Pre-e Survivors come in

ShanaNChris

This is a story told by Christopher, who was born 13 weeks early and is now 13 years old, from the preeclampsia's foundation's annual gala Saving Grace - A Night of Hope.

Me and my husband almost went this year bc it was held in Chicago (we live in Milwaukee), but it was the week we took Lily to Disney. After reading this, I am sure I wouldn't have made it through the night, without a major breakdown.

https://www.preeclampsia.org/christophers-story.htm

jene4413

Wow.  Makes me think of how fortunate we were.  My ob decided to shut down his practice when I was about 26 weeks.  Had he not referred me to a specialist around 20 weeks because of protein, I don't want to even think of what would happen.  I felt fine when I went to a follow up appt with the specialist.  It was at that appointment he put me in the hospital with preeclampsia and I delivered 6 days later.  I'm so thankful!!  At the time of the specialist appointment we were still interviewing obs so we may not have been diagnosed for another week or more by the time we were able to secure an appointment!  

MrsJRT

Wow...::tears flowing::

 Thank you for sharing!

ShanaNChris

I am so thankful too...I had switched OB's 3-4 days before I ended up in ER, bc my original OB told me to "try and lose some weight" (swollen) and missed a whole bunch of my other symptoms. If I had stayed with her we would be dead.

And I am so thankful that DD is doing so well!!

Ktbuss

My OB missed all the signs also.  If it wasn't for my mom bringing me her BP machine who knows what have happend.  I took my BP and it was so high that I want striaght to the hospital and had my LO an hour later. Pre E is a crazy thing.

gwenypher7

I started feeling like something was wrong at 29 weeks. I called my ob about sudden major swelling one foot. They had me get an u/s to see if it was a blood clot. when that came back normal, they didn't do anything. They said it was just normal pg symptoms.

When I went to see the MFM later that week, my BP was 160/110 and they admitted me right away. Thank God I was already seeing a high risk dr!!

jennigator3

OK, I've never cried at work before but that just made me lose it...sometimes I forget how much Nate and I survived, amazing.

TriciaJoy

Welp, add me to the bawling list

Effin' pre-e.

 

TommysGirl56

Okay, so I'm not the only one.  It seems to be a pretty common theme...OBs dismissing symptoms.  I was so swollen by about 29 weeks that I was in constant pain.  I could barely walk.  And the OB kept telling me that it was just the way pregnancy is.  I loved my OB, but it took until I was 35 weeks before I was admitted to the hospital!  And then I was told by another doc in that practice that I had the highest protein level he had ever seen after 30 years of being a doc!  I blame my body for not showing other signs sooner.  I guess that's just what he had to say since the swelling was the only symptom for so long.

New Wife

i got the story in the PRE-E foundation email! what a great story to hear. it totally choked me up. ok who am i kidding i started bawling.

jkipp82

My doctor actually did send me to the hospital at 30 weeks due to high bp (I also had horrible swelling, but he dismissed that)...3 days later all tests came back normal and I was discharged on bp meds.  Thankfully while I was there I was given the steroid shots just in case...because 3 weeks later Carter was born due to pre-e/hellp (I had moved the day I was discharged, and only saw the new ob once...of course the one I saw wasn't even the one on call the night/day he was born.)......I still need to write a thank you to my old ob for having me get the steroid shots when he did and tell him the outcome...

arthist24

RE: OBs dismissing symptoms....I initially went to the OB for abdominal pain and they told me it was "round ligament pain" and that my belly was stretching because I was 29 wks pregnant and the baby was getting bigger.  I had never been in such pain in my life and I just couldn't believe that was the problem.  Thankfully, they took my bp as a routine part of every appointment and it was so high it prompted them to do bloodwork and that's how they found I had HELLP syndrome.  The pain I was feeling was my liver, but for me, it wasn't just "upper right quadrant" pain like all the books said I "should" feel, it felt like my whole abdomen was going to explode or something. 

ChiBride2007

Have any of you asked your OBs what your chance of a recurrence of Pre-E is? I developed HELLP at 35.5 weeks (and I delivered) but I also had twins and it was my first pg. My OB said I would be monitored more closely, but I didn't think to ask a lot more. He said it came on late, my BP wasn't affected much (mine was more platelet driven) and the twins put so much more strain on my body. I wonder what a second and singleton pregnancy would do. Hmm. Just curious.