Mum Shares Her Story Of How Uncontrollable Hiccups During Pregnancy Almost Killed Her

A mother has revealed how pregnancy almost killed her as she experienced uncontrollable hiccups which turned out to be a life-threatening condition…..pre-eclampsia.

Llyrus Baptista, 22, from Perth, Western Australia was ecstatic when she and her husband, Shaun, 23, learned they were pregnant in January last year and felt like it was a perfect pregnancy. And at their 20-week scan, they were over the moon after discovering they were having a baby girl.

The couple had planned to go to a birthing centre, connected to the King Edward Memorial Hospital, near Perth. However, when Llyrus was 36 weeks pregnant, on the night of September 17, the unexpected happened.

“I was with my husband at home, and we’d gone to bed early, because I’d had a busy day and was feeling really tired and achy.

“I’d worked four days straight that week and my hips killed, so Shaun gave me a massage to help me sleep,” she said.

When she began drifting off, with her head on her husband’s chest, Llyrus suddenly began convulsing aggressively.

At first, she said that Shaun thought she had hiccups, caused by something she’d eaten or drank, but within moments, Shaun realised she was suffering with something far more serious.

“I can remember Shaun’s face was so shocked, as my body was fitting uncontrollably.

“I was fully conscious and aware of what was going on while I was seizing, I just couldn’t control it.

“I couldn’t talk or communicate in any way. I felt so helpless. But something inside me told me our little girl was going to be okay,” Llyrus said.

Shaun immediately called emergency services who gave Llyrus medication to try and stop the seizures, which reduced the severity to hiccup again, then Llyrus, who was already unconscious, was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch.

She woke to a medical team who immediately started planning for her baby’s birth. “I’d stopped fitting, so they wanted to get my baby out of me quickly,” she explained. “Otherwise I would have kept fitting until I died, and there could have been complications for our baby too.”

Llyrus had an emergency caesarean, under general anaesthetic, and after an hour, she gave birth to a baby girl, weighing 5lb 9oz, who they named Nicaea, a symbol of faith in Christianity, and is now thriving.

Now, Llyrus decided to share her story to point out the importance of prenatal checks.

“I am so thankful to be alive. My point in all this is that those prenatal checks are so important, if you have any concerns or complaints tell your midwife, doctor or nurse.

“You are not inconveniencing them, that is what they are for.

“If you feel like something is wrong, trust your instincts. Don’t be afraid to get a second or third or fourth opinion.”

Source: Kidspot.com.au