#1- Lily - Pre-eclampsia

Lily shares her unexpected experience with pre-eclampsia — a reminder that even when everything seems fine, it’s important to listen to your body and trust your instincts.

💛 Resources & Support

If you’d like to learn more about pre-eclampsia or what to do if you’re worried, here are a few trusted places to start:

• NHS – Pre-eclampsia:
  Clear info on symptoms, causes and when to seek help.
  👉 nhs.uk/conditions/pre-eclampsia
• Tommy’s:
  Great charity resource with easy-to-read info, FAQs and parent stories.
  👉 tommys.org/pre-eclampsia
• NHS Inform (Scotland):
  Friendly overview on signs, risks and management.
  👉 nhsinform.scot/pre-eclampsia

Remember — pre-eclampsia can develop after 20 weeks, and symptoms can include headaches, swelling (especially in the face/hands), changes in vision, or upper abdominal pain.
If something feels off, always speak to your midwife or doctor. You know your body best. 💛

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Hi, and welcome to Raising with the Village. Today's story is one that many of us have heard of in passing, but might not fully understand until it touches someone close or even ourselves. We're talking about preeclampsia. It's a pregnancy complication that can happen when the placenta, that incredible organ that nourishes and supports your baby, stops working quite as it should. It usually appears after 20 weeks when blood pressure rises and other organs, like your kidneys or liver, start showing signs of strain. While they are curious factors, the truth is pre-compare can happen to anyone, from very young first-time moms in their early twenties, to women in their forties. Sometimes they are warning signs. Headaches, swelling, changes in vision, but other times it's silent until it isn't. And that's what makes today's story so powerful. Because on paper, it does not fit the textbook description. Lily's pregnancy was healthy and straightforward until one day she started experiencing small signs. Something that wasn't quite right. Nothing dramatic, nothing that screamed emergency. So she brushed them off. As so many of us would. It was actually her best friend, who had quietly been keeping track and noticing the subtle changes, who insisted she get checked out. And it's next to this nun, that moment of care and awareness that her preclamater was discovered in time. A few days later, her baby was born. Three weeks early, but healthy and safe. It's a story about friendship, about calm in the middle of chaos, about trusting your instincts and the people around you. And about how sometimes it really does take a village. Even when that village is just one incredibly observant friend. It's also a reminder that pregnancy does not always go to plan. And that's okay. Sometimes it takes a few unexpected turns to bring us safely where we need to be. And maybe helps someone feel a little bit less alone if they ever find themselves in the same situation. So now let's get into it. Right, so hi Lily, how are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you doing? I'm very good, thank you. So shall we start with quick introductions? Do you want to tell me about yourself, your family?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yeah, so my name's Lily. I'm 35 and I'm a mum of two. I've got a daughter who's just turned six and then a three-year-old son. Alright, fantastic. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Must be quite a busy household.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Yep, very busy.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Okay. Fun times. So, um, what are we here to talk about today?

SPEAKER_00 3:41

So we're here to talk about my experience with pre-eclampsia, which um actually happened in my second pregnancy.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Oh, cool. That's gonna be an interesting one, definitely. I know that uh that's something that I didn't know much about myself, and so I'm really interested in hearing more about your story. Um, but uh so you said it was it happened during your second pregnancy, but I think it would be quite interesting just to go back to your first pregnancy. So yeah, can you um tell me a little bit more about your first pregnancy? How old were you when you um first got pregnant?

SPEAKER_00 4:16

So my first pregnancy, I was 29. I'd say fairly ordinary pregnancy, there were no signs of preeclampsia. The main signs are normally high blood pressure, there was no concerns at all. Um so with my first pregnancy, in terms of pregnancy, it was fairly normal. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

And the baby was born uh at term, and regular um weight, regular height, everything was all normal.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Yeah, everything was normal. Baby was born at term, I went into labour naturally. Um, yeah. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Um, so exciting. And then um, so you said that your uh children are three years apart, uh roughly, so um a couple of years later, you're like, all right, let's uh get in again and let's have a second child. And so um so you were 29 the first time, so you were 32 the second time?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Yeah, I was 31 and then just turned 32 when he was born. Okay, cool. So how was the how was the pregnancy?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

How's the start of the pregnancy?

