wasn’t necessarily bad, as long as there was elasticity. Our baby B had no elasticity at all in the cord! Thanks to being in the hospital and the Three Non-Stress tests a day, we caught the problem, quick. The standard for high risk at my gestation would have been two Non-Stress Tests, a WEEK. I, and my whole family, am so very, very thankful that pre-eclampsia put me in the hospital, and got our babies out as soon as Baby B went into distress!



Because of my experience, I would suggest to those ladies who have a choice to stay in the hospital or stay at home with pre-eclampsia or premature labor- stay in the hospital!



Here is the course pre-eclampsia took:





From the beginning, I put on a lot of weight quickly. I gained 10 lbs in the first month.



At around 5 months preg my ankles were very, very swollen. I had to wear support hose, medium-high. Ames (can get through Amazon) is almost as high quality is JOBST and about half the cost, BTW.



I started asking for extra monitoring around 28-29 weeks. Once, I gained 5 pounds in THREE DAYS. I was in and out of labor and delivery a lot, due to contractions, and I had trouble feeling one of the babies kick a lot so I went in for a lot of Non-Stress tests when kick counts failed. I was also having routine two non-stress tests a week, as well as urine test every week (starting at 27 weeks). I was also self-monitoring blood pressure, as I tended to have ‘white coat syndrome’ and was concerned about the quick weight gain, so I wanted to get an accurate blood pressure gauge.



They caught pre-eclapsia quick, at 32 weeks. My blood pressure started rising in third trimester. After the first high protein, they had me do a 24-hour urine catch. The next week, it was high again, I did another 24-hour urine catch, and was diagnosed with pre-eclampisa. I didn’t have too many awful pre-eclampsia symptoms, other than dizziness and some headaches sometimes, but the bloating was not fun. It hurt to walk (straighten out my ankle) because my legs were so swollen, even with keeping legs constantly raised. They told me my face didn’t look swollen- they were wrong (and I told them). A week after the babies were born a nurse saw me, and told me I was right- I looked like an entire different person from the bloating.



The doctor put me in the hospital when I was 1[sup]st[/sup] diagnosed. I was in the hospital for almost a month. The reason is because I was carrying monochorionic twins, they were higher risk for problems even than other twins…and they wanted to keep a close eye on me. I had also had a lot of premature contractions (but not actual labor) previously, and had been having to go in several times a week to L&D due to contractions and failed kick counts, and the combination is why they wanted to keep me in the hospital for close monitoring. The premature contractions were caused by soft tissue damage done by injury (mugging).



The babies were born at emergency C-section at 35 weeks and 5 days.



My blood pressure ROSE for about a week after the babies were delivered. My legs stopped being swollen about two days after. My blood pressure was high but not dangerous before the babies were born. After, it rose another 15 points or so systolic, about 10 points diastolic. I started getting bad headaches and dizziness was worse. I was on blood pressure medicine for six weeks. The thing is, after the babies are born, doctors tend to assume you are OK. Keep on it, keep monitoring yourself. They won’t check you to make sure your blood pressure is OK afterward, if you don’t monitor it and tell them. The overall assumption is at birth, it gets better. For some, it gets worse for a while.



I gained 70 lbs during the pregnancy, and dropped 40 lbs 2 week after the babies were born. The main symptom for me- water retention.



Overall, mild pre-eclampsia wasn’t terrible, and I am very, very thankful it happened to me! Oh, by the way, the doctors said there was ‘mild’ and ‘severe’ pre-eclampsia- nothing in-between.

 

I was 35 weeks, 2 days and was going to my regular ultrasound appointment. I had had so many my husband decided he didn't need to go to this one and I went alone. While driving I noticed that my vision was blurry. I thought maybe that I hadn't put my contacts in, but when I got to the hospital(where I had my u/s done) I checked and I had. While waiting my turn I developed a bad headache, rather quickly. I was really swollen, but thought it was just par for the course and had seen my ob the day before and my blood pressure was fine, in fact he was worried because it was actually a little low. I finally got my us and asked the doctor if they had tylenol there they could give me because I had a bad headache. He was smarter than I was and asked a nurse to come in and take my blood pressure. It was very high compared to what it normally was and he quickly finished the ultrasound and had a nurse wheel me up to L&D to have them check me and call my OB. They did the urine test and put me in the c-section recovery room and came in about 15 min later and said call whoever I needed to call, I was having an emergency c-section.

I was ready to dismiss my headache as just a regular headache. I'm glad my dr knew better.

 

I had my first bout of PTL at week 27 and was put on strict bedrest. I ended up back in the hospital at week 32 where i was stuck there for 2 weeks while on every labor stopping drug known to man, then was released back to strict bedrest at week 34 and the boys decided that they wouldnt be stopped anymore when they showed up at week 35. As pp said, if you have any "funny feelings" or if things just dont feel right, do NOT hesitate to go in to the dr! when i went in at week 32, my DH is the one that dragged me to the hospital regardless of me saying i would be fine and had we waited any longer, there wouldve been no way they could've stopped the boys then and we would've had 32 weekers instead of 35 weekers. And for those that have ever wondered if bedrest worked, i am living proof that it does! James (baby a) was pressed up against my cervix starting at week 24 and the only reason they cooked as long as i did is because i was flat in bed for so long (the last 3 weeks i was 4 cm dilated). Bedrest is extremely tough and frustrating but its worth it for you babies. I also highly recommend the steroid shots if there is concern for PTL, as i think it really makes a difference. Anyone can do it (although i'll admit my sanity flew away while on bedrest for so long).