During my first and only pregnancy to date, I was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome at 22 weeks gestation. For those that don’t know, HELLP Syndrome is a severe variant of Preeclampsia. It is a rare and life threatening condition that affects the blood and liver during pregnancy and postpartum. One to two pregnancies out of 1,000 can develop HELLP Syndrome, and 34% of babies die from this condition. At 22 weeks, on November 7th, 2022, our daughter Harper did not survive her birth due to severe growth restriction that was caused by this disease.

There is a history of Preeclampsia in my family that my doctors were aware of when I became pregnant. My mother had Preeclampsia with me delivering at 29 weeks, and I weighed 2lbs 2oz. Unfortunately, during my prenatal visits, my doctors did not suggest I should be taking baby aspirin even knowing my history. As a new expecting mother, I did not know how to advocate for myself and inquire about ways to prevent the onset of Preeclampsia due to family history. Other symptoms I experienced starting at 20 weeks gestation that I now know are symptoms of HELLP Syndrome included pain in the upper right side of my abdomen and vomiting acid. When I inquired about these symptoms, my doctors told me I just had acid reflux and to take some over the counter medicine.

HELLP Syndrome also caused Harper to have severe growth restriction. We went in for our anatomy scan at 19 weeks, and at that time she was measuring about 2 weeks behind. They told us to come in again in 2 weeks for another scan, once again she was measuring further behind and was considered in the 1 percentile . At this time they recommended we get a level 2 ultrasound at a Maternal-Fetal Medicine clinic. On November 4th, 2022, we went to the MFM clinic and they confirmed our daughter was in the 1 percentile and that it was not good. This is when they decided to run a bunch of blood tests and an amniocentesis test. At 7:30pm that night our doctor from the clinic called and said that my liver enzymes were close to 300 and that I needed to go to labor and delivery at the hospital. I was officially diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome on the evening of November 4th. When they told us this, my husband and I had never heard of this condition. They told us the only way to get rid of this condition was to give birth. A few days later, on November 7th, Harper Ryan Wheeler gained her angel wings. I will forever be grateful for the doctors and nurses at the hospital, although it was an unfortunate circumstance, they took great care of us.

I am here today telling my story because I have always said I want to use my story to help others. When I was going through this, I had not known anyone personally who had gone through HELLP Syndrome and lost a child because of this terrible disease. Now knowing what I have been through, I want other women to know the signs and symptoms of Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome and to better advocate for themselves and pregnancy. The Preeclampsia Foundation is one of the 1st groups I joined after my pregnancy and they are doing great things to help find a cure for this disease. Some of the things they are implementing include sending blood pressure cuffs to families and starting new research projects. I hope that one day there will be a cure to help all future mothers and babies. No family should have to experience this disease, let alone lose a child from it.