San Diego Promise Walk 2013

get your blood pressure cuffs ready...

So part of my blog history started when I began documenting my pregnancy with Noah after my difficult and tragic pregnancy experience with our first son, Mason.

Mason was born 10 weeks early after I was diagnosed with a hypertensive illness (high blood pressure) known as preeclampsia.  This illness can be deadly for both mother and baby. Many people don't actually know anything about preeclampsia. I know I didn't. I am one of those women who likes to know what's going on when it comes to everything and I had NO clue about this deadly illness.

Anyways, you can read the rest of that story here...

Fast forward to 2013.  I have a wonderful 1 year old son and I am awaiting for my sister, Stephanie, to give birth to my precious niece, who is not due until the end of April.  I get a phone call in the middle of a Thursday (March 14...well over a month early) from my sister explaining that she is going to the hospital for an emergency c-section because of the SAME illness that I had 2.5 years earlier.  My wonderfully healthy and amazingly strong sister who does EVERYTHING right to a T has preeclampsia.

Thankfully, her doctors knew exactly what to watch for in her case.  Amazingly enough before she became pregnant she was tested and her doctors knew our family history so that she could proceed with caution.  That's how they were able to notice her high blood pressure and even more importantly her little baby's distress signals on the monitor.  This is important stuff, people!  Knowing what to look for and knowing to be proactive is the key!  I am so sad that the only way some of this knowledge is found is through trial and error, but I am so very thankful for my sister and her little girl, Clara Elise's life!

We are very excited to be participating in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia for the second time since it is fundraising for something that catastrophically affected our family TWICE.

Please consider walking in your local Promise Walk or supporting someone who is walking!
Support the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia

Promise Walk 2012

Today we (Jonathan, Noah, Peter, Rachel, Will, Kaitlin and Dan) walked in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia.  It felt so good to walk to support a cause that is so near and dear to my heart.  We walked in memory of my beloved son, Mason and so many mommies and babies that perished from enduring the very complicated and unpredictable condition that is preeclampsia. We also celebrated those who are survivors and are walking around here today.  I am amazed that I am actually one of those survivors.

On October 11, 2010, I could have died.  I still get freaked out just thinking about it and then it's even more strange and depressing to realize that our own baby actually experienced it.  This condition that I could do nothing to prevent and doctors could basically do nothing to fix overtook our lives and wreaked havoc.  But thankfully I am still here.

In all honesty, I really just wanted to express how blessed I feel to of made it through that extremely difficult and scary time in my life.  I am so glad that I am able to share my story with others and hopefully make a difference to someone whether it be to help them seek medical attention or for emotional support. I am so happy that we were able to conceive and carry to term our precious boy, Noah.  Today I feel blessed and gracious and sad all around, but mostly hopeful that there will someday  be an answer for this miserable condition that has affected so many wonderful people I know.

Until that day, I will keep spreading the word and keep walking.

Support the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia

Many of you know that we lost our firstborn baby, Mason. Many of you know that I had him very early. Many of you may even know that I had a very serious hypertensive illness known as preeclampsia, which can be deadly for both mother and baby. What's sad is that many people don't actually know anything about preeclampsia. I know I didn't. I am one of those women who likes to know what's going on and I had NO clue.

After losing Mason, I poured over the internet looking for answers as to how I could have gotten sick and how I could have lost our precious son. The closest to an answer I got was from the Preeclampsia Foundation. This organization is doing all it can to help spread the word about this disease to both doctors and patients. Because of the support from this organization and other baby-loss parents on their forum helped us to become more informed about maternal healthcare which in the end helped us to feel more comfortable about trying for another baby.

We are very excited that we will be participating in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia this year since it is fundraising for something that catastrophically affected our family.

Please consider walking in your local promise walk or supporting someone who is walking!
Support the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia