As you all
know I am a Mom, a stay at home, busy Mom. Some of you know that I have 4
children, very few of you know my daughter MeMe was a preemie. She was born at
28 weeks gestation weighing in at a mere 2 pounds 5 ounces and 15 inches long.
Our story and experience is a pretty intense story. I have been writing this blog for a little while now and would love to share the story with you. I was eighteen when I found out I was expecting a baby. The Dr. said I was due the end of September. I was pretty nervous but I knew it would all work out. When I was about 6 months pregnant I started feeling miserable. When I went to my OB appointments I would tell her my aches and pains. I was having severe backaches and mind splitting migraines. My OB explained to me that this was typical during pregnancy. I accepted her answer and went about my day. What would I know, she's the Dr. As the weeks wore on I was getting worse. I thought to myself this can't possibly be normal, women wouldn't keep having babies if this was normal. My doctor kept telling me that this was normal and to just take it easy. I was directed to take warm relaxing baths, use a heating pad and take plenty of naps. I followed her orders and there was still no relief. I was very frustrated and felt like no one would listen to me. One night around 11:00pm I was in such excruciating pain I decided to go to the ER. As I walked into the birthing center everyone was real polite. I had to put on the gown, and belly sleeve, hooked up to a monitor and given a full exam. I was nervous and in a lot of pain. I had to give a urine sample. I was starting to think that whatever was wrong would be taken care of and I would start to feel better. At about 2:30am the doctor came in and prescribed a pain reliever. I thought to myself YAY! About time, I was finally going to be feeling better. Little did I know it was only just beginning! After a week I had run out of medication and was still in a lot of pain, it had not made any difference. I made an appointment with my OB. While I was there I was given the normal exam, urine, blood pressure etc. I explained everything all over again, all my pains, aches and the whole situation. My OB signed me up for physical therapy for pregnant women. I asked if this was normal, and she replied yes, the reason for the back pain is because my back is not used to supporting all the weight of the baby. I accepted her answer and thought to myself that this can't be right. Something is wrong! No one is listening to me! when I told her this and expressed my feelings I was given this long drawn out explanation and lecture all boiling down to a lot of crap, in the end I left feeling like she had basically told me to shut up, suck it up, quit acting like a wimp! I was FED UP! Even my friends and family were beginning to think that I was a wimp and that I was over exaggerating things. As I was riding the bus home from the clinic, things took a turn for the worse. I was in pain, a lot of pain! I felt like I was going into labor. When I got home I fell on the couch crying, so frustrated that I was going through this and no one was here to listen or help! I knew something was wrong and I was backed against the wall with nowhere to go. I felt so alone and scared! My friend brought me to my room and calmed me down. At about 5:30pm my cousins came to visit. She gave me an amazing back massage and I felt a lot better! The pain was gone; I was relaxed it was very comforting. Feeling so good, I decided to take a nap. When I woke up the pain was back. My friend asked if I wanted to take a bath, nope, not me, I was way too sore to even move. The Dr. had said if the pain gets bad, lie down, put my feet up and take a nap. My friends had suggested this and to see how I felt later. Nope, I was sick of this shit, I needed to go NOW!! I was on a mission! I was going back to the hospital and I wasn't leaving until they figured something out! I got a ride to the hospital. My friend decided to stay home, seriously, people were really beginning to think I was full of it and it was all in my head, no one came with me, I got a ride to the hospital and was left after I checked in. As I walked into the birthing center all the staff had the look of "oh great, it's her again, the baby is back" I was infuriated! They did the same procedure as last time, urine, monitors, blood pressure cuff, and another exam. Then I noticed things started to get a little weird. This time lab came and did a blood draw. I just figured maybe they were going to try testing for something else. Then nurses and doctors started moving a little faster, people were popping in and out constantly checking different things, nurses were sweating, and moving fast. No one could answer any of my questions or explain what was going on. I was starting to get very stressed out! When the nurses came in to hook up an IV, I knew something was wrong, something was happening and I needed answers! It took 5 or 6 tries, lost count after 4, if you've had an IV you know, this is not pleasant at all, pretty painful, especially if you are poked over and over. Then the nurse told me to call home. I told her it was OK, I could tell them everything later or tomorrow when I get home. Then she looked at me and very rudely and harsh she said, "Call them NOW, you are going to have the baby!" I kept saying over and over, "it's too early, I'm not due yet" I called my friends and family and told them to come to the hospital, I was having the baby! As I said the words, I started to bawl my eyes out! I was so frustrated that all this time I had been telling them that something was wrong and nobody would listen to me. When he got there things took a turn for the worse. He was sitting next to me trying to calm me down. I said I was nauseous. I told the nurse and she handed me a puke pan, I set it aside, I felt like this my whole pregnancy and I never threw up. All of a sudden I started vomiting, and it was bad! It was very forceful and projectile, I felt like I should have been filming the exorcism (I know gruesome but hey, it happened) the nurses suddenly pushed everyone to the side. All of a sudden I was in a surgical room. I still had NO CLUE what was going on and what was wrong with me. 12:16am July 2000, I gave birth by c-section to a tiny daughter. MeMe Kym. She weighed in at 2lbs. 5oz and a small 15 inches long. I had only been 28 weeks along when my little girl was born. She was immediately taken to the NICU. After the surgery I was given 1 blood transfusion and 2 platelet transfusions. It turns out I almost died. My OB said if I would have lied back down and took another nap, I probably would not be here today. I was told my body had shut down and I had gone into shock, which caused the vomiting and incoherence.
