Nevertheless, there is a group whose voice we hear far less when discussing our pregnancy experiences: our husbands, significant others and the fathers and grandfathers of our children.

These men often become the “silent-er” club, watching helplessly and recovering quietly as the blessed event they expected their wives’ pregnancies to be turns out quite different. But many of them go on to stand next to us when we throw ourselves into volunteering for the cause, contributing their own expertise and perspective, and even stepping up to become leaders themselves.

So this month, we recognize the impact all those dads and granddads have had on the Preeclampsia Foundation over the past 12 years: whether they are volunteering, sharing their story or wondering how to find information. To all the dads out there who have given countless hours to the work of this Foundation, we give a resounding thanks for the impact you have had.

Thank you.

Republished from the Preeclampsia Foundation website

Denise shares, “I don’t recall a great deal of my hospital stay before delivery due to my condition and the mag-induced haze.  I remember remaining in bed on my left side with my blood pressure cuff squeezing every 15 minutes, the blinds being closed and everyone speaking softly.” At the time, she didn’t know or comprehend the full extent of what was happening. Her daughter was born weighing only 4 lbs., and Denise was only able to give her a quick kiss before she was whisked away to the NICU, where she would stay for 18 days. Thankfully, Denise began to recover quickly after the birth and was able to go home 3 days later.

In the weeks following, Denise started doing a bit of research into what happened and came across the description of “HELLP syndrome,” which matched her symptoms and labs. When she asked about it at her follow-up appointment, her Ob/Gyn confirmed it, saying, “I don’t think you truly understand just how sick you were.” It was another few months before she really realized how close a call it had been. 

Denise found the Preeclampsia Foundation in fall of 2003 and has been involved ever since. She met fellow women who had similar experiences and no longer felt so alone, noting, “There is something comforting about being with another person who shares the same fears, questions, and experiences.” In 2005, Denise became pregnant with her second child and was closely monitored by her OB. She developed gestational hypertension at 32 weeks and was able to make it to 37 weeks before delivering her a healthy baby boy. She credits her physician with getting her through the pregnancy along with the support she received from the Preeclampsia Foundation and its members. 

“Without having others provide positive support and encouragement, I’m not sure how I would have made it through,” Denise said. 

Denise has been involved with the walks since their inception and has coordinated the Wausau walk for a few years now.  The Wausau Promise Walk will be at John Muir Middle School and offer fun for the whole family with snacks, kids’ activities, and a raffle & silent auction. To register and for more information, visit www.promisewalk.org/wausau.

Preeclampsia survivors Kelly & Danielle Smith. Join them on June 8 in San Antonio!

Two-time preeclampsia survivor Danielle Smith was disappointed to find out that her 2012 move from Orange County, California to San Antonio, Texas came with an unexpected detriment: no nearby Promise Walk for Preeclampsia!

“I quickly realized that the closest walk was 3 hours away in Houston,” Danielle explained. “I ended up flying back to California for the 2012 walk, but I knew that south-central Texas needed their own walk!”

Danielle knew nothing about preeclampsia before the birth of her first daughter, Madelyn in 2009, but was hospitalized with pregnancy-induced hypertension and HELLP syndrome at 29 weeks. Madelyn was born weighing only 3 lbs, 7 oz. Most of what she learned about preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome came from the Preeclampsia Foundation website via her mom’s furious online research at the hospital.

Two years later, her second daughter Kelly was born at 34 weeks due to HELLP syndrome, but this time, she was armed with knowledge. After her second experience she knew she had to do something more for other families who knew nothing about the condition.

Danielle emphasized: “We go through this very traumatic experience with just a few people beside us, but there are hundreds, even thousands, of people in our own communities who have gone through the same thing. We do not need to feel alone.”

As a first-year coordinator, her hope is to provide the affected and their families with a place to come together and find support.

The San Antonio Promise Walk, which serves all of south-central Texas including Austin, Corpus Christi (coastal), and Laredo, will be held on June 8 at Olmos Park, with a family picnic after the walk, so that participants will have time to get to know each other and enjoy the day.

To register and for more information, visit www.promisewalk.org/sanantonio.

