Today we are sharing Josie's story as a baby from a #HELLP pregnancy. Josie was born at 32 weeks at 3 lb 2 oz and she competed in the Miss Illinois Teen USA Pageant in May 2022. She decided to pick the Preeclampsia Foundation as her platform. We are so excited to share her voice and story.

Josie writes, "My name is Josie Smith, and my mother is Jeannette Smith who experienced preeclampsia and HELLP while giving birth to me. To give a little background, I am a sophomore in high school and was born at 3 pounds 2 ounces. My mother was 31 at the time of giving birth and this was her second pregnancy. At her weekly checkup, (she was 32 weeks along at the time) they had found her blood pressure was very high. So, with concern they checked her protein levels, and they also found these levels were extremely high. They told her she had to be checked in and would be having me! This was a very scary time for our family, as she had been feeling completely fine and was totally not expecting to hear this. She was induced and the next day gave birth to me. She continued to experience complications during and after the birth, and they determined she had HELLP (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets). Meanwhile, I was taken into the NICU. I didn’t get to be with my mom like a normal birthing experience. My mom quickly started to decline, and her organs started to shut down. Thankfully, she had an amazing team of doctors and nurses that knew how to treat her symptoms. I was in the NICU for actually a very short amount of time, only 2 weeks! I was the smallest baby to go home from Trinity at that time. I was just under 4 pounds. My mom started to recover slowly and after several days was finally able to hold me. Was the best day for her! We can’t thank our team of doctors, nurses, and staff enough! We are both here, due to them!

I feel very blessed, and I now have one amazing mom. They told my family that I may have mental and physical delays. Thankfully, I didn’t experience either! I have beat the unexpected and now am one of the top students in my class. I am also doing something that I would have never expected to do. I am competing in the Miss Illinois Teen USA Pageant this May; this will be my first pageant. I decided to pick my platform, The Preeclampsia Foundation as this holds a special place in our hearts. I want to build more awareness of Preeclampsia, as so many women continue to experience this terrible condition. My aunt and family friends have their own stories of this as well. The Preeclampsia Foundation’s purpose is to improve the outcomes of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy by educating, supporting, and engaging the community, improving healthcare practices, and finding a cure. Let’s help them find this cure!"

#preeclampsia #hellpsyndrome #nicubaby #nicubabythriving #preemie #missteenusa