My Preeclampsia & HELLP Syndrome Story- Part 2

There are a couple of reasons why I have chosen to share my story…

1.      My hope is that by sharing, it will bring awareness for other expecting Mom’s, so that they can pay attention to some of the signs their body may be telling them.  And then prevent putting themselves at further risk. I wish I had been more aware, and possibly caught some of the symptoms sooner, or pushed my doctor to check into them more.

2.      I also want people to know how important it is to be an advocate for yourself when it comes to your healthcare. Also, husbands/wives need to be advocates for their spouses and parents for their kids. You know your husband/wife/kid better than anyone.  If something is not right, sometimes you have to push to get answers.

3.      God showed up for me in major ways the last weeks of my pregnancy, through a less than ideal labor, and especially in the days that followed.  It truly is a miracle that I am healthy and am snuggling this perfect little girl in my arms right now as I type this. And, goodness….that is worth sharing!

What is preeclampsia?

Preeclampsia, formerly called toxemia, is when a pregnant woman has high blood pressure, protein in her urine, and swelling in her legs, feet, and hands. It can range from mild to severe. It usually happens late in pregnancy, though it can come earlier or just after delivery.

Symptoms include:

In addition to swelling (also called edema), protein in the urine, and high blood pressure, preeclampsia symptoms include:

• Weight gain over 1 or 2 days because of a large increase in bodily fluid
• Belly pain, especially in the upper right side
• Severe headaches
• Change in reflexes
• Peeing less or not at all
• Dizziness
• Severe vomiting and nausea
• Vision changes like flashing lights, floaters, or blurry vision

What is HELLP Syndrome?

HELLP stands for the different things that happen when you have it:
Hemolysis: This is the breakdown of red blood cells. These cells carry oxygen from your lungs to your body.
Elevated Liver Enzymes: When levels are high, it could mean there’s a problem with your liver.
Low Platelet Count: Platelets help your blood clot.

HELLP syndrome can cause major complications.

These include:

• Seizures
• Stroke
• Liver rupture
• Placental abruption (separation of the placenta from the wall of the uterus before the baby is born)

Symptoms

These often come on quickly. They include:

• Fatigue
• Blurred vision
• Sudden weight gain
• Swelling, especially in the face and hands
• Headache
• Nausea or vomiting
• Seizures
• Pain in the upper right part of your belly
• Nosebleed
• Bleeding that doesn’t stop as quickly as usual
• Shortness of breath

***All medical information above is from WebMD***

The symptoms I experienced in the weeks leading up to my delivery, and then shortly after:

·        Blurred vision

·        Dizziness

·        Shortness of breath

·        Vomiting

·        Belly Pain

                                    Okay…back to our story:

After Lydia was born, I was feeling better than I had in many days.  Mark and I were both head over heals in love with this precious little lady.  We spent the next 2 days in the hospital soaking up the quiet (it was SO quiet!) and enjoying lots of baby snuggles.  We decided to spend the extra day in the hospital because our big kids still had fevers (Yes, Owen got the flu too….)  and we wanted to make sure they were fever-free before bringing her home.  By Sunday morning (12/29) we were anxious to get home and have our little (or maybe not so little?) family back together. Unfortunately, after calling to check in on the kids, we discovered a couple of kids still had fevers. (Mark’s parents were watching them at our house, and we are so grateful they were willing to do this.  They took such good care of them.)

We decided that Mark would go back home to Stanton to take care of the big kids, and I would stay in Omaha with Lydia at my mom’s house one more night to give them a little more time to get well. (Just one way that the Lord provided)  So, even though Mark didn’t want to leave us, he packed up and headed back home.  My mom came up to the hospital to wait with me to get discharged. As we waited, I started to not feel very well.  My stomach started to hurt, I felt nauseous and had a headache. Things intensified and before I knew it, I was in the bathroom throwing up.  What in the world?? I thought to myself….. this is not normal! Mark had brought me a breakfast sandwich before he left and I thought maybe it did not agree with me.  I just felt so bad.  I managed to lay down and take a nap and woke up feeling a little better.  The doctor finally came by and I told her about my symptoms, pointing to the top of my stomach and telling her I had this weird stomach pain and had just gotten sick.  She thought maybe I caught a stomach bug and sent me home with anti-nausea medicine. 

