I was freshly 18 years old when I had my firstborn. I was induced at 37w for preeclampsia without severe features (+4 protein, edema, and high bp). My bp remained elevated for a couple weeks after and I remember being prescribed labetolol but not taking it seriously due to not really knowing the complications and also partly thinking “it could never happen to me”. Luckily I did not suffer postpartum preeclampsia.

6 years later I am in the hospital being induced at 36w due to preeclampsia with severe features (high bp, headache, protein in urine) - was put on a mag drip that night and had the baby out by the next afternoon. They monitored me for a couple days in which I kept telling them something was wrong. I remember my chest being tight and I felt panicky. I was given gas medicine (they figured it might be gas) and also anxiety medicine “since I had a history of anxiety”, and sent home on labetolol. I watched my BP a couple times and it crept up to around 150/90 in which my OB doubled the dose of labetolol. The night after Christmas something just felt off. I took my BP and it read 189/112. I immediately panicked. I paced the house and started to hyperventilate (single mom, it was just me and my 2 kids at home!) I managed to calm down and retake my BP and it went down a little so I figured it was nerves too, I took melatonin and just went to bed.

I immediately called my dr in the morning who advised me to come in after retaking it and it reading 160/100. I dropped the kids off and sped to the hospital. On the way up to L&D from the parking lot I felt out of breath and just felt like I wasn’t going to make it. Once I did make it, they got me in, retook my BP and it was 188/112. The nurse called the dr who came in herself to watch it get taken, in which it was even higher. I was given fast acting procardia and sent to the L&D unit again. Since I didnt have severe features, I didn’t get the mag drip but it took several labetolol pushes to get my bp down and now it is controlled with procardia XL. I just remember thinking to myself if I had kept chalking this up to “anxiety” I would not be here to write this today.