The week leading up to my diagnosis, I was having minor headaches and slight swelling. I chopped the headaches up to the wildfires and smoky weather and thought who isn’t slightly swollen in their third trimester, especially in the summer. He was moving normal. I wasn’t having any abdominal pain. I wasn’t seeing spots. I had no signs other than a headache, which wasn’t uncommon during my pregnancy and a little swelling in my feet. I worked a full day, drank extra water and took a Tylenol for my head, which made it feel better. I didn’t reach out to my doctor because I had my 35 week check up that afternoon. After work, my husband met me and we went to the doctors office. The doctor was over an hour late so we were the last ones in the lobby. I was so enraged. I was minutes away from walking out of the lobby and going home. I finally got taken back to a room where they took my blood pressure. It was 165/105. My husband looked at me and told me to calm down because we were going to see the doctor soon. At that point, I wasn’t mad though, and I didn’t know what he was talking about because I hadn’t seen my blood pressure. The medical assistant said it was slightly elevated, so she thought it would be a good idea to take it again. It was 166/105 this time. The doctor came in, asked me about my symptoms, which I felt nothing. He he used a Doppler and found the heartbeat just fine, but said he wanted to admit me for further testing. I met the on-call OB and was sent upstairs which terrified me. In the elevator on the way up, I had a contraction. Not a Braxton Hicks, but a true contraction which shocked me because I hadn’t had one until I got in the elevator. By the time I got upstairs and admitted my blood pressure was 199/110. They got me hooked up to everything and had medication flowing immediately. My blood test were normal. Kidney function was normal. But the protein in my urine was incredibly high. I was immediately diagnosed with preeclampsia with severe features and was told I would be induced. I labored for 25 hours with a couple more complications. I got an epidural when I was 6 cm because my blood pressure started to get too high again. My son was born and immediately taken to the Nicu because the magnesium made it difficult for him to breathe, and he was premature. He was in the Nicu for a week. I was monitored for three days in the hospital and continued taking medication for six weeks. I still occasionally have spikes in my blood pressure where I feel noticeably unwell. The day I was diagnosed, my team of doctors and nurses worked calmly and quickly to address every complication and issue I had they explained everything step-by-step and continued to make me as comfortable as possible. It was terrifying, but it was caught just in time.