SPEAKER_00 5:25

So, in terms of pregnancy, I'd um the pregnancy felt fairly normal, but it was different for me because I had a toddler and being pregnant, so whereas first time you have you're just pregnant and you don't have a toddler to look after and run after, so um it was different for me that way as opposed to noticing that the pregnancy itself was different. Um, I do remember, well, not that I remember, I actually had to go back through my WhatsApp messages with my best friend to remember what happened in my pregnancy because we document each other's lives to each other. And um at the beginning they did test me because one of the main signs for preclampsia is protein in your urine, and the other one is high blood pressure. Now, when I had my daughter in hospital when I went into labour and was in hospital, they checked your blood pressure. I did have high blood pressure then, that was the only time in the pregnancy. So um at the beginning of my first pregnancy, they did want to check that, and they made me do a 24-hour protein test, which is you basically have to we in a large bottle for 24 hours, collect it, and then take it back, and they test the protein levels. That's a sign of preclampsia. Um, and that all came back fine, so I can't remember where I was going with that.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

No, no, no, but that that's really interesting. So that was at the very end of your first pregnancy. So you were at the hospital.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah, in labour with my daughter, is the only time my blood pressure was high. And at the time I just thought, well, I'm in labour, I'm having contractions, I'm in pain, that's why my blood pressure's high. But when with my at the beginning of my first uh second pregnancy, they did want to check that. Uh huh. So did they mention anything the first time around?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

So when you were in the hospital in labour, did they mention pre-eclampsia or did they mention anything at that point?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

They didn't mention anything, they only mentioned that my blood pressure was high and that I needed to be monitored. So I was put on a monitor for that, but that was it. And even um thinking back now at the start of my second pregnancy, when they mentioned the fact I'd had high blood pressure, they didn't mention that pre-eclampsia was a concern, but now thinking about it, that's probably what they were checking. But I didn't show any signs at that point.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

So they probably had like some notes to say maybe look out for any signs of preeclampsia. Yeah. And as I understand it, in any case, you can only start seeing signs after 20 weeks.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Yeah, just I I think I think normally you'd see the signs after 20 weeks, yeah, of preoclampsia. Um uh and also I I didn't fit in any of the boxes that you'd usually find pre-eclampsia. So um my age, my BMI, the fact that it was my second pregnancy, nothing fit with the sort of box CG in to have pre-eclampsia. So it was never really something that I was worried about.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Yeah, and therefore it's probably not something that one you would have um researched and two that would have been mentioned to you, um, sort of like not ticking any of the boxes. Yeah. That's very interesting then, um, to see that. Okay, so so let's go back. So you said that um start of the second pregnancy, obviously uh things are slightly different because you've got a toddler running around, so yeah, you're feeling uh a bit more tired. It's a different story, but that sort of makes sense. It would be everyone's experience when you're going through uh a pregnancy after already having kids uh in the house. It's a little bit more exhausting. Uh but sort of first trimester um went well apart from you know the exhaustion.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Yeah, first trimester went well. I think just the general feeling tired and then the extra tiredness because I also had a very demanding two-year-old who didn't want her dad to do anything, just wanted me. So of course I had that, yeah. Of course, yeah. So um um, yeah, I think just gen I just felt generally tired pregnancy, no other real signs of anything concerning.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

And at that point were they um asking now thinking back, yeah, do you think they were starting to ask questions that were sort of looking at potential uh pre-clemcia prognosis for them?

SPEAKER_00 9:53

No, nothing at all. And uh, I think uh um to start with, uh all my midwife appointments, they always check your blood pressure and do a urine test. Um my blood pressure was always fine, it was never really high until towards the end. I think I went to an appointment. Um, I can't remember how many weeks I was pregnant. I must have been 30 at least, and my blood pressure was high, and that was kind of the first time. Um but up to that point there was nothing.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Okay, and did you think to yourself something is feeling different? Something is feeling a little bit off, or was it them, so the medical um professionals telling you, hey, your blood pressure is high. Did did you feel anything different at that point?

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I didn't I didn't um feel anything different, but now actually when I was going back um through my WhatsApp messages, um there was a point. Um, so my son was due on the 9th of August. He but he was born on the 23rd of July because he had to come early due to the eventual preclampsia. Um but in um about a month before that I've messaged my best friend and I've said, Oh, I've got itching everywhere, itching, and um I just sort of put it down to one of those odd pregnancy things that you just seem to come up with. But she actually says to me in the message, Oh, you know that can be a sign of preclampsia. Um, but I didn't see it as that. That's the time.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah, she definitely was very wise. Did she have any experience with it?

