preeclampsia + how it snuck in by paula yost schupp
I
I was 35 years old and 26 weeks pregnant with my second child, Pierson. My first child was full term and I had no idea what preeclampsia was. My feet were hurting and swollen. That had happened during my pregnancy with my first child, but not until the end. My first child was two years old and he had had a stomach virus with some vomiting. I was having a lot of loose stool. I assumed that I had just caught what my son had. I never dreamed that the swelling and the loose stool were symptoms of preeclampsia. New Year’s Eve came, and I was not feeling well. I tucked my oldest into bed when a blinding headache struck. I was very sensitive to light and my head hurt worse than anything I had ever experienced before. It felt like a fist was squeezing the base of my brain and I felt electricity go up through my skull. My husband took me to the hospital. On the way, the pain was so severe I told him that I believed I was having an aneurysm.
photo courtesy of firewife photography
Upon arrival at the hospital, my urine was tested and the nurses said it had the highest level of protein possible. That alone is a major indicator for preeclampsia. My blood pressure was 198/95. When I’m not pregnant, my blood pressure is normally 110/70. Based on the results of the urine and the blood pressure, I was diagnosed with preeclampsia, and just like that, everything about my previously normal pregnancy changed. I had absolutely no previous history of preeclampsia or high blood pressure. My only risk factor was that I was thirty-five years old and now past the 20-week gestational mark in my pregnancy. I was admitted to maternal ICU and immediately received a steroid shot. The nurse explained that this was to help grow Pierson’s lungs so that he would have the best chance of being able to breathe if born soon. Then, she hooked me up to the “mag” drip. She put a yellow arm band on me that identified me as a “fall risk.”
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