“You had preeclampsia postpartum? I didn’t know that could happen.” That is what I heard out of everybody’s mouth who was told that I had postpartum preeclampsia. I still remember to this day, sitting on my couch, reading the pamphlet that I was given at discharged, but nobody reviewed with me. I was sitting there waiting for my mom to bring me dinner and to come meet my baby for the first time. I remember sitting on that couch eating dinner and all of a sudden I felt like I was going to pass out. I looked down and noticed that my ankles were as big as my thighs and after obtaining my blood pressure cuff, I instantly checked my blood pressure for an abnormally high reading. After consulting with my doctor, I was to return to the labor and delivery floor after being discharged for only one day. Upon arrival to the hospital and making it up to the ninth floor, I was only told then that I had to go down to the ER and be triaged there instead of the labor and delivery floor. At this point, I started crying as I felt like death was near. I remember just thinking to myself I could barely make it to the ninth floor, how am I supposed to make it all the way back down to go to the ER? After arrival to the ER and being seen instantly with a higher reading, lab work was taken, an EKG was done and I was instantly being admitted back to labor and delivery. Another question that burns in the back of my mind if the doctor is sitting there looking at me saying “you have postpartum preeclampsia we need to administer magnesium have you ever had magnesium? Do you know the side effects?” I’ve heard about the symptoms but truthfully, I don’t remember them. And all I remember after that is him saying you’ll feel like you are burning in hell. For a day straight he was absolutely right I felt like I was burning in hell, and the devil was coming out of me as I was told that my newborn baby could not be with me. I felt like my world was crumbling down, only four days postpartum.

Nobody informed me that this was a potential risk factor to having a baby. Nobody ever educated me. If it wasn’t for me sitting and reading a pamphlet because I was bored and had the time, I would have never even known that this was a possibility. Education about postpartum preeclampsia is slim to none, there needs to be more awareness.