SPEAKER_00 11:26

No, not herself. Um, but she is one. If I tell her a symptom, she is she will do a deep dive on Google to find out all the possibilities of what that could be. Oh, that's the print that we need.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah. Oh no, but good good on her. So, okay, so you were at roughly 30 weeks um into your pregnancy, and at that point you started feeling um some itchiness. Um, and on the other side, the medical professionals. Uh by the way, I'm saying medical professionals, do you remember who it was?

SPEAKER_00 11:59

So the midwife. I think it was just at the general when you go for a midwife appointment and they do your blood pressure, you give a urine sample, just like a general midwife, not a scan, just a general midwife checkup.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

So just a routine checkup. Yeah. And so it came back saying, Oh, you've got uh high blood pressure. High blood pressure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

And was there anything about your urine at this point? I nothing in my urine at that point. I think they actually tested it, and my urine was fine, it was just my blood pressure was a bit high on the high side, and she um wasn't happy about it. So I can't I think they might have sent me to the blood pressure clinic to try uh test, but I can't remember at that point. It wasn't anything on my mind that I was thinking then, oh, this is pre-calampsia. But then funny enough, in another now I see back on my WhatsApp messages that I was reading back on to prepare for today. Um on, I think it was about the 10th of July. Um I messaged my best friend saying, Oh, I've had really bad eye pain all night. I've um I couldn't sleep. And she said to me again, you know that can be a sign of preeclampsia. I think you should go get checked. And um I I did a lookup and saw that it mentioned um a symptom of preaclampsy can be um blurriness in the eye. Uh, you may have vision problems, not this sharp pain. So um I just thought, oh no, it's pretty it's not that. And I as I didn't f fit in any of the boxes for preoclampsia, I was kind of wasn't really worried about it. Then I had a scan the next day or a couple of days later, so I thought I'll just leave it. But she was like, You you should really go get that checked. Do you remember why you had that scan? It was just a routine scan, so um probably was it a growth scan? Uh just you know, you have the 12-week, 20-week, so it might have even been my 36-week scan then. Okay. Yeah. Cool. Yeah, I think it was actually the 30, so it was just the routine scan. Happened to have that pain two a day or two before, so I thought, oh well, I've got that scan booked in, I won't go get checked. But she was like, you should really go get assessed and check that out. So I thought, oh, I'll go to the scan. Um, went to the scan, where also at the scan they do a urine sample and check your blood pressure, and that is when my blood pressure was high again. So then um then they were taking it more seriously, and that's when I had my blood pressure taken. So not just usually it's just one arm, isn't it? I literally I had blood pressure on my legs or my arms, and um had to stay in to be assessed and came back as high risk for having pre-eclampsia, and that was the first time I was like, oh, oh well.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Okay, so maybe at that point, so when they mention that, it's the first time you hear this word coming from you know, the doctors, coming from the professionals. Yeah, what comes through your mind?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

What do you remember? Yeah, I think I was yeah, quite then started to worry. Then I remembered, oh, my friend has mentioned a couple of things that I've mentioned to her and said that could be a sign of preeclampsia. Oh, and another thing that I had had, but again, I put it down to so I was heavily pregnant in July in the middle of a heat wave, and I had quite swollen hands and feet, but I was thinking putting that down to being heavily pregnant and it being very hot. Um, but now looking back, that was probably another sign of the preeclampsia.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Hmm. Well, that that's so interesting how looking back you can have a very different reading, but going through it, you're sort of dismissing things, thinking, oh, this is just pregnancy, this is just the heat, this is just you know, um, finding lots of um kind of reasons explaining everything that's happening. Um, okay, cool. So let's go back to that moment. So they are all of a sudden they're like, okay, we've got to take that a lot more seriously. Do you remember them um checking the baby's size, like the the baby's growth at this point?