I was so happy to be out of the hospital.  We headed back to my mom’s to settle in for the night and figure out dinner.  I was nervous to eat anything because I still felt yucky and my stomach was hurting.  I decided I could manage a bowl of soup and some crackers. As soon as I ate just a few bites my stomach started to hurt much worse.  I tried not to worry about it, and went to bed hoping I just needed rest and would be fine in the morning.  I assumed it would be little Lydia who would be waking me up all night long, unfortunately that was not the case. It was this weird, horrible stomach pain. I just could not get comfortable. At around 2 a.m. I started throwing up and dry heaving. I woke my Mom up and told her something is not right. We debated calling the doctor, but figured they would just send us to the ER to get checked out.  So, instead we called my sister to come over and take care of Lydia so we could go back to the hospital.  (Not even 12 hours after being discharged. ☹ )

My sister got to my Mom’s pretty quickly, and when she got there I was curled up in a ball on the floor, absolutely miserable.   The drive seemed to take forever, even though it was probably only 15 minutes. By the time we were turning into the hospital I remember thinking…I am dying.  I am not even going to get to say goodbye to my kids.  Tears were rolling down my face. I had just gotten through labor, with the flu….and this was worse, much worse.

Once we got into the ER, they got us to a room right away.  My pain seemed to be even worse, and I could barely talk. A very nervous resident came in first. I remember my Mom kept telling this poor guy, “I am NOT taking her home until you find out what is wrong with her!” Not long after he left the room, a doctor came in, and within a matter of minutes blood work was done, a chest x-ray, an ultrasound, and IV fluids started.  They kept asking me if my head hurt.  I told them it hurt some, but nothing I couldn’t manage.  They also kept asking me if I wanted something for my headache. I remember telling them “No, I don’t want any meds, I can manage.”  I am not a medicine taker, and generally they make my stomach sick.  At this point, we had not called Mark yet to tell him what was going on and the doctor told us he thought that this was Preeclampsia or HELLP Syndrome.  My Mom decided it was time to let Mark know, and she stepped out into the hallway to call him. 

The nurse came in with a whole bunch of medicine.  I asked what she was giving me, and told her I didn’t want anything.  She said she was going to give me a lot of things and that it would make me feel better.  Before I could question anymore, she had already started putting things in my IV.   By the time my Mom came back in the room a few minutes later, I was a mess.  I don’t remember the name of what they gave me, but it made me feel HORRIBLE!  I remember just shaking uncontrollably, and trying to climb out of the bed.  It felt like my skin was crawling.  My head felt like it weighed 100lbs, and everything was blurry.  I remember saying, “Why did you give me that!?”  The nurse explained to my Mom that this happens sometimes with this medicine, but she gave me Benadryl so I should be fine.  I WASN’T FINE.  So, they gave me MORE Benadryl.  This completely knocked me out.  I wasn’t asleep, but I wasn’t able to talk.  It was the weirdest feeling ever.  They brought a L&D nurse down and I remember them being kind of frantic, trying to get me started on Magnesium while I was still in the ER, before taking me upstairs. 

Soon, they found a room for me, and got me upstairs.  I could still hear and understand everything that everyone was saying, but I literally could not respond.  I couldn’t speak or form words.  I think I dozed a bit when we got to the room and then I remember Mark getting there.  I don’t think he expected me to look as bad as I did, or be so unresponsive.  He immediately came and sat by the edge of the bed.  He grabbed my hand and I was so relieved to have him back.  I remember him crying, and praying over me. I wished I could say something, but I just squeezed his hand.

