When my husband and I learned we were pregnant Dec 2021 we were overwhelmed with joy. My joy took a step back when I was diagnosed with Covid at the end of December. I had a fever for multiple days and awfully sick for a week at least. I was concerned for our baby and what this could do if anything. I tried staying positive as long as I could. Thankfully at our first visit you could see the baby, see a heartbeat and was told everything looks great. However my gut told me something else was wrong. I felt off. 

Just shortly after the 7 week visit, pregnancy symptoms started to show, symptoms I did not have in my first pregnancy (in 2017). My cravings were stronger, I was sick after every meal, struggled with exhaustion and my breasts hurt. After a few more weeks my symptom of shortness of breath popped up and soon enough so did swelling of my hands and feet. I asked my doctor if it was normal so soon and I was told yes and to elevate feet when I can. This doctor did not check my lungs for fluid which I will forever remember. 

February 10^th 2022, I took my 1-hour glucose test. Sugar levels were high, so I had to take a 3-hour test Feb 22nd and was informed I had gestational diabetes. I started monitoring my blood sugar levels and diet.

The days went on and I was swelling everywhere (hands, feet, neck, face, arms, legs), was watching my diet like a hawk, controlling my sugar levels, and then started to lose feeling in my right hand. 

April 6^th 2022, I got to see my MFM (maternal fetal medicine high risk doctor) and found out our baby girl was a week behind in development. They shared concern for carpal tunnel, respiratory disease, and cardiac disease. I was having a terrible time sleeping every night and the breathing heavily was getting worse. They noticed at this visit my blood pressure was creeping up too. They decided to have me start tracking blood pressures morning and evening. 

My body felt worse and worse as April went on.  All my BP (blood pressure) readings were between 133 and 156. I struggled getting up one flight of stairs. Felt I was having an asthma attack right at the top. I started breathing heavy just sitting on the couch. My emotions were all over the place. I received a steroid shot for carpal tunnel and wore a wrist brace for support. I also started taking BP medicine as it was still high after a week of being tracked. 

April 20^th 2022, I started to develop a headache. 

April 21^st the headache grew worse to where it seemed like a migraine. My blood pressures were high still. I reached out to my OB and MFM for advice. OB asked me to schedule an appointment with my primary doctor and my MFM told me to try taking Tylenol and after an hour to see how I felt and if I still have a headache to go to triage...You guessed it, I went to triage cause the headaches didn’t go away. At triage they gave me a few medicines to try but the big thing was that I had protein in my urine when they did the test. So, they decided to send me home with a 24-hour urine sample.

April 22nd I asked to work from home as I was just exhausted and needed to do this urine test. I did have a scheduled primary virtual visit as my OB asked me to do and I shared with her how I was feeling. She wanted me back at triage immediately. She felt that I needed more tests as the breathing issue I had was not normal and she didn’t like that it wasn’t looked at fully during my visit the day before. I went back to triage with my mom. My headache was still present, and my breathing was still an issue. They gave me a cocktail for the headache and that allowed me to get some rest. They took blood samples and once again, sent me home with the same information of keeping track of blood pressure. I was 22 weeks and 5 days pregnant at this stage. We were told at that time it's “too early” to have preeclampsia too. 

April 23^rd came, I dropped off the urine test, and I had a regular day with family and friends.

April 24^th, I felt extremely off. I was so tired and by evening I checked my blood pressure which was 170! The highest I have ever seen it. That caused me to get in touch with the on-call doctor because I did not want to go all the way to triage to be sent home for a 3rd time. They told me to rest for 15 minutes with no phone, no distractions, and lights off while laying down, if I am not below 160 then they want me to come back. I checked after 15 minutes, and my BP reading was 175!!! So, at midnight my husband and I left for Triage for the third time. 

Long story short they admitted me to the hospital after waiting for hours and they shared with me that I do have preeclampsia and will need to stay the remainder of my pregnancy to be monitored. They let me know they'll be doing blood work routinely, medicines, ultrasounds and more. I must say, I was very sad to know I would be stuck in a hospital for 3 months. 

Sadly, my body couldn't make it 3 months. From Mon, April 25^th to Sat, April 30^th my symptoms escalated quickly. I went from preeclampsia to severe preeclampsia within one day and results from urine test showed my protein in urine was at 2000ml. We were told our baby girl was still smaller than she should be. I would reach high BP often which resulted in being put on magnesium aka mag which is the worst. I hated how my body felt on mag. Absolutely wiped out, drained. It's too hard to explain but anyone who's been on Mag knows how awful it is. 

April 30^th things got worse. I started getting upper chest pain and thought it was just gas or heart burn. I had an ultrasound done on my liver and the nurse took blood samples in the evening. My platelet count was 149 so they decide to start drawing my blood every 4 hours and officially diagnosed me with HELLP Syndrome. So on thru the night and the next day came, May 1^st. At 5am they came in to say my count was at 122. It dropped by twenty and said my organs were failing so they told us it was time to deliver. 

We said okay and prayed our baby girl, Serena Joy, will be okay because at this point we were 23 weeks and 6 days. We found out after another hour that I went down to 110 platelet count. I went thru emergency c section and Serena made a small cry. She was 1lb and 3oz. It was the sweetest and most beautiful sound. They rushed her to the NICU where she lived from 5/1/22-5/5/22. On May 5th her little heart stopped beating after battling complications with her respiratory system. 

We miss and think of Serena Joy every day. She was born way too early, and I wish we caught preeclampsia earlier, I have become a certified patient family advocate to help the research preeclampsia team learn and find a cure as this disease is awful. I am almost certain I had preeclampsia from the start but no one knew it yet. No mother should have to battle this sickness. I'm sorry to those who have/had it. I am praying for all. I am a preeclampsia survivor but wish my little girl was still here, but preeclampsia took that from me.