Hello, I have been on your website several times and I really appreciate it because

Posted On Friday, October 06, 2006  by

Hello,

I have been on your website several times and I really
appreciate it because it helped me understand what
happened to me during my first pregnancy.  I was 26
when I gave birth to my son, and my symptoms first
started appearing at week 28 (high bp and protein in
my urine).  My doctor ordered some blood work and then
said I had "borderline preeclampsia".  I realize now
that I had other symptoms (swelling, headaches, and
extreme fatigue), but being a first-time mom I
listened to all the other moms who said they felt the
same way when they were pregnant (big mistake!).  The
only person who realized how sick I was was a
colleague of mine who had had preeclampsia a year
before, and every time she saw me she would tell me to
be very careful and have my doctor do extra tests.  I
didn''t want to believe her, but it turned out she was
right.  My doctor never put me on bedrest, which I now
believe was a big mistake.  When I went to the
emergency room at 37 weeks, the doctors couldn''t
believe that I wasn''t on bed rest and I was sent home
until 38 weeks on bedrest.  Then labor was induced and
I was started on the magnesium.  I ended up having a
c-section because the baby wasn''t tolerating labor.
My son was born at 38 weeks 1 day and weighed 4 lbs. 8
oz. with Apgars of 7 and 8.  I was shocked because my
doctor had told me that very morning that the baby
weighed about 7 lbs.!!!!  I have had to deal with a
lot of guilt that I didn''t listen to my body screaming
that something was wrong.  I had nightmares for over a
year.  Thankfully my son is now a healthy, strong
3-year-old and seems not to have any lasting problems
from being so small (but you never know).  It took me
four years to work up the courage to have another
baby, and now I am 9 weeks pregnant.  This time I
found an excellent doctor who really seems on top of
things, and really takes things seriously.  So I am
hopeful things will be better this time.  Thanks for
letting me share my story.