I was 34 weeks pregnant when I arrived at the ER wanting some relief from the kidney stone pain that had started a few hours earlier. I also had a headache and lower extremity edema but I thought that was just a normal part of my high-risk pregnancy (I have other health conditions). My systolic blood pressure was 210 and all of the sudden I became a very popular person. The ER was focusing on the kidney stone (verified by ultrasound) and had paged OB. Once OB heard about me I was rushed from the ER to L&D triage. My liver enzymes had come back elevated and my platelets were only 17,000 so I needed an emergency C-section under general anesthesia because of the thrombocytopenia. I thought about the birth plan that I had typed and printed out and how this was literally the exact opposite, but it was what needed to be done to save both me and my baby. He was in the NICU and I was in the ICU so we didn’t actually get to meet on the day he was born. That was March 26, 2025 and now in a few days I will get to spend his first birthday with him! I brushed off the headache and edema that were early symptoms of preeclampsia and I rapidly progressed to HELLP syndrome so the fact that I came to the ER when I did-for the kidney stone-is what my OB and I agree saved my life. Because I was already in the hospital my medical team was able to act quickly and now both me and my baby boy are here today, happy and healthy!