During my 1st pregnancy, I was nervous throughout as it took several years to get pregnant, and we were finally successful with IVF. The pregnancy went surprisingly well and delivered a healthy baby girl by scheduled induction at 40.5 weeks. It all started 6 days after I gave birth. I was home and getting ready to go to bed as my husband unfortunately had to return to work the next day. I was just not feeling well and thought that I was bleeding heavier than usual. I had been monitoring my blood pressure throughout the pregnancy, but the thought to check it at that time did not occur to me since I had already delivered. I had remembered what a nurse told me at discharge to call your OB if you didn’t feel right so I did just that. The OB on call told me to go to the ER because of the bleeding, which seemed excessive to me at that time, so I did just that. I went to the ER and much to my surprise they were so obsessed with my blood pressure. I remember telling the doctor at one point just send me home with some blood pressure meds if it is so high, but I am concerned with the bleeding. The ER doc blatantly told me that if I send you home, you will die. I was shocked at how serious the blood pressure issue was because I had known about preeclampsia but didn’t realize it could be serious after birth. I found out at one point; my blood pressure was 205/110 in the ER.

At that point, I was admitted to the hospital for the postpartum preeclampsia treatment. The mag sulfate drip was terrible and the severe headache that I developed was something that I never wanted to experience again. The hospital staff was wonderful and knowledgeable about the condition. Luckily, I only had to stay a few days and then was discharged home to my baby on blood pressure medication. I went home still feeling off. I knew I had a rough birth. I was induced, but they had to use forceps to get the baby out and then she got stuck. Everything turned out fine but she was a whooping 10.3 pounds!

A year later, I began IVF again. I was closely monitored like before and even more since all the risk factors. Again, the pregnancy went well with no blood pressure issues. I delivered via a c-section this time due baby size. I went to my scheduled OB appointment about a week after hospital discharge and everything was great. My blood pressure was 120/66! I had a new OB and switched hospitals, but he had known fully about my postpartum preeclampsia.

I started feeling off again. It was 13 days after delivery so I took my blood pressure. It was 182/108. I remember thinking not again! I knew that postpartum preeclampsia was already rare and getting it again was extremely rare.

I arrived at the hospital, they immediately took me to triage and took my blood pressure several times. The nurse didn’t want to tell me what it was, but I had found out it was 180/105. I went back into the ER, and they started the postpartum preeclampsia protocol. This was a different hospital than my first, but both were very knowledgeable.

I was admitted and started on the magnesium drip again, I knew the drill and was dreading everything. I hated having to lie in bed, hooked up to everything, getting a catheter in and not being able to eat for at least 24 hours. Then, the dreaded headache hit me. This time the hospital had consults from neurology and cardiology along with my normal OB. I was lucky that nothing was more serious or permanent. I was sent home several days later on blood pressure medication. I still couldn’t believe I had postpartum preeclampsia two times and my OB was shocked too. I will never forget what the 1st ER doctor told me when I wanted to go home that evening. If you go home, you will die. Your daughter will NOT have a mother. I am happy that I live in an area where preeclampsia is widely known by the medical staff. I often wonder how many women and babies have died because preeclampsia was overlooked. I am happy to be here today with my girls!