It was my first pregnancy. I read the book what to expect when expecting I thought I knew everything. I gained probably about 60 or 70 pounds which was a lot from my 120 pound body at the time. At one or two OB appointments my doctor said my blood pressure was, “a little high“ and she had me lay in the dark on my side until it was better. Fast forward to delivery Day, July 10, 1994. When I checked in at the hospital, I have no idea what my blood pressure was but there was protein in my urine. I had no idea what that meant. I tried pushing for about 18 hours, and wound up having a C-section. I was taking to a room for a recovery with a nurse sitting at my feet and a blanket that was attached to a big blow dryer to keep me warm. I remember feeling the squeeze of the blood pressure cuff and I looked up and saw Numbers I have never seen before. I thought the cuff was broken. I received an IV of Magnesium which burned one at one in. And I heard my doctor whispered to the nurse, “Come get me if anything changes.” I later learned I was in maternity ICU. I have developed a couple of cardiovascular issues. One of them is orthostatic hypertension. I also had a cerebral aneurysm and have a stent in my brain. I didn’t know how serious preeclampsia was, but I do now and I’m going to make my sure my daughter knows when she decides to have a baby I also gave my daughters, good friend a blood pressure cuff the day. She came home with her baby last month.