Our Stories
They say that ignorance is bliss. That would be the case in my story. |
| They say that ignorance is bliss. That would be the case in my story. I became pregnant after a year of marriage and I was thrilled. Of course, one of the first things I did was get together with my girlfriends to talk about things like maternity clothes, stretch marks and cravings. Preeclampsia did not come up in the conversation, nor did it come up throughout my entire pregnancy. I felt pretty well during the pregnancy. There were no signs of trouble at my routine check ups. Though, there was never a test done on my urine! I now see how uncommon that is. My bp was always good. I recall that I suddenly gained 12 pounds and became alarmed. However, I was reassured that the weight gain was due to the fact that we were in the middle of the Christmas season at the time. Late in my pregnancy, as I would lie in bed, I recall seeing flashes of light. Almost as if someone had taken my picture. This happened often when I was close to delivery. The night I went into labor, I had a terrifying nightmare that woke me from my sleep. My water broke with the fright. I went through 18 hours of labor and ended up having a c-section because the baby became stressed. After the baby was born, I continued to swell. By the thrid day, I was literally ready to burst. The doctors kept telling me they were "monitoring" me. At one point, a resident came in and told me she knew I was going to become sick when she saw them open me up during the c-section the night I delivered. How I wish I had that moment back to ask..."why did everyone let me sit there in that bed, swelling and do nothing for three days"? I sure did get sick. My bp went drastically high and I spent three nights in the ICU taking magnesium through IV. As well, the fluid just kept pouring out of my system. The nurses couldn't keep up with replacing the bag! My lungs were wet. A symptom I had for months that went unnoticed. I was so scared and the only people who really understood the fear were the very senior nurses. I had 25% of my kidney function and the doctor came in and told me that, mentioning dialysis as a possibility as he confidently walked out and on to the next patient. I share this not to instill fear in any pregnant woman, but to educate. DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Know your baseline blood pressure. Check it often at home or at the drug store. Make doctors listen to your symptoms. I was lucky. My little girl is ok and so am I. I did have post-traumatic stress for quite some time after all of this, however. You have to take responsibility for your own medical care. Don't leave it to the professionals and assume things will be ok. Make them listen to you. You know your body best!!! In my case, I had a pretty good pregnancy and showed very, very subtle signs of trouble late in my third trimester, but nothing major developed until AFTER my baby was born. Now that the horrible experience is past and life with a newborn has taken over, I am left to wonder if this will happen again should I ever muster up the nerve to try to have a child again. I also wonder often if my little girl will have an experience as horrible as I did when she grows up and becomes a Mom. Best of luck to all of you and your families. |
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