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Preeclampsia and healthy baby

I was about 30 weeks pregnant with my 1st child when during a routine Dr's visit, my blood pressure was suddenly in the 140s over 90s range- it had always been low to normal before...
the Dr began monitoring me regularly and my BP kept rising until it reached 170 over 110- I began going for non-stress tests twice a week and seeing my Dr once a week- the blood pressure was the only real symptom of preeclampsia I had at this point...

In my 34th week- my water suddenly broke- my Dr ended up having to deliver my baby via C-section while I was attached to a magnesium drip- she was fine except for being a bit small- she was 3 lbs. 15 oz..and now doing extremely well...

About a week after I had my daughter, my blood pressure returned to normal

Suzanne

My Little Miracle

I was 27 weeks gestation and my 21 week ultrasound showed the baby was just a little bit small for her age, so we had another ultrasound at 27 weeks to check the growth and found that she was very small for her gestational age and I would need to have a test done to check the placenta and umbilical cord. This was on a wednesday, that evening I started feeling ill. The right side of my chest was hurting every time I took a breath. It felt like I was being stabbed and couldn't breathe.

I went to the emergency room and was told that it was my gallbladder and to go home and rest. I spent the next two days unable to keep food down and the pain moved to the middle of my upper stomach area. Saturday morning I went to the ER again with the pain. They wanted to send me home, but something didn't feel right and my husband knew and refused to take me home. So I was admitted and had the ultrasound done earlier than the Monday scheduled.

They found that the baby was in distress, and not moving very much. They found the placenta was less than the 10th percentile for age and the baby was less than 5th percentile. I had PIH (preeclampsia) and I was going into HEELP syndrome. My platelets dropped from 216,000 to 95,000 in four hours and I was feeling horrible. I was transferred to another hospital via ambulance and within 2 hours I was in emergency surgery.

I'm doing quite well. I'm back to work now five weeks after the surgery. My baby girl (my little miracle) is great. She weighed in at a heavy 1 pound 3 ounzes and is faced with all the challenges that a preemie this small would normally face. She meets each challenge with a wonderful gas grin and beautiful big eyes and teaches me everyday what fighting is all about.

Kristy Robinson

What do I know?

I am still really looking forward to having my second child although it has been really hard. When I first heard the news of having too much protein in my urine at my 7 week doctor's visit, I did not think about it much during the second or most of the third month of pregenancy - until I got on the internet and started checking out what exactly that pre-eclampsia was.

Reading everyone's story on this web page has made me feel better though. I am in my 12th week now and I feel as though I have not been informed enough, so I am doing all the research myself but I am not at liberty to make the ultimate diagnosis of what exactly this means. Should I be worried? I do have the high blood pressure and I also have gestational diabetes. I have been sick for almost the 3 months and severe headaches. I don't really much about what is going on with my body.

With my first child it was much easier, no problems except for Group B Strep which I was treated for after birth me and my baby. My first child and this new baby will be 8 years apart and I feel as though I have never done this before.. If there is anyone that can give me some advice please do.

Melissa Pell City, Alabama

Preterm

My story is rather short so here goes... I happened to get pregnant after 3 years of trying. My husband was a Sgt. in the Army and was home for a 2 week R&R from his tour in Afghanistan. My pregnancy was perfect, better than I could have dreamed. It was great, that is, until I hit the 5 month mark. I began to swell so bad that I couldn't wear shoes or even bend my knees without my legs hurting so bad. I went to my reg. checkup and my ob said he was having a very hard time hearing the heartbeat. So they monitored me for over an hour and did one more ultra sound wich showed my baby at 2 weeks behind on head size and a week behind on body size. After no more activity than they got after giving me sugar and caffiene I was sent to the hospital. I was given meds to keep me from going into convulsions and steriod shots for my baby boy. At exactly 32 weeks gestation, having been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia My baby was taken via c -section weighing in at only 2 1/2 pounds and 16 inches long. He was healthy but had a few minor set backs. But today he is a very healthy, rather skinny little munchkin of 16 months old. I was later diagnosed with a blood disorder that caused the problems I got. I wouldn't change a thing though. He is a blessing to both his Daddy and me.

Amanda

Nightmare Pregnancy

Into about my 3 month of pregnancy, I was waking up in the middle of the night with horrible pains in my wrists and eventually lost the feeling in most of my fingers. I was diagnosed with pregnancy induced carpal tunnel. I was fitted for braces to wear at night but I needed them sometimes just to pick things up. As a nurse, I had to go to limited duties. In my 5th month, my blood pressure started to go up and I was required to see my obgyn weekly and do weekly 24 hour urines. At around the same time, I started to have stabbing pain in my right flank. I was then diagnosed as having hydronephrosis (swelling of the kidney) and had a stent put in to drain the extra fluid. I was on pain killers and bed rest for 3 weeks. My blood pressure soon became an issue and was put on medication for that. Now on top of my weekly obgyn visits, I was going for weekly fetal assessments. Needless to say, I was taken off of work in my 27th week. The swelling in my face and feet got so bad that I could barely walk and my blood pressure was increasing despite a doubling of the medication. I was admitted to the hospital and the medication was tripled. That finally got it under control. I was taking my BP 4 times a day and reporting to my obgyn who let me stay at home instead of the hospital because she trusted my assessments because of my job. Baby looked fine this whole time and was much bigger than they expected because high BP and the medication I was on contributes to low birth weight babies. In week 38 I went to the Dr. and I had gained 20 lbs fo fluid in 5 days after only gaining about 15 lbs. the whole pregnancy. My BP was also quite high. She sent me to have a BP panel and to have the first stage of induction. I was called back into the hospital 2 days later for the second stage and had our son on Good Friday. He weighed in at 8lbs. 4oz. So much for a small baby. LOL We are all recovered and doing well.

Ginette