I never thought I would share this picture. I was mad at my mom when I learned she took it. But this is the picture of severe preeclampsia.

This was the first night in the hospital. I was hooked up to an IV and on a ton of medication. I was on magnesium which made me feel like crap; so hot and nauseous, which is why I have a washcloth on my forehead. Before this photo I puked while my brother-in-law rushed to catch it in the trash can. Seeing Jer in this photo makes me so sad because I know how worried he was.

The goal was to control my blood pressure so we could keep Olivia in for as long as I could. The whole time I was trying not to stress because that would make my blood pressure go up. Definitely easier said than done. And I was reminded to try and get rest, but it is definitely hard to do when you have a blood pressure machine going off literally every fifteen minutes. While at the same time having a band around my belly to track Olivia and how she is doing. In order for Olivia to continue to do OK they had to keep my blood pressure higher than would be considered “safe.” This continued for four long days until it was decided that it was time for Olivia to come out into our world.

Many of you know it took a week for the doctors to figure out the right concoction of meds to stabilize my blood pressure so I could be discharged from the hospital. Since then I have been able to get off one med completely but, I am still on one pill for my blood pressure. I’ve had numerous EKGs, now have a cardiologist, and had an echo. All things I had not experienced prior to preeclampsia. The impact of preeclampsia did not just impact my immediate health and the early birth of Olivia. Because of it, I now have a higher risk of:

• Chronic hypertension
• Cardiovascular disease
• Chronic kidney disease
• Stroke
• Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety
• Diabetes
• Venous thromboembolism
• Vascular dementia

Before I went into the hospital, I didn’t really hear much about preeclampsia specifically. At all my OB visits they would take a urine sample, but I never knew what they were checking on. I didn’t know I should look for certain symptoms or spot check my blood pressure. Please check out the Preeclampsia Foundation site for more detailed information. I don’t want my experience to be the same for others.

Until next time…

PS Olivia has a Pulmonology appointment tomorrow, so an Olivia update will be coming soon 🙂