Newbie

[ccake79]

Hi. Thought I'd post in here to introduce myself and say how pleased I am to have found this forum.

I had my first child 6 weeks ago. I'd had a perfectly normal pregnancy until week 35, when I had what I thought was just a migraine - albeit a really bad one. It turned out to be pre-eclampsia. They first tried to get my BP under control, but couldn't, so then they tried inducing a natural birth, but this caused abnormalities in my baby's heart rate. Meanwhile my BP just kept rising, even though they were giving me medication for it. After the failed induction, they did an emergency c-section. Despite being almost 36 weeks, Eleanor weighed 3lb 11oz at birth and was rushed to special care. I spent just over a week in hospital while they got my BP under control. I couldn't see Eleanor for the first few days and was unable to produce enough milk to breastfeed her (I have just this last week given up trying - I was getting about 2-3ml each time I pumped, every precious drop being given to my little girl - but in the last few days my milk seems to have completely gone). Eleanor was in special care for 3 weeks, but luckily never had anything wrong with her - they kept her in because she was so small for her dates and needed help feeding.

Eleanor now weighs almost 6lb and is doing really well (she seems to want to be at least 7lb by the time she is 2 months old!). I'm still on reasonable doses of labetalol and nifedipine, but am doing well too. It's been really tough, but we definitely count ourselves lucky. The pre-eclampsia came as such a surprise and there wasn't much info/advice on complications in pregnancy during antenatal classes etc. or how complications could affect breastfeeding. I think there needs to be far more info available.

Claire

[alexis]

Welcome! I'm glad your little girl is doing so well and your pressures are under control.

I agree that often this condition is not well covered prenatally. I had hypertension and didn't realize how big a deal it was so did not take it seriously.

[JB]

Hi!

I had the same issues with milk production. I also wasn't able to see her for almost two days while they tried to get my blood pressure under control after my c-section, and continued to have high blood pressure for several months afterward. My daughter was born at 29 weeks 6 days and was in the NICU for 7 weeks. I pumped the whole time, but never got more than 10ml at a session, and more often closer to 2-3ml that you were getting. I finally gave up when we brought her home because it was just too much stress and disappointment to keep pumping. When I finally sent the pump back to the rental company it felt like such a relief. It was disheartening, too, to have to listen to the comments from so many people (i.e., the lactation nurses and my OB's nurse at my 6 week checkup) that made it seem like it was my fault (e.g. "It's all just supply and demand. if you keep up the demand by pumping more, the supply will come"). I tried every suggestion they gave me, including pumping every two hours, "power pumping," supplements, medication, etc. and none of it worked. Thank goodness there were a few nurses in the NICU who were supportive enough to tell me that sometimes there's nothing you can do, particularly when you are really sick from the remaining high blood pressure and stress of having a sick baby in the hospital, and that the most important thing was that my baby was getting fed and growing. I just wish everyone who judges you for not breastfeeding would consider that sometimes you aren't breastfeeding because you can't, not because you don't want to.

I also think that there isn't enough emphasis put on the symptoms of preeclampsia and how serious they can be. I brushed off some of my symptoms for a long time because I thought they were normal pregnancy symptoms (swelling feet, headaches, etc.). This time around I am so much more aware of everything that is happening to my body that I feel much better prepared for any issues that might arise.