I would actually say I had a fairly straight forward pregnancy. After my 12 week scan I was told I had Low PAPP-A, which can increase the risk of babies born small, and pre eclampsia. As I have a normal BMI, and I’m not over 35 I thought that this wouldn’t affect me.

We had extra growth scans throughout the pregnancy and were told that our baby was measuring small, but this wasn’t a worry for us.

Everything seemed to be going as it should be until I was 33 weeks pregnant. I looked at my feet which were insanely swollen. Tom could indent hand prints into them. I knew something wasn’t right.

It was confirmed I had pre eclampsia just after midnight at 33+2 weeks. Within a matter of hours our story changed from potentially delivering our baby at 38/39 weeks to the possibility of delivering that day due to how severe my pre eclampsia progressed.

I couldn’t stop my body from shaking, I felt like I was fitting and on the verge of having a seizure. At one stage there was 7 medical professionals in the room, I was given a push dose of magnesium sulphate to prevent a seizure. Tom had to put a bag of ice on my chest and one of the last things I remember was shouting “I’m on fire!”

I was then only allowed to drink 50ml of water an hour as I was told my kidneys were failing.

There were many times that night I was scared for both mine and our babies life and wondered if we would both make it.

Our little girl was delivered by emergency c section at 33+4 weeks. I stayed on the delivery suite for a further 48 hours so they could keep a close eye on me. I was also still on an IV drip of magnesium sulphate and having endless blood tests, along with my kidneys failing.

I felt that I had failed my baby. My body had failed my baby.

Our little girl Agnes, was born weighing just 3lb 2oz and spent 27 days in the neonatal unit.

Pre eclampsia is the scariest thing I ever experienced and wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

I hope I can help just one person by sharing my story and raising awareness. Trust your instincts, even if you have one symptom get checked out. My only warning sign was swollen feet, which had happened regularly in my third trimester but when it reached another level I knew I had to get checked out.

I am so grateful that we both made it through this experience.