I Have Pre Eclampsia

[Pollyanna Fleshman]

I've been feeling sick. I started to have trouble seeing, and I felt bad. I knew it could not be MS simptoms because during pregnancy, for some reason, women don't experience MS symptoms. So, something had to be wrong. I put in a call for the doctor.

I went in yesterday. When the nurse did the routine check for vitals that is done at every doctor's appointment, she checked my blood pressure, and it was severely high. The doctor had an idea what it might be, and he made me give a urine specimine to be sure. I had high protein content in my urine. i was told I have Pre Eclampsia. This is life threatening, and the only way it can be cured is to end the pregnancy, which I'm not willing to do because I do not believe in abortion or killing my babies for any reason. I'm now in my fifth month, so if I wanted to, I could deliver and the babies could survive since they are capable of surviving at twenty weeks jestation with support. I apted to try to wait as long as I can.

I'm now considered a high risk pregnancy, and I'm under close watch. I'm allowed to stay home, but i have to report to the doctor should i notice any single changes. I just pray that tall goes well. Nonetheless, I'm back on the boards. I'll have the second part of my story ready in a few days. I hope sooner. It all depends on how I'm feeling though.

If you are interested in knowing what Pre Eclampsia is, read http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-preeclampsia.htm

[Alice-chan]

Oh my lord. I'm speechless. I don't want to say anything stupid, but I hope that everything ends well. I hope that you can find a solution where both you and the baby end up in good health. Please update us if anything goes awry.

The Angel of Hope,

Alice

[Tokka]

There is no way to respond to that without downplaying how absolutely it sucks, and I'm sorry. I will pray for you.

[Repaid1]

Best wishes for the two of you and your family. I hope things continue to improve and all things come out fine in the end (pun Intended)

[underwhere]

Pollyanna, take care of yourself. I don't want to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, and I really don't want to tell you to go against any of your personal or religious convictions, but I'd like to share with you some of mine, not to convince you to follow them, but out of concern for you and your fetus.

I am a Jew, and one of the principles in Judaism is "Love thy neighbor as thy self." One Jewish scholar, Hillel, is rumored to have been asked to summarize the Torah while standing on one foot, and did so reciting the same verse, and then concluded by saying "All of the rest is commentary," whereupon he put down his raised foot.

"Love they neighbor as thy self" implies many things, but first it implies that you can not love your neighbor if you do not love yourself first. You can not "do unto others as others would do unto you" if you can not "do unto yourself" first. It may sound selfish, but in truth, it is impossible to take care of somebody else if you are not in good health. In Judaism, there is also the strong belief that the life of the living is worth more, even if only slightly more, than the life of the unborn.

Abortion is a very contentious issue, but if I were to ask a Jewish scholar about the question of abortion, I'm sure the answer I get would be straightforward in this particular case: If your life is in danger by carrying through with the pregnancy, as hard as the emotional decision might be to the contrary, the proper moral solution would be to end the pregnancy so that your life might be saved.

Different people have different opinions about the definition of when life begins, whether that is at conception or a certain point along in the pregnancy. Some people believe that an abortion is okay so long as it is conducted prior to a certain point in the development of the fetus. Others, like you, believe that conception is where life begins.

As I said at the top, I don't want to tell you what you should do, but if you carry through with this pregnancy and it is fatal to you, what good will you be as a mother to your child? Sure, you will have brought the child into this world assuming that child is able to survive, but you will have made the ultimate sacrifice in doing so. Judaism, like other religions I'm sure, believes that suicide, no matter what the cause, is a desecration of the human body. Jews celebrate and remember our historical martyrs, but we do so with a heavy hand knowing that if they had any other choice in the world to make, if they could have somehow saved their own lives instead of sacrificing them, that is the choice they should have made.

Again, these are my religious beliefs as a Jew. I don't want to tell you what you should or shouldn't do because you have your own religious convictions, but I am very worried about you. I will pray for you and your pregnancy, and that there will be no problems along the way.

[PArms]

As a catholic, I am also generally against abortion. In your case, though, it might be in your best interest to terminate the pregnancy. For your own safety and for your husband and children.

This could be God's way of saving you from the decision of keeping the baby and giving it up for adoption.

I wish you the best in whatever decision you make. You are in my prayers.

[Guest refridginator]

i have to say that what you're doing is honorable. sparing the lives of three unborn in the possibility of exchange for yours. i hope that if there is a god and heaven, that he has picked a well deserved place for your eternity regardless if you die after the pregnancy or later on in life. i hear noble intentions aren't forgotten.

[curiositykilledthecat]

What you are doing is noble. Stick to your guns and I'll pray for you.

[Pollyanna Fleshman]

While we all have differing beliefs, and I respect them wholeheartedly, I do not feel that in good conscience, that I could give up the lives of my children to save my own. I feel strongly that children in the womb are very precious to God. I back up these feeling by the scriptures found in Psalm 139:13-16 which read as follows:

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

From these verses, I draw the conclusion that life, no matter the stage, is precious in the eyes of God and that it is not my decision to snuff it out. I feel that it would be a grave mistake to end the lives of my children so I can live. As a parent, I like to think that I’d sacrifice myself for my children, as I’ve had a chance to live and experience life. They have not.

I know that some of you may feel it is suicide, but I reason that I’m protecting my children and doing what a mother should do. I liken it to putting myself in the way of my children to block a bullet. Like my choice to carry through with my pregnancy, I’d still have a chance of leaving my family behind if the bullet were to kill me. But, the important thing is that I saved my children, even though my life was lost. AS far as I’m concerned, this is the same thing. I am sparing the lives of my children.

I pray everyday that everything will work out well and that we will all live happily. So far, things are going fine. Though I’m still not well, things have not gotten worse, which is good. I’ve made the decision to have the children early, which is more promising for all of us.

Thanks so much for all of your heartfelt words. I fel touched that all of you care so much. I appreciate all of you with all my heart.

[Guest refridginator]

Pollyanna, you have the biggest heart! you reach out and touch with your words so moving... i'd bow and kiss you on your hand in admiration if i saw you...

i'm taking down this degrading avatar just because of you. it's women with an open book of emotion and intelligence like you who make a difference in the world. i hope the best.

[curiositykilledthecat]

Kep us updated and take care.

[NewdudeDL]

Pollyanna, being a former Christian (maybe still a little deep down) I completely understand where you are coming from and applaud the bravery of your decision while hoping and praying for the best outcome: that you and the little one come out of this fine.

As a Zen-buddhist, life and death are very sketchy things for me. Zen does not teach about heaven as a place, only a state of mind, and that we as humans are to focus constantly on the moment. What happened to the time that passed as you read these posts? Where did that time go? Where did this new time come from? The time doesn't matter in the end, only that you read these posts. Birth and death involve moving from one state to another, much like that time I just spoke about. What I'm trying to say in a very roundabout way, is to follow what you feel to be right at this moment, and not be too concerned about making plans for the future. The future is there, but it is coming and going as it pleases.

You know what, I can sum it all up in these words: Live for today, and try not to sweat tomorrow.

Again I wish you all the best!