Our story and experience is a pretty intense story. I have been writing this blog for a little while now and would love to share the story with you. I was eighteen when I found out I was expecting a baby. The Dr. said I was due the end of September. I was pretty nervous but I knew it would all work out. When I was about 6 months pregnant I started feeling miserable. When I went to my OB appointments I would tell her my aches and pains. I was having severe backaches and mind splitting migraines. My OB explained to me that this was typical during pregnancy. I accepted her answer and went about my day. What would I know, she's the Dr. As the weeks wore on I was getting worse. I thought to myself this can't possibly be normal, women wouldn't keep having babies if this was normal. My doctor kept telling me that this was normal and to just take it easy. I was directed to take warm relaxing baths, use a heating pad and take plenty of naps. I followed her orders and there was still no relief. I was very frustrated and felt like no one would listen to me. One night around 11:00pm I was in such excruciating pain I decided to go to the ER. As I walked into the birthing center everyone was real polite. I had to put on the gown, and belly sleeve, hooked up to a monitor and given a full exam. I was nervous and in a lot of pain. I had to give a urine sample. I was starting to think that whatever was wrong would be taken care of and I would start to feel better. At about 2:30am the doctor came in and prescribed a pain reliever. I thought to myself YAY! About time, I was finally going to be feeling better. Little did I know it was only just beginning! After a week I had run out of medication and was still in a lot of pain, it had not made any difference. I made an appointment with my OB. While I was there I was given the normal exam, urine, blood pressure etc. I explained everything all over again, all my pains, aches and the whole situation. My OB signed me up for physical therapy for pregnant women. I asked if this was normal, and she replied yes, the reason for the back pain is because my back is not used to supporting all the weight of the baby. I accepted her answer and thought to myself that this can't be right. Something is wrong! No one is listening to me! when I told her this and expressed my feelings I was given this long drawn out explanation and lecture all boiling down to a lot of crap, in the end I left feeling like she had basically told me to shut up, suck it up, quit acting like a wimp! I was FED UP! Even my friends and family were beginning to think that I was a wimp and that I was over exaggerating things. As I was riding the bus home from the clinic, things took a turn for the worse. I was in pain, a lot of pain! I felt like I was going into labor. When I got home I fell on the couch crying, so frustrated that I was going through this and no one was here to listen or help! I knew something was wrong and I was backed against the wall with nowhere to go. I felt so alone and scared! My friend brought me to my room and calmed me down. At about 5:30pm my cousins came to visit. She gave me an amazing back massage and I felt a lot better! The pain was gone; I was relaxed it was very comforting. Feeling so good, I decided to take a nap. When I woke up the pain was back. My friend asked if I wanted to take a bath, nope, not me, I was way too sore to even move. The Dr. had said if the pain gets bad, lie down, put my feet up and take a nap. My friends had suggested this and to see how I felt later. Nope, I was sick of this shit, I needed to go NOW!! I was on a mission! I was going back to the hospital and I wasn't leaving until they figured something out! I got a ride to the hospital. My friend decided to stay home, seriously, people were really beginning to think I was full of it and it was all in my head, no one came with me, I got a ride to the hospital and was left after I checked in. As I walked into the birthing center all the staff had the look of "oh great, it's her again, the baby is back" I was infuriated! They did the same procedure as last time, urine, monitors, blood pressure cuff, and another exam. Then I noticed things started to get a little weird. This time lab