Leah 's story

I had just started my 6 weeks maternity leave before our first baby was due. I had been looking forward to the time off work to "prepare" emotionally for the big event facing my husband and i. I had to go to my obst.(DR R) for a routine check up and he took my blood pressure about 10 times, then phoned the hospital and spoke to a colleague there. I was being admitted with PIH, for bed rest and the obligatory urine testing - much to my disgust as I felt perfectly fine!!!

The next 5 or so days went by and I was allowed home for the weekend, and discharged after another few days. On my next "routine" check up with DR R about a week later, my blood pressure was again thru the roof and I was again admitted to John Hunter Hospital early in the afternoon. This time I did not feel so great - I was
quite distressed and I just laid quietly on my bed. One of the nurses checked on me and I just burst into tears, she took my bp and quickly got a tablet to put under my tongue - which apparently did nothing. I had a
specialist come and check me and do the reflex test to which I failed miserably and he also said by looking behind my eyes he could see the swelling of my brain????!!!!!

about half an hour later (5 PM) (luckily during a bp check ) my legs began to dither and shake and then my whole body started shaking. I was very quickly taken to the delivery suite for intense monitoring. There were 2 doctors 4 or 5 nurses and my husband and me. I had nurses trying to get iv lines in on both hands, both unsuccessfully for about 5 attempts due to the massive swelling that had suddenly happened. Finally 2
iv lines were in, (along with a catheter) and I was being pumped full of Dilantin which was unreal. I remember telling my husband how good it felt (probably my only real memory of the whole thing)

While they were running around frantically I remember thinking "please god I don't want to die yet" I often wonder if this was my opportunity for an early departure from this
world....

my kidneys all but shut done as I had very little output during the whole thing my body was retaining all the waste and swelling up like a puffer fish!! DR R broke my water and tried to induce me unsuccessfully despite
contractions every 60 seconds or so for about 4 hours. This probably wouldn't have been quite so bad but I had the 2 iv lines catheter pulse/oxy machine auto bp machine all hooked up so I couldn't move.

Finally, about half an hour after I told my husband I wanted to have a cs, the nurse came in said I was off to theatre - things were not progressing and my bp was too high...

My husband was the first to hold our beautiful daughter Ellen Maree 5lb 9oz, 3 weeks early.
Ellen was extremely healthy and fed well although she had a night in intensive care with me - although my husband reckons she was just parked in there because I was in there!!!

I am not sure exactly how long I spent in intensive care - we think it was about 48 hours. I woke up to brad holding up this tiny pink bundle... I was trying to ask him "was she Ellen?" but I don't think he could understand me. I went back to the delivery suite from intensive care, where I discovered I had a centre line into my heart (no iv lines now thank god)and heart censors etc.

my kidneys luckily kicked back in but my bp did not settle as expected. So for the next 2 days I spent in the delivery suite I was on bp medication and still unable to get out of bed. In all I was bed ridden for about 4 days
which greatly hindered my recovery, my baby screamed every time I tried to breast feed her, I had one very insensitive nurse on about day 4 tell me I should be much more active than I was and to look at that mother over there ... see how well she is walking!!!!

To compensate this I had a wonderful nurse who supported me in my decision to bottle feed ellen, from this
decision - my first real decision concerning the birth and care of my child that I was able to make, things began to improve. I was feeling better and stronger each day, and probably more importantly more confident with Ellen.
I still hadn't bonded with her in hospital but I no longer felt like a failure and that I couldn't possibly take care of this precious being.

I left hospital as soon as I could, with my bp still way up and on medication, which I was to stay on for about the next 4 years.

It did not take me long to bond with Ellen and I fell hopelessly in love with her and tried to make up for the time I lost to this disease. Brad and I had decided not to have any more children, but then we approached another obst for a second opinion and he assured us that this type of thing only happened in first pregnancies, and that I didn't have a fit at all because it wasn't in my medical notes....

I had an ectopic pregnancy (unplanned) when Ellen was only about 6 months and then I fell pregnant (planned) when she was about 12 months old. I was also diagnosed with post natal depression a few months later, which was very evident looking back in retrospect, but it wasn't as well known to practitioners then, as now. I just thought my marriage was falling apart and that I could only have Ellen in my life and no-one else mattered.

The depression lifted, with medication, I found a great obst who understood the fear I had about the birth of our 2nd child and he promised he wouldn't let me get to such a critical stage,and consequently I had many, many visits to his rooms.

I was about 32 weeks into the pregnancy (still on bp med and the anti
depressants) when my bp began to rise. I stopped work to rest and had daily bp cecks and protein checks done. One day I felt really off and a girl friend told me to go straight into my gp which I did. My bp was way up and I had gained weight since the previous day and I had a very puffy face. My gp rang the obst (who had a locum in at the time) and wanted me admitted ASAP.

I completely panicked as the gp couldn't hear a heart beat, but eventually they did. I was admitted straight to the delivery suite for observation and monitoring. I was given steroid shots(ouch) to mature my baby's lungs. I
was examined by the locum who turned out to be just wonderful and very reassuring. He was happy enough with my bp with bed rest. He wanted to get me to 34 weeks if possible. In a few days my own obst was back, he did liver function tests protein tests etc. and decided that it was time to act.

Although he gave me the option of labouring I just wanted it all over so I had another CS. Our Son Conner 6 weeks prem 5lb 3oz, was born with out a hitch. I was able to go back to the ward, although conner was in NICU being tube fed and on a drip. The nurses brought him done to me in the ward for a visit which was wonderful and I spent most of my time up there in the NICU with him. I was able to go home to Brad and Ellen and I visited conner every day for a week until he was allowed to come home. He had done extremely well, although we had to wake him for his night feeds and feed him 3 hourly thru the day. He has never looked back....

I eventually came off my bp med when conner was about 2, I still suffer depression from time to time but I am able to recognise the signs now and get medication before it gets out of hand.

My children are 8 and 6 now and extremely happy and healthy.

I was traumatised by this experience for years but I am finally at piece with myself and no longer feel guilty about it.

In case we were tempted to have another child we decided I should have a tubal ligation during the cs (at age 27).... my obst was in full aggreeance.

I think that people have become too nonchalant about pregnancies.... then again I am extremely envious of ladies who have trouble free pregnancies/births.

Leah