Runner Races to Represent Preeclampsia Survivors Everywhere

Click this photo to vote and help Natalie make it on the cover of Runner’s World Magazine!

At age seven, Natalie Mitchell would watch her dad get up and run 14 miles to work every day. By her freshman year in high school, she was running track as a sprinter, but one day, her coach advised: “I really think you should try running on the cross country team.”

She has never stopped running since.

So at the beginning of her first pregnancy, she couldn’t imagine anything going wrong. She was super healthy, taking great care of herself, and was even able to keep up her running for a while in the first trimester.

“At about week 30 of my pregnancy, I started experiencing slight symptoms: headaches, a bit of swelling and an increase in my blood pressure,” said Natalie. She had a great Ob/Gyn who monitored her closely, and as the symptoms progressed at 33 weeks to major swelling, high protein in her urine and severe headaches, he brought in a specialist.

Her son Joshua was born at 34 weeks on March 7, 2007 at 3 pounds, 14 ounces, with a NICU team standing by to whisk him away for care.

“It was all very dramatic and not at all like I imagined,” said Natalie. “The thought of not bringing our baby home right away… it was unimaginable. For the first time ever, I remember feeling like my body had failed me.”

Natalie would go on to have preeclampsia with her second and third pregnancies as well, delivering daughter Megan at 36 weeks and daughter Elle at 32 weeks. In both cases, Natalie and the babies faced life-threatening conditions.

But despite all that, Natalie has kept running, including 5 marathons and training for her sixth in September. She wants to show herself, her children and other moms that preeclampsia cannot keep her down; that a woman can do anything that she put her mind to.

To help spread that message, Natalie is now working to represent ALL preeclampsia survivors on the cover of Runner’s World magazine, a publication devoted to runners around the country. It will be the first time a everyday runner will be featured on the cover.

When asked why she wants to be on the cover of the magazine, Natalie explains that she will represent moms everywhere. “It’s not an easy job being a mom and making time to work out. I have been in awe of so many women that I meet and I see them doing just that and accomplishing amazing things. They are my inspiration and motivation and I hope that I can do the same for someone else.”

She needs your help! Supporters can vote once a day by visiting her cover contest page and voting via your Facebook or Twitter login. Make sure you go through the “Inspiring Word” screen to ensure your vote has been counted. Voting runs through August 15, when the magazine will pull the top 5 women and top 5 men to review. You see the total number of  votes go up by one, then you know your vote was counted. Natalie needs around 4,000+ votes to put her in the top running.

We’d love to see Natalie make the front cover to support preeclampsia awareness!

“I run every day because it makes me feel alive and unstoppable. I am a better Mom, wife, friend, and a better person. Running truly makes me happy.”

Eclampsia Survivor Joins the Walk to Raise Awareness in Kansas City

The summer of 2009 was flying by for  Meghan Weaver: she was the director of the colorguard unit at a local high school and they were finishing up band camp the first week of August.  It was her first pregnancy.  For the past month or so, Meghan’s ankles were swollen, but she didn’t think much of it, as she thought it was just a normal pregnancy symptom and she had been out in the heat for band practices.

On Thursday, August 6th, Meghan had a routine checkup.  The nurse noticed her protein levels in the urine were a little elevated, along with her blood pressure.  They ordered Meghan to do a 24 hour urine test, just to be safe.  They never mentioned being worried that she was developing preeclampsia.

Over the weekend, Meghan developed an extreme headache that wouldn’t go away even with medicine.  Instead of calling the doctor, she thought she would just tough it out and wait till the urine test results came back on Tuesday.

By Tuesday morning, Meghan had started having some unusual difficulties: the shower was running, but she stood there, unable to remember what to do. She managed to get to work, but her father, for whom she worked, immediately noticed something was very wrong. HE too her blood pressure and the numbers shocked him. He took it again to be sure.

Meghan’s blood pressure was in the 190s over 140s. He had her call her doctor and drove her immediately to her doctor’s office.

By the time they got there, Meghan could barely walk and the nurses had to get her a wheelchair.  They then called the lab to get the urine test results.  Meghan was told that they flag it at 300 – her results were over 3,000!  A nurse immediately wheeled Meghan to the hospital across the street.

