Lost my grandchild due to Eclampsia

[tjrobinson16]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this.. as I am typing this my daughter-in-law is being induced to have her still born child. She suffered from eclampsia - not knowing she had pre-eclampsia in the first place. Was not able to take the baby in time. It happened so quick - I am assuming that the blood supply was cut off from the baby during the convulsions. at least thats what I read. she was about 7 months, and being a young mother (not teenage though), did not go to the doctor like she should until last week. However, the ob did all the normal tests, blood pressure, ultrasound etc. and everything appeared normal to the ob. I have a problem believing that there was no sign of pre-eclampsia less than a week ago. Can pre-eclampsia just appear within a few days and then develop so quickly into eclampsia? I feel there was some way to stop this but maybe I am confused.. so sad by this. never thought we would have to experience this in our lives. thanks for letting me talk this out at least.

[rosemary]

I am so sorry for the loss of your grandchild and all that you are dealing with at the moment. I am sure that it's all just overwhelming and heartbreaking. To answer your question, yes, preeclampsia, and eclampsia can unfortunately come on that quickly. The word eclampsia in Greek litereally means *lightning*. PE can and does affect those who have had little prenatal care, to those who have had the very best prenatal care. From my personal situation, I had a level 2 ultrasound, and several doctor's appts just a few days before getting PE, then being life-flighted and losing my son at 20 weeks gestation and nearly losing my own life within a 15 hour timeframe.

I encourage you and your daughter-in-law to talk with her physicians and ask any questions that you might have. There is also an enormous amount of information on this website. You are very welcomed to post questions, or just share whatever you like on the forums. There are many here with similar experiences and are more than willing to listen and offer support.

When and if your daughter-in-law is up to it, please share the site with her. She will be in my thoughts for a quick recovery. I wish you all peace and healing, and again, I am so sorry for your loss.

Please take care.

[blythe]

As Rosemary said, pre-eclampsia can hit very fast and very hard. Prenatal care can catch it when it comes on slowly, but the lack of prenatal care until recently had nothing to do with your daughter getting sick. Since she was seen last week and everything seemed fine, I would assume that she was one of the fast-moving cases. I'm so sorry.

Please do lean on us for support, and invite your daughter here too.

Please also help your daughter watch her signs and symptoms http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-info ... d-symptoms
she is at risk of post-partum complications for up to 6 weeks post-partum. Especially watch her blood pressure - ask the doctors what numbers (150/100? higher? lower?) to call in for -, also headaches that don't go away with tylenol, visual disturbances, pain under the right ribs, and trouble catching her breath.

Gentle thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

[mychaelelaine]

I'm very new here and am reading so many sad stories tonight. It's so ironic how we are not alone in our tragedies. I am so sorry for your loss. God bless you and my prayers are with you and your family!

[kerisue]

I'm so sorry for your loss and your son and daughter in law's loss. My mom was with me the whole way too and was a huge support for me after my loss. This forum has also been a huge support and source of information.

[aajatwins]

Welcome to the forum.
I am also a case of eclampsia that came on suddenly. Looking back, I had a few symptoms earlier in my twin pregnancy, but most of those mimicked regular pregnancy symptoms and seemed to be exaggerated due to carrying multiples. The whole experience was very traumatic, as I'm sure it was with your daughter-in-law. I'm sorry for her/your loss - I can only imagine what that adds to the emotional journey. It took several months (6+) for me to begin healing emotionally. When my twin boys were about 6 weeks old, I got up the courage to look at the PE Foundation website and read the stories there. I'm sure I cried that whole day, knowing that my story could have ended so differently. But I'm so thankful that this resource was here to help me understand what I went through and support me in my second pregnancy. These ladies are amazing. I hope your daughter-in-law will also find help here.
Praying for healing for your family.

[uncskristy]

I am so sorry that you had to find us.
Like prior posters, I echo that Pre-eclampsia is lightening quick. With my second son, everything was perfect at a prenatal check at 22 weeks. At 23 weeks, 5 days I awoke with blood from a placenta tear. Once hospitalized at one of the best OB Hospitals with a team of Maternal Fetal Medicine (High Risk OBs) watching me day and night, they discovered the preeclampsia and by day four of my hospital stay my life was in danger and we were forced to deliver. With my third the PE waited until almost 36 weeks to surface but literally within hours of no protein at one of my many prenatal appointments and having my BP monitored protein surfaced and we delivered as quickly as possible to prevent myself from getting so sick.
I think that is hard for all of us to accept how quickly it moves and how there is nothing you can do.

[joker]

I am so sorry for the loss of your grandchild.

Like Rosemary said, PE can strike lightening quick. I know it did for me. One day I was at the ob with a completely normal appointment and less than 10 day later I was being induced for PE. My thoughts are with you, your daughter in law and your entire family.

[cgoodi1]

Hi. I recently just lost my baby girl at 21 weeks gestation. I had gone for my 20 week ultrasound and my visit with the ob/gyn just the week before and everything was ok. I did have some symptoms of preeclampsia, but my doctor thought it was heart burn. I went back to go see her a week later and then was admitted to the hospital. When I was admitted there was a heart beat and literally ten minutes later when we went for an ultrasound the baby had died. Now that I know the symptoms I will be ready for the next time I try again which will be as soon as the doctors tell me I can, despite the risks. My ob/gyn said that I will be watched carefully by the high risk clinic and hopefully everything will work out and I will end up having a beautiful healthy baby. I am only 26 years old and had no idea about preeclampsia. It's so hard to detect because many symptoms just sound like regular symptoms of pregnancy and it really does come on quickly. I hope that your daughter-in-law will be able to have a healthy pregnancy next time.

[misscoleyp]

The defintion of preeclampsia is "lighting fast" because it can move so fast. Everything can be fine at one appointment and then get bad very quickly.

My thoughts and prayers are with your entire family at this difficult time.

((HUGS))