This was my third birth in the last four years and I expected things to be like the other two recoveries. I’d had zero complications during my pregnancies and easy deliveries. On July 20th our son was born and we got discharged 24 hours later. From the get go though, things felt different. We left the hospital Sunday night and by Tuesday I was complaining that I felt like I couldn’t take a deep breath without a tightness in my chest. Thursday I still had this nagging feeling that things were not quite right. I just felt different. I messaged my OBGYN office and was told to try to see my family practice doctor or go into the ER. Feeling flustered I called my family practice and was told the soonest they could see me was two weeks. I sat on the couch crying confused why it was so hard to get someone to listen to me. Later that afternoon I noticed my legs were getting more swollen and I had a bit of an annoying headache. I decided to take my blood pressure and was surprised when it read 136/84. I always have low blood pressure. Even pregnant I rarely had a blood pressure reading over 105/65. After talking with a family friend who is a physician, my husband and I decided to go back to the hospital at Labor and Delivery to get checked for preeclampsia. They monitored me for an hour or so and then a resident came to talk to me. She asked if I was getting enough sleep. She said they were not worried since my blood pressure was just slightly elevated. They sent me home telling me to get some rest. I remember asking the doctor if I should continue to monitor my blood pressure. She responded that I didn’t need to worry about monitoring it, and that unless my vision went blurry or I had a headache that wasn’t responsive to medication it was fine. So we went home. I felt the same, but they had told me everything was fine. Friday morning even my face was beginning to look swollen. By the evening my lips felt full. I tried not to worry and focused on trying to rest and recover the best I could. That night I woke up to pump off some excess milk at 3:00am. I had a little headache again and decided to check my blood pressure. 160/100. I didn’t believe what I was seeing and thought I had taken it wrong. I woke up my husband and told him we had to go back to the hospital. 28 hours later, we walked into the ER and asked to be evaluated for preeclampsia. They sat me down, took my blood pressure, and said, “honey you are going upstairs”. My blood pressure was 160/97. Back up in Labor and Delivery they monitored my blood pressures and decided to try a muscle relaxer. I took a little nap while my blood pressure cuff took a reading every 30 minutes. An hour or so in, my blood pressure read 170/110. This is the point at which my postpartum preeclampsia finally got treated by physicians. Not the night before. Not when I presented with a 160/97 blood pressure in the ER. When I had a ‘severe feature’ they finally gave me a dose of blood pressure medication, and informed me that I would be started on a 24 hour magnesium drip to prevent seizures. It is so frustrating to not be heard. To seek help and be turned away. Overall though, my husband and I are grateful that we were persistent. We are grateful that we continued to monitor my blood pressure and that we went back when we knew things weren’t right. I had zero risk factors, had not heard of preeclampsia that begins in the postpartum period, no signs throughout my pregnancy, and atypical symptoms. But I had postpartum preeclampsia. I am grateful that I went back to the hospital and got medication before a seizure or stroke created a lasting health problem for me. I am grateful to be here for my family.