My Birth Story: Preeclampsia & Pubis Symphysis Dysfunction

vnora873
Feb 2, 2017
3 min read

I had a relatively easy pregnancy, specially at the beginning. I had no morning sickness and the only symptom I seemed to have was feeling tired.

Fast-forward to the very beginning of May, about a little less than 2 months away from our due date of June 23rd. I remember walking up and driving to work and thinking to myself how odd was it that my swelling hadn't gone down overnight. I worked on my feet and by the end of each work day my feet were swollen but by the following morning the swelling would be gone. Not today.

I take a second once at work to call my mother to ask about why my swelling hadn't gone down. She asked me to call my doctor right away. I didn't understand why it was a big deal but she insisted I did. Sure enough, they asked me to come into the office right away.

After many tests, I found out I had preeclampsia and needed to be put on bed rest. "Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, often the kidneys" (MayoClinic) It can lead to life-threathing complications for you and your child. To my relief, the doctors decided it appeared to be "mild" and there was no need to induce me at 31 weeks.

I continued to see the doctor weekly from that point on and on week 37, during one of my visits, I was asked to stay overnight while the ran some tests. I was told I needed to be induced right away. Even then I was still not prepared for the ordeal that was just beginning.

That was a Saturday night and I gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Monday night. I was put on all kinds of medication for my anemia, to prevent me bleeding out, to keep my blood pressure stable and to induce me. I don't remember many details of the day, which sometimes makes me sad but other times I believe it is a blessing. By the end of it all I ended with "Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD), a condition that causes excessive movement of the pubic symphysis, either anterior or lateral, as well as associated pain, possibly because of a misalignment of the pelvis." (Wikipedia) I was unable to walk and needed physical therapy for 3 months afterwards in order for me to walk again. I also found out that my left lung was collapsing, I had some nerve damage due to the epidural, and I got some infection that i don't even remember the name of. I remember on my way out the hospital a week after giving birth, my doctor telling me "we are putting you on antidepressants as a precaution because you just went through a traumatic event." The words that came out of her mouth then meant nothing. I didn't understand why it was deemed a traumatic event, yes i know I can't walk, yes i know that i can barely breathe, yes I know I almost died but my baby girl is so healthy and I couldn't wait to get out of the hospital.

Over time I began to understand the "trauma." I needed assistance to do everything, even taking a shower required assistance, I couldn't take care of my newborn daughter, i couldn't breastfeed her like I wanted to because I was put on so many meds, it hurt to move, i needed a hospital bed and we needed to move in with my parents. Even then I pushed through my therapy to get back on my feet as soon as I could, I wanted to get back to normal, I wanted to be able to take care of my newborn daughter and myself. It was emotionally draining. But I pushed forward and by October, 4 months later, I was back at work... and everything was pushed very deep in the back of my mind. I didn't want to think about how I spent my entire maternity leave trying to walk again instead of bonding with my baby.

I apologize for the length of the post, I didn't realize how much there was to it and I only scratched the surface. In the future I might go into more detail about certain aspects of it. Like the physical therapy and what that looked like and also what it all looks like now, years later.