Oh, that's interesting. I had HELLP syndrome with my one (and only) baby, which is a severe form of preeclampsia. I didn't want to get pregnant again after that. Partly because I was at high risk of getting sick agin, but also because the healthcare system was awful at treating me promptly and compassionately. I didn't trust the system enough to risk my life again, or a future child's life. (My daughter was in the NICU). In hindsight, this was wise of me: My blood pressure never returned to normal -- thirteen years later, I'm still on 3 blood pressure medications. I'm a "one and done" mom and that's been OK with me.
At the time, I was told it preeclampsia is thought to be (in part) an immune reaction to the father/foreign bodies. My mother-in-law also had severe preeclampsia, and you'll often see that pattern, genetically -- handed down via the father's pregnancy history, and not the mother's (no one on my family's side had it).
Doctors used to tell women "it's a disease of first pregnancy," and that subsequent pregnancies should be fine, but we now know that's often wrong -- it can happen again w/ any pregnancy, and the biggest risk factor to develop it is if you had it in a previous pregnancy.
I look forward to part two on how you navigated this!
yes! thank you for sharing this! I've seen this come up a few times over the last couple of months when I was working on my news round-ups, but I have never had any doctor mention it to me!!! Which is just so maddening!
Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry you went through all that! That sounds so scary!! That is super interesting about that pattern you mention regarding the father's side. I've been wondering how these things get passed on through the males.
Oh, that's interesting. I had HELLP syndrome with my one (and only) baby, which is a severe form of preeclampsia. I didn't want to get pregnant again after that. Partly because I was at high risk of getting sick agin, but also because the healthcare system was awful at treating me promptly and compassionately. I didn't trust the system enough to risk my life again, or a future child's life. (My daughter was in the NICU). In hindsight, this was wise of me: My blood pressure never returned to normal -- thirteen years later, I'm still on 3 blood pressure medications. I'm a "one and done" mom and that's been OK with me.
At the time, I was told it preeclampsia is thought to be (in part) an immune reaction to the father/foreign bodies. My mother-in-law also had severe preeclampsia, and you'll often see that pattern, genetically -- handed down via the father's pregnancy history, and not the mother's (no one on my family's side had it).
Doctors used to tell women "it's a disease of first pregnancy," and that subsequent pregnancies should be fine, but we now know that's often wrong -- it can happen again w/ any pregnancy, and the biggest risk factor to develop it is if you had it in a previous pregnancy.
I look forward to part two on how you navigated this!
oh, it's also important to know that you have a lifelong elevated risk of heart disease/stroke...
https://www.preeclampsia.org/heart-disease-stroke
yes! thank you for sharing this! I've seen this come up a few times over the last couple of months when I was working on my news round-ups, but I have never had any doctor mention it to me!!! Which is just so maddening!
Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry you went through all that! That sounds so scary!! That is super interesting about that pattern you mention regarding the father's side. I've been wondering how these things get passed on through the males.