February 04, 2025 By Mariah Flint
I was anxious throughout my pregnancy, morning sickness was intense, lasting all day and night. At 14 weeks, my blood pressure was elevated (150/90), but the doctor attributed it to stress and the growing baby, however, I continued to experience high blood pressure, along with negative vision changes, abdominal pain, chest pain, severe headaches, and severe vomiting. I visited the hospital, but was turned away due to pandemic restrictions, I was dismissed with the explanation that my baby's head was too big, which was causing my symptoms, unconvinced, I returned home. As I approached 20 weeks, my symptoms worsened. I returned to the hospital, where my blood pressure was 154/90. Despite this, I was told I had bad reflux and possibly a viral infection. I demanded further testing and answers but was sent home. A few weeks later, I returned to the hospital and underwent more comprehensive testing, the results showed that my placenta wasn't functioning properly. I was hospitalized, given medication, and sent home a few days later, however, my condition didn't improve. I visited a recommended doctor, who immediately recognized my symptoms as severe preeclampsia. I was rushed to the hospital, where I underwent hours of testing, my blood pressure was alarmingly high, the diagnosis confirmed severe preeclampsia, abnormal liver function (ALF), and an increased risk of eclampsia. Doctors decided to induce labor immediately due to the severity of my condition, however, the midwives attempted to delay the birth past 36 weeks, as my baby was small and my placenta was functioning poorly, after five days of constant symptoms and bleeding, I underwent emergency induction. The birth was traumatic, my baby was breech, and I required forceps and an episiotomy. My baby was resuscitated after delivery and had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice. After delivery, I experienced immediate postpartum hypertension, losing consciousness repeatedly, I also quickly developed postpartum preeclampsia. My baby was taken to the NICU, where he received treatment for extremely low blood sugars, low vitamin D, low oxygen, jaundice, and restricted growth. Now I deeply regret not taking many photos of our journey, but I couldn't come together with all the cords and the way he looked, I didn't take any photos until most of the cords came off. We both stayed in the hospital, and I continued to receive treatment for my hypertension. When I and my baby's condition improved, and we were eventually discharged from the hospital. However, my baby struggled with eating, growth restrictions, severe reflux, and colic, leading to weight loss. We worked with a healthcare team for six months to address these issues. Eventually, my baby's health improved, and he began to thrive. Myself continued to have postpartum preeclampsia for 8 weeks after delivery.
My perfect daughter, Katie, gave birth to her first child just eight days before she passed away due to postpartum complications. Her deliver...
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