Molly’s story

I’ve always been an anxious person around my health.

A person who would panic at something being “borderline” or “slightly elevated”. So hearing the word “pre-eclampsia” was no exception.

I always knew I wanted to be a mum, so when I saw those 2 lines on the pregnancy test I’d never been more excited. I was super anxious at my 12 week scan, and when everything was looking perfect, I was so excited to share the news with family and friends.

A couple of days later, I received a call from the midwife with my blood test results, explaining I had something called Low Papp-a. This slightly increases the likelihood of me potentially developing pre-eclampsia. Being 26 and no family history, I naively assumed I’d be very low risk. I tried to be positive and optimistic; enjoying the next stage of pregnancy. The next trimester was filled with excitement.

We found out we were having a baby boy! I was beyond excited, but still had the anxiety around everything being ok. It took me until 30 weeks before I brought him any clothes or started thinking about the fact that everything might be ok.

I visited maternity triage numerous times throughout this, panicking about reduced movements or worried that this might be the start of pre-eclampsia. I started to develop some slight swelling in my hands and feet and the odd headache. At 33 weeks+4 days, when I got up to go to the toilet, I could barely walk on my feet as they were severely swollen. I tried not to panic, hoping this was a typical side effect of pregnancy. I rang triage that afternoon and they told me to come in for some reassurance.

I went in alone not thinking I could be in there for longer than a few hours. Initially, my blood pressure was stable; slightly elevated but not too high. My urine came back with a bit of protein in. A couple of hours later, the midwife wanted to check my blood pressure before I could be discharged and it had sky rocketed to what would be considered the level for a stroke!Suddenly, I had gone from thinking I’d be going home to being told I was going to be admitted to labour ward.

I panicked straight away, thinking my baby boy wasn’t ready to come yet. The midwife calmed me down and explained this was so I could receive 1:1 care to monitor my blood pressure, but it was the early stages of pre-eclampsia. I sat terrified in this large chair, hooked up to the monitor and carefully watching my baby’s heart rate. They gave me some blood pressure medication and it started to reduce slowly.

I spent the night in hospital and then had an induction booked in at what would be between 37-38 weeks, which happened to be the christmas period, and was hopeful we would make it to then. We didn’t get that far.

Over the next couple of weeks, I was visiting maternity triage with progressing symptoms. At 34 and 35 weeks I was admitted into hospital for a 3-4 overnight stay, so they could get my blood pressure under control. At 36+3, on the 20th December, I was admitted to the hospital to start the induction process. My blood pressure was no longer under control and the protein levels were rising rapidly. Baby boy wasn’t quite ready to come, so it was a little longer than we planned.

We were both carefully monitored and on the morning of Christmas Day, we went up to the labour ward. After having my waters broken and the hormonal drip, my baby boys heart rate began to drop. This was terrifying and as a result, me and my partner made the decision to have a c section.

At 2:22pm on Christmas Day, our baby boy arrived at 5lbs 4oz’s. He was tiny, yet so mighty!

As a 26 year old female, this was one of the hardest things to go through. However, I am so happy to be writing this with him asleep on my chest, with us both here safe and sound. It has definitely made me consider having only one child, but I guess we will see what the future holds for us.

For now I am loving being a mum and I am so proud to say I am a pre-eclampsia survivor.