I had a bit of a scare the past week, but hopefully everything is okay! Since last Monday, I’ve been feeling some pressure/pain in my upper abdomen on and off. If you’ve read my page about my first pregnancy, you’ll know that pain in my upper abdomen was my first symptom that I was really sick and had HELLP Syndrome. I had never had heartburn before and mistook the symptom for heartburn for almost 2 weeks. It wasn’t until after my emergency c-section that the doctors told me that pain in the upper abdomen is a symptom of HELLP and a sign that my liver was shutting down. So, when I started to feel discomfort in my upper abdomen this week, I kind of started freaking out. My husband suggested we should go to emergency, but it eased and pretty much went away after I laid down. I decided to see how I felt the next day. If it persisted, I would call my doctor, but since it was gone when I woke up, I figured it was just another side effect of the lovely indigestion I’ve been experiencing lately. I felt reassured that it was an isolated incident and…Continue reading Worrying for Nothing?
Tag: Preeclampsia
4 Years
Today is the 4 year anniversary of the day we lost Holdon. It’s hard to believe it’s been 4 years because it feels like it was just yesterday to me. On this day, I don’t really have too much to say except I miss you Holdon. Every single day of those 4 years, you have been missed. Mommy and Daddy love you, always and forever <3 Below is my post from Holdon’s 4th birthday on April 6th. I wanted to re-post it today in his memory. You will never be forgotten Holdon <3 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYI-16QeX54&w=560&h=315] View video in YouTube: In Loving Memory of Our Son Holdon – YouTube. On April 6th, 2010 at 1:38 PM, our son Holdon was born 3 months early due to a dangerous pregnancy condition called HELLP Syndrome, a variant of preeclampsia. He lived for 3 ½ months in the NICU. We named him Holdon with a second “o” so it would spell “hold on”, and he did. He held on every day of his precious life. He fought so hard, but in the end it was too much. On July 14th, 2010, we were told there was nothing more the doctors could…Continue reading 4 Years
For Our Angel, Holdon on His 4th Birthday
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYI-16QeX54&w=560&h=315] View video in YouTube: In Loving Memory of Our Son Holdon – YouTube. Four years ago today, on April 6th, 2010 at 1:38 PM, our son Holdon was born 3 months early due to a dangerous pregnancy condition called HELLP Syndrome, a variant of preeclampsia. He lived for 3 ½ months in the NICU. We named him Holdon with a second “o” so it would spell “hold on”, and he did. He held on every day of his precious life. He fought so hard, but in the end it was too much. On July 14th, 2010, we were told there was nothing more the doctors could do. His tiny underdeveloped lungs and short gut syndrome were too much for him. He could not absorb nutrients properly so his lungs couldn’t develop. He never came off the breathing tube and eventually he succumbed to infection, and as a result of sepsis his organs began to shut down. We had him baptized at the hospital on July 19th, and then at 2:26 PM on July 20th 2010, after struggling for days with the impossible decision no parent should ever have to make, our son Holdon was taken off the breathing…Continue reading For Our Angel, Holdon on His 4th Birthday
Special Memory Bracelet
I received a surprise package in the mail yesterday from my Mom. It was a gift for Holdon’s birthday. It’s a Pandora bracelet with 3 charms on it: an “H”, a flower with his birthstone, and a small angel. It was such an overwhelming and touching gift to let me know she was thinking about us and our little angel. Thank you Mom! It’s beautiful. I have to admit, I’ve always thought Pandora bracelets were a little overpriced for what they are and never really wanted one before, but I fell in love with this bracelet instantly, and will cherish it always. What a perfect birthday present for my angel! As far as everything else, I’m doing okay, but still not sleeping well and I seem to be starting my period a few days early. So April 1 = CD 1. Lovely. Great way to start off hell month. Very fitting. All I can say is, hopefully we’ll have better news at the end of the month. Sending out love and prayers to my fellow bloggers. April is a rough month for many of us on here with miscarriage anniversaries, would-have-been due dates and not-birthdays. The only thing worst than…Continue reading Special Memory Bracelet
WTF is My Body Doing?
It’s been such a crazy time lately and I’ve been so out of touch with this blog. I’ve been reading all my fellow bloggers posts and commenting when I have time, but have been completely neglecting my own blog. To recap, last cycle we got pregnant and had a chemical pregnancy that ended just a few days after I first saw a positive pregnancy test. It was my 5th loss in less than 4 years. It all happened so fast, and while my parents were visiting, so I didn’t have time to process it at all. Then, just 4 days later, my college roommate and her husband flew in for a long weekend. It was great to spend time with them but it was a whirlwind weekend of shopping and site-seeing with only a short break on the beach last Saturday to enjoy the 85 degree weather, and then a Saint Patrick’s Day party on Sunday that lasted all day in the hot sun. We continued the party at our house and only got a short nap in before seeing our friends off to the airport at 4AM on Monday morning. We barely got back to sleep when we were…Continue reading WTF is My Body Doing?
