As Erica Rimlinger said
In the summer of 2015 I had great news that I could share with my friends, my family and all of my hairdressing customers: I was pregnant. My husband and I were so excited to meet our first child. I was 32 years old and healthy and the pregnancy went great.
In the 18th week of my pregnancy I worked when I felt a new unknown and severe pain directly under my breasts in the middle of my chest. I released the feeling as digestive disorders, but during the day the pain got worse and I found it difficult to stand. Before that, I had no symptoms with pregnancy. I knew that this severe pain was wrong, so I went home, called my husband and doctor and on the doctor’s advice we went to the hospital.
Our baby was fine in the hospital, my blood work was fine and I was sent home with instructions when something changed. The pain continued and worsened all night in the next few days and in the next few days. A trip back to the hospital showed a diagnosis of gallstones. Since I was told that it was not certain to operate an operation on the 20th week of pregnancy, I immediately went to the operation to remove my gallbladder.
I woke up with the same pain in which I was previously. In fact, I now had surgical pain on the scorching pain under my chest. I had a headache and fatigue and could not keep the food low, so I called my surgeon and obstetrician (OB) to ask if this was normal. My gallbladder surgeon was that they sounded like normal pregnancy symptoms, but I didn’t. I was hospitalized again.
Even when the test did not make a diagnosis after the exam, my OB searched relentlessly for a cause. I will always be grateful because I started to doubt my instincts. Since this was my first pregnancy, I thought maybe the pregnancy is for me.
Then a blood test revealed the source of my misery: I had the Hellp syndrome and had to deliver the baby immediately with a pregnancy of 21 weeks. My husband and I were shocked, confused and had no idea what the Hellp syndrome was. The doctors quickly explained that it is a rare pregnancy complication that reduces red blood cells, increases liver enzymes and reduces platelets. Untreated, it can be fatal for mother and baby, and the only effective treatment is the immediate childbirth of the baby.
My husband tried to argue with the doctor. He pulled the doctor into the hallway and asked: “What’s going on? The baby can’t survive after 21 weeks.” The doctor clearly explained the situation. If the baby were not delivered now, the baby and I would die. If the baby were born now, it would probably die, but I would live. There were no good options and the watch ticked. At that point I would have had a stroke and could die at any moment.
We hurried to work and childbirth, where I was immediately induced. I was in a medical fog. I couldn’t believe that this was real life. When the baby arrived, we called him Brixton. He never breathed breath.
2015
I lively remember to have kept Brixton, with my sister and my husband gathered. The nurses had involved their small body in a blanket. During this short hour we had with him, I felt strong that God was with us. I had an overwhelming feeling of love, peace and gratitude for this baby that made me a mother.
After birth, my blood pressure rose and I had to take medication for weeks to control it. When I was rolled out of the hospital’s work and delivery unit, I envied the mothers who went in the arms with a baby and were surrounded by smiling family members. I was sick, medically, misery and thought: “I will never do that again.”
At home we faithful the loss of our boy. My milk came in and I was afraid to go back to work and to have the terrible story all day. I had to know why that happened to me?
The Hellp syndrome is rare. One of their potential causes is even less common: an autoimmune disease called antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). This blood cost disease is often not diagnosed until a stroke or Hellp syndrome makes your presence known. I learned that I had APS and that it was going on in my family.
With the time, belief in God and a lot of therapy, our pain over Brixton finally healed loss. We decided that we would try to get another baby because we knew how we could control my APS.
I was equally frightened and excited when I saw the positive pregnancy test, but the pregnancy was going on uneventful, except how tightly monitored I was. I regularly saw a hematologist and a high risk, and I had tons of ultrasound. When we remembered what happened last time, we told people about pregnancy much later.
2024
My son Elliott, now 8 years old, was a blessing of God. I had no bad test result in all my months. I was induced after 39 weeks and the work went as perfectly as possible. We decided to get another baby.
Our next son, Hunter, arrived in May 2020 during the Pandemie closure. The pregnancy went smoothly again thanks to the watchful medical care, but during pregnancy I sat on the couch and my point of view blurred. I didn’t wait. I called my doctor who told me that I should go to the hospital directly. There we found that my blood pressure was high. I was immediately induced to prevent a complete relapse of the Hellp syndrome, and my son and I quickly recovered from birth.
I don’t want to scare pregnant women through the story of Brixton, but I wish I knew about Hellp syndrome when I was pregnant. Talking about pregnancy risks can be scary, but open conversations can help women get better for themselves. For this reason, I am happy to talk about the experiences of our family. It could prevent another woman from getting as sick and death gets as close to death as I do.
Every year on Brixton’s birthday, my husband and I recognize our first son quietly. I occasionally watch pictures of Brixton and the little hat he was wearing when we held him for the first and last time. Every year our memories of our rainbow baby lose a little more of your stitch and are instead replaced by a little more joy. I will never stop feeling love and gratitude for my first baby and his place in our family.
Do you have your own real women, real stories you want to share? Let us know.
Our real women, real stories are the authentic experiences of women in real life. The views, opinions and experiences that are shared in these stories are not supported by healthwomen and do not necessarily reflect the official politics or position of healthwomen.
From their site articles
Related articles related to the web