I read a lot of books and articles when I was pregnant. My goal was to be as informed as I could be on all things pregnancy-related. It was my first rodeo and I was 42 years old, and fell into the category of being ?at-risk? for a list of pregnancy ailments. From c-sections to pre-term labour, I thought I was thoroughly book- and internet-savvy, right down to preeclampsia. However, postpartum preeclampsia was something I wasn’t ready for. This disease that I somehow overlooked nearly took my life.
This rare disease is a close cousin to preeclampsia and is also related to high blood pressure. The symptoms, which include stomach pain, vision changes, nausea, shortness of breath, severe headaches and major swelling in the face, hands, feet or limbs, usually come on right after giving birth but can appear up to six months afterward. The scary thing about it is, like me, some women may not even have any symptoms or signs during pregnancy. And as it turns out, I had the most severe form of preeclampsia?HELLP Syndrome. This life-threatening complication stands for hemolysis (H), which is the breaking down of red blood cells; elevated liver enzymes (EL); and low platelet count (LP). Its symptoms are the same as preeclampsia but also include pain in the upper right abdomen, shoulder, neck and upper body pain and seizure. It?s rare?only about one in one thousand women will develop this disease. It can slowly creep up on you or attack aggressively. Either way, if you don?t get p...