Day 15

The project is on hold... I took my blood pressure on a whim last night and found out it's in the severely high range. In the past, I always had low blood pressure. Even during this last pregnancy, it was in the normal range, but a week after I delivered, I developed late-onset pre-eclampsia with very high blood pressure. I was hospitalized for 2 nights, and after I got out I remained on blood pressure medication for about a month. I weaned off the medication and my blood pressure still seemed to be stable (still slightly elevated at times, but not scary high, and sometimes normal or lowish). After my last check-up, I stopped checking my blood pressure. That was 2 months ago.

So, last night I was curious when I noticed my blood pressure monitor sitting there, and took a reading...it was 178/109! I panicked so much that the next reading a few minutes later was even higher--188/118! That's higher than it was when I was admitted to the hospital. After I rested a few minutes, it went down to 151/93. Today it's in the 160s/90s. I really have no idea what to do. This far after pregnancy, it should not be related to the pregnancy or pre-eclampsia. Getting exercise is supposed to help, and I've had much more exercise lately than normal! And I don't even have a regular doctor and our insurance just lapsed. I do have a 14-day refill remaining on my blood pressure meds, so I'm getting that filled today, and then I don't know what to do. I'm really dizzy & have vertigo...so I'm trying to just rest today & not push myself. But I'm nervous. It's weird that I even checked last night, and I don't know how long it's been that way! (My husband also checked his so we could make sure the monitor wasn't just acting screwy, but his was quite a bit lower than mine whenever he checked.)