I had preeclampsia in one form or another three times. The first time, I was 23, single and broke. I didn't know what was wrong, just that I needed to stay in bed, on my left side, for six weeks. When the baby was born, I was all too happy to be on my feet and rid of preeclampsia.

Six years later, married and working, I had a healthy, normal second pregnancy. All the books on pregnancy said preeclampsia mostly occurs in first pregnancies, and since I didn't have it in the second, I knew I would never have to worry about it again.

I was wrong. During the delivery of my third child, my blood pressure soared and I had to have an emergency C-section. After a three-day hospital stay, I was sent home to care for my baby and two older children. My blood pressure was still elevated, but the doctors didn't seem concerned, and I knew that preeclampsia resolved after the baby was born, so I wasn't concerned. I was wrong again.

Two days post-partum I began to experience horrible pain under my right rib, and my right shoulder was so painful I couldn't nurse on my right side. The Percoset I'd been prescribed for my C-section barely touched the shoulder pain. A week post-partum a public health nurse came by and my blood pressure was 180/120. She immediately called my doctor and they readmitted me to the hospital. My blood pressure fluctuated wildly, I was having horrible night sweats, with continued pain. The doctor who delivered my baby came to see me and looked annoyed. She told me there was nothing wrong with me and released me the following day. My regular doctor argued to keep me, but was overruled. At 5'2" and normally 135 lbs., I weighed over 200 lbs. a week after having the baby. I gradually got better, though the night sweats continued for two weeks and my blood pressure stayed high for six.

I needed to know what was wrong, what had happened to me, so I took to the Internet and typed in "preeclampsia + shoulder pain" and the page started spilling out the word HELLP HELLP HELLP. I clicked on the first site and read, and as I read, I cried. Here was the explanation for what had happened to me. To confirm it, I ordered my hospital records and carefully compared the criteria for HELLP against them. I had had HELLP. I had been lucky. In the worst cases, the blood won't clot and the mother bleeds to death, or she loses her baby. I didn't have anything nearly so traumatic. Still, when my son's first birthday arrived, I couldn't bring myself to celebrate it. It was not a day I wanted to remember.

When I learned we were expecting our fourth child, I was scared to death. I found the best doctor I could and was his worst nightmare—I came with medical textbooks, a long list of questions and called for every single last cramp and twitch. I charted my daily blood pressure, bought reagent strips to test for proteinuria, and two different types of blood pressure monitors. It would be an understatement to say I was obsessed.

The pregnancy went well—I did develop preeclampsia, but because of the proactive care I received, and the early delivery of my son (my 4th!), I was fine and he was fine. We know how lucky we are—lucky to have had access to care and information, lucky to know what went wrong and what to watch for, lucky for my health, for my sons. I know many women who have not been so lucky.

The morning I had my fourth, a planned C-section, I lay in the hospital, hooked up and ready to go, when my doctor informed that I would have to wait five hours. A woman delivering triplets was taking up the operating room. It had taken my nurse six tries to get the IV hooked up to me, and I didn't relish the idea of staying hooked up for hours, but I also didn't want to have them poke me again. And finally, I was just plain scared. The nurse had told me my blood tests were getting worse and I wanted the baby out. So, I jokingly said, "Tell that woman with the triplets to hurry up—there's a line out here." The doctor shook his head and said, "I don't think so…she's losing three babies today." She was 25 weeks pregnant and had preeclampsia. I was lucky and I know that.

People will tell you, no matter what your experience, that you should move on, that you are lucky, that your pain and fear wasn't that bad. We believe that no one should have to go through a traumatic birth experience, lose their baby, or lose the mother of their children. We believe that by taking on this cause, we are moving on.