I developed preeclampsia at 19 weeks w/my first pregnancy. I had twins w/one growth restrictedPosted On Friday, July 26, 2002 by Rebecca |
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I developed preeclampsia at 19 weeks w/my first pregnancy. I had twins w/one growth restricted by 3 weeks, she died in-utero at 23 weeks. I went on to have a placental abruption and emergency c-section at 27 weeks, and developed severe HELLP syndrome. My daughter, Aubrey Nicole, lived 15 days in the NICU. I never knew pregnancy could be so complicated. I was diagnosed w/twins at 19 weeks after my AFP came back elevated. My OB referred me to a perinatologist since one twin was 3 wks behind. Initially he thought I might have twin to twin transfusion syndrome and told me the small twin would probably die. She hung in there for a while and kept growing until about 23 weeks.Meanwhile I had started having slightly elevated B/P and protein in my urine. My peri put me on bedrest monitoring my B/P at home at 20 weeks, before the small twin died. Things progressed w/occasional increases in B/P but nothing consistant. A week after the small twin died, I spent the night in the hospital w/bleeding, but went home the next day. At 26 weeks my B/P went up to 177/113 at home. I was admitted to the hospital, started on MAG and steroids, and placed on strict bedrest. The goal was to keep me pregnant longer for the baby.I was doing well w/the exception of a daily high B/P and 12 grams of protein in my urine for about a week until I had a placental abruption and had to have an emergency c-section. It was very scary.I was in a lot of pain and was throwing up until they put me under general anesthesia. I woke up in my room still throwing up, hot, miserable, bleeding through my incision, and unable to see. Throughout that day things worsened and they transferred me to the ICU. My MAG level was too high, I was in renal failure, my liver enzymes were elevated, my platelets were at 20,000, and my B/P was still elevated. A nephrologist was consulted and a plan for dialysis was started. My platelets dropped to 10,000 the next day. Over the next 7 days that I spent in the ICU, I recieved dialysis 4 times and plasma phoresis 5 times. I also was given several units of blood/platelets. I had one episode of pulmonary edema. An opthamologist was consulted for my vision and he diagnosed me with maculopathy and optic neuropathy due to retinal and macular edema from my high B/P. Five days after my daughter was born I was able to be transported to the NICU to see her (although my vision was so bad I really couldn't see her). She was doing great and on CPAP, moving all over the place and grabbing at the plastic cover in her isolet. I was so glad she was doing better than me. After 7 days in the ICU I was transferred to the OB Medical floor, dialysis cath. removed, and allowed to get up. I went to visit Aubrey daily. On my 4th day on that floor, I was awakened by a NICU nurse at 6:00am to tell me that Aubrey had had a pulmonary hemmorhage over night and had to be placed back on the ventalator. She lived for 2 1/2 more days as everything in her body shut down. She died on June 22, 2002. Only then was I able to hold her. I was discharged that next day. The hospital still had the small twin that had died in utero, so we decided to bury the twins together.I visit the grave and cry often.I want to try to have another baby, but I am very scared. I received great care but it did not make a difference in the outcome.I only hope that in the future I can have a healthy baby and a normal pregnancy. |
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