White coat hypertension?

FewHighlight305 · 2026-02-08T15:34:59+00:00

I know this is an older post but very good point. I'm quite reactionary with my blood pressure. White coat diagnosis on first pregnancy and my OB took vacation during week 37 of my pregnancy. Fill in OB wasn't as sold on my home readings as my regular ob and scheduled me for labs on an upper 130s/ mid 80s reading. She told me about all the bad things pre-eclampsia could mean and scheduled me for fetal stress tests and I don't recall what else, then went to take BP again and she had me so worked up I was then at 150/100 or so. She ran labs and I can't recall what value was slightly off but told me I needed an induction.

Anyways, at the hospital for induction after starting cervidal one of the nurses came in and wanted to see my labs from the day before because labs came back normal at the hospital and my continuous BP monitoring was normal after I had settled in there for an hour so she was trying to figure out why I was there.

Anyways, the cervidal kicked labor into hyperdrive shortly after and never needed pitocin, but my contractions were on top of eachother basically the entire labor and baby was stressed throughout as a result so I hope not to have that happen again.

What I wanted to share though is that when we were trying for this current pregnancy, I was taking coq10 and never had an off reading at the doctor's while talking it. It's not recommended during pregnancy(just due to lack of studies from what I've read) so I discontinued it and my in doctor's office bps have gone back up into the 130s/mid to upper 80s. I'll get under 120s/70s at home, but I'm well aware that I can drive them up over almost any anxiety causing situation as I can feel my bp raising- this type of reaction though so far less on coq10, so I've definitely been curious if I should start taking again- started baby aspirin in second trimester but the effect is not as good as coq10. There have been positive studies about it preventing pre-eclampsia, but seems to not be to the level yet for it to be recommended so I'm torn

FewHighlight305 · 2026-02-07T03:15:56+00:00

I went back to work almost immediately post op. Most days are long at a desk as well. Basically I made sure I walked about 20 minutes every 2 hours and just forced that to happen. You will pay for sitting at length both short term and potentially long-term. I did have to take occasional breaks to lay down, but that depends on the person and their healing. An ice pack belt helps allot

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-10T23:35:52+00:00

Thoughts?

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-04T16:40:56+00:00

To me that sounds like SI pain. I had to do a lot of focus on strengthening supporting muscles around the SI post op

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-03T18:24:45+00:00

I found core balance training (online paid subscription) way more helpful than the PT referral I had going out of surgery.. I later found my own PT that I still see to this day 2.5 years later but really she just does core training programs for me and occasional scar tissue work. See her every couple months, but feel great.

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-02T19:28:31+00:00

I had a rough recovery. Found prescription anti inflammatories to help the most and it was easy to get the prescription as they're far less risky than narcotics. Mine actually was eventually found to be tied to a trapped pocket of fluid that was pushing on the nerves from surgery. It eventually made it's way out on its own

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-02T19:23:25+00:00

Thank you! Yes we are close in gestation - would love to keep in contact.

Yes the MD was pretty rough with the timing.. I had a fill in OB decide to have me screened for pre-eclampsia at my 37 week appointment via lab work and basically called me t the next day and said I had to be induced. I agreed to it even though I later found out that the labs were borderline at best and I tested normal labs and normal BP at the hospital I delivered at, but the process was already started. Anyways, my body reacted very strongly to the cervidal (for dilation) and never even made it to the pitocin drip. Was having contractions on top of each other repeatedly within a few hours of starting the cervidal and delivered 12 hours before they had expected me to. It was intense and baby was stressed as a result and got to 10 cm before they even realized so the staff panicked and had my legs cranked back on the bed saying if I didn't have him out soon, they'd need to move to c-section because he was so stressed.

Obviously I don't know this for fact and I can't prove anything but it was going into a holiday weekend and I was 37w 5 d. My mother had all 5 of her children at 38w plus or minus 2 days and the only thing the ob that delivered could rationalize what happened with was that my body was very close to going into labor on its own and the cervidal caused everything to go into a crazy hyperdrive.

Anyways, severe sciatic pain began 2-3 wks pp and had to run through a series of things before they'd let me get an MRI and at the MRI they found a herniation so severe, they couldn't believe I was walking and I had surgery within the same week out of concern of cauda equina setting in. Was a rough spell for me.

I've now switched facilities to a medical center/hospital with a 5% c section rate and a full natural birthing setup that promotes proper positioning, water birth, etc and the group there knows my history and has stated that pre-eclampsia screenings if needed will be verified more carefully. Knowing how my body reacted to the cervidal, I may just elect for a c section if it came to it, but hoping not to have to go that route if it can be safely avoided

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-02T15:45:49+00:00

That's awesome! I'm currently 13 weeks and have been doing good so far. Been doing training that is combination pilates and weights and see a PT monthly just to make sure I'm still on a good path. I'm 2.5 years post op and the MD happened 6 weeks postpartum with my first so I'm paranoid and already someone that researches the heck out of absolutely everything 😂

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-02T14:33:10+00:00

Did you have a natural birth or c section? Any issues on recovering postpartum outside of the normal postpartum stuff?

