urine tests and monitoring for preeclampsia

Im being monitored for preeclampsia, and keep reading on the net in various places, that one part of the diagnosis is protein in the urine from 24hr urine tests.
My hospital is just doing random urine tests every 3-4 days - sometimes which show no protein, and on 2 occasions, have shown only a little bit.
I hope they are doing the right thing - should I request a 24hr urine test analysis?? Does anyone know?
The other thing is, they found my platelets low on two occasions, but then they go back to normal again - but they have left me for a whole week with no further blood tests or hospital appointments.
I think because everything has been staying fairly stable from all their tests over the past 3 weeks (Ive been like a pin cushion with all the blood tests)..Maybe the Dr just wanted to give me a break..
But I feel slightly uneasy with no monitoring for a whole week. I have had the nurse come out - but she just takes blood pressure (which was really low yesterday), and does random spot urine sample (which was normal yesterday), and then does the doppler on the baby (which showed no issues)..

The best indication for PE is increases in blood pressure over time so is therefore taking blood pressure during appointments is the first line of detection. Urinalysis is mainly used to back up a diagnosis and is more about monitoring kidney function IYGWIM. Protein is commonly found in the urine of pregnant women as there is obvious pressure put on the bodies filtering system (the kidneys) because of the 'little one'. PE isn't a mystery to detect so a 24hr urinalysis isn't really necessary considering your blood pressure is normal. HTH :)

Have you had PE before?

Thanks delphmoon.. its the first pregnancy for me, but there is a family history of PE on both sides.
The problem has been that Im up and down, BP tends to go up for a couple of days (20 points higher than normal for me at start of pregnancy - when it high, it tends to average about 138/90).. then it will go down again for a couple of days (back to what it was first trimester which was low 120/70 - will tend to go down this low especially when Ive been resting a lot. Also my blood (platelets) and urine (protein) tests have been up and down over past three weeks.. But they havent been progressing to get any worse at this stage and the blood and urine tests have never been too badly out of range. So Im a bit of a difficult one to figure out I think.. I have had diagnosis of PE, then not, then yes, then not, the last one says I dont have it and is the head of the department- Im being pulled pillar to post or admitted to hospital or sent home depending on which consultant I happen to get when Im in at the hospital. It seems when Im stressed or worrying for some reason e.g when Im in at the hospital for monitoring in the clinic, or when I start stressing about my blood pressure and monitoring it at home too much - the BP goes up and then I have to rest up to get it back down again - so every time Ive been admitted to the hospital, everything gets nice and stable because Im forced to put my feet up for a day or two...
They first found high BP after a minor car crash I was in - and I Have been back for monitoring every 2 days since... and they monitor my BP when Im on the ultrasound for the baby (which stresses me out as I never wanted ultrasounds on this baby).. so obviously its going to be higher! I just feel like if I had never had to go into the monitoring clinic for the crash, I might not have been told I have 'high blood pressure' and things might have stayed a bit more stable!!

How far along are you hun? Your BP isn't overly high. A high blood pressure in in excess of 160/90 for prolonged periods..and as for platlets etc- it's normal for bloods to be out with pregnancy...as long as there arn't big discrepancies...do you have any symptoms of anything? It sounds like the hospital might be causing you more stress than necessary...they are well known for that ;)

And- sorry to hear of the car accident- were you injured?

hey hun,

with my first baby i had PE n a number of other things... PE is normally most common in the first pregnancy i think due to the overall change within ur body that prodduces certain things.. i had to be closely monitored also n my blood pressure was sky rocketing never ever went down also my urine was crazy i used to have infection after infection n the protein was always too high.. towards the end i ended up in hossy 2 weeks before giving birth due to PE n risk of pre term labour.. i also swelled like a hot air balloon srsly i looked like the good year blimp lol.
i think if ur really concerned raise ur concerns with ur dr n ask all the questions to make sure ur well informed n comfortable with what ur being told..
also sometimes the net can be a veyr misleading source of information iykwim.. some info is outdated or sometimes just wrong completely..
but do ask so u know where u stand with all thats happening
as for pin cusion oh believe me iiiiiiii kkkknnnnooowwww wat u mean i had blood tests over n over n over again it sucks

