It got me thinking of the experiences I went through with Popette when she was in the NICU, and what helped my Husband and I get through such a traumatic time.
So I told my friends what I went through and experienced, and of the different organisations and people that might be able to help their friends. I was pleased when they told me that the information I gave them was very useful.
I know I have talked about Popette's birth and my experience with pre-eclampsia here before, but I thought I would reshare these posts along with a new series of posts on what its like to have a premature baby in the NICU.
Some of the topics I plan to write about include:
* 6 tips for dealing with parents of a premature baby
* The arrival of Popette: my experience with pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome,
* Excerpts from Popette's NICU diary,
* A letter to the new NICU Mumma,
This series is very personal and close to my heart, so hope you will join me. By sharing my experience and stories here, I hope anyone who has friends or relatives going through a similar situation will find these posts useful.
Here's a sneak peek into the first post
The arrival of Popette: my experience with pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome
My Husband and I left it late in having children. We had been married for 13 wonderful years, was paying off a mortgage, had travelled overseas numerous times, enjoyed going out with friends and taking long-weekends away. We both had fairly good careers and were really happy. It took us some time to realise that what we both wanted, was a family of our own.
So in late 2007 we started trying for a baby. We had been trying to conceive for over 12 months, so it wasn't until I was 35 before I finally fell pregnant.
We were both thrilled, and couldn't wait to see our little tiny baby on the ultrasound. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be, and at 5 weeks gestation I miscarried. As you could imagine we were devastated.
Due to my age and history of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), I was considered a high risk pregnancy, so after talking with our GP he put us onto a wonderful obstetrician. The obstetrician placed me on Metformin (to help with insulin levels) and monitored me closely over the next couple months. Thankfully within two months I was pregnant again!
I was pretty fortunate not to have morning sickness throughout my pregnancy. I was eating healthy, doing light exercises, generally I felt great. I loved seeing my little bump getting bigger and bigger. I loved the feeling of Popette (the nickname we gave our bub early on) kicking me. It always gave my Hubby and I the biggest thrill when we felt her kick.
At around 18 weeks gestation, I started to develop Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) that caused my blood pressure to get extremely high during my pregnancy. Before I was pregnant, I never had issues with my blood pressure.