It was just under a year ago that many of you were praying hard for Maggie and me. Two weeks before she was due to be born, Maggie was taken by induction when I suddenly was discovered to be suffering from severe Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. After a harrowing weekend, just when we thought things were about to get easier, Maggie started having fainting/ lapses in breathing spells, and my symptoms from HELLP started to get worse. We stayed in the hospital for about a week and a half. Alastair drove back and forth from his job in Burlington to Tufts Medical Center in Boston every night. We prayed, we cried, we welcomed visitors, we began to adjust to the idea of never getting a good night's sleep ever again (OH, the joys of parenthood!). Maggie got the hang of breathing regularly, and gradually my platelet and liver levels went back to normal.
I have spent the past year learning everything I possibly could about Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. My doctor visits while pregnant had mentioned Preeclampsia, but never as something that was actually a legitimate cause for concern. I had never even heard of HELLP Syndrome. That first night that I felt so sick and ended up in the hospital, I almost just slept through the night. My husband insisted that we go to the hospital. Once there, my doctor and nurses almost sent me home. The pregnancy complications that almost killed me and Maggie almost got completely overlooked.
No one knows what causes Preeclampsia or HELLP Syndrome. Sure, there are some common risk factors-- being overweight, being over the age of 30, having a history of Preeclampsia in the family. I had none of these.
Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome affect such a small percentage of pregnancies that they're usually overlooked in educating pregnant women. Some research happens, but it's hard to research something if you don't even know it's there until you're already dead.
The Preeclampsia Foundation is one of the few organizations that is doing actual research and has a vested interest in educating pregnant women about the warning signs of complications like Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. On September 15th, Alastair, Maggie, and I will be participating in the Preeclampsia Foundation's Boston Promise Walk for Preeclampsia. Our team is called "HELLP Awareness." The fundraising goal for our team is $2000. So far we've raised $890. I am so happy to have raised this much for a cause that is so important to our family... but we're not there yet!
Please take a moment to visit my page and consider making a donation-- big, small, doesn't matter! This cause is so unbelievably important to me that every penny counts.
Then:
Now:
