Have you had HELLP Syndrome - more babies??

[ClaireLouise]

Hi ladies.

I was diagnosed with HELLP at 40+3, with immediate induction, 10 hour labour with gas & air, 2 hours pushing with eventual forceps & epiosotomy.

After looking up HELLP Syndrome, i realised how bad things could have got (thankfully, after reading some stories on this site i had a lucky-ish escape - you brave brave ladies).

Now this has put me off having more children, i really only wanted 1 anyway, but after so many people commenting that its unfair on my son if i leave him an only child........ does that make me selfish? He is really close to his cousins who he sees almost everyday. I just cant imagine falling pregnant again, and having a worse case of HELLP Syndrome, being induced prematurely, risking my own and my baby's health - its not worth it in my opinion. This is why i have the Implant!!

I know that i would be monitored more frequently, and its not always the case that you suffer from HELLP in following pregnancies, but you never know

I feel kind of awkward going through the whole HELLP Syndrome story with people who ask why im leaving my poor son without a subsequent brother or sister, but if i dont want another child, then thats my decision on what is best for me and my family?? Are 'only children' a dying and sympathized breed?

Am i making any sense haha

 

[MishC]

I suffered really badly with HELLP Syndrome and also got severe Pre Eclampsia after been induced. Both my daughter and i are very lucky to be alive today and i swore i would never have another baby after what i went through. Safe to say my partner and i are planning on having another one ..lol I know it's totally mental and people keep asking me if it's 'safe' which i know it probably isn't but my daughter loves kids that much that i'm willing to put myself through that again.

I know if HELLP came on at the same speed as it did last time things could end very bad for me and my unborn child and i also know i'm at a very hight risk of getting pe back but for me it was all worth it now. Infact because i've hap HELLP and Severe PE i've been told to expect to get PE back. Yeah i spent a week in intensive care and my life was hit and miss for a few hours but i came out of the other end smiling. I ended up delivering via emergency section under general anastetic in the end because things took a bad turn.

I know if i have another i will be having it via section again at 38/39 weeks, i will be on bp meds and asprin from the get go. I will have weekly hospital appointments with a consultant as well as at the doctors with a MW.

I really does scare my to death but if i don't try i'll never know. I understand why you feel scared HELLP isn't very common and can be very fatal if it's not treated but you have to admit it was all worth it in the end.

 

[ClaireLouise]

Oh poor you! You did have a rough time of it hunni!

I think its because i was unaware i had it until the day i gave birth, it wasn't so bad. Its the knowing what could go wrong the next time, and im such a worrier haha!

Well done for being brave enough to try again and all the very best for your future pregnancies and births to be as normal and healthy as possible

Maybe il feel different when my DS is starting school But at the moment, i dont feel ready but thank you so much for your comment chicklet xxx

 

[MishC]

I was unaware of it too. To be honest with you i'd never heard of it so when i was told i had it i had no idea what it was haha. Like you i have researched it to death so i now know everything there is to possibaly know about it. And also i think if the pain that came with it come back i'd know it and i'd be straight at the hospital rather than waiting to see if it would go away.

Glad to hear you didn't suffer to badly with it and you were both happy and healthy in the end.

 

[MishC]

And by the way, if you only want 1 child then i say just have 1 child.

If you wanted 2 but were scared to have another then i'd say go talk to a consultant and see what they have to say. As bad as HELLP is try not to worry about it to much otherwise it could ruin things for you.

There is nothing wrong with having an only child. If that's what you want and your happy then that excellent, stick to your guns.

 

[mummy3]

Hi hun, I had HELLP syndrome with my first, I started with pre-eclampsia but got HELLP very suddenly just past 35 weeks. I also had eclampsia during the delivery and both myself and dd were very poorly.

