Lisa's Story

I was delighted when I found out I was pregnant , my husband and I were married in May 1999 and I fell pregnant in October of that year. My best friend had given birth to her son in April 1999 and I had imagined that all pregnancies were as simple and perfect as hers!.

My pregnancy was fairly uneventful for the first 2 trimesters, I had a little spotting early on and some pains but there was nothing out of the ordinary and my husband and I were getting increasingly excited about the arrival of the third member of our family.

I had gone for a routine antenatal check at 28 weeks and the midwife had noted that my B/P had started to climb a little from a very healthy 110/70 to 140/90, but she was not concerned as there was no protein present and I had no oedema so she told me to start taking things a little easier especially as I was still having a little spotting.

I was about to move house and so I decided that as soon as we moved I would get my b/p checked at my new surgery and register with my new midwife.

The house move went as smoothly as these things ever do and when I went to the doctors my B/P was still high but the doctor was not worried as there was still no protein and no swelling but he did book me an appointment at my new hospital just to be on the safe side.

My husband and I went along to this appointment and all was thought to be well, B/P still high but not a problem. They suggested checks by my midwife once a week just to keep an eye on things. At the first of these checks my midwife suggested I was admitted to hospital as my B/P was even higher at 135/100 and she was a little concerned.

I was in hospital for a couple of days and then sent home for rest as there was still no sign of pre-eclampsia. I was re-admitted almost every time the midwife saw me and in and out of hospital for the next two weeks when finally my B/P remained high, I had 3+ of protein and a lot of swelling of my hands, face and ankles.

I was kept on observation in the hospital and I was now feeling ill, I had a bad headache and flashing lights in my vision and my B/P was still high (around 140/110). The doctor informed me that judging from my blood tests he didn't think the pregnancy would go on any longer than another seven days and the baby would need to be delivered by caesarean section as leaving things any longer could mean my baby may die and my life could also be at risk. I was given steroid injections to mature the baby's lungs and was prepared for what was going to happen.

I was terrified at the thought of my baby being delivered 10 weeks early and spent most of the next week in tears in the hospital. I was scared and desperately wanted to go home to be with my husband and was feeling very ill. My blood was taken for testing at least twice a day to check my liver and kidney function and by B/P checked every couple of hours and occasionally I was put on a machine which took my B/P every ½ hour. My baby was monitored at least once a day (normally more) to check all was well, this was the happiest point of my day when I could actually hear that all was well and that I wasn't suffering this for no reason.

I was on a number of different drugs to keep my B/P down all of which had bad side effects when I took them which ranged from giving me a headache and depression to uncontrollable shaking and nightmares. I found myself loosing my temper with the doctors who just kept giving me drugs while my B/P continued to rise to around 150/110- 160/115, I was prepared for surgery 3 times (spoke to the anaesthetist, had a drip put in etc.) but then they decided to try and leave things a little longer.

Things went on for another 3 weeks and I was monitored very closely, I spent most of my time wishing this was all over but not wanting my baby to be delivered. Then finally the decision was taken away from me at 33 weeks as one night I began to get pains in my chest and began feeling very ill. I thought I had bad indigestion and asked for some Gaviscon but luckily the midwife decided to take a blood test just to check all was well.

The next thing I knew a doctor arrived and told me that things had taken a turn for the worse my liver and kidneys were no longer coping, the doctors were having real problems controlling my B/P and the baby's heart trace was very flat meaning that it may be getting distressed.

They monitored the baby's heart until 3.00am and then I was taken for a caesarean early that morning. This was one of the most terrifying nights of my life and as I had already been in the hospital for 3 weeks I was feeling very alone and confused. I called home first thing to let them know what was happening and my mum came with me for the section and did a very good job at keeping me calm. During the operation I was very concerned about the health of my baby and was convinced there would be a problem when suddenly I heard a baby cry loud and clear. My little daughter had been born safely and despite being small she was breathing for herself!.

The nurse brought her over and I said hello to my beautiful daughter Emma Louise. She was then taken to be admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit where she went from strength to strength weighing in at just 3lbs 11oz.

My pre-eclampsia then got worse for the next 24-48 hours and I was monitored very carefully, my platelet count was so low they could not remove the catheter or the drip for fear I would not stop bleeding and my B/P rose to a high of 185/125 even with very strong medication!.

I was relieved that my daughter was alive and well but still very ill myself and the day after Emma was delivered I began to have problems with my sight and everything became very blurred. I spent the worst night of my life worrying that I was now loosing my sight and honestly feared for my life. The doctors were unable to tell me if my sight would return to normal but they did tell me the reason that it had happened because my brain was swollen due to the pre-eclampsia (very helpful!).

Despite everything as the days went by I got better, my B/P dropped, my sight slowly returned to normal, my platelet count rose again and Emma was still going strong although her weight was still dropping.

After 5 days I went home to be with my husband I was very relieved to finally be at home but I was sad to leave my tiny daughter alone in the hospital.

We visited Emma at least once or twice every day and she came home after 3 weeks of excellent care in the SCBU at the hospital. She weighed just 4lbs 2oz but soon began to put on weight. I was on strong medication for eight weeks after Emma's birth but my B/P then returned to normal and I began to feel much better.

Emma is now 15 weeks old and weighs 11lbs 7oz and my husband and I feel very lucky to have our precious little daughter and wouldn't change things for the world!.

Lisa