Preeclampsia?

This week I spent a good deal of time reminiscing about being pregnant with Ella and her first few weeks. I looked through her baby pictures several times and was reminded of how swollen I got when I was pregnant (not that I had forgotten!) I know that some swelling is normal, but seriously my entire body was incredibly swollen, even my nose! I asked my doctor several times if I should be worried and she said that I should just elevate my feet often and drink water. However, I have been doing some research, mostly because I never want to look that gross again, and I think it might have been a little more serious than she thought. The three most prominent symptoms of mild preeclampsia are water retention, high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Well, I was obviously retaining water, but I also remember my urine tests coming back with extra protein towards the end and my blood pressure went up. My blood pressure is usually really low so even when it went up it was still in the healthy zone, but it did go up quite a bit.

I am not a medical expert by any means, but I think I might have been slightly preeclamptic. I certainly was not a serious case which entails headaches, nausea, vomiting and blurred vision. They probably wouldn't have done anything differently other than increasing my check ups to make sure I didn't get worse. But it does concern me that my doctor was so nonchalant about everything. What if it had gotten worse? Preeclampsia affects the amount of blood the baby gets, therefore they don't get enough oxygen or food, meaning lower birth weight. There are all sorts of problems with low birth weight babies. I try not to be an extremist and I think Ella and I were both fine, but I am a little disappointed with the quality of care I received. My doctor was great in lots of ways and she is still Ella's doctor, but I don't think I would have her be my doctor the next time I am pregnant. I did love the birth center in the hospital Ella was born at and would consider delivering there again if we lived close enough. It was brand new, the rooms were huge, the food was great and it was small enough to get plenty of quality care. I didn't want to leave! I had to go back and pick up something we forgot a few weeks after Ella was born and I stayed and talked to the nurses for a long time. Red Cedar Medical Center is a great place to have a baby, just maybe not with my doctor.

So I have a game plan for next time I am pregnant to avoid becoming a blimp:
1. Drink as much water as humanely possible
2. Avoid salt all together
3. Exercise regularly
4. No caffeine
5. No fried foods or junk food

These are all things you are supposed to do during pregnancy anyway and I tried to do them, but next time I will be extreme. I will try my best to not drink ANY Dr. Pepper (which I had maybe once a week last time), No salt (unless I don't have a choice; if we are eating at a friend's house I might not be able to avoid it) and I will avoid any candy or chocolate. When I was pregnant with Ella I worked at a chocolate shop and therefore ate a lot of chocolate. I actually did really well for most of my pregnancy with gaining weight slowly and healthfully, then BAM! I was huge. That is another sign of preeclampsia- sudden swelling in the face. My face was a little bit bigger throughout, but at the end it got crazy big. I have been a lot better about exercising lately because I take Ella for walks, so hopefully I will stay healthy. The hardest thing will be avoiding pop and chocolate. I really don't like salt very much and I never add it to my food, but so many recipes call for it that it might be an issue, but I will try.