I was 31 weeks pregnant, excited to celebrate my last Valentine’s Day before having a child. My husband and I went and saw a show and got some dinner. I was wearing some tighter clothing and started feeling dizzy. I took off the tight clothing and instead of feeling better, I got worse. I started vomiting non-stop. I thought it was food poisoning or something like that. We called the L&D and they recommended taking some anti-nausea pills and trying to get rehydrated. I did that, started to feel better and then went to bed.

The next day I felt like I had run a marathon. I had never been so tired my whole pregnancy. Then the migraine came. I tried to discount it and get more water, more sleep, medicine, etc. I called my mom finally, and she said to go in and get help. My husband was working so I called him (we only had one car) and walked to his work to pick it up. I was going to just drive myself, thinking it wasn’t that big of a deal. I just had seen on the TV show “call the midwife” that a headache that doesn’t go away could be a sign of preeclampsia, so I just wanted to be safe. My husband had just got his EMT training and had a thought to test my blood pressure with his new blood pressure cuff. He took it, pause, takes it again. 194/133, 188/126… “we are going to the hospital now!” He says and he tells his boss he is not going to be at work the next day.

I told the front desk at L&D that I thought I might have preeclampsia. They took me back to triage and got the urine test and were super nice but chill. Then the nurse takes my blood pressure, pause, takes it again. “I’ll be right back” she says. 2 minutes later the head nurse is in there and everyone is moving. The head nurse tells me “you are having the baby tonight”
Finally got a blood test which revealed it wasn’t Just preeclampsia but also Hellps. It took 14 pokes and finally an anesthesiologist to get an IV in. The rest was a bit of a blur.
A few memories stick out.

Taking my blood to see if I had enough blood platelets to get an epidural and finding out I didn’t have enough.
Getting the steroid shot and the amount of blood that came out as that small hole refused to clot.
Having my OB prep me for the idea of a C-section. Only to pause and say “let me just check you, you’re 31 weeks so I would be surprised if you’re dilated at all, but let’s see” and she was shocked that I was already dilated to a 2, almost 3. I was started on Pitocin and my water was broken as we played a game of trying to wait long enough to get the second round of steroids but keeping me and my son alive.
The night was long and tiring, I threw up a bunch more and experienced labor and pitocin all without any pain medication. My baby’s O2 was dropping so I had to use a non-breather Mask. Luckily I was progressing and that morning at 10am, I started pushing. My son’s O2 and heart rate continued to drop. The OB said “I don’t care if you feel you have to push, we need to get him out now, or he isn’t going to make it” which was pretty solid motivation. And out came my sweet tiny 3lb baby. He only scored a 1 on his apgar. I got to hold his little body in plastic wrap for just a moment as they cut the umbilical cord. And then they took him away.

I went into literal shock. I was shaking and passing in and out of consciousness. I was so out of it. All I knew is I wanted my baby. The nurse came in to help me “practice sitting up” and I was insulted. I was fine! Then she sat me up. I immediately passed out.

The next day they finally gave me the approval to go see my baby if I sat in a wheelchair. I also was given a time limit of 45 mins, which I was also insulted by. Turns out it was for good reason. I was able to hold my little guy and take some pictures but I started getting more ill and had to go back. It took about 4 days before I was able to leave the hospital. My son stayed in the NICU for 40 days. I am so grateful I listened to my body and me and my baby are ok today.