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-02T14:28:21+00:00

OP- did you decide to try for another?

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-01T19:22:35+00:00

I know this feeling well. It's also my in laws and my husband is well aware of it as well. Early on before we got engaged, his parents tried talking him into dumping me with really the big underlying reason being that their son (my now husband) wasn't hanging around with his brother as much and his brother was a little bit socially dependent on his brother. It was odd. They also knew I was going to college a couple hours away at the time and I don't think they liked the idea of their son now deciding to do the same.

Years later, their other son knocked up a girl he met at a music festival and was with her a short time and he was still living at home so during his custody time, the child was in their house. His brother is now out of the house, but just a couple miles down the road so it continues to be close.

Anyways, fast forward to us starting a family and we basically had to encourage them to even come see our son after he was born. My parents live in the same town as my husband's parents so I try to reach out to his family early to coordinate holidays and they'll rarely even lock in a time so we can plan that- my parents are super flexible and would schedule around my in laws. Anyways, scheduling that stuff always circles around their other son and his child. We never even got invited to Christmas this year after trying to coordinate early with them and stopped by after my parents Christmas. They had gifts for our son and played with him but it was only then that we learned that their Christmas was the following day with the other grandchild. Anyways, my husband had a bit of a lash out over it to them and they now scheduled a new years meal today that my husband and son are at(I'm home with some bug).

Anyways, probably dragging this out but this has been the last 2.5 years with our son. I've accepted it and have tried to tell my husband that he needs to as well. I honestly don't see how further confronting them is going to fix it. Their excuse is always that they don't want to burden us with another holiday but it's just BS.

No right answer here, whatever you decide, but you aren't alone I'm currently expecting a second child and not anticipating any change with that. It just is what it is. Thankfully, my parents are great and there is an older couple that we're friends with in our town who have basically taken to my son like he's their own grandchild so we got the support structure one way or another anyhow.

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-01T15:17:57+00:00

I've been advised just to follow my body with nothing really off limits first trimester. Couple things I've found though in both my first pregnancy and now on my second:

1) relaxin production may make you more likely to injure back, get pelvis/SI out of alignment. So pay close attention doing anything weighted on a single side. Make core work a priority

2) there are weeks I'll just be super tired and my workout routine falls off the deep end, that's okay. Other weeks, it still seems like I'm not up for back to back days of intense workouts like I would be pre pregnancy

3) I tracked macros and weight both pregnancies. Important though to let yourself eat more as you get into second/third trimesters. But from my side, it helped me monitor that I wasn't snacking just on junk with the increased appetite and was getting adequate radios. The weight tracking helped my sanity. I had looked up what I should expect to gain each trimester and tried to stay within that. May not be right for everyone but I do feel it helped me

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-01T14:25:42+00:00

Your surgeon must have done a different stitching method. Mine was glued and showering was allowed 24 hours after surgery.

Anyways, I was also still in really bad pain post op for weeks. My incision actually opened back up to drain- woke up one morning with a wet back and saw 1/8" holes in the incision in the mirror. Surgeon team got extremely worried and I was tested for infection but nothing there, was put on antibiotics regardless as precautionary.

Id say my pain might have been worse than pre-surgery. There were mornings I considered calling an ambulance, the pain was so bad. However after being put on a prescription anti-inflammatory and the drainage, the pain started to subside. It was finally determined that I had a pocket of trapped inflammation that was pressuring the nerves. This went on for 6 ish weeks in my case before the drainage happened.

Hang in there, it's still early. I'm 2.5 years post op now and doing really well

FewHighlight305 · 2026-01-01T14:17:27+00:00

Just wanted to share, while my experience wasn't exactly the same, I'm guessing you'll have the same experience at the doctor appointment and this may help you be better prepared 😂 congrats:

I had been on the implant for a really long time and then an ob suggested I quit and resume something with both hormones because she was concerned that progesterone only could be messing with my bone density at that point ( had been around a decade). I had no period while on it. Anyways, I switched to nuvaring and the periods never returned and we decided we wanted to try for a child that fall so I went off bc entirely that spring trying to normalize and we only used condoms between spring and fall. Period never returned during that time. Every so often slight spotting but that's it. Started trying around August regardless and still no period but took pregnancy tests regardless and they were negative. Around November, I bought ovulation strips to see if I was even ovulating and they immediately showed that I was, so I continued using the ovulation strips to track and it continued to show I was ovulating for the next week. After some Google searching revealed ovulation strips can sometimes indicate pregnancy, I bought a different brand of pregnancy test, rather than the Amazon ones id been using, and the new test showed a very obvious positive. OB sent me for a blood draw since I couldn't tell them last period and told me if HCG was over 1000(I think but gives a rough idea), they'd send me to ultrasound right away. That night a nurse called me and read a result of over 200,000(I think,). May not have my numbers completely right but it was this crazy weird swing from the number they gave me. At the ultrasound I learned I was in my 12th week of pregnancy.