Happy Mama & preeclampsia survivor Trish Adkins shows her support at the Philadelphia-metro Promise Walk on May 11, 2013.

Happy Family Organic Superfood is proud to be a national sponsor of the Preeclampsia Foundation Promise Walk for Preeclampsia in 2013.

Our team of Happy Mamas, real-life mothers who work to educate families on the importance of nutrition, will be at multiple Promise Walk locations across the country throughout May and June. We will be supporting the cause and sharing real life tips on keeping your family happy and healthy.

As the Happy Mama in Southern New Jersey, I am proud to work for such a socially active organization and their support of this cause touches me personally. I love that my job allows me to share my motherhood story and the values of healthy, wholesome nutrition and living that have kept my family strong through one of the toughest of life’s challenges: surviving preeclampsia twice.

Preeclampsia hit me out of the blue; changing an otherwise healthy, happy pregnancy into a nightmare.

I was 29 weeks pregnant with my first child, Lily, and woke up unable to see out of my left eye. My feet, hands and entire body were swollen. I went to the OB, knowing something was wrong; knowing that I could have preeclampsia, but not quite believing it.

At the doctor’s office, my blood pressure was 210/110 and I had gained 60 pounds of water weight since my last appointment.  They sent me to the hospital, where my blood pressure continued to rise. I was at risk for developing eclampsia, a seizure disorder that can be deadly to both mother and child.

The only cure for preeclampsia is delivery, but delivery carries risks for babies who are not fully developed. Lily was born that night, weighing just 2 lbs., 14 ounces. She could not breath on her own and required numerous medical interventions to survive. Lily was hospitalized for 7 weeks.

It was not the birth story I planned. Three years later, my second child, Chloe was born at 31 weeks and weighed just 3 lbs., 4 ounces. Again, preeclampsia crept up on me.

Preeclampsia is unfortunately common; affecting one in 12 pregnancies. No one knows what causes preeclampsia and so many pregnant women do not know the signs or symptoms of the disease. The Promise Walk is an important piece of raising awareness and funds to find a cure for this deadly disorder.

Happy Family provides organic foods for babies, toddlers, kids, and even adults!

Happy Family is dedicated to educating mothers and fathers on growing healthy families by providing nutrition information, organic foods and supporting causes like the Promise Walk. You can connect with your local Happy Mama on the directory on the Happy Family website.

You can also view the full line of Happy Family certified organic products including first cereals, baby and toddler meals and snacks, and Happy Squeeze smoothies for children and adults. Our new Greek Yogurt line provides gentle dairy for babies through toddlers in a self-stable pouch.

Launched on Mother’s Day 2006, and owned and operated by moms, Happy Family is the leading premium organic food brand delivering optimal nutrition for the entire family.  We invite you to join our Generation Happy community so you will be sure to hear about all our new products and special offers.

About our guest blogger: Trish Adkins is a Happy Mama for Happy Family Organic Superfoods. She is a two-time survivor of preeclampsia and has volunteered with the Preeclampsia Foundation since 2007, including her active involvement with the Philadelphia Promise Walk for Preeclampsia. She feels strongly that education is critical for women, doctors, nurses and fathers-to-be, and has made it her goal to make that happen in her local community.

She regularly blogs at http://2yoke.blogspot.com.

Britax shows their support for heart health for moms at the Portland Promise Walk on Saturday, May 11, 2013.

BRITAX Child Safety, Inc. and BOB Strollers have made a commitment to encouraging postpartum heart fitness in 2013, by sponsoring and participating in the Promise Walks for Preeclampsia™, including awarding strollers to top individual fundraisers in select markets throughout the country.  So get outside and participate in your local Promise Walk by walking or jogging* with your baby!

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women. Despite a downward trend over the last four decades, death rates from this disease now appear to be increasing in women aged 35 to 54 years.

We know that women who have had preeclampsia have approximately double the risk for heart disease and stroke during the subsequent five to fifteen-year period. Research studies have shown that women who experienced preeclampsia, preterm birth, and fetal growth restriction were found to have seven times the risk of hospital admission or death from coronary artery disease.

If you had preeclampsia during any of your pregnancies, experts recommend taking extra care to monitor the health of your heart with the help of your care providers, who might recommend lifestyle modifications like regular cardiovascular exercise to reduce your risk.

