How This Mom "Decided Not to Die" When She Had Convulsions After Giving Birth to Twins
Tova Leigh, a fan-favorite parenting blogger, is known for using humor to jazz up the everyday experiences that all moms can relate to. But in a recent Facebook post, Leigh gets serious about the time she almost died from giving birth to her twin daughters four years ago.
The mother of three opened up about the moment during pregnancy when she found out she had pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys.
"I go in for a routine check-up at 28 weeks and get my blood pressure measured," she explained. "The nurse looks at me and asks: 'Is your eyesight blurry?' You immediately know it's not a great sign when someone asks you that. She makes a phone call, and I am asked to give a urine sample."
Full-blown eclampsia is a pretty terrifying disease and can even result in death if a mom isn't given the proper medical attention after giving birth, which explains why Tova spent the last two months of her pregnancy in the hospital on bed rest. And while it was what was best for the babies, she couldn't help feel for her older daughter.
"During all this time my eldest daughter Bella, who has just turned 2, is at home without her mummy," she wrote. "This is the hardest bit. I can take being in a hospital forever knowing that I am doing it for my unborn babies. I can stand the horrid food, the boredom, the fear . . . the whole shebang! The one thing that totally breaks me is being away from her. In my lowest moments, I find myself wishing the babies would just come already so I can get back to her."
At 35 weeks, Tova had a C-section, and everything went well at first. "When I first see the twins, I start to cry," she said. "They are so small. I don't expect them to be so small. Dina weighs exactly 2KG and Ally is not even that. At 1.9KG she is honestly the ugliest baby I have ever seen, but I love her with all my heart, and I am so relieved the ordeal is over."
Then, things took a turn.
"I am lying in a hospital bed in the intensive care unit after giving birth to my twins, at 35 weeks and three days. My blood pressure is 240 over 120, and my whole body is shaking. I have lost control of my muscles, and I can't speak. Three doctors rush into the room and stick an IV in my arm. I am now being pumped with drugs in a desperate attempt to reduce my blood pressure, which is out of control."
After realizing how dire the situation was, Tova decided to sneak a glance at her husband who was jolted awake by all the commotion.
"I look at my husband, and I can tell he has no clue what is going on, and I suddenly panic! I mean, how the hell am I going to leave my three girls with this guy who can't even tell I am about to die?! So I decide not to."
Read her post above to see what she did, mentally, to calm her body down and survive – and how she decided that "using humor as her secret weapon" would save her.