My Special Holdon Necklace
A few weeks ago I was perusing Pinterest and came across a necklace similar to this on my home screen. The necklace was highlighted for me because I follow the Preeclampsia Foundation and I had pinned a logo that was on one of their boards that was designed by Melissa Muir, preeclampsia survivor and Jewelry Designer. The logo was created for the Preeclampsia Survivor T-shirts, that are sold to raise public awareness about preeclampsia. Melissa is a 3-time preeclampsia survivor and had created a special necklace in honor of her daughter Kelsi. Kelsi was born at 24 weeks gestation and only lived for a couple of days. The wonderful and magical world of Pinterest, highlighted this necklace for me because of my previous pin of the logo. Seeing the image of her necklace had an immediate affect on me and I simply had to have one in honor of my son, Holdon. This began my connection to this amazing artist and the discovery of my preeclampsia sister, as she called us. Given our bond through this terrible condition of pregnancy, and the way she immediately opened her heart to me and shared her story, I realized we really are preeclampsia…Continue reading My Special Holdon Necklace
New test may predict preeclampsia odds in pregnant women – CBS News
Preeclampsia is a potentially dangerous complication facing pregnant women, but new research suggests an experimental test may be able to get ahead of the illness. Researchers at Kings College London say they’ve developed a new test that can predict which women will have the condition. Their findings were published Nov. 4 in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation. “The test is designed to differentiate women with preeclampsia from those with high blood pressure alone,” study author Dr. Lucy Chappell, a clinical senior lecturer in obstetrics at King’s College, said in a press release. “Current tests for the condition only detect that it’s happening, rather than predicting it, and by that time the disease has progressed and has likely already caused organ damage. Preeclampsia is a severe form of high blood pressure marked by excess protein in the urine. It affects about 8 to 10 percent of pregnant women in the U.S., according to the AHA. Symptoms that seem to occur with preeclampsia include persistent headaches, abdominal pain and blurred vision or light sensitivity. Click here to read more and view video
Preeclampsia Foundation News
Educational Conference Brought Controversies to the Forefront Preeclampsia is a complex disorder that often confounds even the most skilled clinicians, and there are very few postgraduate courses offered on this subject. One of the missions of the Preeclampsia Foundation is to fill this gap by facilitating healthcare provider education on the subject with the aim of improving health care practices. Almost every year since the inception of Saving Grace, the Foundation has sponsored a major continuing medical education event for healthcare providers in that region. Click to read more… (www.preeclampsia.org) Also check out: The Preeclampsia Registry (www.preeclampsiaregistry.org) The Preeclampsia Registry is a “Living Database” bringing together those affected, their family members, and researchers to advance knowledge and discover preventions and treatments for preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and related hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Preeclampsia Foundation Facebook Page © Preeclampsia Foundation 2013 | www.preeclampsia.org
IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2
Here We Go Again It has been a while since I last wrote. It is partly because I decided to take our forced break in the PGD process as an opportunity to take a long overdue trip home to Canada to see my family and friends. I had been putting off traveling because of my hysteroscopy last November that marked the end one pregnancy, then trying to conceive again, then another pregnancy, then another miscarriage and finally our decision to move forward with IVF and PGD. It just didn’t seem like a good time to travel or even think about being away in another country. So when Dr J told me we would need to wait a cycle and go another round, I didn’t even hesitate. I booked the flight a few days later and flew out the week after. I thought going home would rejuvenate me, and certainly seeing my family and friends did help boost my spirit, but I came back feeling depressed and lonely. I spend the week with my nieces and nephew, held my best friend’s new baby girl, played with her other daughter and other friends’ children. It was amazing, I missed them so much…Continue reading IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2
Preeclampsia Foundation News
2013 Vision Grant Recipients to Study the Underlying Mechanisms of Preeclampsia $25,000 research grants will be presented to two preeclampsia research studies Melbourne, FL – September 12, 2013 – The Preeclampsia Foundation announced today that Ana Sofia Teixeira de Cerdeira, MD of the Harvard Medical School and Mandy Bell, PhD, RN of the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing are recipients of its 2013 Vision Grants. Vision Grants are awarded to the strongest scientific proposals recommended by the Foundation’s scientific review committee with a further review by a consumer advisory board. The Foundation’s Board of Directors renders the final decision based on those recommendations. Preeclampsia is a major cause of maternal and fetal pregnancy related disease and death worldwide. Both recipients have the goal of better understanding the underlying mechanisms of the disease and translating their research findings to clinical application. Study #1 is working on the immune mechanisms (NK cells and Tregs) of regulation of placentation in health and preeclampsia. Study #2 is designed to clarify the role that soluble endoglin (sENG) plays in preeclampsia by investigating if differences in the genetic code of the endoglin gene and related genes account for increased sENG in women with preeclampsia. Click…Continue reading Preeclampsia Foundation News