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah, so at that point that was um the scan. Yeah, the baby's growth wasn't that good either. Or I can't um I think they were expecting the baby to be bigger. Um, my blood pressure was high, so then at that point I got referred to the blood pressure clinic um who then um made me do another um 24-hour urine sample, which is lovely. You've got to carry your bottle and collect your urine for 24 hours. And oh, this is glamorous. Yeah, yeah. And you um they check the protein levels in that, and that is the main indication of whether you've got preoclampsia or not.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

And so at this point, do you have to stay in the hospital for 24 hours, or were you released back home and you can sort of lit your eye but um be mindful?

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah, yeah. So thankfully they um gave me medication to try um get the blood pressure under control. And um, oh actually to start with, they gave me a smaller dose, sent me off to eat, went off to eat, had some food, went back, and my blood pressure actually got higher. So I was like, well, that's not good. Um so they gave me a slightly higher dose, and thankfully that lowered my blood pressure enough, so then they were happy to send me home and do the um 24-hour urine collection at home. Otherwise, they would have kept me in.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Okay, so you go home for 24 hours, you do your urine collection, you come back, they check what happens at this point.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

So then I think I went back, they um I gave in the sample. Um I can't remember at that point. I think then they gave me the medication for the blood pressure, and then I was just they had to send the sample off, and at that point, and then I was waiting for the confirmation of whether it was or wasn't going to be um pre-eclampsia. Uh so I think I was so I was roughly 36 weeks pregnant, and then the they tried so I had my um maternity leave with work booked, I was gonna have a week holiday before, you know, a couple weeks off to prepare, and they were like, then all of a sudden it was if you're gonna have if it turns out you have pre-eclampsia, the baby will be born at 38 weeks at the latest.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Oh, okay. And so so what so what does that mean? The baby will have to be born at 38 weeks at the latest. So does that mean that you were um sort of almost not too bad that they were happy with keeping the baby uh in your tarot until 38 weeks, or was it a case of um I don't know, we'll have to uh induce you?

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Um what what what what does that mean if you remember? They wouldn't they wouldn't have been happy me going longer than 38 weeks if if I had preocalympsia. I think there was there's too much risk for me and the baby. Oh, they also did send me for a heart scan because I can't remember if this was after the diagnosis or before, but I remember it being pretty quickly. Um they went to scan my heart because um preocalympsia couldn't affect the mum's heart. Um so I went for that, but thankfully everything was fine. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Okay, so then in that case, if I remember well, we are at 36 weeks.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Yeah, rough in 36 weeks. Okay. I think I was just over 36 weeks when I got the call to say, yeah, we've had your the blood pressure clinic called me and said we've got the results back, and yeah, you've got um high amount of protein in urine, so you have preoclampsia. So that meant I had to stay on the medication. I also had to go um to the blood pressure clinic every other day for a checkup. So that checkup was a blood test, I think urine in sample, urine sample, checking my blood pressure and also scanning the baby. Because with preoclampsia, what happens is the what I believe the placenter stops working, which can be dangerous for the baby and for you as well. So I had to go every other day to have a checkup.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Okay, and do you know what they were monitoring at this point? Um, because I'm guessing that the reason why you were going every other day is because they were probably checking to see whether you um needed to be induced or whether they were happy to let you go on with your pregnancy. Do you remember?

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Yeah, exactly. So they were checking mainly the um the size of the baby because the baby was looking a bit small at that point. Um they were worried that the baby was shrinking. They were also um checking the fluid around the baby, um and also blood pressure, so yeah, I think if they weren't happy, they would they would have just sent me for an induction.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Okay, cool. And so, right, so things move on. And you said you gave birth at 38 weeks?

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah, I was just over 38, I think. Maybe 38 plus two, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Okay, so for two weeks, so between 36 and 38, you were visiting the hospital every other day, yeah, checking everything, blood pressure, urine uh samples, um, and baby growth?

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Yeah, baby growth and the um liquid around the baby. So I'd have us go to the blood pressure clinic every day, they'd scan me every day and do yeah to make sure that he still had enough amniotic um fluid against it exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yep, so that he was still in a comfortable enough position to stay in tarot. Um and because obviously I'm guessing the objective was to keep the baby in for as long as possible. Yeah, I think still safer for him. Yeah. Is that probably what it was?

