I found out in March 2023 that I was pregnant, I was a little surprised, but nonetheless, so incredibly excited about the future. At my 12 week appointment, I had elevated blood pressure, and I’ve never had high BP before. I was put on baby aspirin immediately. At my 14 week appointment, I still had elevated BP, so I began keeping a log at home, because I knew it was never that high. We did this for the rest of my pregnancy. My BP was always elevated, but never went above 140s systolic. Until 34 weeks. As soon as that happened, my nurse midwife ordered labs. Everything was normal, so I continued with my regular care. At my 35 week appointment my BP was high, so I was started on labetalol 2x/day. My first NST that week was perfect. At exactly 36 weeks, I had another NST which was fine, but my BP was still very elevated, my CNM sent us to triage so that labs could be drawn and resulted STAT. My urine protein was elevated but just under diagnostic criteria, so I was sent home. At 36 weeks and 5 days, same thing. I had an appointment scheduled for 37w1d and I requested to have my labs drawn that morning so we could set an induction date. We did that, and my CNM recommended induction that day. I officially had preeclampsia. We went home, packed our things, had lunch and then headed back to the hospital. We started the induction with a cervical ripening pill. The first four hours I didn’t really feel anything. The second four hours I felt slight cramping but still nothing severe. The 3rd four hours I was getting pretty uncomfortable, but I didn’t really feel in pain yet. My resident came in and said we would hold off on another round of cytotec and we wouldn’t start pitocin because I seemed to be handling some really strong contractions on my own. I needed to move L&D rooms because they were going to close the room I was in the next day. So the nurses packed my things and wheeled me to a new room. On the way there I was dizzy, and freezing cold, shaking so hard and then I vomited. I asked for a dose of pain meds because even though my uterine contractions gave me rest between, my pelvic floor refused to relax. This was 5:30am and I was at 3cm. An hour later my RN asked to check me again because baby’s heart rate was looking a little concerning. She checked and I was 100% effaced and at 9cm. We were all in complete shock. Then things moved so fast, and people swarmed my room. There were 2 residents, an attending, CNM, L&D nurses and the NICU team on standby. At 7 they asked to break my water because they could see baby’s head and the water was so thin, I said yes. There was never time for an epidural because my platelet levels had been steadily dropping. Baby arrived at 7:35am. She was perfect, and beautiful. We waited my entire pregnancy to find out whether we were having a girl or a boy, and I’ll never forget my husband announcing to the room that I had just delivered our girl. The NICU team took her, but kept her in the room and helped her breathe. Her first scream was an amazing sound. Once she was cleared, they put her on my chest while they began my repair, which took nearly an hour. This was just the beginning. I learned during my stay that i hemorrhaged during delivery and lost nearly a liter of blood. My BP refused to decrease no matter how much medication they gave me. 4 days after delivery I had to go on the magnesium sulfate drip for 24 hours. It was such an awful feeling. But I kept having to tell myself that my medical team is making sure my baby has her mama. After a full week in the hospital we finally went home, but I was taking 6 BP pills per day. By 8 weeks pp I am down to 1 pill per day. I didn’t know much about preeclampsia but now I know so much more, and I have such a desire to make this better for moms. This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through, but I’m thankful for my family and for my medical team who fought to keep me safe.