I knew that I didn’t want to catch Covid but I had no clue why. I knew that I was at a higher risk of preeclampsia but I had no clue what the final trigger would be. I wish I had been much more closely monitored once I tested positive.

I have high functioning anxiety. It makes status quo easier than change. My husband and I knew we wanted to be married and knew we wanted kids, we just never acted on it. Finally, in 2023 we got married and at age 44 I stopped birth control. I didn’t expect much but I knew I would regret not trying. A little over a year later, at age 45, I finally was able to naturally conceive and I didn’t miscarry.

The pregnancy was rough. I was so queasy that I rarely left my bed. I developed gestational diabetes. After getting that under control, I started to feel better. We were limiting our outings and frequently I was in an n95-equivalent mask. At the beginning of my third trimester, my husband had a birthday gathering of five people at a local board game store. I was feeling really queasy and almost threw up. My blood sugar had spiked. We went to a private room and I took off my mask to control the nausea. I suspect this was the beginning of the end of our pregnancy journey. Three days later I woke with a stuffy nose. I really didn’t think much of it but I tested anyway. The solution hadn’t even gotten to the control line and the positive was showing. Within hours my OB had started me on Paxlovid. Between my age, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, a history of pulmonary embolism, Factor V Leiden, and third trimester pregnancy I was very high risk. By that evening I was running a high fever, aching, had a horrible sore throat, couldn’t keep food down, had a mild cough, and was exhausted.

Nine days later I was still very sick. I dragged myself to my NST appointment. The pregnancy was great- mama, not so much. My blood pressure had been fine the day before but on the day of my test it was now in preeclampsia range. I was sent to labor and delivery. They started an IV and gave me steroids for our daughter’s lungs. They did an ultrasound and began planning for a 32 week C-section to deliver our daughter who was in a breach position. I was admitted at 6:30 PM for observation. My kidney and liver function tests were awful. My oxygen levels were dropping. I found out Covid had caused parts of my lungs to collapse. I was presumed to be developing HELLP syndrome and definitely had severe preeclampsia. I was started on magnesium.

At 11:30 the decision was made to deliver by morning to save our lives. At 12:30 the decision was made that she was coming NOW. We had an emergency C-section. I was able to have an epidural and I was so worried waiting for her to cry and show that she was healthy. She did. At 32 +4 she joined us at 4 lbs 6 ounces, yelling, and healthy. She spent over two months in the NICU working on breathing and eating. Although I was a very high risk pregnancy, all of my vitals had been stable and very healthy until Covid. Coming home was rough. I found out how much the experience had taken out of me. I could barely walk across the bedroom without my muscles shaking. I wish I had been monitored daily after I became Covid positive. Maybe the preeclampsia would have been caught earlier and I wouldn’t have gotten as sick as I did. It definitely wouldn’t have been as scary of an experience. Our daughter is home and I am slowly recovering. I am still being monitored by multiple specialists. Everyone agrees Covid was likely the final thing that triggered preeclampsia. We were lucky though as we are alive and relatively OK after the experience.