SPEAKER_00 21:59

Yeah, I yeah, I think so. So yeah, I was going every other day, um, being checked. Um to start with it was fine, and then at one then they were like, I was getting closer to 38 a week. So then I I think it was um I was probably just over 37 weeks, and they're like, right, we're booking you in for next Monday for an induction. So I was like, oh, that's quick. And then next thing I get a call, no, actually it's Sunday. So then I was booked in for the Sunday. I think this was say the Wednesday before, um, to go for an in um induction. So by that point, I think, right, I've got a few days and I'll just have to get everything ready. Um, because with your second as well, it's not just getting yourself ready and the baby, it's your other child that you already have, getting them, then all the childcare I had in place for when I was expecting to give birth. I had to then rearrange. Um, so then I'm going to my checkup still every other day, even though the induction was booked. And then on the Friday, I went, they scanned the baby, and they were really unhappy with the size of the baby and the fluid. And long story short, they were like, Yep, you can go to Labour Ward now to get induced. Oh wow. So you walked into the hospital, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Sort of thinking, I'm going home, I still have a couple days before the baby comes out. Yeah. And they were like, mm-mm. No, it's happening today. Yeah. Um, you'll be meeting with your baby in a few hours.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Yeah. So go, yeah, not going home, you're going to the labour ward. And they sent me to bake yeah, so we walked from the blood pressure clinic, walked myself to the labour ward with no hostile bag, called my husband. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

We yeah, okay, so right, I'm trying to think if it was me, how would I um react to that? Because I can imagine that all of a sudden it's panic on board. It's like, okay, I was thinking that my baby was going to be born sort of early August. No, it's not early August, it's sort of late July. No, it's not late July, it's now. It's on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

No, it's not Sunday, it's now, like right now.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Yeah, exactly. It's right now. So, what do you do at this point? Do you just pick up your phone, you call your husband, you're like, okay, pick up was your bag ready?

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Um, I think at that point I did have my hospital bag ready. I'd I remember this now from um looking back at my messages. My mum was gonna come to watch our daughter, and she'd actually gone to work that day, and I'd said to her, You need to pack your bag as well and take it with you because you don't know where I'm gonna need to call you. Um and um, but unfortunately she didn't have a bag at work with her, so then she had to go home, get her bag ready, come to relieve my husband from childcare with our daughter to then bring the stuff, my stuff, to the hospital. All right.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Yeah, that's oh okay, that sounds like uh definitely a very relaxing setup to welcome this second baby. Woo! Uh okay, so at this point, so they tell you, right, you're not going home, you're staying here, you're trying to organize everything um remotely. Um, husband, uh daughter, three-year-old daughter, um, and uh your mum as well for child care. Um, what happens at this point?

SPEAKER_00 25:21

So you move into uh So I go to the Labour ward, I say I've been to the lady in reception, I say I've been sent from the blood pressure connect to have an induction, and the lady in reception laughed in my face because I was so busy that it's like we can't take people. Um there was another lady had walked in and she was there on her own as well, like in labour. I remember um offering to rub her back because I felt bad for her, but um um yeah, so go go to the labour ward who were extremely busy, so um, which actually gave my husband time to get there, so he got there, we went to get food and then we went back, and then eventually I got a bed on an induction bay waiting to be induced.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Alright, and so what happens next?

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Um, so then I was induced with a um pessary. This is another thing that made because I'd already been given birth, you you think okay, I kind of know what to prepare for the second time round. This was completely new territory because my first birth I went into labour naturally, so I was looking out for contractions and things like that. Was I'd never been through an induction, so I was really worried about being induced. You hear all these horror stories of people being um inductions going horribly, they take ages, it's more painful. So I was quite worried about that. But I was induced with a pest pessary. Um they actually told um I think it's all busy and they just didn't want people there. So I told my husband, you can even go home and sleep. Um and on his own. Yeah, go home and sleep. But because um the hospital I chose to give birth at was about 40 minutes from our house, so it didn't make sense for him to go home. No, probably. Um so he stayed. Um, I remember I put in on an episode of Love Island and thinking, okay, yeah, I'm just gonna relax and try watching Love Island in you know, heaven peace. No, it didn't because my contraction started really fast, and actually from the moment they put the pessary in to being given birth, it was two and a half hours altogether. Yeah. So I had a very positive reaction story.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Yeah, okay, so um my first question here is pain level. What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_00 27:45

