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Our Stories-Our Stories-How to Share Your Story Holly Nelson My doctor noticed my blood pressure was rising. Up to 128/76 from 110/65 and asked me about bedrest at 32 weeks. I pleaded with her to let me start my new substituting job, I was about to graduate and needed the money and the job contacts. She said o.k. to level 3 bedrest as long as I just sat there and came back the next week with a list of blood pressures taken daily. When I came in the next week it was up to 136/86. I had one time where my feet swelled, but it went away when I took off the size and a half too small shoe. She then prescribed level 2 bedrest and mentioned something about watching for a rare thing called HELLP, which went in one ear and out the other. Two nights later I had to pee every five minutes, but nothing would come out. I figured the baby was just laying right on the bladder. Then the pain under my left ribs started. It felt like I had been running and had severe cramping under there. I couldn't take a decent breath. Again I thought this was due to a foot lodged in the wrong place. About 2:30 a.m. I couldn't stand it anymore and my husband called the small rural hospital. They told us to come in. The on-call doctor prescribed morphine until she got there. She determined it was probably my gall bladder and to schedule an ultrasound that morning when the tech arrived. That morning I was seen by the tech first and then my normal doctor visited before she had to go to the clinic. It was not my gall bladder. At that point my blood pressure had sky rocketed and when the labs came back from when my normal doctor ordered them it showed my platelets had dropped fast and my liver enzymes had soared! My urine was full of protein, which wasn't there two days earlier. Then the fetal monitor showed the baby's heartbeat drop. I went directly to the operating room for a c-section. I didn't even get to call all of my family, just my mom after pleading with my doctor to wait. At 34 weeks Brady was born 5lbs. and 5ozs. He needed some sugar water and oxygen, but was perfect. I was a mess, mainly from the magnesium sulfate and whatever else was pumped in. My family doctor was great in watching for things and not ignoring the littlest signs. I ended up with HELLP and PIH. My blood pressure was high after and I was prescribed blood pressure medicine to control it. I have learned a lot since then about PIH and HELLP, but there is still more to know. Back to Our Stories
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