I had a baby girl, Petra, in February 2023 and a boy, Myles, in June 2024. My blood pressure in both pregnancies was perfect. Mostly in the 110's over 60's and 70's.

I had a planned c-section for both pregnancies.

After the first c-section, my legs and feet started swelling up and the nurses thought it was normal with childbirth.

About 3 days after I was discharged, I was casually chatting with my family in the living room around 1 am, I started feeling weird. I had no pain but felt a numb feeling in my arm and a general unease. Fortunately, I had read a lot about preeclampsia and it's signs, so I asked my husband to get me the blood pressure cuff we had at home. When he brought it, my pressure was 174/112 (approximately). We took it again a few more times and the numbers were close.

He called 911 and first responders asked that I chew 4 tablets of baby aspirin while awaiting their arrival. They had to wheel me out into the truck with a stretcher because my feet were so heavy that they felt like water tied in a plastic bag, and it made my c-section incision even more sore.

When we arrived the hospital, I was prescribed and given magnesium iv.
Because my bladder could not control the urine accumulation, I was under a closely monitored catheter. I peed all the extra water I had been carrying around.

Magnesium makes you feel heat internally and by implication, thirsty.
Within those 24 hours, I could only take 75ml of water in an hour and the water had to be hot because I was coughing and cold water made me cough more and irritated my incision even more. .

I was discharged about 36 hours later with Nifedipine.

Shortly after that, I was contacted and followed up, and monitored by the preeclampsia team at my local hospital until I was 6 weeks postpartum.


When I had Myles in June of this year, I was again diagnosed with preeclampsia about 2 weeks later. This time, I didn't have any of the previous symptoms but I kept monitoring my pressure and called my doctor's office to be seen when my numbers started rising. This time, I wasn't admitted. I was prescribed Nifedipine again and the same team from last year followed me up closely, suggesting changes in the dose I was taking, depending on the progress I was making.

Now, my PCP has stopped me from continuing the medication so she can observe my progress without any medication.

I'm grateful for all the support I have received during these challenging times and I'm so grateful to be a mom of 2 adorable babies.