by sherri l. » Wed Dec 10, 2003 09:25 pm
Hello Everyone,
I am new although I have been lurking for about a week now! I am 36, married and have two daughers 7yo & 2yo. I just found out I am pregnant with #3. It was not planned & I've been beating myself up about it. I'd planned to have an IUD inserted after delivery, but was so upset with my OB & out of it for several months, that I just never did it. So much for condoms! My first appointment is the 16th of this month and based on lmp I'm due 8/4/03. I'll be meeting with a High Risk OB and hope to find out info on how he thinks I will fair this time around.
With my second pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes after failing the 3-hour glucose test and soon after started swelling on calves and feet. My OB poo-poo'd me everytime I mentioned how horibly swollen they were, saying it was just part of pregnancy. I know swelling technically isn't a symptom anymore, but it was an indicator, particulatly because I didn't have that severe edema with my first "normal" pregnancy. My bp was 120/80 until the 37th week when it went up, but I don't know to what. Parts of my chart (I've since requested my medical record)appear to be missing. I swore my weight had gone up about 10lbs in 2 weeks, but again, my last OB appointment doesn't appear to have my weight listed. A few days later while grocery shopping, I felt teriibly ill like I was going to vomit and faint, but it passed. Keep in mind that I assumed any unusually ill feelings I had were related to GD. I wasn't even thinking about PE because I "thought" my face and fingers weren't swollen. After looking at pictures I see that they were! The next week, I'd gone to to a peri for a regularly scheduled ultrasound related to the gestational diabetes. While there I was feeling kind of strange, so I asked a nurse to take my bp, it was 170/100. Now I've NEVER had high blood pressure my entire life - I don't even know why I thought to ask to have my pressure taken, but thank God I did. They told me to go to the hospital immediately. While there they monitored me to see if the bp had gone down, but it hadn't so they induced me. For those of you who've only been induced, you aren't aware of anything different, but for those who were fortunate to experience labor without induction, that *%$&! hurts!!!! I begged the nurses for an epidural, but my doctor had left the room, didn't say where she was going and didn't come back for over an hour or 2! So the window of time was gone & I had to do it without drugs. My daughter arrived healthy and weighed exactly 6 pounds. I was kind of shocked, because all of the doctors kept warning me that the baby may be large due to the diabetes. One day later my bp was 160/90, but my OB didn't prescribe medication to lower it. It stayed that way on day 2, still no meds. I also had abnormal liver & kidney tests. At midnight on day 3 I was woken up and whisked from my room and taken to the ICU and started on Mag Sulf., catheterized and did a 24 hour urine test (I think). I was hooked up to automatic bp cuff and could see my BP go up to 186/110. My legs were in these cuffs that massaged them to prevent blood clots. I asked dh to please not bring dd to visit me in that condition. I didn't want her to think that having a baby was so scary. I kept saying I was fine when the ICU doctors asked if I had abdominal pain. After 2 days I was sent back to a regular room. I started seeing spots. THen everything on my right started looking wavy. I also couldn't remember phone numbers I'd known for years. I didn't even know I had been in the ICU - I was wondering why the TV was free! I remember it was very noisy and I wished everyone would shut up. I couldn't remember little things that had happened days before. After 7 days I was released with still no meds and bp of 150/90.
Sorry this was so long, but I feel that my suffering could have been prevented. I didn't get to spend the postpartum time with my new baby, but instead had to go on endless doctor's appointments. I still have memory problems, and am kind of dyslexic and sometimes see words that aren't there. That never happened before, was always an excellent english student. The wavy vision didn't go away for 3 months. The BP eventually returned to 120/80. Now I'm pregnant again.....
Sherri (36)
dh (38)
Celeste (7 1/2) "normal" full term
Autumn (2) 38 weeks, gd,pih,postpartum pe