26 Weeks – Consultant Appointment and Blood Pressure Clinic

A few days ago, I had my consultant appointment at the hospital. I had originally been referred due to my BMI, but with the blood pressure concerns coming up, that had become the focus of the appointment.

The appointment went well. I still have some white blood cells in my urine, which was sent off for analysis to see if I have some kind of UTI. My BP was 134/90, which is not bad when they want it under 140/90. The consultant checked Eden’s heartbeat, which was fine and put me on aspirin 75mg once a day until basically she is born. He said my only risk factor for pre eclampsia was the borderline blood pressure as risk only increases when booking BMI is above 35. That was pretty much it and we were sent on our way.

A couple of days later, I had my very first Blood Pressure Clinic appointment. I was surprised that I was seeing another consultant – a lady this time – and was happy to be getting such great care. My BP at this appointment was 140/87, which again is right on the borderline of “high”. The appointment went really well and was very positive. The consultant explained that when someone isn’t being medicated, they want to see BP at under 160/90, which mine nearly always is. There’s only a couple of times where the bottom number has been above 90 and they need it to be persistently there to diagnose hypertension. She told me that she will be expecting it to rise slightly in the next few weeks, as is usual in pregnancy, and if it does take me into the “high” zone they will medicate, at which point they want to see it below 130/85.

This consultant was VERY positive. Unlike the doctor at the Day Unit, who had told me that my pre-eclampsia risk was now 50%, this consultant told me it was nearer 20%. She said really I don’t have much more chance of developing complications than anyone else and she thinks I will likely go full term and be able to labour normally. Obviously they want to keep the monitoring going, and I need to keep taking my BP at home just to check, but otherwise she said to keep doing what I’m doing. It was really nice to actually be told that I was doing well and to not blame myself for the slightly elevated blood pressure. “Sometimes it just happens” is what she told me.

She did also ask why I had moved hospitals, and every time I have a discussion with a medical professional about the previous hospital, I realise more and more that they do have a pretty bad reputation in the maternity world. Anyhow, so I was advised to keep taking the aspirin daily, keep checking my BP and home and be sure to go to any appointments booked for me. I also now have two extra scans booked at 28 weeks and 34 weeks to check growth and make sure Eden is doing ok.

Later that day I got my urine analysis results from the lab – no infection! Hooray! Kidney function is fine and so is liver function.

So, in a couple of days I had gone from a place where I was absolutely terrified about pre-eclampsia, placental failure, early delivery, emergency C sections and all kinds of horrid things, to a calmer place where I know I’m doing my absolute best and my risks aren’t that much increased at all and I know I’m being monitored. It’s amazing how a good, knowledgeable doctor can make you feel. I’m the kind of person who needs to know as much as possible, so to actually be given the information I needed was really helpful. Knowledge is power when it comes to healthcare!

The plan henceforth stays much the same. Take the aspirin (they gave me soluble – yuck!), make good food choices, get out walking with the dogs and try to keep stress free. I’ve also read a lot about potassium helping blood pressure, so I’ve added two bananas a day to my food as well, which is great as I love a banana! Each BP reading at home has been well within the realms of normal, so I’m hoping my clinic readings will follow suit.

We’ve got a 4D scan booked for about three week’s time as well and I’m SO looking forward to seeing her little face! I’m wondering if she got my nose. We did see her in 4D at the gender scan at 16+5, but at that point she was somewhat skeletal. I’m hoping this time she will be all cute and fat and will actually let her mummies see her pretty little face!

Hopefully the next few weeks remain infection and high blood pressure free! Only one week until third trimester!