Preeclampsia, Stillbirth and Hope

Like most first-time moms, I was a little naive during my first pregnancy. I wanted to be a "good patient", so I didn't ask too many questions and tried to keep complaints to a minimum. I was in a highly stressful job, so I often missed appointments and had little time to pay attention to my body, let alone pay attention to my baby's movements. I had a wonderful pregnancy guidebook I read faithfully, but unfortunately preeclampsia warning signs were not mentioned until the third trimester.
At about 23 weeks along, my legs became unusually swollen and painful. My face was also swollen, but I assumed it was due to weight gain. My blood pressure was only minimally elevated, but in comparison to my pre-pregnancy level, it was considerably higher. My doctor advised me to get off of my feet (yeah right) and ordered a urine test. I never called back for the result. At 24 weeks I had a feeling that something was not quite right--like my heart was racing and I couldn't catch my breath. I chalked it up to stress and planned to rest up over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I would see my doctor as soon as I got back in town.
That Thanksgiving is a blur. My head was pounding, and I just felt generally awful. "Welcome to pregnancy" people said. I doubted this was normal, but kept quiet. When I returned home, I had intense abdominal cramping and flu-like symptoms. I considered going to the ER, but decided to wait until morning to call my doctor. The next day I felt better so I didn't bother to call--after all, I would see my doctor the next day anyway.
On December 2, 1999, I went in for my 26 week checkup. There was no heartbeat. I was induced and gave birth the next day to Maria Elizabeth. I was told she had a cord stricture with thrombosis and severe growth restriction. Preeclampsia was not discussed until three years later when it struck again. Despite bedrest, early diagnosis and the best of care, my kidneys failed. My son was delivered at 31 weeks and spent nearly a month in the NICU. Finally, in my last pregnancy, because of my history of preeclampsia, I was given anticoagulant injections daily and delivered my son Daniel in perfect health at 36 weeks! Preeclampsia is a dangerous disease with no cure to date, but the good news is that it can be managed, if detected in time, sometimes even prevented. If you take nothing else away from my story, please remember this: As childbearing women, we absolutely MUST take responsibility for our care. We have got to EDUCATE ourselves, LISTEN to our bodies, TRUST our instincts, and SPEAK UP. Our unborn babies are counting on us.