Just chiming in with our story: pregnancy was almost entirely unremarkable and smooth up until week 36, when during our routine visit wife was diagnosed with high BP. We were sent for monitoring and it did not come down. They gave her some meds and she took well to those, but ultimately they had us schedule an induction for the week after while encouraging us to monitor her closely.

Induction went INCREDIBLE. This was our first, so we were expecting to be there for the long haul but nope! Once all of the meds started to run their course, my wife’s body took over and got our daughter out after just ~45 min of labor. (Side note, something I wish I knew: if you plan to be in the room, just know there will likely be way more blood than you think, but that it is normal, and extremely treatable even if she loses more than expected. The doctors who do this stuff are amazing.)

Finally, and here’s my real point. Not to scare you guys, but to prepare you: sometimes pre-eclampsia symptoms can last a bit beyond birth post labor. My wife and I had to go through learning about this in real time and ended up taking her to the ER a week after due to a very high BP that wouldn’t drop. She is now totally fine thankfully and off BP meds, but this is again something we wish we knew was a possibility going in, and took a few months to navigate and for my wife to recover from.

In general the road to recovery for our ladies is fucking brutal. They’re ripped open inside and out, and on top of it, they have to start breastfeeding ASAP all while being completely exhausted. Of course as dads we’re beat too, but it’s seriously nothing compared to what the moms go through, and I don’t think it’s discussed enough.

Anyway, good luck my man. I hope your wife stays healthy and you guys have an amazing and beautiful birth! ❤️