BRITAX and BOB strollers are designed for all types of family adventures. Brand experts will be in Portland and Brooklyn to educate participants on many of the latest strollers available by both brands. Other select walks will award top fundraisers with BOB Revolution SE strollers and runner up fundraisers with BRITAX B-Agile strollers. Britax hopes that with our participation in and sponsorship of the Promise Walk, that we will be able to help increase the attendance at events and in turn increase the awareness of the Preeclampsia Foundation mission.

About BRITAX Child Safety Inc.
BRITAX manufactures and markets a full line of premium car seats, strollers, baby carriers and accessories.  Since its founding in Britain in 1939, the company has established itself as a trusted juvenile products brand, known for a commitment to thoughtful, innovative engineering of safe, top-quality and intuitively designed products. In 2011 BRITAX acquired BOB Trailers, Inc.  This addition reflects the company’s commitment to offering a full line of strollers to meet the modern family’s lifestyle needs.  BRITAX and BOB offer versatility and a lifespan beyond one child. BRITAX USA is located in Fort Mill, SC and employs more than 200 people.  For more information, visit http://www.britaxusa.com.

*BOB recommends that children should be at least 8 weeks old before riding in a BOB stroller without a BOB Infant Car Seat Adapter and compatible infant car seat. Please note that babies incapable of holding their head up must have additional head and neck support to ride safely and comfortably. With the addition of the BOB Infant Car Seat Adapter and compatible infant car seat, newborns may be able to ride in the stroller. The Infant Car Seat Adapter is designed for walking only due to the higher center of gravity. This accessory will allow parents to use select infant car seats with BOB Strollers. For jogging stroller or off-road stroller use, children should be at least 8 months old.  Children develop at different rates. Prior to first use, consult with your pediatrician regarding the suitability of stroller use with your child.

Join our Virtual Walk for all mothers across the world.

We live in an incredibly large country here in the US with a pretty sizable footprint for all those little pink feet to make strides & deliver hope. And we all know that preeclampsia can impact any pregnancy, anywhere. So when our Foundation did the math, we realized that there were plenty of families affected by preeclampsia that couldn’t show their solidarity by being at a local walk.

So we decided to something about that in 2013, which is where the Virtual Promise Walk comes in (www.promisewalk.org/virtual): to create a space for all the people who say to us “I wish there was a Promise Walk in <LOCATION>.” Anyone across the country (or the globe) can register and form a team for the same $20 donation to the Foundation’s mission.

We center this event around Mother’s Day on May 12, 2013 to reflect the many moms that are no longer with us…

the moms who don’t get to hold their babies in their arms…

the moms who have suffered the terrible fear, uncertainty that is preeclampsia, eclampsia and HELLP syndrome.

You can then go for a quiet, reflective walk throughout the month of May. Or, encourage your friends and family to join your team and make it a party in the sunshine (or snow for some of our northern participants!). All participants can fundraise just like at any of our other walk locations and will receive their 2013 “I Kept My Promise” buttons.

So join us this Mother’s Day as we show our solidarity with global moms and “Walk. Give. Learn.”

In honor of our “Empowering Patients” theme for May 5 – 11, today we officially released the Illustrated Preeclampsia Symptoms Tear Pad, a patient education tool that was developed in collaboration with health services researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Ill. The tool effectively informs pregnant women, even those with potentially poor literacy, about preeclampsia.

Because preeclampsia is a disorder that can have grave consequences for a mother and her unborn baby, the goal is for the tool to offer information in a way that allows women to assimilate and retain knowledge related to preeclampsia, leading them to promptly seek medical attention should they have symptoms related to preeclampsia.

Check our this AMAZING multimedia news release (MNR) to learn how our newly unveiled Illustrated Symptom pad is already working to save lives in the state of California.  And don’t forget to watch the “Preeclampsia Awareness Saves Lives” video in honor of May as Preeclampsia Awareness Month!