came and did a blood draw. I just figured maybe they were going to try testing for something else. Then nurses and doctors started moving a little faster, people were popping in and out constantly checking different things, nurses were sweating, and moving fast. No one could answer any of my questions or explain what was going on. I was starting to get very stressed out! When the nurses came in to hook up an IV, I knew something was wrong, something was happening and I needed answers! It took 5 or 6 tries, lost count after 4, if you've had an IV you know, this is not pleasant at all, pretty painful, especially if you are poked over and over. Then the nurse told me to call home. I told her it was OK, I could tell them everything later or tomorrow when I get home. Then she looked at me and very rudely and harsh she said, "Call them NOW, you are going to have the baby!" I kept saying over and over, "it's too early, I'm not due yet" I called my friends and family and told them to come to the hospital, I was having the baby! As I said the words, I started to bawl my eyes out! I was so frustrated that all this time I had been telling them that something was wrong and nobody would listen to me. When he got there things took a turn for the worse. He was sitting next to me trying to calm me down. I said I was nauseous. I told the nurse and she handed me a puke pan, I set it aside, I felt like this my whole pregnancy and I never threw up. All of a sudden I started vomiting, and it was bad! It was very forceful and projectile, I felt like I should have been filming the exorcism (I know gruesome but hey, it happened) the nurses suddenly pushed everyone to the side. All of a sudden I was in a surgical room. I still had NO CLUE what was going on and what was wrong with me. 12:16am July 2000, I gave birth by c-section to a tiny daughter. MeMe Kym. She weighed in at 2lbs. 5oz and a small 15 inches long. I had only been 28 weeks along when my little girl was born. She was immediately taken to the NICU. After the surgery I was given 1 blood transfusion and 2 platelet transfusions. It turns out I almost died. My OB said if I would have lied back down and took another nap, I probably would not be here today. I was told my body had shut down and I had gone into shock, which caused the vomiting and incoherence.
Out of this whole experience I have learned two things.
1. Always
trust your instinct no matter what anyone says
2. I truly
do have a miracle baby, a real gift from God!
Wow I cannot believe you went through all that at 18 years old! I bet it was so hard to deal with all the unbelief and rudeness when you knew something wasn't right... what a nightmare. I bet that experience has made you a good advocate for your kids when it comes to medical stuff though. That crap is so intimidating! What a miracle you and your baby lived!
ReplyDeleteIt was a very intense experience and has formed an unbreakable protective bond between my daughter and I. Looking back I realize just how much I had to grow up in a matter of hours. Following delivery there was years of therapy, development sessions, programs, treatments etc.
DeleteGood for you for standing up for yourself. I had HELLP as well. My son was born at 33 weeks by emergency c-section. I made multiple comments to my doctor about how much weight I was gaining so quickly and the edema I was experiencing. I know this happens during pregnancy but mine came on suddenly. They tried to pooh-pooh me until I reminded them that my sister had HELLP and delivered prematurely as well. Once I reminded them of that, they drew blood and put me on bedrest until the test results were back. In the meantime, my symptoms ramped up quickly and I started having severe chest pains. I didn't know it at the time but the chest pains were caused by my liver failing caused by the HELLP. The doctor called me the next morning at 8:00 telling me to come to the hospital right away.
ReplyDeleteI had HELLP Sydrome with my 4th pregnancy (3rd child). I had never heard of it and really didn't know just how sick I was until I delivered and was finally able to go home. I've been wondering if there have been any health problems linked to babies that were born while their moms had HELLP.
