My pregnancy with my daughter started out pretty typical - I experienced morning sickness (basically all day sickness) for the whole first trimester. Nothing too significant happened in the second tri, except my weight gain was pretty slow. Since I started out pregnancy a little big overweight my doctor was not concerned about the lack of weight gain or the size of my daughter.

When I was about 32 weeks my doctor began to show concern over my blood pressure rising. I didn't think much of it because I wasn't told about the effects high blood pressure can cause in pregnancy. I was prescribed a blood pressure cuff to take home with me and told to take it morning and night. If my pressure ever got above 140/90 I needed to go to my doctor's office, if it was opened right away or if it was not to go straight to L&D. I was never explained why or what 140/90 actually meant. I didn't think much of it and just thought checking my blood pressure was just another thing I had to do before and after work. One morning before I went to work I hit 140/90. After calling my husband and my parents I went straight to my doctor's office.

Once I got there, I had to wait for a long time to be seen. I then ended up seeing a doctor I hadn't seen before who took my blood pressure several times manually and with a cuff. He then explained that he thought I had gestational hypertension and I would began to be monitored very closely. I was set home with an appointment for a few days later. At that appointment there were a lot of blood draws and ultrasounds. I was scheduled for more appointments so I could be closely watched. But I was never explained the seriousness of high blood pressure.

At one of my appointments at 33 weeks I was sent straight to the hospital for a 24 hour urine analysis. That hospital stay turned into a 3 day stay because of my blood pressure. My doctor was trying out different dosage of medications to try and get my blood pressure stable. I was also given steroid shots to help develop my daughters lungs if she were to be born early. I was released on day 3 on strict bedrest and told if my blood pressure ever got to be at certain levels I had call the on call nurse. Almost every day until delivery I had to call because I would reach a new blood pressure and my medication would be increased.

Once I reached 35 weeks and 3 days my blood pressure could no longer be controlled and I was sent to the hospital to deliver. I was 3-4 cm dilated and was having steady contractions. My doctor broke my water to further progress labor. I was hooked up to magnesium and got an epidural. I labored for a few hours before things turned worse. My blood pressure was high. And my baby's heartrate was decelerating. A c-section was decided and then preformed. My daughter was immediately given to the NICU team as soon as she was born. She was 4 pounds and 17 inches. I don't remember much and I'm not sure if my memory is fuzzy due to the trauma I experienced or all the medication I was on. After birth I was taken to the recovery room and I was on magnesium for another 27 hours. As soon as I was able to get off magnesium I was able to go see my baby in the NICU. I didn't meet her until 27 hours after birth. That moment of being able to meet by baby after birth was taken away from me by preeclampsia. I spent 6 days in the hospital due to my high blood pressure. I had multiple tests and blood draws.I also had lots of fluid in my lungs so I had an EKG and an x-ray done. I was released on blood pressure medication and now, 2 years out, I do not have any high blood pressure problems. My daughter was in the NICU for 15 days. She was diagnosed with IUGR after birth and struggled for a while with developmental delays, but today she is just like any other 2 year old. But we got lucky.