u/Particular-Step5278

I wanted to share my preeclampsia story where everything turned out okay. I truly don’t mean to diminish anyone’s experiences. I want to share because it would have helped me to see more “positive” stories when I was first diagnosed.

This is my first pregnancy and I had no risk factors. I was diagnosed with gestational hypertension when I went into L&D for vision changes which ended up just being an ocular migraine, but this is where they caught my high BP at 31 weeks.

2 weeks later I had protein in my urine so I got the preeclampsia diagnosis. I was so stressed my entire third trimester I could not enjoy it. I was terrified of the worst case scenarios happening.

I had to go to L&D 4 times for high BP at home, a couple times getting over 160/110 (never read that high in the hospital). Due to how early I was diagnosed I thought for sure I would develop severe features and I was convinced that either a complication would happen with me, or we wouldn’t come home with a baby because of it. Preeclampsia robbed me of my third trimester and looking forward to bringing our baby home because I was too scared of something awful happening.

I was induced at 37 weeks. It almost ended in a c section due to the baby’s heart rate decelerating but baby pulled through to delivery. I’m 7 weeks postpartum and did not develop severe features.

The hospital I delivered at is doing research on preeclampsia in patients with no risk factors. I donated my placenta for research and hope I can contribute to figuring out more about preeclampsia ❤️

The first few days of our son’s life in the hospital was horrible for my husband and I. The baby and I were healthy, hospital staff was great. I don’t know how to explain it and I’m wondering if anyone else had similar feelings?

I was in labor for 36 hours (induced) and I don’t think I slept the whole time. We were there for 4 nights and 5 days because I had preeclampsia and my blood pressure wasn’t going down. Everything was fine with that though.

After the birth I had a HORRIBLE headache due to the pushing because I have bruxism. I desperately just wanted to be given painkillers or something it was so bad and lasted days. My husband and I were so sleep deprived I think we slept a couple hours per day in the hospital. Baby would not sleep in the bassinet so one of us had to be up at all times. And because we were in the hospital people were constantly coming in and out.

I physically could not breast feed I got so exhausted. My body hurt too bad to hold him up so we had to syringe feed sometimes. There were nights my husband and I cried it was so hard and we were so tired.

I did so much preparation for the baby as a first time parent and I feel like I was robbed of a beautiful first few days of my son’s life. I’ve never heard anyone else have a similar experience and I can’t figure out what went wrong.

I’m 3 weeks postpartum and we are better now. Still hard obviously but I feel like it’s normal newborn trenches.

My job explicitly allows WFM and having children at home, the company is owned by a woman/mother. My job is very independent, I do not speak with clients and have like one half hour meeting a week with my colleagues. A couple times a month I will have a more important meeting with my leadership. We have core hours where I am available if an issue arises but other than that I can work whatever hours I want, I just have to put in 20 hours. Will I be miserable if I have my baby at home with me?? Is it realistic to get work done during naps? I am a FTM to a 3 week old right now so I have no idea what it’s like to have a baby as he gets older.

We are enrolled in a part time daycare and he will go in January when my husband and I return to work. I’m just thinking of a backup plan in case he does not adjust to daycare and I need to keep him at home. If we do have to keep him at home I’d likely hire a nanny for a few hours a week but we cannot afford a 20 hour a week nanny.

Can anyone offer their experience because I’m confused. Let’s say your baby is born on 11:45pm on a Tuesday. In the US insurance companies offer a minimum 48 hour hospital stay for a vaginal delivery. Do they literally go by the hour? Does this mean you would need to be discharged by 11:45pm on Thursday? I can’t imagine a hospital would discharge in the middle of the night so would you just get short changed or would they round until the following morning?

I’ve been looking at daycares in our area on DHHS. I’ve noticed a couple have 0 investigations. Is it crazy I feel like this is actually a red flag? I find it hard to believe there has been NO incidents in years. One daycare I’m looking at has a few, most of which are actually self reports by the director. To me this is a good sign that the director wants to take the proper channels to investigate issues? I just find it hard to believe a daycare can go years without an investigation, whether it ends up substantiated or not.

I was taking 75mg of an SSRI and tapered a couple weeks ago because I am having my induction on Tuesday. Originally I wasn’t going to taper but I got preeclampsia and have to deliver at 37 weeks, and just wanted the peace of mind of not having to worry about possible increased risk of hemorrhaging and my baby having issues right after birth because of the SSRI since he will be early.

I take it for OCD and it’s been awful the past week. Now I’m reading that stopping a couple weeks before birth might not even make a meaningful difference. I really want to get back on it but my induction is Tuesday, I feel like at this point I should wait it out. My provider told I could back on it right after the birth so that was the plan.

My providers suggested staying on but let me taper off because that’s what I wanted.