thanks gals for the info..
Am just over 37 weeks now and I havent had any symptoms really apart from the fluctuating blood pressure. I wake up with minor swelling in my fingers, but it goes down by the mid morning. Car accident was really minor so there were no issues after thankfully. I was quite stressed out by it all at the time, and thats when they found the high blood pressure and the first traces of protein in the urine - I wonder if stress can cause protein?!?
oh well, at least things seem to be staying stable every time they check, just annoying I got kicked out the birth centre and now got to have the hospital birth!

You poor thing Tink.

In your case I would trust the hossy. Very annoying that you have been kicked out of the birth center though. I was monitored every few days for PE with DS as I had severe swelling in my feet and legs. As long as your BP stays relatively normal as well as your urine, I would be inclined to trust them. If you feel something isn't right though, get it checked but you are so close to the end that if they thought something wasn't right they would most likely act without hesitation.

Hi Tinkerbelle

There are many things that can increase your BP including the fear of having a high BP. At 138/90 it is not scary high however it needs to be watched. The fact that your BP is going up and down is a good sign and would tend to make me think that it is anxiety related.

A small amount of protein in your urine is quite common and due to this and the fact that it is not there on every test indicates that this is nothing to worry about. A 24 hour urine measures the amount of protein in your urine over that period of time. This test would only usually be done if you had more than a trace of protein in your urine.

A low platelet count can be caused by a number of things including some drugs. I take it by reading your posts that your platelets are not too low and if this is so I would put it down to pregnancy, However there are a couple of pregnancy related problems that can cause low platelets. It is therefore well worth continuing with your regular BP and urine check. Also If you start to develop a headache, pain at the top of your bump, blurred vision, spots or zigzags in front of your eyes then contact your midwife.

Sorry for invading this thread, but wanted to ask Alan, does the pain at the top of the bump need to be constant? Ive had that pain at the top, but it hasnt lasted or been constant. Also have had slight headaches, that sometimes get into more of a migraine and the vision hasnt been blurred but more like spots like yellow flashes. They have been monitoring my BP too even though not that high of around 130/74 and tbut after a couple of GP appts was only 105/70 and last weeks hospital appt only 125/70. Also due to their concerns they were worried i might be developing PE as well due to the slowly rising BP so a BT was done which last week appt they told me all was ok. So I am under the impression my BP is more raised when at the hospital appts, yet I must be more relaxed with the GP. Yet yesterday noticed the yellow spots/flashes and due to a part migraine I had the day before and the slight pain at the top of my bump I had approx Friday, then reading your post/reply it has me wondering. I havent had protein show up in the urine tests very much. I have my next hospital appt tomorrow. I will mention it to them as well.

Tinkerbelle - Hope all works out for you and you dont end up with PE. Hugs

Hi Csab

It is much more of a concern if the pain at the top of your bump is there all the time or most of the time. As you know during pregnancy you often get pains in places that you did not know pain was possible. It would still be worth mentioning it tomorrow.

Thanks Alan, Ive never had PE in any of my pgcy's, this is the only one they are keeping an eye on. Ive also never had that pain at the top of my bump before either, yet I also know there are lots of weird and wonderful pains that can be apart of pgcy. Which was why I didnt mention anything to the midwives when I had the pain. Yet when I read your post it made me think should I have mentioned something. I honestly dont think there is cause for them to keep a close eye on me for PE as I think it is just the stress of this particular pgcy as well as the anxiety for waiting for the DR's and hoping nothing else pops up for them to stress me with. I am sure that is why my BP is all over the place. Thanks again Alan, I think I just needed to know before I give them something else to be at me about. Hugs