My husband and I were out of town with another couple when the wife, who worked in a heart clinic, noticed my VERY swollen ankles. I was 27 weeks pregnant. Once we got home I started tracking my blood pressure, and by midway through week 28 I had gone to the hospital twice due to high blood pressure and officially diagnosed with mild preeclampsia. Towards the end of week 29 I was admitted to the hospital due to concerning symptoms, started on a magnesium drip, and re-diagnosed with severe preeclampsia. The goal was to keep me in the hospital get to 34 weeks gestation and deliver at that time. My body had a different plan however. At 30 weeks 1 day I stopped responding to blood pressure medication and was started on another magnesium drip. Over the course of the first few hours I noticed I was having a harder and harder time breathing. Fast forward to around 5:00 AM and I’m getting a CT with contrast, which led to us discovering that lungs were filling with fluid. Because of this, my medical team moved forward with an emergency c-section, and my daughter was delivered around 9:30 AM that day. I was then sent to the ICU for 24 hours before being sent back to the L&D postpartum ward. My baby then spent 10 weeks in the NICU. Fast forward to now, and she’s 16 months old and absolutely thriving. As terrifying as everything was, I’m forever grateful for my friend who noticed something and said something, as well as my medical team for listening and stepping up when needed.