MrsJ, am thinking of you! Have written and rewritten this, and have opted for an open account of my experiences. I hope it helps, and please keep in touch and let us here at Mumsnet know how you are doing through your pregnancy.
Never miss a midwife appointment. Pack a bag ready for hospital this week, get it done and ready. Have a plan of how to get to the hospital in an emergency. You might not need it, but it really helps to plan for the worst and expect the best. So chin up!
I have 2 children.
With dc1 I was sent to hospital at 37 weeks and had a week of saving up my pee for protein testing, being induced on and off (nasty and painful, it didn't work) then they finally 'went for it' with the inducing, and it still didn't work. My waters broke, I threw up and then nothing but a lot of pain. Sent off to walk around the hospital. It felt all wrong, contractions going nowhere, ended up with pethidine hours later, then epidural hours after that and then an emergency general aesthetic and c section as baby showed signs of cord around neck!
Was told pre-eclampsia never strikes in the same place (with the same couple). They LIED.
With dc2, at 31 weeks, midwife found I had pre eclampsia and sent me to pick up my husband from work and go straight into hospital. he was in a meeting and I had to wait an hour!
At the hospital, they gave me a steroid injection so that baby's lungs would stand a chance of being developed enough for her to survive. Then they waited as long as they could before operating, to give the steroids a chance to work.
While on maternity ward, in the end room for Mothers Without Babies I met at least 7 other mothers who had pre-eclampsia for the second time!
After about 20 hours (I think) after the steroid injection, a nurse noticed I was fitting (so full blown eclampsia.) I'm not sure if they gave me something to stop the fitting, but it stopped and was told that having the baby was the best 'cure' for eclampsia. They (all the hospital staff) were amazing. Thankfully that time I wasn't completely under and so was conscious throughout the c-section, and DH was by my side, taking photos and the anaesthetist was with us and it was all a bit of a laugh - probably the effects of the drugs, but I remember being very happy. Baby was born 9 weeks early... It was touch and go for the first day or two, she needed help breathing, had so many tubes coming out of her, she needed so much...was in an enclosed incubator for 20 days... SCBU for 7 weeks. She is a lovely, beautiful, super-bright and talented 12 year old now.
This is not you! You are not in this situation, so please do not fret, but I just wanted to be frank with you, and open.
While in the SCBU I read about pre eclampsia, as there were some books and leaflets there. It is quite common for women to get it a second (or a third) time with the same partner, and each time earlier than before if they do get it.
We have not tried for a third child. From what I read, after my last pregnancy, I was more likely than not to have eclampsia again, and the pregnancy would likely not go to term, or at least the baby could have had serious disabilities (even to the extent to cause death in the first few months or years of life). I didn't think I would be able to deal with the emotional trauma of this as well as bring up my 2 children. We felt we had to put them first and so made the decision permanent.
I can't really remember when I first showed signs of pre-eclampsia in my pregnancies.