Hollie McLear
10.1.06
45cms 5lb 7oz
16.57pm
Ayrshire Central Hospital
Hollie was due jan 31st 2006
On monday 9th january at 36 weeks I had bad chest pains through the night, I was doubled over and struggling to breathe, kept thinking labour cant possibly feel like this I had breaks in between pains so called nhs direct. They sent an ambulance. The paramedics said as paracetamol was subsiding the pain I should just go back to bed and go to the gp in the morning
Next morning, the 10th, I went to my dr who took my blood pressure which was through the roof. He sent me staright to hospital. I called dave and my mum and dad and they made their way up.
At the hospital I gave a urine sample and was rushed to the high dependency unit the protein in my urine was +++++ and bp was rising, and rising. At it's highest it was 270/180 I was given magnesium to try and bring it down but it was still rising. They prepped me for a c section but when they took blood and they found my platelet count was low and I would need to have an anaesthetic instead of epidural
In theatre I started to fit and my liver then kidneys failed. Wee Hollie was perfectly halthy and had no problems what so ever, she was a lucky girl, just small.
we were in the high dependency unit for 24 hours, but she was breastfeeding well and I recovered very quickly. Then we got moved to a private room for 4 days and finally made it home when berry was 5 days old.
Matthew McLear
27.7.08
29cms 2lb 8oz
15.40pm
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
Matthew was due October 16th 2008.
I enjoyed being pregnant again, and had a trouble free pregnancy as long as it lasted.
At 27 weeks I woke up and I had chest pains. Through my chest at the front and between my shoulder blades at the back. Not excuriating pain, but pretty sore I had this wiht hollie, the first sign of my pre eclampsia and as I have a bp machine at home I checked myself and it was 1**/114 (I only remember the lower number). I knew this was high, so called the pregnancy asessment unit at BGH where i had been going for all my checks. They said to come in. So I called my mum and went to collect her to come wiht me.
At BGH they checked my bp and it was still as high, so I was taken along to the labour suite. They then put me on a bed, took blood and gave me medication for the bp. I then met wiht my consultant and told I would be transferred to edinburgh, my bed and baby's bed had been booked. They got prepped for the ambulance, and got bp stabalised enough to travel. Dave arrived, I said goodbye to Hollie and we were off.
At ERI I was taken to labour suite and put in high dependency on the bp machine, it was recording my bp every 15 mins. I was in there overnight on betablockers and gettign blood taken and bp measured. It all stabalised by the next day and I met wiht the consultant on duty. She said my blood tests showed the condition and functioning of my liver and kidneys and platelet count, these were all quite low and she would expect me to get 2 weeks at maximum before they would have to deliver. At this point I had been diagnosed wiht eary early stages of pre e and hellp and the liklihood of it going away completely was minimum, all they could do now was stabalise it as long as possible And then the balancing act began I had bp measured hourly, urine intake and output recorded hourly, bloods at 6am and 6pm all to monitor the pre e and hellp. I met wiht the peadetrician from special care who explanied the risks for Matthew. I was only 27 weeks and he was saying he would be very pleased if I could get to 28 weeks, and then 30 weeks.
So then I was transferred to the antenatal ward and just had to wait. And this was the awful part. I hated it, cried everyday, everytime someone spoke to me everytime hollie and dave left, every night not knowing what the next day would bring. I clung to the hope that I'd get home there was a glimmer of hope on day 3 when they considered allowing me to tranent to my mother in law's so I could get back in time if the condition deteriorated. I had to wait on the 6am blood results to decide. But they came back wiht the platelets having dropped again By day 6 my condition had deteriorated to the extent it was nearly time. I had made it to 28 weeks plus 2 days. My consultant sat wiht me on that morning wiht her head in her hands teling me this was the hardest decision of her career to deliever today or risk another day whcih is like a week for Matthew in the womb. I begged her not to let me get to the stage of neading a GA for delivery, I had that wiht hollie and missed her birth She decided to do bloods at 2pm and take it from there. At 2pm the platelets had stabalised but were still extremely low. So they left me another day.
And Sunday 27th July was the day. I was 28 weeks plus 3 days. And again, i was a complete mess, crying and crying wiht guilt, worry, relief, excitemnt, nerves, everything. Dave was finding it very difficult too, the atmosphere was awful, we fought that morning and were barely speaking by the time the section time came. It was just so stressful. I remember pacing the room and being told my bp was through the roof and I would need to stay in bed until my turn for theatre, and I just sat there and cried. My midwife who'd been on duty for a few days sat and just held me. She came to theatre wiht me and everything, she was lovely.
In theatre it all went ok, they struggled a bit wiht the epidural, as I was so swollen wiht the pre e, there was nice music, the theatre staff all lovely, relaxed and a whole team of people ready for Matthew. I watched the whole thing in the mirrored light on the ceiling Matthew came out after just 10 mins and let out a screech lol, they held him up and my first thought was wow, he doesn't look like what I expected lol He was also absolutely tiny.
Matthew was ventilated for 24 hours and then spent 2 more weeks in the SCBU in Edinburgh before being transferred to my local hospital the Borders General Hospital. Sadly, he suffered a grade 4 IVH at 3 days old. And we wont know the outcome of this until the next few months have passed. Matthew required 2 blood transfusions and the nasal prong in BGH then at 36 weeks gestation he was ready to come home> He came home on september 18th, a month before his due date at a tiny 4lbs. Since then he was admitted to the sick kid sin edinburgh wiht RSV around his due date but now, at 7 months old (actual) he is doing brilliantly! He looks fatter than ever! and continues to breastfeed and bottlefeed. He is fully weaned and eats like a champ, just like his sister. His devlopment is montored evry closely as a result of his awful brain bleed but so far (touch wood) he is doing just fine.
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