I have since had another 2 kids and pregnant with #4, no HELLP syndrome since, but they do monitor me very closely

If you want to stop at 1, you can! If you would like another, then there is a risk of HELLP returning, but it most likely will not, but defo make sure your consultant knows about it so they can look after you

 

[ClaireLouise]

Thank you ladies. I dont think i feel ready for more babies yet, im not a broody person as it is, but things may change in a few years, who knows

I just hope that HELLP gets more awareness so it doesnt go undetected as it usually does

Bless you girlies xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[JShaw]

I also had HELLP syndrome come on suddenly within a week with pains and immediate c-section at 36+4 with my son. It was a very scary and painful situation and my family doctor told me later it was probably brought on by sever stress. I was also told it's very rare for it to come back with a second child, so this made me feel much better about trying for another as soon as we could. I'm 35 now and time is of the essence for us, and we're over the moon that we discovered we're pregnant again last week.

I've also quit my job to make sure I have the least amount of stress throughout this pregnancy.

I do know that if/when I have any pains again with this pregnancy, I'll go straight to the doctors instead of thinking it's normal pregancy pains!!

Good luck with what you decide and if you really want another, HELLP Syndrome doesn't have to stop you since you're already familiar with it and you'll most likely be monitored a lot closer next time.

 

[angelstardust]

I had PE with DS1, induced at 35 weeks.

With DS2 I had PE and then an abruption at 33 weeks. After delivery I developed severe eclampsia and HELLP. Complicated by the fact that due to the abruption I had a platlet count of 4 (500 is normal). I also had kidney and liver failure, tachycardia (heart rate was 122-145) and spent 3 days in a coma. Luckily I have very little memory of it all, occasionally I woke up, or it seems like I did, in reality I woke after the em c section and then 3 days later.

I was told not to have any more children. Then I discovered that my minera coil had turned into a baby....

I was terrifed the whole way through (I joined B&B when I discovered the pregnancy and it was a very emotional first few weeks) but thankfully I only got gestational diabetes and slight PIH that was kept in check with medication. I had an elective C section at 37 weeks. Day 3 I developed mild PE when they stopped my labitalol. Mostly I think that was due to stress with Amber being in SCBU and a difference of opinion between my boobs and the doctors as to when she should be fed. Back on medication and I was fine by the next day.

I spent a LOT of time going for checks at my hospital. But they were brilliant with me, any time I needed them to check me over for my own reasurrance they were happy to see me. My consultant was AMAZING a true star. They had a clear plan for if anything started to look a bit dodgy. The hardest part was that the empesis was on my life. Which would mean they would perform an early C section rather than attempt to keep baby cooking, luckily it didn't come to that but it was something I was prepared for.

And now my hubby has had the snip so no more for us!

 

[jewels1973]