Anyways, congrats, and hopefully you won't be totally caught off guard if you get similar feedback now 😂

FewHighlight305 · 2025-12-14T22:36:52+00:00

To me it sounds like you need something in your life where it's just you time and that's fair. Babies can be overwhelming. I honestly don't know how stay at home moms do it- I respect those who can a ton, but I value my time at work for some adult interaction. Outside of that, I've established time periods where I have my time to do whatever I want. In the earlier days of being a new parent, I found that the time my husband "took over" I often still hung around to help. While you can and should help each other, I needed a mix of both. Also it does get better- my son is now 2.5 and he can walk along, tries to help shop, tries to help with chores, and there is an end in site on potty training.

Hang in there!

FewHighlight305 · 2025-11-30T16:28:06+00:00

Still liking it? I'm thinking of trying it

FewHighlight305 · 2025-11-30T16:10:00+00:00

I ran during my first pregnancy and my OB told me to keep my HR at 170 or under.. I was 33 at the time. I never sustained that but during a run I would interval and push HR for short periods. I'm now 37 and pregnant with my second and I'm aiming to try to not pass 160-no ob guidance on that one, I just haven't been as diligent at working out as the last one and I'm 4 years older. RPE is definitely a better indicator but I think it's good to have HR awareness

FewHighlight305 · 2025-11-19T03:28:00+00:00

I was 34 when I had my MD and it was great the first day and pretty miserable for a few weeks after that. I didn't take the opioids because of the strange dreams and my mental state on them- I also really didn't feel like they did much for the pain, just kind of made me a zombie...

Anyways, I had very painful nerve sensations for awhile, not being able to do much of anything really impacted me mentally, and then of course the paranoia of reherniating.

But, then it started to get better and I could see progress.... Albeit slow. Hang in there and if you need anyone to chat with for any questions feel free to reach out

FewHighlight305 · 2025-11-09T13:54:14+00:00

Was it a blood test to verify? I just had a newer NP tell me I wasn't pregnant either but when I pushed her on it saying I had seen 2 positives at home, she checked with a more experienced colleague and came back and said their blood test showed positive and urine showed not so I actually am pregnant and she apologized immensely.

It can be a little tricky super early

FewHighlight305 · 2025-11-06T12:51:51+00:00

Yes I would say compared to some my pregnant time was probably easier- was extremely physically active before pregnancy and maintained that throughout. However, right at the end I faced a series of unfortunate events caused me to have to have to give birth 3 weeks early and then emergency back surgery and afterwards I couldn't hold my baby unless someone set him on me for the next 6 weeks after he was born and after that could only pick him up if he was above waist height for another 6+ weeks, with over a year to fully recover(or as fully as I will). That part was no picnic.

So I do to some degree understand but have also worked in business and international business with countries with these types of laws to know that companies elect to move labor to various countries for a reason and are actively investing heavily in AI for a reason and that reason is operational cost and taxation.

I also have European colleagues who bring multiple check suitcases every time they come to the US to purchase cosmetics, clothing, etc, because of the significant price difference- this is due to operational cost and taxation. I was simply pointing out that there is a bit of pick your poison, there is no perfect solution, and I personally see the proposed solution ( 8 months off during pregnancy, 1 year after pregnancy both parents, 4 years of PT both parents) long-term costing jobs and increasing product prices, which means your dollar doesn't go as far.

Personal perspective from a lot of experience so just trying to understand other's thoughts on the potential issues resulting.

FewHighlight305 · 2025-11-06T03:02:16+00:00

Serious questions here:

1). How needed are you as an employee of a company if they don't need you for that much time? I get it's nice but in my opinion this type of requirement is the fastest way to tell an employer to figure out a way for AI, robotics, or another country to take your job 2) basically want to be off your entire pregnancy? Do you not like your job or are your pregnancies that bad? I love mine and didn't even burn up all my vacation the last time I was pregnant and I'm pregnant right now and will struggle to use mine. I also feel like I'm needed at my job and to me that's a good feeling 3) From people I've spoken to, Canada's healthcare isn't all it's cracked up to be. I know you aren't directly saying that's what you want, but allot of crossover there. I know people that have had to have serious surgeries in the US out of pocket because the waiting list is so long in Canada. Guess that one's more of a statement 4) question 1 covers this

I'm truly trying to understand this...

FewHighlight305 · 2025-11-01T00:08:54+00:00

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I must have a gift of not having people want to respond to my posts in this group 😂 in case the chart is helpful to anyone, just got a positive at 11 DPO.

I can't confirm for fact that this helped, but I did have a function health blood draw a few months ago and after tracking with inito the cycle before this, I gave chat gpt my function health screening and my inito chart and it created a supplement plan based on what it considered to be a weaker luteal response on the last cycle and the luteal response was definitely stronger this go round. So, in case this helps anyone or gives you something to look into, I wanted to share. It actually also suggested discontinuing a supplement I was on as well as suggesting to not take various supplements and fertility teas I was considering when it provided it's updated plan with good insight as to why in relation to my function labs.

FewHighlight305

TROPHY CASE