Preeclampsia Awareness

"I had 1 live birth that went perfectly fine 11 years prior to this pregnancy. I had 2 miscarriages and didn’t think I was going to have any more babies. My boyfriend and me tried for this baby and were so happy when I got the positive test.
Things were going great until 26 weeks.
My blood pressure kept spiking. I got pulled off work. Was doing NST’s 2 times a week and regular blood pressure checks. I was diagnosed with mild pre eclampsia. At 30 weeks things took a huge turn and I was admitted to the hospital an hour from home and had to be away from my 11 year old. My body was so swollen, my blood pressure kept getting really high and I did multiple magnesium drips. Morning of 33 weeks my liver and kidneys were shutting down and he was considered growth restricted. I was so swollen I couldn’t breathe I was drowning internally. I had to be put on oxygen. They decided that day was the day to deliver. I had my first c section ever. When the doctor pulled baby out and he got sent to NICU, she told me I was lucky we both made it. My placenta was calcified and wasn’t giving him what he needed.
I was stuck in hospital another week after trying to get my blood pressure under control. I spent most of my time in the NICU doing skin to skin with my baby.
He was born at 3lbs 9 ozs. They gave me 2 rounds of steroids for his lungs. One at 26 weeks and the other right before I had him. He never had any breathing support just a feeding tube. We had a 28 day NICU stay and he is a very happy healthy 9 months old now! The NICU was the scariest thing I’ve been through but he was worth it all and had such great nurses and doctors. " NICU Mama, Bethanie