The next thing Meghan knew, she was in the ICU and that’s the last thing she remembered. Meghan had three grand mal, code blue seizures.  The doctors immediately performed a c-section in attempts to save Meghan’s life and the life of her daughter, Mackenzie.

Mackenzie Weaver was delivered at 29 weeks through emergency c-section within 15 minutes of arriving at the hospital.  She weighed in at 2 pounds 9 ounces.  The doctors worked hard to get Meghan’s blood pressure under control.  Meghan spent 4 days in the ICU, and a total of 11 days in the hospital.  Through numerous tests, the doctors also found Meghan had Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.

Happily, Meghan and Mackenzie survived, with Mackenzie spending 5 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Meghan realizes how fortunate she is to have survived.  To have gone from a normal pregnancy, to preeclampsia and then to eclampsia within a week or less and to make it out healthy was a blessing.  If Meghan had not listened to her body, everything could have easily turned out worse.

This is the first year the Weavers have participated with the Kansas City, MO Promise Walk for Preeclampsia.

“I want to share my story, and if it helps just one woman and her family, then everything I went through will have all been worth it,” said Meghan.  The Weavers are the Mission Family for the 2014 Promise Walk for Preeclampsia in Kansas City on Saturday, May 31: join them by visiting www.promisewalk.org/KansasCity.

Organic is Not the Whole Story

Although nutritional supplements or eating certain foods won’t cause or prevent preeclampsia, the best available research supports women reducing their risk by going into their pregnancies as healthy as possible. Guest blogger and registered dietician Amy Marlow of Happy Family Organic Superfoods suggests one way you can help accomplish that goal.

Nutrients for pregnancy and beyond by Amy Marlow, MPH, RD, CDN

Dietician Amy Marlow with her family.

Pregnancy is a great time to choose organic foods, grown and produced without the use of synthetic pesticides, genetically modified organisms, and artificial hormones. Developing babies are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the exposures to chemicals like pesticides given how small their bodies are and their rapid rate of growth. That’s why experts believe that the benefits of organic food are greatest for pregnant women and babies.

Eating organic is not the whole story, though, because the fact that a food is organic doesn’t automatically make it healthy. Plenty of organic foods lack essential nutrients that you and your baby need.   And, foods made from organic ingredients may still be highly processed and full of too much sugar or saturated fat.

So yes, choose organic, but also choose foods that give you even more. Look for foods that contain the following key nutrients needed during pregnancy and lactation:

• Choline – Needed in higher amounts during pregnancy and breastfeeding; an essential vitamin that plays a key role in baby’s brain development. Found in eggs, meats, and fortified foods.
• DHA and other Omega-3 fats – Essential healthy fats are the building block of baby’s brain and eyes. DHA is found in algae, fish (e.g., wild salmon), and may be found in fortified foods. Other sources of omega-3s include flaxseed oil, chia seed, and walnuts.
• Vitamin D – Crucial for your bone health and your baby’s bone development. Unfortunately, nature’s best source is the ultraviolet rays of the sun, which most of us try to limit. Found in eggs, fortified dairy, and other fortified foods.
• Folic Acid – Prevents neural tube defects like spina bifida. The body doesn’t store folic acid so you need to get it every day. Found in fortified grains and cereals, leafy greens like spinach, broccoli, oranges, beans, peas, peanuts.
• Iron – Produces hemoglobin for healthy oxygenation of the blood. A deficiency causes anemia (you should be tested during your second trimester). You need at least 15-30 mg per day, and this may be hard to get through food alone. Eat iron-rich foods like whole grains, beef, lentils, dark green leafy vegetables. Take an iron-fortified prenatal supplement, if recommended by your healthcare provider.
• Superfoods: Ancient Grains and Seeds – Go beyond whole wheat and try quinoa, amaranth, chia seed, and millet. These provide healthy complex carbohydrates, essential amino acids, fiber, B vitamins, iron, and in some cases omega-3 fats and protein.

A registered dietitian (RD), Amy Marlow also has a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Maryland. She worked as a pediatric dietitian at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC, where she provided nutrition care in the pediatric oncology unit, high-risk obstetrics ward, and the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. In addition to her work with Promise Walk partner Happy Family Organic Superfoods, she manages the wellness program for a Fortune 500 company. Amy is the proud mother of Noah, Alana and Jonah.

