I had never heard of preeclampsia. I was 19 when I got pregnant. I also have lupus. I was told I should see a high risk doctor because of the lupus. I called different doctors and found one that said they specialized in high risk pregnancies. It was a large clinic and the doctor had several awards for clinic of the year and things like that. But I noticed that it looked like he mostly specialized in multiple births because of all the pictures of twins and triplets in the office. They reassured me they handled lupus patients. I went to my appointments once a week and everything was going well. Then they made my appointments every two weeks. In the first week my hands and feet started to swell. I was told to lay down a rest and keep my feet elevated. My appointment was on Wednesday. On Sunday my feet and hands were so swollen I couldn't put on shoes or get my rings off. I woke up late on Tuesday, like 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and my face was swollen. My eyes looked like they were barely open. My appointment was at 9 in the morning. So I decided to wait until then to go in. I still had never heard of preeclampsia. When I got to the office the next morning I told them I felt really bad and that I was very swollen. At that point my blood pressure was 197 over something. They told me to go to the hospital right away. The hospital was across the street. This was when I found out about preeclampsia and the cure was birth. I was 27 weeks pregnant.

The hospital told me they deliver 27 week babies everyday and everything would be okay. They gave me something to try to get my blood pressure down and they also gave me some type of steroid shot for the baby. I needed two of the shots and they needed to be 24 hours apart. So I was scheduled for an emergency C- section. I had the C- section 24 hours later. I had a 1 pound 11 ounce boy, Giovanni Gabriel. He had to be put immediately on a ventilator. His apgars were 3 and 7. He did well. He had ups and downs. He had gained up to 2 pounds and 4 ounces. I would go to the hospital to visit him everyday. Then when he was 18 days old we got a call from the hospital. It was the 4th of July weekend, Monday was the 4th so it was a three day weekend. It was about 8 in the morning and the hospital called and said there had been an accident. A student nurse had worked over night and when she hooked up his 5 o'clock feeding she did it wrong. She hooked it to his IV not his feeding tube. She realized the mistake when she went back to give him his 7 o'clock feeding. At this point they thought everything would be okay but they didn't know for sure and said we probably should come to the hospital. My mother, boyfriend, and I got up and got ready to leave. We took are time thinking it really wasn't that serious. As we were leaving the doctor called back and told us to hurry, it looked real bad. We got there at 11:45, there were doctors and nursed all around him. They said his skin turned as white as the wall. He was bleeding from all his IV points and his lungs were full of blood. It didn't take long before his brain began to bleed. He had just had a brain scan two days earlier checking for brain bleeds and it was negative. We were so happy and then this. He fought hard for his life. He lasted for 26 more days. Everything seemed to get better except his brain. It was so damaged they couldn't even identify the different areas of the brain. They said he was blind and brain dead. We were devastated and heart broken. I had 44 days with my precious little Giovanni.

I went home and found out everything I could about preeclampia. I got pregnant again. I went to a doctor with a much smaller practice this time. I found the Dr. Brewer's preeclampsia diet. I followed it very closely. But after the last pregnancy I found out I have an antibody in my blood because of the lupus. Not all lupus patients have it. It makes the risk of preeclampsia greater. I did much better this time. No swelling, but I started to feel bad and went to check my blood pressure and it was up to 153. I called my doctor and he sent me to the hospital. The next day I had an emergency C - section. This time I made it to 31 weeks, 2 pounds 3 ounces. His name is Israel Rey, His apgars were a 9 and 9. I think because of Dr. Brewer's diet. He is one week old today. We are hoping and praying for the best. It's very hard leaving him at the hospital. Even though I go everyday I just feel like staying there with him every minute.

Jade