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Joan
In 1997, while pregnant with my second child, I experienced heavy bleeding when I was about 32 weeks pregnant. When I went to the hospital, I was told that I had high blood pressure and was kept overnight for observation. However, I was released the next morning because my blood pressure had returned to normal and the bleeding had ceased. Several weeks later, I began experiencing abdominal pain and headaches. At first, I thought that these were normal symptoms of pregnancy and that there was no need to go to the doctor. I checked in a couple of popular books on pregnancy and saw nothing that would lead me to believe otherwise.
After a few days, however, when the pain had become worse, and I called the doctor and told her that I thought I should come in that day. By the time I drove to the doctor, my blood pressure was already dangerously high. Luckily, my doctor realized that I was in serious condition, immediately ordered me into her car, drove me to the hospital, and performed an emergency Caesarean section without delay.
Even after delivering my daughter, my blood pressure was very high, and I spent most of a week in and out of the intensive care unit while doctors tried to get my blood pressure under control. While recovering, I was told for the first time that I had preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome, which I had never heard of before. I feel like I was very lucky to have had a skilled doctor who knew the signs of preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome and the proper course of treatment.
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