I had a great first pregnancy, no morning sickness, and all of my scans and bloodwork had been perfect. I had some minor blood pressure issues several years ago, so my OB and I were keeping a close eye on any blood pressure issues that might arise. I was started on baby aspirin daily during the second trimester.

When I was 32 weeks pregnant, I started to swell a lot. I had previously had some blood pressure issues several years before but nothing leading up to my pregnancy. Since my OB knew this, she had educated me on monitoring my blood pressure at home. I had done a blood pressure check at home and it had been a bit high, over 140/90. I called my OB and she advised me to go to L&D triage to be monitored. I work at the hospital where I would be delivering, so I headed down to triage.

In L&D triage, my blood pressure was being monitored and it just kept going up and up. I had some labs done. I still didn’t think too much could be wrong. I wasn’t supposed to be worrying about having a baby for another 2 months. My baby shower was planned for the upcoming weekend and we had barely finished painting the nursery. I sat there for hours, until the nurse told me that my OB was on the way to talk to me. I knew at that point, something was wrong. I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and that I would be monitored for at least 24 hours and then I might be able to go home on bedrest. I also had to get a steroid shot to help my daughter’s lungs develop since there was a high chance she would be born prematurely.

I was admitted to the hospital, still in my work scrubs with no hospital bag packed because I thought I had 2 more months. When my results came back, the protein in my urine was too high to go home and I would be staying on hospital bed rest until my daughter was born. It was during Covid-19 restriction times, so I could only have one visitor a day- my husband, so it was lonely being there for so many days. On day 6 of being the in the hospital, I started experiencing more preeclampsia symptoms, with a headache that wouldn’t go away and increasing blood pressure; it was severe at this point. My induction was started and I was placed on a magnesium sulfate drip. Being on the mag drip made my whole body feel on fire. I was confined to the bed, unable to get up at all and had to have hourly blood pressure and reflex checks. I had fortunately quick labor and delivery. Being the mag drip, made my head so foggy, I can barely remember those 48 hours.

Once my daughter was born, the NICU team jumped in to make sure she was okay. I was briefly able to see her face and then she was whisked off to the NICU, with my husband going with her and I wouldn’t see her again for another 26 hours. I had to stay confined to bed on the mag drip for another 24 hours, unable to eat or get much sleep. While also trying to figure out how to pump for the first time, relying on my husband to hold the pump against me as I could barely lift my arms.

I was in the hospital for 3 days after that as I healed. I had to be on blood pressure medications for 6 weeks postpartum and it took almost a week for all the swelling to go down. My daughter spent 27 long days in the NICU, needing ventilator support for several days, oxygen, and having to learn how to eat. It was so hard to leave her every time I had to leave. She is now a thriving and healthy 2-year-old. It’s amazing how far she has come from her 4 lb 14oz preemie to an active toddler.

I dealt with postpartum depression and continue now with medications and counseling, which have helped me come a long way. Another thing that has helped was connecting with moms that have had similar experiences and learning more about what I went through. That has led me to getting involved with the 140/90 Run and Momma’s Voices as a Patient Family Partner.