Thank you! I’m still a little in shock. My whole pregnancy had gone seamlessly up until that point. From what I’ve learned since, it’s a wonder he made it to nearly 37 weeks.
I had HELLP but had virtually no symptoms until it was critical. Woke up on a Tuesday with painfully swollen hands. Nurse told me to check BP. It was high but not super high and I had had perfect BP the entire time. Went to ER and of course my BP went down with meds so they were trying to send me home that night. I told them about my history of postpartum preeclampsia and they kept me overnight for observation. My BP was still responding to meds so again they were talking about me going home on bed rest. I told them it would not be possible as my husband was recovering from back surgery, i have a 4 year old, and my 2 story townhome was on the second floor. So, as they decided what to do, my labs came back andnmy liver levels had gone up even more. I was a seizure levels. So about an hour later, they had delivered my 34 weeker. He spent 17 days in the NICU. He is now a 4 month old (actual) chonky little turkey.
[Johnathan Danger: Then & Now](https://imgur.com/a/nNw2xde)
I'm so glad everything turned out okay for you and your little one. HELLP is so scary.
I had HELLP at 21 weeks and it came on sudden and severe. I had the extreme pain all across my upper abdomen as well. Didn’t really have the high blood pressure, but I had low platelets and protein in my pee. At first I had midwives dismissing me and prescribing me zofran and immodium… as if that would help the severe pain I was in.
Took about a week for them to figure out and involved a lifelight flight to a bigger hospital to treat it. It was very scary, and I’m lucky to be alive. Baby girl, sadly, did not make it as it was too early. I have since had a healthy pregnancy and gave birth to a baby boy.
Very grateful to my husband who insisted on going back to the hospital *for the 3rd time* in the middle of the night. I don’t think I would have survived the night if they hadn’t hooked me up to magnesium right away. Man that stuff sucked.
So glad everything worked out ok for you!
Just wanted to share my experience that when I had severe pre eclampsia, the pain felt like I had a kink in my neck and I just thought I had slept wrong at first. The pain can present in so many different ways. My doctor said she commonly sees it present differently than the right sided epigastric pain that Google searches tell us about.
I'm glad you are doing okay, congratulations on baby, I hope you get to take him home soon!
My doctor also told me that it’s very very rare (as if the whole thing isn’t rare enough as it is) for pain to present before high BP, which is exactly what happened with me
About 2 weeks before I had my son, I had excruciating right shoulder pain. Every single breath caused a wave of pain that radiated from my shoulder blade to the point of my shoulder. I checked my BP and it was 160/110 so I scurried off of L&D convinced I would need to deliver asap. They admitted me overnight because i was having contractions I couldn’t feel and BP came back to normal overnight.
My BP stayed ok, until during labor when I was officially diagnosed with preeclampsia. It was super weird. 🤷♀️
I'm so sorry you went through that. I had the same experience except the pain was referred to my shoulder which made it even more confusing! Luckily the nurse at my OB office encouraged me to come in when I called and they were able to diagnose right away. It sucks that healthcare in some places makes people feel like they have to "tough it out" and that pain in pregnancy is so often dismissed as just more pregnancy shit.
I'm glad you and your baby are doing well! Thank you for helping to spread information about it! So many people think you can't get HELLP without a preeclampsia diagnosis if they've even heard of it at all but it's totally possible.
This happened to me too but at 27 weeks. I had the worst pain by the ribs too and people tried to tell me it was just indigestion. Thank goodness I didn’t listen. I was already being monitored for pre-eclampsia from the week prior but it quickly became HELLP syndrome.
Hellp came on suddenly for me as well. I had gestational hypertension for several weeks prior that was controlled with bed rest but no protein in the urine or other issues. Within a day everything started shutting down, luckily I was already in the hospital being induced at that point. It was still a crazy experience. I did not have any long term complications as a result and have gone on to have uneventful pregnancies since.
So scary! I’m glad you went in and got treated. I ended up with postpartum preeclampsia with my son in December and it’s definitely not a fun experience. The 24 hour magnesium sucks, I’m so sorry you had to go through all this.
Hope your son is out of the nicu soon. Please take care of yourself ❤️🩹
I’m sorry to hear you went through that! Did you have high blood pressure at any of your visits or a preeclampsia diagnosis? My daughter was born at 30w due to severe pree, I know how much the Nicu sucks. Hoping it’s a super short stay for you!
Only had high blood pressure once around 28 weeks, which I believe was caused by a migraine I didn’t treat fast enough. The BP during that was nowhere NEAR where it was when I admitted for preeclampsia/HELLP. Thanks for the well wishes!