Actually HELLP ( Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Enzymes, Low Platelets) is past eclampsia...worse you can have, Pre- Eclampsia, Preclampsia, THEN HELLP. Usually pre-eclampsia or eclampsia is caught before it extends to HELLP. High BP, protein in urine, swollen limbs/face, itchy skin, pain in the right quaderant (where liver is), petechiae~~small purplish~reddish (like a bruised color) which is where the vessels are caused by a small hemmorage. lots of migrains (these are just some but some of those are normal of course during pregnancy. I had HELLP (+DIC) with my first child in 1994 I went 40wks, complaints months before and noone listened. I went to the ob at my local hospital I cant tell you how many times, only to be told "everything looks great!"
January 18th 1994 I delivered and instantly everyone, staff & my family could not figure out why I was soooo pale. I got up to use the restroom ended up on the floor crawling to my bed, severe spinning of the room caused by drop of Hemoglobin, no oxygen to my head. I pushed emergency button for help, nurse walked me to toilet, sat me down, and let me go! I fell forward cracked my head on a shelf and then back hit my head on the toilet, LIGHTS OUT! used smelling salt to wake me, 2 nurses this time, they said "why is she so green??" put me in the bed and told me not to get up!! Next moring, routine bloodwork, they did it 5x! they knew something was wrong so they wanted me lifeflighted to Toledo...my PLATLETTES~9,000 Hemoglobin~2 = DEAD! In an adult, a normal count is about 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood. I wasn't expected to live through the night! How I know all this good stuff? The ACTUAL HELLP SYNDROME man DR.LOUIS WEINSTEIN was who showed up to save my life, not that he had any control of that (delivery is the cure) but he knew very well what I had & what was going
on~~~He named the condition, he figured it out. I was told I would get worse before I'd get better (not telling me he thought I wouldn't make it through the night, he told my family) I survived of course, had he not been at that hospital and found out about my chart and probs, I would have bled to death getting a bone marrow (the trauma dr.s thought it was Leukemia) He had just moved to Toledo from Boston 2 years previously and I am fortunate he did. I would have bled to death getting a bone marrow (the trauma dr.s thought it was Leukemia) He had just moved to Toledo from Boston 2 years previously and I am fortunate he did. I was scared to death, told my husband NEVER again! Husband had no prob with it, he saw it 1st hand! 11yrs later I miscarried at 11wks, D&C Feb. 8th 2005 and then had another baby on Feb 8th
2006...yes exact yr to the day! AT ONLY 26 WEEKS! WHY?? HELLP again! 1% of reoccurance and it happened! Emily would not be here if it wasn't for me, I was persistant, terrified it would happen again my Dr. would NOT listen, at 23 weeks I tossed her and was due to go to next appt in 3wks, NEVER MADE it...night of the super bowl I felt hardly a couple of movements all day, noticiable because she moved ALL the time and there was a complete diff. I insisted the following day a urine test (i always noticed a "settling" float to the hole of the toilet, brought back memories of protein in the urine,,,saying you wouldn't see protein YES I could,urine shouldn't be in the water and have something settle alone! Went in, took 4 nurses to find a heartbeat, 2 already
saying they were sorry, couldn't find one! Another one comes in BAM finds it but very faint! I had petechiae all over my arms stomach and Peach size bruises. I had protein in my urine along w/ that. Kept overnight my platelettes had dropped to 5,000 and not my hemoglobin, they thought it was TIC or something like that, whatever it was but they said worst case scenario, they'd remove my spleen! I insisted DAMN IT...this is HELLP again! NEXT morning Hemo dropped to 5!! There we go, it's HELLP emergency C-SECT 1LB 4oz NICU 3 1/2 mo. the neonatal dr said had I not noticed and been persistant she would have died in 2 days due to the latic acid in her body for trying to struggle and stay alive. our miracle baby! Delivered by the Dr who was a student 12yrs earlier that knew me and trained by THE BEST, LOUIS WEINSTEIN, Look up HELLP, I would be very surprised if you don't see Dr. Louis Weinstein in anything involving HELLP! He is now A PROFESSOR in Phillidelpiha Jefferson University) with that HELLP occurance I had a platelet transfusion, 2 bllod transfusions and 24hr of something I can't remember the name but you end up completely wacko and it keeps you from having seizures, hopefully!
DO NOT EVER LET A DR TELL YOU that it's all fine, if you feel somethings not right insist it's your body and you know better, of course if your bloodwork is fine and BP and such, fine BUT in my 1st case, the dr.'s did NOT know what it was, HELLP that is...I had a normal blood pressure BUT it was NOT normal for me and they said it was. I am a patient who made the HELLP SYNDROME books, it is soooooo deadly and be your own watcher, do the research so you're aware but I can tell you...there is no answer to why it happens, there is no answer long term health problems and if it's hereditary, look at it like this, it's almost like your body iallergic tothe fetus, your body sees it as an invader and attacks, red blood cells eat the white, I wish it on NOONE! I made awareness to all Hospitals around me who had no knowledge on this condition, never have we heard a case w/ this low of Hemoglobin & Platelets...THANK YOU DR. LOUIS
WEINSTEIN~~In an adult, a normal count is about 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood

 

[missk621]

HELLP is not a stage of preeclampsia. It can occur without preeclampsia at all, so just because you are not diagnosed with high bp and protein in urine (the diagnostic criteria for preeclampsia) does not rule out HELLP syndrome. Eclampsia is the end stage of preeclampsia (thus, the pre) and it is defined by seizures. A typical eclampsia seizure will result in a coma, although I had convulsions while I was in labor with my oldest but did not lose conciousness for very long.