Want to do more to spread the word about #PreAM13? Join us at www.promisewalk.org/campaign with our 31 Days of Tweets, Virtual Memorial & Survivor Pinterest Quilt or add your photo to the ViaCord #awarebecauseicare Facebook campaign!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has

Many words come to mind when describing a volunteer: devoted, inspiring, passionate. But those words feel pale & generic when faced with the deep motivation and strength that makes up the members of the Preeclampsia Foundation’s volunteer core.

Volunteers come to our Foundation for many different reasons: mourning the loss of a loved one. Mourning the loss of that “perfect” pregnancy experience. Celebrating their gratitude in having a new life. Honoring a loved one’s experience which they can only hope to never personally understand.

But they stay for one overwhelming reason. It is their desire that no woman & no family, should feel as alone, insecure and frightened as one does when faced with an overwhelming health crisis like preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome or eclampsia. From improving prenatal education to engaging with health care providers to supporting families after their preeclampsia experience, our volunteers are a family who support impacted families through every step of the journey!

This week many organizations are celebrating National Volunteer Appreciation Week, but words are simply not sufficient to describe why we love our volunteers, because without them, this Foundation would be nothing. We were started by “thoughtful, committed citizens,” and we continue to push our mission forward through an ever-increasing number of those citizens.

So to all of you out there supporting this cause and this Foundation’s mission of hope, we love you and your beautiful vision for what this world will look like without hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. THANK YOU!

At her 30 weeks doctor appointment, after taking her blood pressure, her doctor immediately laid her on her side and said, “We need to get your BP down and your urine is +2. You will be on bed rest from here on out, and I need to prepare you for having a preemie because you will not make it to the end.”

As many other moms can attest to, bedrest when you have a child already at home is tough, when you have three kids at home, even harder.  But, Amy and her husband did the best they could to keep Amy rested and their baby well cared for.

At 34 weeks, on a Thursday, she went in for her weekly checkup.  She felt awful, but the doctor said her baby looked good.  He told her to be ready though, that they would deliver next week. Just five days later, at 35 weeks, she went in and told the doctor she was anxious and had insomnia because she was consumed with the thought of her baby dying.

Her doctor pulled out the Doppler and, sadly, found no heartbeat.  They then went into the ultrasound room.  Amy reclined in the chair and says she had “the most horrible feeling.” The next thing Amy heard was, “I’m so sorry, your baby is dead.”

Amy was sent to the hospital where her BP spiraled out of control, her head pounded and the pain on her right side had returned again. She was given three different BP meds and put on a mag drip, but her BP was still 197/107.  Amy was fading in and out, but remembers hearing her husband tell the doctor, “I can’t lose my wife too!”

She was taken in for a c-section and Amy recalls, “My headache went away on the table, and I looked over and there was our sweet still baby and my teary eyed husband.”

The next few months would be a blur of a funeral, confusion, slow speech, headaches, swelling and fear of leaving the house. After just over a year, Amy’s health problems are mostly gone, but the grief and fear, she says, “they creep in like ships in the night.”

Amy, her husband and their three other boys will be at the San Jose Promise Walk for Preeclampsia to share their story and remember their sweet son and brother, Seeley Andrew Hiett who came into this world still at 3 ½ pounds and 15 ½ inches long.

You can join them by registering now at www.promisewalk.org/sanjose.

In 2008, Ty was pregnant with her first and only baby, when at 25 weeks pregnant, she began to notice some swelling in her feet.  Friends suggested it was normal pregnancy swelling, but Ty knew she just didn’t feel right and made an appointment with her doctor.

At Ty’s appointment, she discovered her blood pressure was very high and she was spilling proteins into her urine.  She had preeclampsia, just as she feared: two days later she had an emergency c-section.  Her baby girl weighed just one pound and 14 ounces and eventually succumbed to an infection in her intestines.

As a poet, Ty believes that writing helps her to heal even if it can never erase the pain and memory of loss and has been a strong advocate for the Preeclampsia Foundation Community Forum section Writing Heals.  She will also incorporate those talents into her walk with a poetry reading and art table, along with a raffle, health screenings and kids’ activities.

The Washington, DC Promise Walk for Preeclampsia will be held on May 18^th at the Wheaton Region Park.  Participants will also have the chance to win a Bob Revolution SE from our National Sponsor Britax.  Register now at www.promisewalk.org/washingtondc.