Heart Failure Leads to Promise Walk Success

Amy, her daughter and husband.

Amy Suggs hopes with all her heart that she is able to raise awareness of preeclampsia in her hometown of Asheville, North Carolina when she kicks off the first annual Promise Walk for Preeclampsia there on Saturday, May 4^th.

Amy attended last year’s walk in Charlotte and had such a positive experience she decided to bring a Promise Walk to Asheville.  She hopes to educate those in her community on the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia and just how serious it can be.  Amy knows this all too well.

She was 38 weeks pregnant when she developed preeclampsia.  Her diagnosis came at a routine doctor appointment.  She was sent to immediately deliver her baby girl, Sutton, and all went well with delivery.  Amy, however, continued to be a very sick young woman eventually being diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

After being told she would need to be on medication for the rest of her life, Amy is now healthy and happily off all medication, surprising even her doctors.  When she’s not busy raising her now two-year old daughter, Amy is hard at work on her Promise Walk.

The Asheville walk hopes to attract 100 walkers from the area and raise at least $5000.  You can register for the Asheville Promise Walk held at the UNC, Asheville Track and Field at www.promisewalk.org/asheville.

Saying Goodbye to Heart Health Month, but Not to Heart Health

by Deborah Bush, Director of Communications

As we say goodbye to HEART HEALTH MONTH 2013, there is an important takeaway message: Pregnancy history is important to heart health every month of the year, not just in February.

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. Important factors to consider when determining cardiovascular impact include the severity of the mother’s preeclampsia, whether or not it recurred, and a history of low birth weight babies. Research studies have shown that the risk of pregnancy complications and later cardiovascular disease is cumulative; and 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.

Keep in mind that, in addition to pregnancy history, there are many other factors that affect a woman’s heart health as she ages — but many of the risk factors for preeclampsia and diseases affecting your blood pressure and heart are the same. They include a family history of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, being overweight, problems with blood clotting, and metabolic syndrome. If you had preeclampsia, it does not mean you will definitely develop heart problems, but for some women, pregnancy can be considered a failed stress test, possibly unmasking other health issues.

If you had preeclampsia during any of your pregnancies, you should take extra care to monitor the health of your heart, consider seeing a preventive cardiologist, and make lifestyle modifications now to reduce your risk. If you have other risk factors in addition to your history of preeclampsia, these steps become even more important.

New guidelines from the American Heart Association encourage assessment of a woman’s pregnancy history. You should let your health care providers know:

• the number of pregnancies you had,
• if you had preeclampsia or high blood pressure during any of them,
• if you had gestational diabetes during any of them,
• the number of miscarriages or stillbirths you had,
• if any of your babies were born early or small for gestational age, and
• the weight of your babies.

In addition to www.preeclampsia.org, additional pregnancy and heart health information can be found on Seconds Count, the patient website of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) ‑- www.scai.org/SecondsCount/Disease.

End February as Heart Awareness Month right by joining SCAI and the Preeclampsia Foundation for a WOMEN AND HEART HEALTH Twitter Chat today, Feb. 28 at 1:00 pm EST using the hashtag #heartchat. Follow us @preeclampsia.

6 Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Your Heart Health

On today, when everyone is swapping heart-shaped candies, we encourage everyone to also think of your other heart: the physical one. February is Heart Health Awareness Month, and for preeclampsia survivors, it is important to understand your risks.

Have you checked your heart health lately?

If you’re a new mom, your own heart health may be the furthest thing from your mind, but if you’re a preeclampsia survivor, it’s something you and your physician should discuss. Why? Because research has shown that preeclampsia may help predict potential future heart disease.

Experts suggest 6 questions you should ask your healthcare provider about pregnancy complications and heart disease:

1. I had high blood pressure during pregnancy. Are there steps I should be taking now to monitor my heart health?
2. I had a fetal growth restriction complication or delivered a preterm baby. What should I be doing for my best cardiovascular health?
3. What risk factors (unrelated to pregnancy) do I have for cardiovascular disease, such as diet, family history, etc.?
4. Do any of my test results indicate risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol?
5. Do my overall risk factors or risk factors related to pregnancy suggest that I should be referred to a cardiologist?
6. Are there lifestyle or medication changes that would benefit my heart health?