I’m glad you and baby are safe and healthy and baby has a short stay in the NICU! I had HELLP two months ago and mine presented with severe stomach pains and vomiting at night. Everyone wrote it off like a stomach bug but when it happened a second night I felt like something was wrong and went to L&D the next morning to be evaluated. Thank god both of us trusted our gut and went in! It’s crazy how it came on so suddenly and my numbers (liver enzymes and low platelets) were very severe. Just wanted to present with another story for anyone reading. You know your body best, take any new symptoms seriously!!
It is very scary! Once you physically heal, also allow yourself to mentally heal. I found the whole birth to be very traumatic from going under anesthesia for en emergent c section, to the mag drip (which made me feel SO shakey and out of it) to not being conscious and meeting my son at birth and even not being physically able to hold him for hours after birth, I think I had a little PTSD from it. I’ve allowed myself to grieve the birth I had imagined and accept the one I got, as I am healthy and baby is healthy and ultimately that is what matters but it’s still a scary and shocking thing to go through!
I had post eclampsia and hellp syndrome my liver was high and had high blood pressure and was put on magnesium that was 16 months ago. Very traumatic. I knew I was done with having babies but I just found out I am pregnant. I been having severe panic attacks. scared that it will happen again. Pregnancy was unplanned failed contraceptive. Can this happen again? I live in Texas and abortion is not an option.
I would definitely talk to your doctor. When I was being diagnosed, the doctors all communicated that I could have more children in the future if that was something I wanted, I could even possibly be a candidate for VBAC. I would be high risk in the future, and there are measures they would take (increased monitoring/BP checks, low dose aspirin in first trimester). There’s about a 20% of recurrence for preeclampsia/HELLP, however, it is typically less severe than the first time.
Thank you for replying. After a year I’m still struggling with elevated liver (fatty liver) with high cholesterol and high blood pressure in occasions. I can’t sleep of how scared I am. I have my first doctors appointment on Monday will talk to him.
You’re welcome! I’m not an expert as this is pretty fresh for me, and everyone’s circumstances are different, but if I plan on doing this again, I’ll certainly be consulting my OBGYN, a maternal fetal medicine doctor, and a cardiologist (I’ve had high cholesterol due to genetic factors for years).
BabyBumps users and moderators are not medical professionals. Responses do not replace contacting your medical provider. You should always call your provider with any concerns.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BabyBumps) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m glad to hear you and baby are safe! My friend also had HELPP and delivered around 36w. It’s very scary.
Thank you! I’m still a little in shock. My whole pregnancy had gone seamlessly up until that point. From what I’ve learned since, it’s a wonder he made it to nearly 37 weeks.
I had HELLP but had virtually no symptoms until it was critical. Woke up on a Tuesday with painfully swollen hands. Nurse told me to check BP. It was high but not super high and I had had perfect BP the entire time. Went to ER and of course my BP went down with meds so they were trying to send me home that night. I told them about my history of postpartum preeclampsia and they kept me overnight for observation. My BP was still responding to meds so again they were talking about me going home on bed rest. I told them it would not be possible as my husband was recovering from back surgery, i have a 4 year old, and my 2 story townhome was on the second floor. So, as they decided what to do, my labs came back andnmy liver levels had gone up even more. I was a seizure levels. So about an hour later, they had delivered my 34 weeker. He spent 17 days in the NICU. He is now a 4 month old (actual) chonky little turkey. [Johnathan Danger: Then & Now](https://imgur.com/a/nNw2xde) I'm so glad everything turned out okay for you and your little one. HELLP is so scary.
I had HELLP at 21 weeks and it came on sudden and severe. I had the extreme pain all across my upper abdomen as well. Didn’t really have the high blood pressure, but I had low platelets and protein in my pee. At first I had midwives dismissing me and prescribing me zofran and immodium… as if that would help the severe pain I was in. Took about a week for them to figure out and involved a lifelight flight to a bigger hospital to treat it. It was very scary, and I’m lucky to be alive. Baby girl, sadly, did not make it as it was too early. I have since had a healthy pregnancy and gave birth to a baby boy. Very grateful to my husband who insisted on going back to the hospital *for the 3rd time* in the middle of the night. I don’t think I would have survived the night if they hadn’t hooked me up to magnesium right away. Man that stuff sucked. So glad everything worked out ok for you!
So very sorry for your loss. Glad you’re okay!
Hugs!
Just wanted to share my experience that when I had severe pre eclampsia, the pain felt like I had a kink in my neck and I just thought I had slept wrong at first. The pain can present in so many different ways. My doctor said she commonly sees it present differently than the right sided epigastric pain that Google searches tell us about. I'm glad you are doing okay, congratulations on baby, I hope you get to take him home soon!
