During the third trimester of pregnancy, I struggled with pregnancy hypertension. Pregnancy hypertension is different from regular hypertension, it is thought to be an issue with the placenta, that is not necessarily related to diet or exercise. At first, I blamed myself and tried to understand what I could have done to cause it. Pregnancy hypertension means that your blood pressure is very high without it necessarily being your fault.

Before the diagnosis, I was someone who ate extremely healthily, walked at least 10,000 steps per day and did weight training regularly. I never smoked or was overweight. You would never have known that I had this condition.

However, the third trimester of pregnancy, I was regularly in and out of hospital. Most of the time, I was able to control the pregnancy hypertension with relaxation and medication.

Due to the diagnosis of pregnancy hypertension, I had an induced birth at 37 weeks. The birth was the most painful physically intense experience of my life, but my overall it went well. After the birth and some initial challenges with feeding, we were sent home from the hospital.

When we were sent home, I was not given any further directives about future complications. I understood that my pregnancy hypertension had been “cured” after my blood pressure readings in the hospital came back normal.

Then, like any first-time, exhausted mother, I proceeded to care for our newborn at home- neglecting to care for myself- forgetting to eat properly, sleep more than a few hours or check my blood pressure.

It was only when the community health nurse came by for a home visit a few days after the birth, that I checked in with myself. The nurse told us that our baby seemed perfectly healthy- but the nurse asked me whether I had checked my blood pressure at all during that period. I realized that I had completely neglected to check my blood pressure!

The next day, I checked my blood pressure and it came back with numbers that were higher than I had ever experienced during the entire pregnancy. My husband suggested that the machine could be malfunctioning, so I checked the numbers again. They were still dangerously high. I went to the pharmacy and decided to check with the machine there. The numbers were still high and the pharmacy staff assured me that my machine was working correctly.

I then went into the triage unit of the hospital. At the hospital, I ended up waiting for 4 hours, trying to relax and hoping that my numbers would go down. After four hours, a doctor saw me and I received a prescription for blood pressure pills. That night, I slept well, but I didn’t take the pills until the afternoon, when my husband picked up the prescription. Even after taking the medication, my blood pressure remained high, probably because it would take time for it work.

My sister was fortunately in town and after a chaotic and frightening period, I was rushed to the hospital. My sister, husband and our new baby joined me in hospital.

I ended up being hospitalized for three days. During that time, I was not able to move from my hospital bed, except to go to the bathroom. I was in a daze of pain and fear, as they tried to bring my blood pressure down with various medications and visits from nurses and specialists. After three days, my condition had stabilized and our little family was able to return home.

I am now being followed by specialists and taking several medications every day. Apparently, the preeclampsia should go away with time. I am so grateful to be alive and that everyone is healthy and safe.

In a way, the postpartum preeclampsia has been really good for me because it forces myself to give myself grace… I normally like to push myself- now, if I try to do too much, I can end up back in hospital. I am literally forced to relax and get people to help me.

It has been a difficult transition relying in others. I set myself small goals, like being able to get up from the bed.