New, not sure where to start...

[TiffanyDemello]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the cite, I have started research on what happend to my family and I found this cite along the way. Six months ago I delivered my beautiful baby girl by emergency c-section, I had been in the hospital for 23 days and had developed HELLP syndrom. My Little girl, Meadow, was born two months early, we spent 8 weeks in the ICN with her. So in short the best time in our lives was also the worst, I was very sick, and we worried about our baby everyday. Watching those monitors became a way of life for a while. But we have been home for 4 months and my baby girl is 15 lbs, she's very healthy, and as soon as the cold season passes we're going to get back out into the world.
Because I was hospitalized so long I lost my job and had to pay a fortune to keep insurance. Now my child can't be in a daycare setting because of her prematurity, and lung situation. She gets the synagis shot every month, and I don't take her out, fearing that she will get sick, and end up back in the hospital. I had only lived in the town we are in for about a year before my baby was born and any friendships I had started didn't really pull through the three month ordeal. I'm feeling lonely I guess, not that my daughter isn't wonderful company! I miss adult interaction, and her father is working like crazy to get us through the winter.
We had planned on a big family and are very unsure of where we're at with that, still wanting more children but knowing there is a risk this could happen again. We want to understand the risks more, and how they now apply to us.
Tiffany
PS Please ignore any bad spelling, I've never been a good speller

[lemons]

Hi Tiffany,

Welcome to the forums. I am glad that you found us and hope that you can find some answers and support from our fellow PE sufferers. Your story sounds very similar to my own. My husband and I had moved half way across the country and settled in our new town less than a year before I had my daughter. PE struck in mid-October of 2010. I was hospitalized for 5 days and then had my daughter at 30 weeks 0 days. She was in the NICU for 8 weeks. She received Synagist throughout her first winter and I was terrified that she would end up re-hospitalized. Up until she was about eight months old, she only went to a handful of places outside of home (I can still count them: the pediatrician, the cardiologist, the bank, the post office, and the local pizza joint- I was just starving one day, we ran in, bought a slice, and ran out So, I can totally relate to your feelings of isolation. It was a hard winter for me. I was isolated and recovering from the worst experience of my life, one that is incredibly difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't lived through it. So, please know that you are not alone. You have found a community of people who have lived through very similar experiences and are willing to listen to you and answer any questions to the best of our ability.

I am so happy to hear that Meadow is home with you and a healthy 15 pounds! Many of our members have questions about risks during future pregnancies. The statistics show that most woman who had PE/HELLP in a first pregnancy, will not have it again in a subsequent pregnancy. And if they do get it again, most times it is later and less severe. But there are exceptions to every rule. We have members who only got PE in their second pregnancy, or had it earlier and more severe in a second/third pregnancy. The best way to get an idea of you own individual risk, based on your medical history, is to see a high risk OB, also called a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist or MFM. MFM's are trained to deal with high risk pregnancy and should be up to date on the latest research regarding PE and HELLP. I understand that your financial situation might make you hesitate to seek an opinion from a specialist but at least for me, meeting with an MFM greatly reduced my anxiety about planning for future pregnancies.

Good luck over the next few months. And again, I'm glad that you found us.
Diana