Our son was born 6 weeks early at 4 pounds via emergency c-section. He is almost 2 years old, and we are forever grateful that he is healthy & thriving. We had never heard of HELLP Syndrome and wanted to share our story to hopefully help spread awareness and offer support to those who might be going through it themselves. 

I was diagnosed with Preeclampsia at 24 weeks (despite taking baby aspirin from week 12) but things really took a turn at 33 weeks. It all started the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. The week prior, my blood pressure was high so they sent me to the hospital’s Triage where they gave me 2 steroid shots for my son’s lung development. This Friday, my BP was elevated again. I was sent back to Triage. My OB came all the way to the hospital to explain something concerning - the protein in my urine had increased drastically in just a week and my blood platelets had dropped. She explained my preeclampsia was now elevated to HELLP syndrome. 

Knowing what I know now, it is so scary that I barely had any symptoms. My face and body were pretty swollen but as this was my first pregnancy, I thought that was all normal. No headaches or blurred vision. This is why I wanted to encourage women to advocate for themselves and check their BP religiously. 

We immediately got checked in to the high risk maternity ward. Saturday morning, my blood platelets dropped again from 154 to 119. Anything under 70 gets dangerous to do an epidural, as the blood won’t properly clot. We started realizing that there was a high chance my son was going to come early. I felt so guilty. 

The next morning was Sunday, the day my son was born. My platelets had fallen to 81 and they needed to induce me ASAP.

From there, things started happening quickly. The anesthesiologist came in. There were no L&D rooms available, so he had to put in the epidural in the maternity room that I was in. He wanted to do it fast so my platelets didn’t drop further. After that, the nurse got me on the magnesium drip. The Mag Drip was to help prevent a seizure or stroke. I felt like my whole body was on fire from the inside out, and my mind instantly became fuzzy. I felt extreme nausea and I literally thought I was dying. After the 30 minutes, the intensity subsided but the brain fog remained.

Next, the OB on call came in to discuss options. He said he strongly recommended against being induced, since my levels were dropping and the Mag Drip would slow things down. He said the safest thing was to do an emergency c-section and get our baby out quickly and safely before things got worse.  

Within the hour, I was being wheeled to the operating room. The operating table was surprisingly narrow and the room was so fluorescent. It was unnerving. I felt a bit of pressure as they pulled my son out. He was crying, which was the BEST sound to hear! I got a quick second with him before they whisked him away to the NICU. It was all such a blur.

The hardest part was that I couldn’t go to the NICU to see our son for over 24 hours post-delivery because of the Mag Drip. I truly felt like I was out of my mind and on another planet. After the IV came off, I was finally able to be wheeled over to meet our son. He was in an incubator with a breathing and feeding tube. The moment every Mom dreams of - holding their child for the first time - I barely remember. The first thing I said was “I’m sorry I had to evict you so early”. I felt like a failure as a Mom before my journey had even begun. I still feel the guilt that I wasn’t able to give him a “normal delivery”. It’s the worst feeling in the world to leave the hospital without your precious baby and go home empty-handed. 

After 40 days in the NICU, our son finally came home. I will say that the NICU made him and us even more resilient. Those sleepless nights and cries were that much sweeter because we were robbed of them early on. I will never ever for granted how lucky we both are to be alive.