It was the beginning of my last year of undergrad when I found out I was pregnant. I stuck it through and continued to attend class but once I caught COVID I began to get discouraged and stressed. Nonetheless, my pregnancy continued and baby Amora was ok. It wasn’t until I was 38 weeks that my doctor rushed to stop me and my mother from walking out the door and asked to check my blood pressure again. He said they found some protein in my urine and I would need to go to triage until some more tests were done. He told me if I was still in triage by the time his shift was over then I’d remain there and be prepared for induction. I never once heard the word preeclampsia until I began looking it up while in labor and delivery.

Essentially, I had a mild version of preeclampsia and was sent home 2 days after giving birth with my blood pressure still relatively high but they prescribed me with a bp medication. Nobody told me how to take it correctly, for example... some meds you need to take 6 hours apart but I only knew I had to take 2 pills. However, while I was at home I kept feeling shortness of breath but wasn’t aware of how it felt until I looked up the symptoms of postpartum preeclampsia. I figured this was normal for someone who just gave birth as I am a first time mom. I thought I was just exhausted. However, when I still had a super bad headache and I passed a large blood clot, my mom and I decided to check me back in.

I stayed in the hospital for an extra week and was on Magnesium for at least 48 hours. Being on Magnesium for that long was the worst feeling ever. My baby was ok and I was alive so that’s what kept me going, along with God’s peace and comfort. I left the hospital on 900mg of blood pressure medicine and slowly got myself off of it. My appointments afterwards were not great, my condition was barely addressed by my doctor but they were trying to schedule birth control appointments. Everyone just says “You’re so young and healthy, you’ll be off the meds soon... just try getting off slowly”. I informed my professors of my situation and they were accommodating for the most part. I didn’t graduate Spring semester but I graduated Summer semester and walked across the stage, healthy but still on blood pressure medicine. With my mom’s help and careful research I got myself off the meds, got a primary care physician who has been monitoring my numbers, and hopefully one day I will feel comfortable enough to have another child God willing. If I don’t, I will still be prepared to help my daughter and advocate for her if she ever has this experience. I plan to attend law school and I have an interest in healthcare and/or medical malpractice law. I will start law school Fall 2023!