So very painful. Um, I had a really lovely um, I think because they were so um busy and understaffed, they had a lady from the home birthing team who um came and she showed me position to stand up and rock my hips. I just remember doing that in the in the bathroom there, and um, yeah, really quickly my my contractions were getting so painful. Um, so they um um checked me and I was five centimetres dilated. At this point, I'm still on a bay in in in the induction ward. I haven't actually made it onto the labour ward, so I'm in a bay with two other women, I think. Um, and they check me. I'm five centimetres, okay now you you're ready, you can go to the labour ward. And at that point, they'd laid me down on the bed. And for my first pregnancy, I did not want to be laying on the bed because I got made to be laid down the whole time on a monitor, which which I really didn't like. So as soon as they left, um I stood up, and at that point I could just feel the baby coming. And um, yeah, sorry, what? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. They so they basically monitored me. Um, they did give me that gas and air at that point. I think I had about two puffs in the end. Um I I as soon as they left the room, I was like, Alright, I'm not lying on my back, I'm getting up and moving. Stood up, felt the baby come, um, screamed at my husband, like, press the button. And he was like, What? So he ran round the bed, pressed the button, looked back, and he could just see the baby coming. So um he just had to run back round the bed and um basically catch the baby. So he was the midwife. Yeah. Oh my god. Yeah. He wanted me to add that in that he he catched the baby like a rugby war. He's very proud of that. He thought it was going to be the highlight of this podcast.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Oh, well, I mean, he can't.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

He's the star of the show, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

He really is. We'll call him. Yeah. But well done. Yeah. Wow. Okay, so he caught the baby.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

And then the midwife ran back in. Okay. Wow. Okay. And all that with the two other women.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

In in Bayes, yeah. So it's just a curtain. Between us. I didn't even make it to the labour ward, which I felt like, well, they were pretty busy, so I kind of did them a favour there.

unknown 30:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Well, yeah, of course that's the first thing that you want to think about.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Well, then let's let's be considerating it. Let's be blind. Yeah. Okay, cool. Alright, so the baby can I just ask. Okay, so the baby comes out. Yeah. Your husband catches the baby. Yeah. So you're still so essentially the three of you are still all attached, like um placenta, um, umbilical cable board, the husband. Husband, yeah. Yeah. Probably blood. Yeah. Okay, so what happens next?

SPEAKER_00 30:41

The two, because my husband managed to press the button. Um so they the two midwives came running in, and then yeah, they they took over, and then I went straight to um like a room which I guess you go after the label ward. I got a room to just yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Oh wow, okay. So um do you remember because so obviously when you give birth, um the first part is the baby comes out, and then a little bit later the placenta comes out. Yeah. So do you remember this part about the placenta? Did they did they have to check your placenta specifically because of preeclemsia?

SPEAKER_00 31:26

I can't that's a good question, actually. I I I would have thought they might have taken it to be sent off, but um I can't, yeah, I I can't um I can't remember that, but I think they might have sent it off to be checked because they still don't know the cause of why you get preeclampsia, so good question, but unfortunately I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

That's right. No, I was just thinking that maybe yeah, they would have wanted to to check it or just to try and understand the situation a bit better. Okay, so now baby is out. Um husband is very proud. Well done. Um how are you feeling? Are you still being monitored? Are they still checking your uh your blood levels, your blood pressure? Sorry. Um, do you still have to do urine samples after the birth?

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Yeah, so I had to be I had to stay in for 48 hours as a minimum to check my blood pressure. I think I still had to be on a low dose of um blood pressure medication um just to um make sure that my blood pressure stayed um at an okay level. Um, yeah, so I stayed in for 48 hours. I the um I was at King's College Hospital, and I have to say, the um blood pressure clinic there was so good. They c all came to see me in hospital just to check up on me and how I was doing, but they were pretty happy. I think um I don't think I needed to be on the um blood pressure medication for that long after, but um I know that there are people that have had pre-eclimpsia and had to be on the blood pressure medication for quite a long time afterwards, so I was quite lucky in that perspective.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

Yeah, because I believe that um in some cases uh the pre-eclimpsia can sort of continue after the birth because usually what is being said is that the way to sort of cure pre-eclimpsia is to actually um give birth give birth, yeah, and that's how you sort of stop it. Yeah, but um from my understanding, sometimes it can sort of stay in your system for a little bit longer. Um okay, so at this point, so they were very happy. Um, did they release you at uh 48 hours?

