"Pre-eclampsia is a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the postpartum period and affects both the mother and the unborn baby. Affecting at least 5-8% of all pregnancies, it is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. Swelling, sudden weight gain, headaches and changes in vision are important symptoms."
More information at http://www.preeclampsia.org
It was a Thursday. November 10, 2005. It had been 3 days since our last visit to our OB Gynecologist and it had been 3 days that we found out that her Blood Pressure (BP) had shot up to 150/100. This was high. And since it had been 3 days with medication that had passed and her BP had not resided yet, we decided to go and get confined at the hospital (which apparently, should have been the first thing we had done). Upon admission, her BP shot up to a new high of 200/110. The new OB at the hospital had given her shots of anti-hypertensive and anti-biotics to get her BP down to manageable levels. They also gave her Magnesium (something-something), which my wife said hurt like hell. She told me it was like having your insides burning up. It took more than 2 days of medication and observation to pull her BP back down to an acceptable 150/100 but it was still not low enough to warrant a discharge. Hence, we had been in the hospital for more than a week under constant monitoring and medication and complete bed rest for my wife and baby.
Monday, November 21, 2005. After a few more tests, the OB said that the baby is doing good. Everything is normal for him except of course him being pre-term. It was my wife that was still unstable at that moment. And if she still did not come down from her preeclamptic state, they were going to have to terminate the pregnancy and deliver the baby, whether we liked it or not.
The good news (it was news, but I wouldn't have thought of it as good) about it is that I already knew what to expect. A pre-term baby at 28 weeks who has at least grown all the proper organs would probably survive as long as he's taken care of properly. The bad news is, it's still not an assurance that he will survive. At the very least, my wife and baby would have been out of direct danger at the same time.
One of the things I remember on our first day was the doctor asking me:
"If your wife's condition does not improve within 24 hours, we will have to terminate the pregnancy. At this point (27 weeks), the baby's chances for survival are very small. The only way to save them both is to deliver the baby pre-term. In case we deliver and the baby's lungs have not yet developed, you have to decide if he should be revived, with a very small chance of survival, or let him go. What will it be?"
I could not say anything at that point. A hundred million thoughts were running through my mind, yet none of those thoughts were making any sense. This is my first baby. And this has got to be the scenario I would not want to go through ever again. Up to now, I still don't know what I would have answered to that question.
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