I had a very uneventful pregnancy. An avid runner, I was putting in 9-20 miles a week still, up until my 35th week when the pelvic pressure just got to be too much. Being pregnant during the height of COVID meant very few OB appointments. I saw my doctor just 4 times before I delivered, but I had a BP cuff at home, so regularly monitored myself and had no issues. My BP was very consistently in the 120s/70s.

Then at 37w 6d, I suddenly felt very off one day, and that night I checked my BP and found it was up to 150s/90s. I called the hospital and they said to pack a bag and come in. It was determined that I did not have preeclampsia, but because I had developed gestational hypertension and was just about 38 weeks, my doctors felt induction was best. The process was very slow moving, and my BP remained elevated throughout, but 2 days later I delivered a healthy baby boy. We spent 2 more nights in the hospital, giving baby some time under the blue lights to help with a little jaundice, and my BP was back to normal. I was sent home on a Friday with strict instructions to monitor for signs of high BP, and with a plan for a visiting nurse to come the next week.

On Saturday, I developed a terrible pain under my ribs, but postpartum aches and pains were my reality, so I didn’t think too much into it. Sunday night a very serious headache set in, followed by blurred vision. I took my BP again and it was in the 170s/90s, so once again, we headed back to the hospital. I was readmitted, and put on a 24hr magnesium drip plus a cocktail of BP meds.

After 5 days, my BP was still uncontrolled (regularly reading in 150s/90s) even while taking a mix of labetalol, enalapril, and nifedipine. I checked out of the hospital with clearance from my doctor who knew that I was proactive about BP monitoring, but against the wishes of another OB who’d been treating me that week. Over the course of the first month home, I slowly was able to wean off most meds, but I’m 6 months PP now and just recently have stopped the labetalol altogether, and I’m still consistently in the 130s/70s. With everything else going on in those first few weeks of being a new mom, this experience was absolutely terrifying for me. I just wanted my body, that I take such good care of, to be strong for me so that I could care for my sleepy little early term baby. I felt overwhelmed by the fear that my health was so far out of my own control. I was so lucky to have top medical care, but I feel for all of the mamas out there who experience postpartum preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders in pregnancy!