May 05, 2026 By Shannon Fiorita
I knew the symptoms from my first pregnancy with my singleton. So on November 29th 2025 at 10:05pm I was not surprised when the blood pressure machine said 178/114. I was only 32 weeks pregnant with twin baby girls. I drove myself to the ER during a snowstorm being hopeful I would be able to go home in a couple hours.
That was definitely not the case. I was transferred to a hospital with a level 3 NICU and was admitted to the high risk maternity ward. I spent the next 9 days there leaving my husband and daughter at home that was an hour away. We scheduled my C-section for the day I hit 34 weeks.
The day came, surgery went without complications but there I was staring at a stark white ceiling listening to myself being stitched up while my tiny 4.2 and 4.7 pound babies be rolled away in plastic boxes to the NICU. I returned to the high risk maternity ward where I spent the next 24 hours hooked up to a magnesium drip while by babies were one floor away waiting to meet their mom. We’re lucky both babies were healthy (baby A had a fetal growth restriction but she was okay just a little smaller) just needed time to grow and learn how to take a bottle. I didn’t get to give them their first bottle, their first bath, or even be the first person to hold them. I spent the next thirty days driving an hour each way to the nicu and back home. Leaving my three year old to be watched by everyone but me.
Preeclampsia stole 2 pregnancy experiences and a postpartum with babies at home from me. I can never get those moments back and I grieve them everyday. I think I’ll be sad about the moments I didn’t get to have for the rest of my life.
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