Preeclampsia.

No one talks about this when you are pregnant. I am writing about it because one of my best friends, Heidi, just had her baby. A cute little boy! Congrats, womin! :)
But, she got it. Anf she is a healthy woman! If I recall, she was teaching aerobics for a good part of her preganancy and a walking maniac until she could barely move. When I was talking to her last night, she told me that 4 weeks before she had her son, her doc said that her blood pressure was a little high, but not to worry. When she went in for one of her regular check ups, her bp was high and she had gained 4 lbs in one week. The docs sent her to the hospital, induced her, and she ended up with an EMERGENCY c section the next day. I know things can change in a second, but when you are under constant supervision, I do not know how it can become an emergency. Maybe I am still upset because the same sort of thing happened to me...
My birth story...
I had a great pregnancy. I was healthier that I had ever been in my life. I gave into my cravings for mozzarella sticks, but only had on with dinner and not the whole box. :) I was actually losing MY wieght during my pregnancy and gaining baby weight. It was great! During my 7th month, I started gaining water weight. My feet would swell, but if I put them up, they'd be ok. My midwives were not worried. My bp was still GREAT! I had never had problems with my blood pressure before. At the beginning of my 9th month, I started gaining a lot of water. But no one was worried because everything else was ok. Then, on my due date, at a regular check up, my bp was slightly elevated. I was also HUGE. My belly was big, and I was so swollen. I also thought that I was leaking, and they did a quick test, and it seemed like I was. But, they sent me home. Came back the next day for a non stress test for baby. He was fine. My bp was still a little high, I had trace protein in my urine, but I was sent home for the weekend. When I went back on Monday, the non stress test was fine, they did an u/s and found out that he was about 9 lbs or so and his fluids were low, my bp was comtiniuing to get higher and I had more protein in my urine. They admitted me. They started to induce me that night. I continued in labor Tuesday, tried going natural, and after 8 hours and only dilating 1 cm, asked for drugs. Had a panic attack that night and a wonderful nurse stayed by me all night long. C was also there every second. Wednesday morning thihngs were looking better with baby. I had dilated some more. My bp was still really high and they started talking about mag sulfate. Whatever. Just give me whatever I need is what I said. I found out afterwards that they give you mag sulfate when your bp gets so high that they are worried that you might have seizures or a stroke! Anyway, the mag made me feel crazy. Where there was one person, I saw 4. All day long, my bp was rising, baby was fine. Finally, at around 8 pm, dilated at 9 cm, bp really high (like 2something/150), had a fever, they decided to do a c section. And now, because of the fever, too, it was a real emergency. This was DAY 3 OF MY INDUCTION IN THE HOSPITAL. While doing the c, because K. was so far down the birth canal, when they pulled him out, they tore my uterus almost to my cervix. I FELT IT. I screamed like I had never screamer before, told C. to go with our son, and that's all I remember. A c section is supposed to take about 45 minutes from start to finish. I went in around 8/830 pm. I got back to my, and saw my son for the first time at 5 am. I need 2 units of blood that night, 2 the next day. I found out that there were lots of codes called because I kept bleeding. C. had no idea what was going on. I almost needed a hysterectomy. Had a 10 day hospital stay and a nurse visiting me at home for 3 months. 20 months later, I am still on bp medication. I wish that they had done it sooner. I am glad K. is good and healthy, and I am doing everything I can to become a healthier woman, but I can't help but wonder if things would have been a little different if they had taken action earlier on.
This happens to a lot of women. My sister just had a baby and also had preeclampsia. They did the c section earlier on, so, 6 weeks later, she is doing well. No one talks about this. And when I was talking to Heidi last night, she was saying the same thing. So, I am stating... Please feel free to share your stories.
What is also important to remember, is that something like this really is traumatic. My therapist said that I was suffering from PTSD afterwards. I had nightmares, was so afraid that I was going to die. Upon going back to work, I had such a sever panic attack, that I really thought that I was having a heart attack. Now I have medication for that, too!
ALL that said, now that I am on the men, I would love to have another baby. Before doing so, I will meet with a high risk ob. My ob, afterwards, said that something like that would NOT happen again because they would keep their eyes out for any signs. I would also have a c section scheduled. That makes me feel a little better. I was told to wait at least 18 months before I even thought about trying again. Now, 20 months later, we are starting to talk about it. I do not think that we will start trying til next year - maybe a little later - but I just want to plan and be prepared. So, I am on the hunt for a good ob. If anyone knows of one south of Boston, please let me know!
What I learned from this experience is that women's bodies are very strong and powerful and that we do not give ourselves enough credit. We need to ALWAYS honor and love our bodies and ourselves. And we also need to take good care of them and love them and feed them and nourish them well.

Here is a great site for support:
http://www.preeclampsia.org/share.aspx