Protein Reading High in Urine at 12 Weeks Pregnant

Kim, As a labor and delivery nurse there is a huge difference between protein and ketones in your urine. If you haven't eaten for several hours your body will burn fat for energy which leaves ketones in your urine. Now, glucose is another thing alltogether, glucose challenge is to test on how your body metabolizes sugar (testing for gestational diabetes). In gestational hypertension your kidneys will spill protein in your urine, 12 weeks is very early for this to happen so your doctor will be watching you closely. At the end of your pregnancy if you do display symptoms in addition to the protein in your urine you would be delivered but obviously this is not possible at this time. If preeclampsia progresses to eclampsia you can have a seizure which is not good for you or your baby. So don't listen to people who don't have an understanding of what is going on, talk to your doctor. Find out what danger signs to look for: like sudden weight gain, swelling of hands and face, visual changes (spots in your vision), epigastic pain, severe and persistant headache. Check the March of Dimes website too. Good Luck!

It is important to drink at least 8, 8oz glasses of water every day to stay hydrated!

i had the same problem around the same time. i had to take a 1 hour glucose test, failed that, then a 3 hour one. my numbers were borderline, so they treated me like i had gestational diabetes. i had to test my blood sugar four times a day, watch my diet, etc. they had me take another 3 hour test to see how my body was handling the sugars. at the time, i was angry about it, not to mention sad (i was pg through all the holidays- no xmas cookies for me!). at the end, my bp was super high and i swelled up like a blimp. pictures from my last few weeks could be used as blackmail material.
my newborn son and i had our blood sugar tested constantly while we were in the hospital. now, i'm glad i was so careful with everything because i would have felt horrible wondering if i should have done anything differently that i hadn't done. unfortunately, after getting rid of the diabetes, all i wanted was sweets!
good luck!

not to scare you, but that is how my best friend found out that she had kidney disease. We always say that her pregnancy saved her life cause otherwise she would not have had her urine tested until she was too sick.

Spilling proteins that early is something that needs to be investigated, so don't let the dr. just brush it off.

N.

Hi Kim-
I had high protein in my urine the whole time I was pregnant,
with my second child. I had low blood pressure the whole time and no swelling. I did though have a uti the whole pregnancy, and ended up delivery my son a month early. Everything was fine not a problem. They just had me on lots of antibotics and nothing seem to clear it up until I had him.
After having him I was totally fine and no more UTI!!
Good luck with your pregnancy!!

High protein can be a sign of gestational diabetes. I had this with 3 out of 4 of my children. The doc will most likely send you for another test to determine this. You may have to do as little as change your diet. Nothing to worry about, but it is something you must control so the baby does not have these problems.

C. T.

I had really high protein in my urine my whole pregnantcy I had to do 8-24hr urine tests. and my blood pressure was great the whole time i did have swelling in the end but it was july. and this was my 2ed child and i never had it with her so it was very strange. i was induce at 37 weeks and had a very healthy 7lbs8oz girl. after she was born i had no more protein in my urine. so dont worry it happens its good your doc check it they will just keep a close eye on you. its just one sign of pre.E its more of the blood pressure that worrys them mine stayed fine the whole time so stay clam for you and your baby
:)

I had that too. My doctor said I was probably just dehydrated. (Which I was!) Try to increase your fluids and see if that helps. Good luck!

I did not have that early on, but at my last appointment (32 weeks), I had a high protein level. The nurse told me that it means I'm not eating enough protein, so my body is overcompensating. So, in addition to upping your fluids, you may want to add protein to your diet. The best way to do that is to eat at least two eggs a day. I am so not a fan of eggs and need to work on this, but I know there are great health benefits to eating them! Hope this helps!

I agree with the hydration concept. I once had an ob/gyn appointment in the evening after work and hadn't drank many fluids for several hours. Of course when they tested my urine they weren't happy with it. They wanted me to drink water, wait, and test it again. I'm sitting there thinking, um of course I'm dehydrated - I haven't had much to drink! After an hour of just sitting there I told them that I was leaving and that unless I chugged down gallons of water, it was going to be a little while before my urine analysis came to something they found desirable. On subsequent appointments, I made darn sure that I was well-hydrated and I didn't have the problem again.

You might have an issue, but try to hydrate yourself properly (if you haven't) and it might make a difference?