I was healthy, slim and had normal blood pressure prior to my pregnancy.

From the very start I had acute morning sickness. My OB prescribed different things, but nothing worked. Just seeing pictures of food set me off.

I got pneumonia in my 6th month and was hospitalized for a week due to dehydration. My blood pressure was still normal.

In my 8th month I started having severe pain high on my right side under my breast. I went to emergency and my blood pressure was off the chart. They called in a cardiologist thinking it was my heart. My OB looked at my vitals and realized I was suffering from H.E.L.L.P. Turns out he had just been to a conference (December 1982) about this unknown condition. He did an ultrasound and found my liver three times its size. He did an emergency c-section. My daughter was born of good weight and healthy. I immediately went into seizures and was comatose for a brief time.

I credit my OB, David McAninch, with saving my life. If he hadn't been to that conference it could have been a different outcome. He advised me to not go through another pregnancy as it was likely to happen again. It is now 37 years later and I still suffer from high blood pressure but otherwise healthy. My daughter is also healthy. She has not been through a pregnancy at this time.