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Did you get to go home? Um well they uh they released me, but then um the midwife came in and said, Oh, your baby looks a little bit yellow. So I was literally packling, packing up my bag to leave, and then they tested him and he had um jaundice, so then we had to stay in for that. So not related to the pre-clampsia, but um yeah, they basically said, I can go, I'm fine, and then they looked at the baby and said, Oh, he's yellow, and checked him, like, nope, you're not going, you're staying.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

Okay, yeah, I was gonna ask is was that as a consequence of the preclampsia? Was that something completely different?

SPEAKER_00 34:18

I think it might have been because he was small, so he was only four pounds 14 ounces when he was born, so he was he was very um yeah, very small. Yeah, especially because he was born at 38 weeks. Yeah, plus two, roughly. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Yeah, so um maybe because of that. Okay, all right. And so um John Dis, okay. I that's I I did it. Another subject. Yeah, that's another subject. But that that's very interesting actually. So John Dis, what what does that mean then at this point? How long did they keep you in for?

SPEAKER_00 34:52

I I I think it was another two, three nights. So he needed um light therapy, so that was quite hard. So I wasn't couldn't just sit and cuddle my baby in hospital. He had to well, thankfully he could stay um next to my bed and have the light therapy there. So at least he was next to me, but I couldn't I could only take him out to feed him and then put him back. So he had the light therapy for I want to say at least 12 hours. Um and thankfully that worked because I think his um the levels in his blood were quite high because if that didn't work then he would have potentially had to have a blood transfusion. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

And it's uh it's a tough start of life. Yeah, tough start. Yeah. Okay, so um, but luckily the the the treatment worked for him.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

The treatment worked for him, yeah. And then also um they needed him to um have a lot of fluids, so then I was feeding him, breastfeeding, and then pumping as well to top him up. So um, and thankfully that worked. How was he with with his feeding? Yeah, he was fine.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Yeah, yeah. That that's good. Good job. Um good job on him, and good job on you, I guess. Yeah, and took a bottle, unlike my daughter, so that was that was helpful. Well done. With the top-ups. Yeah, it's not it's not easy. Yeah. Um, and so so you went home, so let me try and remember. We said it was 48 hours um for you to be um released, or 48 hours for them to monitor me. Yeah, to monitor you and be happy with where you were, and then it's another seven did we say 72 hours?

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Yeah, I think it was two, either two or three more nights, I can't remember, but I think in total with in either four or five nights after after having him.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

Yeah. And so what happens at this point when you go home after five nights? So, first of all, obviously there is um, you know, introducing uh baby brother to big sister, yeah, um, and uh mother or grandmother who uh was at home. Um but uh from a medical point of view, what what happens at this point? Did you have a specific follow-up um medical follow-up for the both of you actually?

SPEAKER_00 37:11

Yeah, I'm sure I had to go back to the blood pressure clinic for a checkup to check my blood pressure. Um and thankfully um for me I it was fine afterwards. I was on I think I was on blood pressure medication for a little bit, but I not long at all. So um, and they'd already checked my um scanned my heart while I was still pregnant, and that was fine. So um thankfully afterwards I wasn't um ill or anything from the pre-ecallimpsia because I know that that isn't the same case for everybody. What about your um your body shape?

SPEAKER_01 37:50

Because you said um at some point that you had had a bit of swelling um and you had had um so you didn't say blurred vision, but you said that you had had eye pain. Eye pain one day, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Did it did it all come back to normal? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, the swelling definitely went down um pretty soon after. And yeah, I think that eye pain um um yeah, that went as well.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

Okay, and so uh what about baby? Was um was he being checked, monitored um after that?

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Do you remember? I don't think so. I think that with him they were more worried about the um jaundice than anything to do with the pre-columpsia. They're just checking that his size and growth, and yeah, he did he did really well from that side, so um they didn't have to check him.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Yeah, I guess that makes sense because um at that point obviously he was no longer attached to um to his um the light therapy machine or oh sorry no I was still thinking about pre-clemsia. At that point he was no longer um attached to his uh placenta, yeah. He was no longer attached to his placenta, so at that point he was absolutely fine. Yeah. Okay, right. So now um you said that he's three years old. Um so three years later, um are there any signs um of that either with him or with you?

