Preeclampsia Questions

Hi,

Congrats on your pregnancy. I am a senior midwife student and former NICU Respiratory Therapist. First you need to look into midwifery care. Very, very few of our clients ever get preeclampsia because we do things to prevent preeclampsia from the beginning. The medical model of care does not. You need to read this website, www.blueribbonbaby.org. It was started by the late Dr. Tom Brewer who studied preeclampia in depth and came to the conclusion that preeclampsia is a dietary problem. You need to be eating at least 60 grams of protein a day. Exercise in pregnancy is very important. Water aerobics is fine to do, you should also walk. You would be surprised what a walk around the block each evening can do for your weight. If you have any other questions or want to know more about midwives please feel free to ask me.

Take Care,
Lisa

Congratulations on your pregnancy. Water aerobics are perfect for you but do mention it to your doctor just to be sure. Have a wonderful 2009!

Hi E. and congratulations!

The odds are if you do get preeclampsia again that it will be later in gestation or less severe. Unfortunately having had preeclampsia before does put you at higher risk of developing it again.

There aren't any proven remedies to prevent preeclampsia, with a possible exception of a daily vitamin containing folic acid and blood thinners for women with underlying clotting disorders.

You might want to consult a maternal fetal medicine specialist to get tested for underlying disorders, and to have an expert in your corner if it starts looking like you might be headed for preeclampsia again.

Certainly keep up the exercise as long as you feel able. Being fit could mean a faster recovery time down the line.

I have had preeclampsia twice, and found the forums at http://www.preeclampsia.org an invaluable source of information and support. HTH and Good luck!

Water arobics are GREAT!!! Drink LOTS of water and try really hard to eat a little better foods with less salt if any and recline your feet as much as possible. (esier said than doen with 2 little ones but try to) Good luck with this new bundle.

Go easy on the fruit - it has a lot of sugars and you can cause yourself problems if you eat too much. Talk to your ob/gyn about a diet and exercise program you can maintain during your pregnancy. Your child is eating what you are eating, so learn how to be a good eater now. Your entire family will benefit.

CONGRATS!!!

I had preeclampsia with my first pregnancy (and only so far, but we're trying). I had awful symptoms starting at 6 months, and my son was born 3 weeks early to the day by c-section also. I also had a headache that just wouldn't go away, so went to the ER to get it checked out as my dr. had said and they admitted me immediately. 12 hours later, but son was born. At the time when I got preggo, I had gained some weight, but was still within the average range for my size (I was used to being on the very low end). I had just started working out at the time too, and my doc said as long as I take it easy, it would be okay. Water aerobics are supposed to be great for the joints (I had awful joint problems), and also for the circulatory system & all sorts of stuff.

When we moved back to Houston, I had discussed with my new OBGYN the risks of preeclampsia a second time around, and she was not overly concerned, but said we would just have to be a bit cautious and keep an eye out for symptoms to be treated early before it became severe. Since every pregnancy is different, it could go either way just like it did the first time. She said the risk was only slightly higher because I had it with #1.

I'm with you on not eating a lot of veggies, so I'm curious to see what the other moms say on that. My mom served only russett potatoes, corn, and green beans or peas once in a while, so I didn't grow up with a lot of variety. I have recently started on a whole wellness program after having a health scare, and am trying to incorporate different healthier foods into my lifestyle too. So far, I've set a goal for myself to try a new veggie each week. Even foods I had tried and hated before, I have decided to try again and have discovered I really like spinach now. For me it's all about my mindset. I gave up Dr. Pepper & fried food, both of which were favorites and all I consumed, and now I don't even like them. I have tried them both a couple of times since and can't understand how I used to live like that. Every time I grab a sip of my hubby's DP or a bit of a french fry or something like I used to do, I just cringe from the nastiness of it. And then I get a huge smile of disbelief. It's a great feeling!

Sorry for the rambling... I hope something I said may help. I also am hoping to shed a few pounds before we conceive #2, but would be thrilled either way.

Pregnancy is a stress on your body and your body responds to that stress entirely based on the nutrition you put in it! I have had 6 children all born healthy, term and only the last in the hospital. I took every vitamin the midwives recommended and ate what I thought was a healthy variety of foods. But I had tremendous problems with varicose veins and was in pain much of the 3rd through 6th times. I wish I had known back then what I know now....You are what you eat! You cannot get the nutrition you need for feeling wonderful in a pregnancy from cooked or canned veggies or vitamins alone. Your plate needs to be 3/4 full of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables at every single meal. I have since learned that all kinds of berries are good for blood circulation and now have more relief from the varicose vein problems.Our family eats a bigger variety of fresh fruits and veggies now because we realized our lives can literally depend on it--all the way from conception to old age--eat it even if you don't like it...spinach, broccoli, cantaloupe, blueberries...wash em and eat em raw--tons of it! Another thing our family does is take a whole food supplement called JUICE PLUS. We have seen many health benefits since starting to take Juice Plus and I know of many notable doctors that recommend it to their patients. I am not going to write any more here because I would not want anyone to think that I am trying to sell a product--you can find out more at pallenjuiceplus.com. I am simply convinced that fruits and vegetables are that important to our lives.

Congrads!!!

I had two very hard pregnancies. At the time I had the middle stages of kidney failure (I knew this before going into all of this. I can go into more details about those if you would like.

With raised levels of protein in your urine. I would highly recommend a high risk OB. If you do not have one. Also make sure that your protein and creatine levels are now so that you can watch them throughout your pregnancy. You might need to be followed my a nephrologist (kidney doc) also. Just be safe.

I know a lot of people say NO caffine but with two kiddos and prego that is not easy if you are drinking it already. Cut back as much as possible. Exercise now....just even walking playing with the other kiddos and swimming are great.

I tell you more about kidney stuff if you are concerned about it. You can email me at ____@____.com

Good luck
J.

I had pre-eclampsia with my first, and was induced at 37 weeks when my blood platelettes dropped and blood pressure went up too high.
My second pregnancy I had a slight drop in platelette count near the end, but no blood pressure problems and went into labor myself around 40 weeks.
We also were beat to the punch with the third one (so much for over-thinking these things, huh?) And I had no blood pressure problems again, but my platelette levels were so low by 32 weeks or so that I had to take steriods to get to almost 38 weeks, then my doc induced again. I was told from the beginning that I was not more likely to get pre-eclampsia the second time around just because I had it the first time. This is good news for you! Eat low fat proteins with all that fresh fruit you love so much, and water excercise is excellent because you won't stress you joints. Just be careful you don't overheat.