TTC#2 & high risk of PET/HELLP

Hi, I am 35 yrs, live in CHCH and we are starting to try for baby number 2 this month..yay!!. We have a son Xavier, born Nov 8, 2008 (5 weeks prem). I ended up getting pre eclamsia from around 25 wks and then HELLP syndrome started at 32 weeks and so was induced at 35 wks, 0 days with Xavier.

AS if my condition was not life threatening enough I actually went seriously downhill after birth and was in the acute intensive care ward for 4 days and in hospital for total of 17 days (admitted 4 days before birth). I was very ill with the disease and even had a reaction to magnesium sulphate ( too much of it) and had a nasty terrifying experience...one which I felt I was literally suffocating and lost all reflexes..anyway thats another story.

I am actually still suffering from the affects of the being sick....I have chronic daily headaches ( they are there 24/7 and are always worse in mornings) ever since I started having head pain with pre eclampsia....and I have developed mild chronic fatigue..double whammy. Also my liver got a hammering and it actually did not normalise until around March 2010...so thank god for that! My body has gone through the wringer alright. I got all my bloods checked with a full health check etc in December and have the green light from my specialist. Even though I still suffer from head aches (mri has ruled out anything sinister) and fatigue issues it just means being pregnant is going to be more of a challenge :-(... Other than that all is good with my health so yay with that.

When we get preggers yes I will be high risk (Specialist says about 20% of getting sick) and of course you just hope that this pregnancy you don't get sick. However there is still the possibility that it may happen again. During the pregancy no doubt I will be very anxious and it would be great to be in touch with other women who are in the same boat as me.

I would love to hear from other mums who are starting to try for baby number two at the moment and have previously suffered from pre eclampsia and HELLP syndrome with their first.

3rdtimelucky wrote: welcome to OB! you can PM me or Troods. we have both had HELLP. there may be some others on here, but i don't know of them, and its extremely rare to begin with! short version of my pregnancy stories- 1st son - HELLP 2nd son - pre eclampsia 3rd son - IUGR my eldest just turned 4. i still shudder when i think about my experience. I am not sure that ever goes away!

So nice to hear from you..I got your email message..thanks for that. Yes I still shudder too!...I am ok talking about it now..sometime I can still get a bit teary eyed but not as bad as I used to be and don't like to talk about it with strangers too much only people I know as I can still get a bit emotional...bloody awful experience aye. And the Mag sulphate overdoes I literally thought that was it and was going to stop breathing...and thought they better bring me bring back! I fought with everything to keep breathing....when they put the calcium stuff in me then immediacy I came right..I don;t too much after that..in my notes they said I went to sleep not long after that.

I see you got Pre eclamsia on the second..at least not HELLP as well...how many weeks did you get to in your first and second pregnancies...any emergency?..I was induced with Xavier and soo glad was able to have a V birth with the epidural.

Was you pre clampsia in the 2nd pregnancy just the same as in the first?...did it come on the same time or later in pregnancy. Feel free to email me instead of posting.

Cheers
Haley

hey girilygirl..fee free to pm me..or let me know as soon as your preggars!..hehe

we are into our 5th time of TTC...due to O next weekend so fx its our lucky month.

Very similar to you when HELLP started although I had pre eclampsai alrady before this. I think my liver and platlets started at 31 weeks...was in for a weekend monitored..and home for a week but having bloods done every 48 hrs. Then at 34 weeks and 4 days on the tuesday was admitted after my last bloods came back worse enough to be in hospital...and then yip had scan on Wed..as Xavier had stopped growing too since last scan 2 weeks prior...and on Fri morning it was all go and I was induced to get him out...lucikly he was coming out that day as my hands and face blew up that morning!..eek!

Xavier was same weight as your boy...4lbs 5...2010kg!..born on exactly 35 and 0 days....he was in for 2 weeks at NICU etc and we both left hospital on same day which was great..I didn't have to stay away from him.

I still suffer from effects of the disease..my liver did not come right until 15 mths later and I still have chroinc daily head pain and have mild chronic fatigue...so its been no smooth sailing for me.

Most welcome to keep in touch...you never know we may be preggars at same time or close anyway. It would be very nice to keep in touch with someone in the same boat who understands what we have been through and the anxiety no doubt of being pregnant again. I am just counting on the 80% I will be ok and not sick again..lol.

take care..good luck for TTC..hope it happens soon!

hey I am in the charting girls forum..and also pop into the 2WW forum when it rolls around.

Haley

Hi Ladies,

Just stumbled on this not so current topic when searching for HELLP. Fingers crossed for those of you that are currently pregnant that things go well this time.

I had a normal first pregnancy and birth and also what I thought was a normal second pregnancy and birth however unfortunately developed HELLP syndrome about 12 hours after birth and was rushed back to CWH via ambulance.

Not currently planning on having another but haven't ruled it out in future so would be interested to see how things go for others in future pregnancies.