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May is Preeclampsia Awareness month.

Almost 10 years ago Preeclampsia robbed me of so much and almost took my life.  I was 20 week pregnant when things began going wrong with my pregnancy.  At 20 weeks we were told something was wrong with our daughter, that she had a  growth restriction. I had no idea what that meant.  A Perinatologist took over my care from that moment.  I was told to watch my blood pressure many time over the next five weeks.  “Preeclampsia” was mentioned at almost every appointment.  While they were trying to figure out what was causing all the problems, they just kept mentioning that word.  I had no idea what it was.

Because I’m one of those mom, I immediately went home and turned to google.   I needed to know everything about it.  I needed to know what the sign and symptoms were.  Trying my hardest to understand what was going on.   On Tuesday I had an appointment with my specialist and my blood pressure was fine.  On Thursday afternoon while reading a magazine my vision in my left eye became abnormal.   I knew that was a sign I had read about.  I checked my blood pressure and it was high.  I called the dr and he told me to rest for one hour and then check it again.  After that hour I checked it again and the numbers were higher.  So of to the hospital we went.  When I got there I was 24 weeks and 6 days.  My blood pressure was even higher than before, I was swollen and I had the protein in my urine sample.  The Doctors looked at my husband as the nurses were starting the magnesium and told him I was severe preeclamptic and that I would need to be transferred.  My organs were starting to fail and if he had waited 12 more hour to get us there he could have lost us both.  Everything happened so fast.  

I was transferred to a hospital an hour from our home.  A few hours after arriving a Doctor came in and told us that delivery was the only way to save my life, however due to the condition of our daughter that she would not survive.  Due to the magnesium I have a very foggy memory of what happened over the next few hours/days.  I was induced shortly after, our daughter Trinity arrived into this world too early, too small, and passed shortly after she was born.  

Years later I found out that I have autoimmune conditions which is believed to have played a huge part in me developing preeclampsia.  Antiphospholipid  Antibody Syndrome and Lupus Anticoagulant.   

Preeclampsia is a serious condition for pregnant moms.  It affest 2-8% of all pregnancies and accounts for 15% of all premature births according to this acticle from the March of Dimes http://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/preeclampsia.aspx.     Again May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month. There is still so much that we do not know about Preeclampsia. Please take a moment and read the warning signs.