34 hypertensive wanting to concieve

[anataban]

Hi [regnancy 35+.
I will turn 35 mid June this year. I am currently 34 years old and having 3 year old son. I want to give birth to one more child. I am worried because in mid 2010 I was diagnosed with blood pressure, high cholesterol and late last year I was told I am pre-diabetes.I have tried to lose weight without success. Is it safe for me to be pregnant? What are the risks involved? How should I handle it?

[relle22]

I am 38 and have been on blood pressure tablets for 2yrs now. We have an 8yr old and have been trying for baby for a year now there are a couple of medications that are safe to fall pregnant on so its ok. You will just be monitored. I am on a safe one now to fall pregnant. Unfortunately I have had two miscarriages in the last eight months. Good luck with everything.

[Anchee]

I'm a type 2 diabetic and I gave birth to my first child last May. Like you, I also have a history of high blood pressure, which runs in my family. I'm also almost 40 years old and have only one ovary.

I had the same experience you are having, before I was diagnosed with diabetes: couldn't lose weight for the life of me, even though I always ate healthy and exercised every day.

What you most probably have is insulin resistance or IR. You need to get tested to see if you have IR, and the only way to do that is via an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test or OGTT. Many regular obgyns may be reluctant to administer this test, and if yours is I'd highly recommend consulting a fertility specialist or alternative practitioner who can give you the OGTT test. Insulin resistance can't be diagnosed through a simple blood test and the only way to know for sure is through the OGTT.

IR can make it very difficult to lose weight, but it's easily treated through a medication called Metformin, which is taken by type 2 diabetics like myself, as well as women who have conditions like PCOS.

In the meantime, see if your doctor can prescribe a blood sugar testing kit, or buy one yourself and check your sugars daily, one hour after every meal. Try and keep your sugars under 150 or 140 while TTC. Follow a diabetic diet and exercise daily too. All these will help. But what's absolutely CRUCIAL is getting tested for insulin resistance. If you have IR (and it sounds like you do), then it can make it very hard to conceive, or if you do conceive, make miscarriage a much higher possibility. But insulin resistance is very easily treated, and when you control it through diet, exercise and medication your chances of a normal pregnancy and healthy baby are the same as for a woman with none of these issues!

As for high blood pressure, mine actually disappeared with exercise and in pregnancy and hasn't come back. But even if I had high blood pressure there are safe medications for pregnant women to control it.

Other things you might want to get checked for are hypothyroidism and PCOS, which can often go hand in hand with IR or diabetes, but not necessarily. I'm hypothyroid but don't have PCOS. In any case, it's always a good idea to get tested for these conditions before TTC.

Good luck and don't worry! I had a very healthy pregnancy and baby, so you can too!  :o)

[adgal]

Jrobertson gives good suggestions.  You do have some extra health risks certainly, but I don't think any of them would necessarily make it unsafe for you to conceive.  I would work with your Dr. to get the health issues under control prior to conception as the healthier you are, the easier your pregnancy will be. Best of luck to you.

[jrobertson20]

You would have to be monitored closely by doctors due to your age and all your health problems.  I know you say you have tried to lose weight with no results but eating healthy, weight loss or not, is going to be a big part in how healthy this pregnancy is.  Eating lower sodium foods and less fatty foods will help to keep your blood pressure down.  Eating more fruits and vegetables will also be better for helping to control your sugars.  If this is something you really want I would suggest making an appointment with your GYN or family doctor (whichever would follow your pregnancy) and discussing all this with them.  Together I'm sure you can figure out safe medications and a diet plan to help ensure a healthy pregnancy.  Good luck!!!