May 15, 2024 is a day I will never forget. I had a routine prenatal appointment that day and at this appointment I was going to bring up my concerns with swelling that I had been experiencing lately. Provided a sample of urine like always and then my vitals were checked. When the nurse checked my blood pressure, I had a feeling something might be wrong because she used the automatic machine and then switched to the manual cuff. I was told to wait in the room for my doctor. She came in and said my blood pressure was high and that I had protein in my urine so I am showing signs of preeclampsia but I need to go straight to the hospital to get checked. Got to the hospital and got checked into triage and from there things moved very quickly. While I was in triage my blood pressure was 176/120 and was checked again a few minutes later and was then 181/98. I also had blood drawn. The nurse spoke with the doctor on call and it was decided I need to deliver as soon as possible. I got in a room and was immediately prepped for a c section. I found out then that I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. With that being the case I had to be put to sleep for my c section. I delivered my baby at 32 weeks pregnant so he did have to be in the NICU. I had my appointment around 11-12 and had my baby at 3:52pm so I had no time to really process what was going on and I was so nervous and scared for my health and my baby. I stayed in the hospital for 5 days and slowly the swelling went down. I was discharged with blood pressure medicine. At the time when I was in triage, I had no symptoms of high blood pressure. I felt completely normal(besides the swelling). I’m just forever grateful to the care team at the hospital and my doctor for being proactive and keeping me and my baby safe.