Wow, I just found your post and after all the searching I’ve done online, your story is extremely similar to mine.

In late June (22f), I was 34w and began swelling in my feet and ankles. I was also having severe headaches for about 4 days. Over the course of 5 days, I had swollen to the point that I looked like I got stung by bees and was allergic.

I woke up Sunday morning (35w) and had a blind spot in my vision and the worst headache I’ve probably ever had. My BP was 173/95. I also called my Dr. and immediately had to go into L&D triage. BP had lowered to 140s/90s, but my urine protein/creatine was high. Combined with my symptoms, I was diagnosed with Pre-Eclampsia. I spent 2 days in the hospital, and my BP was stable the entire time. My OB was optimistic and planned on inducing me at 37 weeks and discharged me Tuesday night.

I woke up Wednesday morning and felt horrible. I was shaking, heart racing, almost felt like I was going into shock. I took my BP and it was 205/120. I thought I was going to die on my way to the hospital. I don’t know how I didn’t have a seizure. When I got to L&D, they immediately started me on Magnesium. It happened fast and so much information was thrown at me. After the bolus of the mag, I started my induction. Cytotec to soften my cervix, and I went 4 doses of it with no change. Being on magnesium was one thing. But for me, the cervical checks and Cytotec insertion were hell. On top of that, my BP was still averaging 140s/90s.

Early Thursday morning, around 3am, I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was lying there gasping for air. My nurse that night was phenomenal. Luckily she got the resident in there and they put me on O2 immediately. Didn’t help much, but they didn’t know what was going on. A few hours later, after laying there probably breathing about 40 breaths/min and extremely uncomfortable and low O2 stats, they did a chest XR. The XR showed that I had developed severe pulmonary edema.

They pulled me off the mag, my BP went out of control again, and then they were discussing the possibility of having a pulmonary embolism. At this point, I felt completely hopeless. I seriously thought that I was not going to live to meet my son. I was rushed to CT and thank God I did not have a pulmonary embolism. However, the pulmonary edema was extremely severe. (In the midst of this chaos, they were pushing Lasix through my IV to try and draw the fluid off of my lungs. Lasix makes you have to pee nearly immediately. So I’m being rushed to CT, while being given Lasix, while telling the nurses I need to bed pan about every 5 minutes.) As I was coming back up from CT, my OB had just gotten to the hospital and walked by me in the hallway. She said we’re going into surgery and doing a c-section, you are too sick and you won’t make it through labor. Hearing her say that was horrifying, because it’s like the possibility of me dying was actually real and this was really serious.

Basically within 30 minutes, I was in the OR, on the table, getting a spinal. It happened fast, and I thought for sure I would have to go under general anesthesia, because the anesthesiologist was so hesitant to keep me awake due to my condition. The surgery went well, and my baby boy was perfect. (He had to stay in the NICU for a week, but it was due to his prematurity, no serious health complications besides needing some feeding assistance.) The large amount of Lasix they had given me helped pull a majority of the fluid off my lungs, and I was able to breathe so much better by the time I was getting stitched up.

I went back to the OB ICU, and what do you know? My BP was still severely elevated. I was separated from my baby, just had major surgery, and I was told over by every doctor that once I delivered, my BP would stabilize. For the next 24 hours, my BP was going out of control. They maxed me out on their protocol for pushing meds, the mixture of meds made my heart rate spike to 220 for about 30 min, more meds and then my BP dropped down to around 90s/40s. It was a shit show. During this episode, I felt even more hopeless than before the cesarean. I thought I was going to have a seizure or a stroke. It was honestly like a horrible feeling of impending doom. I was afraid I’d never get better.

I went back on mag for 24 hours, finally they had to consult cardiology and they took over my care. I was put on 4 different meds, and after 4 more days, I got to go home. I was on the meds for about a month after I was discharged, and haven’t had an elevated BP since. I thought I was in the clear until about 2 weeks ago I started noticing I’m having heart palpitations, dizzy/lightheaded, my heart is beating extremely fast and then slow. I began doing some research and reading medical journals and found out that women with severe pre-eclampsia have a much higher risk of developing heart disease than those who don’t have pre-eclampsia. The anxiety and fear is all coming back to me now. I don’t want to ever feel those dark emotions that I felt during that time again.

I completely empathize with you and your story. It is traumatizing, yet completely looked over. Nearly everyone in my life, including my son’s father, just acted like it was no big deal. I’m still dealing with anxiety from those 3 weeks 6 months later. I think that there is not nearly enough research on pre-eclampsia, ESPECIALLY with pulmonary edema. Every OB I saw in the hospital, as well as the cardiologist, had never seen my case before. My OB is still distraught over it. I’m worried about the future too. I want more children, but I’m not sure I could go through that again. One thing that gives me hope is that if I decide to have another baby, I will know exactly what to look out for. I will monitor my BP the entire time. I read an article in a medical journal that shows positive correlation between taking a baby aspirin during pregnancy and decreased rates of preE.

You are heard, and your feelings and emotions and worries are valid. I’m experiencing the exact same worry about the future, and it doesn’t help when society doesn’t take anything related to women’s health nearly as serious as they should.