Before Preeclampsia: The Early Days

I’d never heard of preeclampsia or HELLP Syndrome before my diagnosis. Preeclampsia is a condition that causes high blood pressure, edema and protein in the urine during pregnancy. HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening variant of preeclampsia; its acronym stands for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelets. These conditions are serious and usually develop later in pregnancy or after delivery. Unfortunately my symptoms developed in my second trimester, which is more rare and more dangerous for the child.

Ignorance is Bliss

Now looking back, when I found out about my pregnancy I approached it with a pretty arrogant attitude. Being a scientist, I was always considering all possibilities in my research and educating myself. But for my own pregnancy I made so many assumptions. For example, I KNEW I’d have a full-term baby so I glossed over the complications section in “What to Expect”. I KNEW I’d have a natural, medicine-free water birth. I learned absolutely nothing about C-sections because of my naive optimism.

My pregnancy was a rough one from the start. I only took a test because I was projectile vomiting like it was target practice. I had brutal nausea early on, and many people thought it was mental or that I just wanted attention. Isn’t it “way too early to have symptoms?” Regularly I swore I had twins and kept looking for the second dot at my ultrasound. There was just no way one kid could cause so much trouble.

Early Preeclampsia Warning Signs

My hip pain set in around 9 weeks, and I started walking with a little limp. Then at 12 weeks I’d vomited every drop of water in my stomach, and spent hours dry heaving in a busy ER waiting room. I begged to go to an OB floor, but it was only for patients already more than 20 weeks. Finally I received IV fluids, Zofran and an ultrasound showing that my gallbladder had “sludge”. Nothing too serious so I went home to recover.

So then around 20 weeks I woke up to a blue ring finger, and deep wrinkles on my legs from my socks. My face and eyes were puffy and I felt miserable. When I checked my blood pressure at Walgreens it was elevated. I went to the hospital and it was a perfect 120/80 and my urinalysis came back normal. I was discharged and my husband was furious, he wanted more tests and a longer observation. He had a bad feeling and I wish I would have taken him more seriously.

At 23 weeks I went to my OB and my urinalysis tested positive for protein, but my blood pressure was normal. My doctor said that they would keep an eye on it and retest my urine at a later visit. To combat my rapid weight gain, he said to stop eating bagels and other carbohydrates. However I wasn’t eating much at all since my “heartburn” was so bad. I always had a bottle of tums by the bed, in the car and at my work desk. Since I made the choice to have a child, I had to deal with the consequences. Pregnancy isn’t supposed to be painless, right?

No One Could HELLP It

I’ve wondered many times if we could have prevented his premature birth. If someone recognized my constant heartburn as upper right quadrant pain, would they have checked my liver enzymes? If my doctor realized my weight gain was edema and not bagels would he have done something differently? Had I started medicine earlier, or had seen a high risk specialist earlier could we have intervened? Ultimately my placenta never formed correctly to begin with, so there was nothing anyone could do for us.

My preeclampsia was about to turn into HELLP syndrome, I was about to become a micro preemie mom, and my body was no longer a safe place for him to grow. Luckily we both survived and it’s taken me several years of reflection and forgiveness to make peace with his early birth. I realized that everyone, including me was doing their best. It is possible to do your absolute best for someone, but they still don’t get everything that they need. In my future post, God HELLP Me, I will discuss my hospitalization in more detail, and the day my buggy made his grand early entrance.