ReplyDeleteI also had a HELLP pregnancy in '05...scary stuff, I tell you. I had never heard of it before having it. It was my second pregnancy, the first was pretty normal except for gest. diabetes controlled with insulin and a slight case of preeclampsia during labor, so it came out of left field. At 5 months, after only gaining 5 lbs, I suddenly put on 30 lbs of water weight in less than 3 weeks. My legs looked like human play-doh. The dr said it was normal, and I was just retaining fluids. I had a check up 3 days prior to being admitted and was "perfectly fine". I woke up one day later with a blinding headache and I literally felt stupid. Later that day I had gotten into an argument with my now ex, and I temporarily went partially blind. I chalked it up to being upset and crying. It confused me, but after 10 min I was ok, but I knew my brain wasn't functioning properly. I went home and tried a hot shower, a nap, a massage, nothing worked. I awoke at 1 am and knew I needed to go to the hospital because I thought I was going crazy. I arrived and was immediately taken up to the 4th floor and they began monitoring me. My blood pressure was 210/190. Nobody told me that was a great cause for concern though. They just said it was high so they put me on mag sulfate to lower it. They also said I had to be monitored, and the doctor would see me in the morning. Lab came in to take blood and I tried to sleep. In the morning the dr came in and was nonchalantly talking about me staying until she was born. I then questioned the reason, as no one had explained anything to me. He told me about HELLP, and how the only way to cure it was to deliver. I started getting steroids to speed up her lungs and more mag sulfate to lower my BP. I was constantly poked, my blood being taken to watch the levels in my body. I laid there for 6 days, fuzzy headed, confused, angry, and terrified. On the 6th day the nurse came in and said I could eat. I hadn't eaten in 6 whole days! I ordered waffles...boy those were so good! Then my dr came in and yelled at me for eating. Turns out the last draw had scared them into action. He said my liver was failing and I was going to die if they didn't deliver her ASAP. They told me I had 30 min until I was going in for surgery. It was more like 10, and I barely got to tell my family I loved them and would see them soon. My oldest was only 5 at the time, and she was so scared. My Peanut was born at just shy of 30 weeks, weighing 2lbs 12 oz and 16 in long. Fortunately for her all she needed was to gain weight as we all know preemies have no meat on them. She went home 28 days later at 3 lbs 10 oz and was the tiniest baby I had ever seen. Today she is relatively a healthy 6 yr old, but has had some severe constipation issues her entire little life and has to go to Mayo every now and then. I want more people to know about this disease, and what to look for. Sometimes we know when something is wrong, too bad the GF dr's don't listen to us. After everything was said and done with, they finally told me why I couldn't see, my BP had spiked, and blindness is a side effect. Had I known that, I would have gone into the dr. Glad to know that MeMe is doing well!
ReplyDeleteI also had HELLP at age 18. I turned 19, 3 weeks after I delivered. Luckily I was 38 weeks when I delivered he was a healthy 6 pound baby boy on September 23, 2011
ReplyDeleteMy whole pregnancy was a breeze in the beginning, and then around 28 weeks I started having lots of braxton hicks and 'false alarms' which it was my first pregnancy- I didn't know the difference! and at 33 weeks I had a false alarm and I went in and they noticed my blood pressure was kind of high so they said no more work and moderate bed rest. I thought nothing of it I did as I was told. and continued going to my regular ob appointments and noticed my blood pressure was always about the same-still semi-high, but the nurse said it was normal. The next couple weeks I had started getting bad upper pain I thought maybe my son was just kicking my ribs a lot more..Then on Tuesday September 20 I had went to my weekly OB appt. I had gained FOUR pounds since my last weeks visit. This was actually the ONLY week my OB was out of town, so I had a nurse practitioner see me that day. She just told me I was pretty swollen and to take it easy. That night and the next day my ribs hurt so bad and just felt like horrible heartburn or SOMETHING. and Wednesday night it turned worse all of a sudden just migraine out of nowhere, puking everywhere. My back KILLED. My fiance was working overnight that night so my mother came and got me and took me to the hospital. We get there, urine,blood tests, and fetal monitors and everything was fine to the nurses. As they were discharging me I was still throwing up, crying and the nurse was still reading my papers to me! The rest of the night was HELL. The next morning by 10 am. my mother had it. She called my doctor, explained what happened the night before and she told us to come in again. My fiance met us at the hospital, they redid everything the night before and the head nurse of the hospital came in and told me I had HELLP, and I that even in the blood tests the night before it showed liver enzymes abnormal! She was irate and was talking about how dumb that staff was for not seeing it!!! I was immediately induced-drug free because my platelets were too abnormal for an epidural. This was easily the scariest thing of my life! My son is a very healthy 9 month old now. I am scared for future pregnancies and am horrified of another mistake from the nursing staff but now I know what happened and what to look for!