Main Entry: eclamp·sia
Pronunciation: i-'klam(p)-sE-&
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek eklampsis sudden flashing, from eklampein to shine forth, from ex- out + lampein to shine
Date: circa 1860
: a convulsive state; especially : an attack of convulsions during pregnancy or parturition - eclamp·tic /i-'klam(p)-tik/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary
My Story
In my pregnancy with my twin boys, I had several things go against my wonderful plans of beautiful pregnancy and childbirth. It actually started with the fact that I carried twins! But I don't expect to ever understand all of God's blessings, so I just accept them.
I went through preterm labor and a 10 day hospital stay between weeks 29 and 30. I continued to carry the boys right up to 36 weeks, which is when I convinced my OB that I couldn't carry them a day longer (it didn't take much convincing). I went in to be induced that morning, and after having my epidural, having my water broken and reaching 5 cm dilated, I had a seizure. I remember looking at my mother-in-law and thinking that I felt funny - a little like the room was beginning to spin. I remember then turning to look at Andrew, thinking he would see that funny feeling in my face and ask what was wrong so that I could respond. I didn't have time to process what was happening fully, and before I turned far enough to see Andrew's face, it appeared my head began to shake. I say 'appeared' because my head did not actually shake; instead, my arms and head turned toward my right side in muscle-tensing sort of way. But from my perspective, my vision was shaking. I then went unresponsive. The nurses and doctors acted incredibly fast. I was rushed into the c-section room and the babies were out quickly. Their heartrates never dropped - they were completely unaffected. No sooner than the doctor pulled out the second baby, I seized again and was sedated completely. Several things happened after this that have become a blur to everyone involved. Andrew was whisked away to the NICU with the boys. I was closed up, and rushed to MRI and a couple of different ICUs. I was finally put in Surgical ICU where I could have anti-seizure medicine. That was Thursday. I remember nothing after the seizure until I woke up in the ICU, alone, not pregnant, confused, drugged. I have flashes of memories of waking up in the MRI and being told to be still. They told me I kept pulling at the tube in my nose. Friday I felt horrible, but I was wheeled to the NICU by my sweet nurse so that I could hold my babies for what I think was the first time. I nearly threw up in the NICU from all the drugs. Saturday they decided I was stable enough to return to Labor & Delivery under close supervision. Aidan was able to join us in L&D that day because he'd been ready since Thursday. He was just waiting for me to be in a real room. Jordan was still breathing too fast, but at least we were just down the hall. We only went to see him about 3 times a day because I wasn't able to walk the whole way and my blood pressure kept going up and down. Sunday I felt much more human. My bp continued to be unstable until Monday, and Tuesday I was discharged. Thankfully, Jordan was ready to leave the NICU on Tuesday, so our L&D room was given to him and we were all able to stay the night together at the hospital before going home on Wednesday.
What scares me
PreEclampsia, Toxemia, PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension), PET, as well as ephegesis gestosis refer to serious, closely related hypertensive conditions of pregnancy. Toxemia is an older term based on a belief that the condition was the result of toxins (poisons) in the blood. PET (preeclamptic toxaemia) is a term used by older physicians in the UK and elsewhere. Ephegesis gestosis, rarely used in the U.S., is a term that is generally synonymous with preeclampsia. PIH, a newer term, stands for Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. The Preeclampsia Foundation uses the term "preeclampsia" as an umbrella term to cover all variants of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Researchers will be more specific and refer to each subset of the syndrome as separate entities. While to the medical researcher these terms may have subtle differences, they all represent serious conditions that you should not ignore.
PreEclampsia is generally defined by high blood pressures, proteinuria (proteins spilled in urine), upper epigastric pain. It can cause your blood pressure to rise and puts you at risk of stroke or impaired kidney function, impaired liver function, blood clotting problems, pulmonary edema (fluid on the lungs), seizures and, in severe forms, maternal and infant death. Because preeclampsia affects the blood flow and placenta, babies can be smaller and are often born prematurely. Ironically, sometimes the babies can be much larger. While maternal death from preeclampsia is rare in the U.S., it is a leading cause of illness and death globally for mothers and infants, as are other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. By conservative estimates, these disorders are responsible for 76,000 maternal and 500,000 infant deaths each year.
All the above information comes from this website: PreEclampsia Foundation
There are thousands of stories there about women all over the world who suffer from this disorder. My case was a rare one, although my risk factor was high because it was first pregnancy and I was carrying multiples. Surprisingly few Ob doctors are sufficiently familiar with PE and all the things that go with it to treat it effectively. Because of this, a great number of mothers and babies are not as fortunate as my babies and I were. There is no cure, other than delivery of baby. There are a few treatments for the blood pressure problems, but they are temporary at best. Most Obs look for these signs: very high blood pressure, proteinuria, vision changes, sudden weight gain & swelling. The problems with those signs: "High" blood pressure is relative. Please hear me say that again. High blood pressure is relative to each person and their normal. My "high" is not yours and vice versa. The truth is, your (the general 'you') blood pressure should not be higher than 15-20 points over normal. For example, my normal is 90/60 - so high for me is 130/80. Only classic cases of PreEclampsia spill protein in their urine. I never did, not even when I seized because I probably had PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension) rather than PE (preeclampsia). Sudden weight gain and swelling are kind of expected in the summer, at the end of your pregnancy, and most certainly with multiples at the end of the pregnancy in the summer (as I was). The vision changes and a headache that won't go away no matter what pills you take are the body's last-ditch effort at letting you know something is wrong. The way I understand it, after those things happen, seizures are imminent. In PreEclampsia cases, those things may go on for some weeks before seizures or comas occur (which is scary enough). But I did not have PE. An official PE diagnosis requires proteinuria measuring over 300 and two BP readings of 140/90. I did have upper epigastric (or URQ) pain for probably the last half of my pregnancy. But every time an ultrasound was done, I was told there were knees and feet in my ribs there where it hurt. And there certainly were, which made it almost impossible to see that pain for what it truly was. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are very deadly and often very quiet. They can be fatal for both mother and baby and are largely unpredictable.
