My first pregnancy went as well as anyone can hope for. My labor and delivery lasted 6 hours with no complications. I do not remember anyone checking my BP after my baby was born.

The day they discharged me, I had pretty bad swelling in my feet, but the nurses said that was normal. 

Five days after my son was born, the swelling was getting worse. My face and lips were starting to swell. My SIL, who actually lost her baby to HELLP, suggested I check my BP. I was never told that preeclampsia could happen after you had a baby. My BP was 210/118.

My husband rushed me to the hospital. I knew it was bad when the waiting room at the ER was packed, and they rushed me back with no wait time. I was hooked up to a mag drip for 24 hrs to prevent seizures. My liver was also starting to fail. It took over a week to get my BP back to a safe range. The OB at the hospital told me I would've likely died from a stroke that night in my sleep if I hadn't gone to the hospital. She also suggested that I not have anymore children.

Luckily when my 2nd child was born, I knew there was a chance I would have postpartum preeclampsia again. The hospital monitored my BP after my baby was born, and it was creeping up. I left the hospital with a antihypertensive prescription, and I was able to keep it down without having to go back to the hospital.

I now suggest to all my friends to keep an eye on their BP after having a baby, because I would never want anyone else to go through what I did after my first baby was born.