I had a consultants appointment at the hospital yesterday. The appointment was because of my high blood pressure with Callum at the time he was born. High blood pressure can be a symptom of pre-eclampsia which is a very serious condition that can occur in pregnancy. The consultant explained it as the blood vessels leading to the placenta not working properly. It can be dangerous for both the baby and the mother. More information about it can be found here.
Although my blood pressure was high with Callum and Callum was early, I don't consider myself as having pre-eclampsia and so haven't really been too concerned. However, I was pleased & reassured that they were taking the risk seriously. On the other hand, it also makes me worry more and I guess, if you read the literature, I should be a little worried and cautious. The risk of pre-eclampsia is lower in second pregnancies though if I had it previously, that makes the risk higher that I'd get it again. So one seems to cancel the other out.
What all this does mean is that they monitor me more closely. I will have two extra scans and, because symptoms typically start to show after 30 weeks, I will start to have weekly check-ups. I have a mw appointment the week after next then, two weeks after that is the first of my two extra scans so I think the weekly checks will start after that. The consultant also advised me to start taking 75mg of aspirin daily which, apparently, I should have been taking since I was 12 weeks pregnant but can still benefit me if I start taking it now.
I am pleased I get to see my bubba again but the appointment has left me feeling a little anxious and it all feels very real now.
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