DEBBIE O DONNELL

Xpose producer, two children I had warning signs that I would get preeclampsia, because I was born very premature myself. I was in an incubator for six months. When it was diagnosed in my first pregnancy, I was very careful, not doing any exercise, minding myself with work.

At about seven months, I didn’t feel well and they hospitalised me at that point. I’m very active, I’ve a busy brain. I found that really hard, very stressful. There’s nothing to do and they can’t let you out. He came six and a half weeks early. In the middle of the night, my blood pressure spiked, and I had to have an emergency caesarean. The preeclampsia was very bad. I got a terrible fright. Your blood pressure goes up to a level where it’s really dangerous for you and the baby. An emergency caesarean is very traumatic. You’re into a full surgical team of people. You just want your baby to be okay. I was very lucky, Marcus was absolutely perfect. The whole thing was very traumatic, that’s why we left five years between. I did get preeclampsia again. It wasn’t quite as bad as the first time around. In the end, I had an elective section. That experience was totally different, there was a lot more calm involved.