I got pregnant for my first baby at 25. My husband and I were so excited. The beginning of the pregnancy was what they describe as normal. Extreme nausea, not being able to hold anything down and mood swings. During my first and second trimester I was going through a lot of personal issues. My father was sick and passing away of cancer, and my job was beginning to be hard on my body making it harder to get out of bed. My father passed away when I was 22 weeks pregnant. I am sure there was a lot of emotional stress on my body during that time.

Shortly after that is when I started having more issues with my pregnancy. I was in pain everyday. I was beginning to swell, mostly in just my legs and feet. I had a demanding job that required me to be up and down all day. Lots of moving and bending and some lifting. My swelling was getting worse by the week and every Dr. appointment I had I expressed concerns over my pain and swelling and i was told it was just part of being pregnant. Being in so much pain I would just lay on the couch crying everyday after work. My midwife had suggested I sit at a lower desk and try to keep my feet up and take some slack off my body, but my job wasn't willing to let me do that everyday during the week. I also felt like my concerns weren’t being heard at my doctors office. I saw a Dr. 1 time during my pregnancy and that was after my anatomy scan. Otherwise, I saw a midwife who was also a licensed NP at my OBGYN.

When I was 33 weeks pregnant my swelling and pain became unbearable. My feet were so swollen, none of my shoes fit. My back and legs hurt to the point that I could barely walk. Mind you I was still working full time Monday-Friday. I started to have swelling in my face and my hands. I had a routine follow up appointment with my midwife the week I turned 33 weeks. I was told during that appointment I did have a small trace of protein in my urine, but they weren’t concerned. I had all of the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia at that point and was still being ignored. My appointment was on a Thursday afternoon, and that following Monday I ended up in the ER with a BP of 150/86. I was immediately admitted and monitored. I was one day from being 34 weeks. My local hospital is not equipped for medical emergency births and does not have a nicu station, so I was transferred to a trauma center a little over an hour away from my home. It was the most traumatic birth I could’ve imagined. My body did not want to go into labor so they forced it. I was in labor for 25 hours before I started pushing. I was able to have a vaginal birth like I wanted, but that came with extreme trauma and a lot of stitches from internal ripping. They couldn’t get my folley balloon placed and tried 5 times. That pain is something I can’t even describe. My epidural also wore off right before I started pushing due to me being on Pitocin and magnesium. So I essentially gave birth all natural.

After giving birth, my baby was taken to the nicu and I was unable to get out of bed for a full 24 hours after. So I didn’t get to fully hold my baby until she was already a day old. That was heartbreak like no other. I was in the hospital for a full 7 days from start to finish. My daughter spent 5 days in the nicu. After returning home I was still experiencing postpartum preeclampsia so I was back and forth to the dr a lot and on medication. I eventually was able to stop the medication after a month or two and my body went back to “normal”. All of my issues I feel were 100% avoidable if I was just listened to and my pain was taken more seriously. How my local OBGYN and ER handled the situation was not okay and negligent in my eyes. No one knows your body better than you do and it’s sad that women are not believed until something extreme or bad happens. Going through this experience has made me have my doubts about future pregnancies. I hope my story can help other women.