From "textbook pregnancy" to eclamptic seizure

Posted On Tuesday, May 08, 2012  by Cathy

The doctors described my pregnancy as textbook. I wondered why I had to go in so often when everything was going so well. I never experienced high blood pressure, the symptom I most closely associated with preeclampsia.

My baby girl was due to arrive on Nov. 19. On Nov. 13, I woke up with what I assumed was a stomach virus. (I work at a university and knew of students who had recently had some sort of stomach bug.) My symptoms were a headache, nausea and vomiting. I didn't think much about it, rested and felt better by that evening. I woke up the next morning feeling drained. I attributed that to being 39 weeks pregnant and decided to go into work a little late. Then, I threw up again. I went back to bed and assured my husband that I would be okay. He reluctantly left for work.

The last thing I remember clearly is laying in bed and feeling like my vision was a little off. I wear contacts and didn't have them in. I wasn't sure what the problem was.

My husband and my mother-in-law both tried to call me several times that morning. After a couple of hours with no response, my husband decided to come home to check on me. He found me on our bedroom floor covered in blood from what he would later learn was a nosebleed. I was conscious, but acting confused. Although he wasn't sure what was wrong, he knew something was not right and rushed me to the hospital.

Although I remember very little of the next 24 hours, I was admitted to the hospital with high levels of protein in my urine. My blood pressure was within normal limits for a pregnant woman, but I had clearly experienced an eclamptic seizure. Apparently, I had already been experiencing contractions and was placed on pitocin and magnesium sulfate before eventually seeing a plastic surgeon (for a cut on my nose) and a neurologist. After a CT scan, the doctors determined that there was still swelling in my brain, making an epidural too risky. I was transferred to the university hospital for an emergency C-section under general anesthesia.

My daughter was born in the early morning hours of Nov. 15 while my husband nervously sat by himself in a waiting room. Neither of us saw her born, but we are blessed with a healthy, happy baby girl. I mourn missing her birth. I don't remember as much as a single contraction. I know we are both blessed to be healthy after all we went through, but I will always be sad to have missed her first cry and sharing that experience with my husband. I will forever be thankful that he came home to check on me, but I hate that I had to put him through so much.

We hope to have another child in the future, but I am terrified that what happened to me this time will happen again. Until two days prior to my daughter's birth, I didn't even exhibit signs of preeclampsia. I wish more women knew that preeclampsia is more than just high blood pressure and understood that it can happen to anyone.