A good number of preeclampsia survivors report difficulty getting their blood pressure to return to normal and may need, even temporary, medications to normalize their BP.  However, without solid evidence for what post-preeclampsia follow up care should include, what should you do? Experts in the field have helped us develop these common sense guidelines to reduce your risk of heart disease:

• Eat a heart healthy diet and get regular exercise… for instance, join a local Promise Walk!
• Stay at a healthy weight, specifically a BMI of 25 or less.
• Don’t smoke.
• Talk with your doctor about your specific family health history, your pregnancy history and the benefits of taking low dose aspirin.
• Know your numbers – blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose – and ensure these stay in the healthy range.

For more information about heart health risk, check out the Preeclampsia Foundation’s longer heart health article.

Caring for Your Other Heart: Becoming Your Own Valentine

Today in honor of February as Heart Health Awareness Month and to recognize the important link between preeclampsia and long-term cardiovascular health, we have a special guest blogger, Dr. Melissa Blount. Dr. Blount is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Blount Psychology in Chicago, Illinois, who was diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in 2009 at the age of 41. Since her diagnosis, she has been a vocal advocate for the American Heart Association and the MendedHearts organization, to improve awareness about women’s risk for cardiovascular disease:

My life often feels like it’s divided into parts: childhood blur, parents’ divorce apocalypse, college years, the horrid twenties, starting to get better thirties, husband, daughter, first BLACK president, sweet home Chicago, “let’s have a another baby?”… why aren’t I getting pregnant and then fatigue, shortness of breath; lots of doctors visits to find out why I’m not getting pregnant, palpitations, tightness in chest when I get stressed, tightness in chest gone, then tightness in chest all the time and doesn’t go away until I’m absolutely still and then December 2, 2009.

I went in for what I thought was a simple stress test… and then was off to a race in which I never intended to compete. I knew my test wasn’t going well when I couldn’t finish the test; the pain started and then the silence. Then, “I’ll be right back, do you have someone you can call?; We need you to go for more tests.” “No more babies for you; we’re trying to help you live for the one child you have.” From then on that’s all I hear. I’m numb to the fact that I’ve just been told I’m lucky I even made it to the hospital.

There was a great deal of denial: I wasn’t super fit but I have the reputation in my family of being a health nut.  The last thing I ever expected to hear was that I had an issue with my heart. I felt broken and didn’t feel as if I had any control to fix it. I felt alone. I felt shame because I felt I had brought this on myself. On and on went my self-blame as I began to process the news that I have heart disease.

The whole first year was like walking on eggshells.  I felt fragile and alone in my struggle. My peers and very close friends tried to understand, but my issues were those of their grandparents. My husband didn’t want to hear me; if the choice was between me and an unborn, non-existent baby… then the choice was me. And while I logically understood his choice, it felt like a betrayal. My life felt abruptly interrupted and I was angry. But I was afraid to be angry for fear of what it might do to my heart.

Halfway into 2010, I finally decided that this shrink needed a shrink. Suddenly I was given permission to grieve; to be angry and take my life, MY HEART back from the medical establishment.

And as we worked together to address my emotional self, it made room for me to consider how I would address my physical self, and the bridge between the two. The first thing I did was take a mindfulness course and began a mindfulness practice. The second is I really started to think about what kind of exercise I could do on a consistent basis and two activities came to mind: rowing and swimming.

Beginning in April of 2011 I began the overhaul of my physical self at a more intense and deliberate intention. I joined Rowfit Chicago and began to demand more of my body, setting goals that I’d always wanted to do and never imagined that I could. And I am proud to say that in the year of 2011, I ran two 5k and completed my first sprint triathlon. It’s been amazing to think of myself as more than a partner, mother, daughter, sister and cardiac patient. I am someone capable of pushing my body AND MY HEART beyond my preconceived physical limits. And my goal is to continue to push the envelope. And though it isn’t easy given all the roles that I juggle, I am determined that as a heart health advocate, I will help more women live a whole-hearted, fully-engaged life, rather than living literally without heart.