Slowly the Benadryl wore off and I started to feel more like myself.  Our nurse came in and tried to explain to me what was going on. She told me I needed a catheter for the next 12-24 hours while I got treatment.  She told me I was very sick, but I was in the right place and they were going to take good care of me.  She left the room and I remember crying. 

I don’t think I realized how serious of a situation this was, because the only thing I heard was “12-24 hours of a catheter” and I thought “No Way!”  When the nurse came back in I begged to not have it.  I told her I would go to the bathroom.  Mark and the nurse both tried to reason with me.  It wasn’t happening.  It sounded miserable.  I had just spent SO many days in bed between the flu, and delivery, and now they were telling me I was going to be stuck in an uncomfortable hospital bed again.

Finally the nurse was very direct with me.  She said, “Here’s the deal.  I can’t make you keep the catheter in.  But, here’s what I know.  You are sick. Very sick.  If you do not get this medication, and keep the fluid off of you, it will not be good for you.” I looked at Mark who had tears in his eyes and he said, “Please, Katie.” It finally hit me, this was serious, and from there on out I did what they said without *too much* complaining. 

A doctor came in shortly after to explain that I had 2 of the 3 indicators for HELLP Syndrome, and also severe Preeclampsia. The horrible, weird stomach pain that I was feeling was my enlarged liver. He also made it clear that I was not going anywhere anytime soon.  He told me I would be on Magnesium for the next 12-24 hours depending on how blood work came back later in the day, but most likely 24 hours. He told me it is not a fun medication to be on, but was absolutely necessary to prevent seizures or a stroke. He told me the nurse would be in every single hour, all day, all night.  She would check my blood pressure and also my reflexes. He left the room. 

The next 24 hours were some of the toughest of my life.  My blood work came back and my liver enzyme levels that we hoped would have gone down so I could have a shorter amount of treatment had doubled. I cried again. Mark never left my side.  My Mom and sister took care of Lydia during the day, but she was able to come up and stay with us during the night.  I was so glad to have her with me, but I felt helpless strapped to a bed. I couldn’t even change her diaper.  I kept reminding myself this is temporary, but it was heartbreaking for me. 

Each hour that passed got a little bit worse. They warned me that would happen.  I literally stared at the clock ALL. NIGHT. LONG.   By 4 a.m. my head hurt so bad I could not move it an inch, or even open my eyes.  This is a common side effect of the medicine as it is working. 

At 8 a.m I finally made it 24 hours!  My blood pressure was still elevated some, and my labs were not where they wanted them to be, so we needed to stay one more day for monitoring, but Mark and I were both able to breathe a little easier, knowing the worst was behind us.  The following day we were able to go home and the kids were finally able to meet their little sister!  The doctor who rounded that morning told me how lucky I was. She said that as sick as I was when I came in, I actually turned the corner unusually fast.

I had a lot of time to think, and pray, and think some more while I was in that hospital bed. So many questions ran through my mind…..

       What if I hadn’t gotten the flu?

  What if I hadn’t gone into labor?

               What if something had happened to Lydia?

·                       What if my family hadn’t pushed me to get to the hospital when I was having contractions?

·                        What if I had gone home with Mark?

   What if I had ignored the stomach pain, or tried to push through it?

·                        Why didn't I push the doctor more when I was having symptoms at my 36 week appointment?

None of this was easy to walk through, and it certainly wasn’t what I pictured when thinking about bringing our sweet girl into the world.  Do I wish things had gone differently?  Absolutely.

 But, never in my life have I ever felt God’s love and protection as much as through this experience. Things could have gone much worse. So many people were praying for all of us. We felt those prayers, and even though there were some really scary moments, and moments of uncertainty, we felt a sense peace too. 

We will forever be grateful to the many people who helped us through……whether it was help with the big kids, delivering meals, the many prayers, or encouraging words.

God is so good. We are so grateful.