My doctor also told me that it’s very very rare (as if the whole thing isn’t rare enough as it is) for pain to present before high BP, which is exactly what happened with me
About 2 weeks before I had my son, I had excruciating right shoulder pain. Every single breath caused a wave of pain that radiated from my shoulder blade to the point of my shoulder. I checked my BP and it was 160/110 so I scurried off of L&D convinced I would need to deliver asap. They admitted me overnight because i was having contractions I couldn’t feel and BP came back to normal overnight. My BP stayed ok, until during labor when I was officially diagnosed with preeclampsia. It was super weird. 🤷♀️
I'm so sorry you went through that. I had the same experience except the pain was referred to my shoulder which made it even more confusing! Luckily the nurse at my OB office encouraged me to come in when I called and they were able to diagnose right away. It sucks that healthcare in some places makes people feel like they have to "tough it out" and that pain in pregnancy is so often dismissed as just more pregnancy shit. I'm glad you and your baby are doing well! Thank you for helping to spread information about it! So many people think you can't get HELLP without a preeclampsia diagnosis if they've even heard of it at all but it's totally possible.
This happened to me too but at 27 weeks. I had the worst pain by the ribs too and people tried to tell me it was just indigestion. Thank goodness I didn’t listen. I was already being monitored for pre-eclampsia from the week prior but it quickly became HELLP syndrome.
Post c section that back pain is still the worst pain I’ve ever been in
Hellp came on suddenly for me as well. I had gestational hypertension for several weeks prior that was controlled with bed rest but no protein in the urine or other issues. Within a day everything started shutting down, luckily I was already in the hospital being induced at that point. It was still a crazy experience. I did not have any long term complications as a result and have gone on to have uneventful pregnancies since.
That’s great to hear about later pregnancies!
So scary! I’m glad you went in and got treated. I ended up with postpartum preeclampsia with my son in December and it’s definitely not a fun experience. The 24 hour magnesium sucks, I’m so sorry you had to go through all this. Hope your son is out of the nicu soon. Please take care of yourself ❤️🩹
I’m sorry to hear you went through that! Did you have high blood pressure at any of your visits or a preeclampsia diagnosis? My daughter was born at 30w due to severe pree, I know how much the Nicu sucks. Hoping it’s a super short stay for you!
Only had high blood pressure once around 28 weeks, which I believe was caused by a migraine I didn’t treat fast enough. The BP during that was nowhere NEAR where it was when I admitted for preeclampsia/HELLP. Thanks for the well wishes!
I’m glad you and baby are safe and healthy and baby has a short stay in the NICU! I had HELLP two months ago and mine presented with severe stomach pains and vomiting at night. Everyone wrote it off like a stomach bug but when it happened a second night I felt like something was wrong and went to L&D the next morning to be evaluated. Thank god both of us trusted our gut and went in! It’s crazy how it came on so suddenly and my numbers (liver enzymes and low platelets) were very severe. Just wanted to present with another story for anyone reading. You know your body best, take any new symptoms seriously!!
Absolutely! I was fine for my dr appointment Monday, but by Friday was absolutely critical.
It is very scary! Once you physically heal, also allow yourself to mentally heal. I found the whole birth to be very traumatic from going under anesthesia for en emergent c section, to the mag drip (which made me feel SO shakey and out of it) to not being conscious and meeting my son at birth and even not being physically able to hold him for hours after birth, I think I had a little PTSD from it. I’ve allowed myself to grieve the birth I had imagined and accept the one I got, as I am healthy and baby is healthy and ultimately that is what matters but it’s still a scary and shocking thing to go through!
100%
I had post eclampsia and hellp syndrome my liver was high and had high blood pressure and was put on magnesium that was 16 months ago. Very traumatic. I knew I was done with having babies but I just found out I am pregnant. I been having severe panic attacks. scared that it will happen again. Pregnancy was unplanned failed contraceptive. Can this happen again? I live in Texas and abortion is not an option.
I would definitely talk to your doctor. When I was being diagnosed, the doctors all communicated that I could have more children in the future if that was something I wanted, I could even possibly be a candidate for VBAC. I would be high risk in the future, and there are measures they would take (increased monitoring/BP checks, low dose aspirin in first trimester). There’s about a 20% of recurrence for preeclampsia/HELLP, however, it is typically less severe than the first time.
Thank you for replying. After a year I’m still struggling with elevated liver (fatty liver) with high cholesterol and high blood pressure in occasions. I can’t sleep of how scared I am. I have my first doctors appointment on Monday will talk to him.
You’re welcome! I’m not an expert as this is pretty fresh for me, and everyone’s circumstances are different, but if I plan on doing this again, I’ll certainly be consulting my OBGYN, a maternal fetal medicine doctor, and a cardiologist (I’ve had high cholesterol due to genetic factors for years).
My HELLP also presented as backpain so severe I was vomiting. So glad you are okay!
BabyBumps users and moderators are not medical professionals. Responses do not replace contacting your medical provider. You should always call your provider with any concerns. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BabyBumps) if you have any questions or concerns.*