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Um I don't think so. I think to start with, when he was a baby, he was noticeably very small because he was only four pounds 14 ounces, so he was always tiny, but now I think he's sort of caught up, he's very um he's got taller and you he's not really small.

SPEAKER_01 39:36

That's great. That that's what we want to hear. And as for you yourself, it has anything been mentioned? Is there anything that you need to look out for that you need to check?

SPEAKER_00 39:47

No, not that I don't think so, or if they did tell me then I've forgotten. But no, no, that's it. Um I think I was fine with all the follow-ups that I had at the blood pressure clinic, and yeah, they were happy, happy for me to go.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Brilliant. So I guess there are um sort of two points now. So we're we're gonna come to the end of this conversation, but there are sort of two points that I wanted to um to sort of um look into with you. Um the first one is now that we've looked at your whole story, yeah. What are the points that you would have paid more attention to had you known better? Or I could rephrase it, um should you have listened to your best friend?

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Yeah, probably probably. I probably could have um um had a diagnosis earlier if I um if I'd have gone and got checked, especially like the swelling of hands and feet. Now I look back, they were yeah, definitely more swollen than I had. My my daughter was a September baby, so I was heavily pregnant in August with her as well, and the swelling was definitely a lot worse with the second pregnancy, so I probably should have got got that checked. But I feel like when you're pregnant, there's so much going on and so many changes with your body that you're always thinking, Oh, do I need to get that checked? And you don't want to be a burden, but you just gotta think you're never a burden. Just if you think of something you're not quite sure, just go go get it checked.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

Yeah, I think it's probably um one thing for all the women to remember it's you're never a burden. If you've got a question, if you've got something that doesn't feel quite right, just go and get it checked because really it's only nine months of your life um for the this pregnancy or you know, um other pregnancies, but you really want to make sure that things are going as well as possible um at the end of the day. Yeah. And actually that leads me to uh my final question, which is what would you say if you were to um talk to another woman um in this position, or if you were to talk to um the lily of a few years ago?

SPEAKER_00 42:03

Yeah, um I don't know, probably yeah, listen to your best friend, they know you better than anyone. Um yeah, and go get checked and yeah, don't be in denial. I didn't I didn't um tick any of the boxes for pre-eclampsia, and um I still got it, so um yeah, I should have listened to that.

SPEAKER_01 42:29

Yeah, well, we'll all remember. Um well, thank you very much for sharing your story. Is there anything else you want to share?

SPEAKER_00 42:38

Um no, I think that's it. Yeah, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

Well, that was quite a journey. Yeah, definitely lots of uh parts I didn't expect.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

Yeah, a heroic husband, of course.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

That's the one point that we should all remember is the heroic husband. Yeah, uh, thank you very much for catching the baby. Um you know, I I think we should, I don't know, do a statue or write poems about that or something. We'll remember. Yeah, um, but thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Um, that was uh definitely very educational, I think, at least for me. Uh very helpful. And uh and yeah, speak to you uh soon again.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 43:20

Thank you, bye. And that's where we leave today's story. What stands out most to me is how easy it can be to miss the signs. Especially when you're in the middle of pregnancy, juggling appointments and just trying to get through each day. So let's recap. Preecamsa can develop after 20 weeks of pregnancy and it often starts quietly. Things like persistent headaches, sudden swelling, especially in the facial hands, changes in vision, or upper abdominal pain can all be signs that something isn't quite right. Sometimes it's high blood pressure that's only been picked up at a routine checkout. But the important thing is if something feels off, you can always talk to your midwife or doctor. Even if it seems small, it's worth checking. Because you know your body best, and early detection really can make all the difference for you and your baby. If you'd like to learn more about preeclimpsia, I'll leave some trusted resources in the links and the show notes. Thank you so much for listening to Raising with the Village. If you'd like to share your own story, whether it's about pregnancy, parenthood, step parenting, or simply the ups and downs of raising tiny humans, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me via the website at raisingwith.co.uk, or find me on Instagram at raising with the village. New episodes come out every week, so make sure you follow or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcast. And stay tuned for more real, relatable stories from parents just like you. Thank you for being here, thank you for listening and for being part of the village. Until next time, take care of yourself and remember, you're never raising alone.