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I developed the typical signs of preeclampsia. I had the swollen hands and ankles, and |
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I developed the typical signs of preeclampsia. I had the swollen hands and ankles, and my body was acting dehydrated even though I was drinking lots and lots of water. On my birthday I had gotten the flu and was running what I thought was a low grade fever (turns out my body temperature is lower then the average 98, so the 100.1 fever I was running was more of a high grade fever.) After 3 weeks of not being able to shake the dehydration issues a nurse at my doctor's office told me to eat rice to help the diarrhea (not real helpful because they were thinking I could end up with gestational diabetes). Then on Monday Feb. 18, I had developed a pain at the top of my belly (apparently where the placenta was) and I could not keep water down. I went to the ultra sound appointment and told the ultrasound technician what was going on so after looking at the baby she looked at my gull bladder, but said everything looked fine. Later that night a nurse from my doctor's office called me to let me know that the fluid around the baby was low and they were concerned about it and that they had make another appointment for an ultrasound and that I should drink lots of water until then. I told her about the pain and that it had persisted all day and that I was thinking of going to the emergency room to get checked out. She told me that she didn't think that was necessary and she would talk to the doctor about it. The doctor called me back and said the same thing about going to the ER and to just take zantec and that it was just heartburn and to take Tylenol for the pain. So I did that and it seemed to work, but the next day it came back and got worse. For the next week I was talking with the nurse and she kept persisting the that I take the zantec even after I told her it wasn't working and that the pain didn't feel like heartburn. On Sunday Feb. 24 I went to the emergency room because the pain was so bad that I could not stop throwing up. They admitted me and took me to the birthing center to be observed and to draw blood. I don't know how the test turned out but they ended up transferring my down to a hospital in Seattle and they told me to be prepared to have the baby that day or the next. When I was at the hospital they drew blood and told me they had to do the emergency c-section because my body was shutting down and having the baby was the only cure. The proteins were high and my red blood cells were low and my blood pressure was 200 over 110. At 4:44 pm on Feb. 24 (about 12 hours after being admitted into the ER) my daughter was born. She was born 28 1/2 weeks early and was 1 pound 15 oz. and 13 1/2 inches long. I had asked the nurse at one point what had happen to me that my body had started to absorb my baby like that, she said I had developed HELLP Syndrome, then she explained it in better detail what had happen. I found out later that if I had kept following my doctor's advise both baby and I would have died at work and following my instincts saved our lives. The nurse also told me that developing HELLP Syndrome as early as I did is a rarity. The recover was good at first for me but then they realized my body wasn't bouncing back like they had hoped, so I had to have a blood transfusion. My daughter has had to have many blood transfusions and they are talking about another one. She is now 36 weeks and 3 days gestational age (55 days old). Things are starting to look up and soon we will be able to be transferred back to a closer hospital. |
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