I am a software developer and work for a VERY small team, it’s me and another coworker. Today I fixed a VERY critical issue before anyone noticed, and spent hours doing it. The thing is it has to do with a project my coworker was working on. I found a temp fix, but I am uncomfortable implementing what I think would be a permanent fix without consulting him. The issue is he is OOO the rest of the week.

I have to tell my leaders about the issue. I just REALLY don’t want it to seem like I’m throwing my team member under the bus. This was a super weird edge case and is no reflection on his work. How would you guys phrase a message to my leaders?

I work for a VERY small team, it’s me and another coworker. Today I fixed a VERY critical issue before anyone noticed, and spent hours doing it. The thing is it has to do with a project my coworker was working on. I found a temp fix, but I am uncomfortable implementing what I think would be a permanent fix without consulting him. The issue is he is OOO the rest of the week.

I feel like I need to tell my leaders that a critical business process was down for hours and I found a temp fix, but I am uncomfortable making the permanent fix without input from my team member out of risk of creating another issue since they built this particular process and I just started looking at it today.

I just REALLY don’t want it to seem like I’m throwing my team member under the bus. This was a super weird edge case and is no reflection on his work. How would you guys phrase a message to my leaders?

I was thinking about getting a gel pedicure before the baby is born. But what if when it starts chipping somehow he swallows it?? I know I’m probably way overthinking this, but how toxic is dried nail polish?

Edit: just want to preface I do have OCD and have been in treatment for years. My care team and I are well prepared for the PP anxiety, so not to worry! I’m realizing this is definitely the OCD.

I have heard of people who had preeclampsia during pregnancy receive long term monitoring for heart, liver, etc conditions due to being a higher risk for those issues after preeclampsia. Just wondering others experiences and if there are any specific guidelines on what I should expect/push for from my providers.

I don’t think a daycare spot is going to open up by the time my husband and I have to go back to work. We both get 12 weeks of leave. He works full time out of the house, I work part time from home 20 hours a week. I am lucky to have a VERY flexible job where I basically work whenever I want. I like to try to be as consistent as possible and generally need to be available during the day, and the company very supportive of WFM mothers. I do not talk on the phone, I have like one call a week with my colleagues. Everything else is independent work.

It’s sounding like the waitlist isn’t going to open up by the time we need care. We put ourselves on it as soon as I found out I was pregnant. Has anyone done this before, am I going to be miserable?

Also I screwed up and thought I could get part time daycare for my baby. I thought we could take him half days and pay for half days, but you pay for a full day no matter what. My husband is in the military so our daycare is income based, we would pay $140 a week.

If a spot eventually opens up, is it even worth it to put him in full time daycare? What would you do?

I feel awful for writing this but now that I’m 34 weeks I feel like I’m almost getting cold feet.

For context I have never doubted I wanted to be a mother one day. This baby is very planned and wanted, and I have an amazing husband who is so hardworking and will be an incredible father. Everything on paper is perfect.

But I can’t help feeling scared and almost dreading the new lifestyle adjustment. I’m scared of taking care of a newborn and how our lives and relationship will look. Still, I wouldn’t change a thing about me getting pregnant. I would not want to go back in time and decide to never have kids, I absolutely want kids. I feel so much love for him when we see the ultrasound images.

Part of this may be due to me becoming suddenly high risk and developing preeclampsia despite no risk factors. I have to be induced at 37 weeks if not earlier if things get worse. What was a super easy pregnancy turned very stressful and scary and it’s still not over.

Did anyone else feel this way and did it ever go away?

I was diagnosed with gestational hypertension at 31 weeks and preeclampsia at 33 weeks. My induction is scheduled for 37 weeks. No severe features, just a ton of protein in my urine and occasional high BP readings. I’ve gone into L&D 4 times in the past 3 weeks because of a BP spike or concerning symptoms that turn out to be nothing. My bloodwork so far has looked fine and I don’t have any of the physical symptoms.

I overthink every headache, I wonder if I’m starting to look swollen, I overthink the baby’s movements. I just feel like I live in fear that something terrible is about to happen to me or the baby 24/7 and it’s weighing on me. A part of me wishes they would just deliver him now so I know he’s safe and we can get it over with. It’s hard for me to even be excited about the pregnancy anymore.

My husband is not worried, or at least is not acting worried and is telling me everything is going to be fine. It’s either his coping mechanism or he doesn’t realize how serious this can be.

I’m not sure how to explain to him how I feel, because I have a history of health OCD and spiraling about stuff, but this feels different. Things with preeclampsia could go south in a matter of hours so I feel like I NEED to be hyper vigilant about how I’m feeling and the baby’s movements. Generally I actually feel like I’ve been coping pretty well (I’m in therapy and on meds), but the constant stress knowing that something could go wrong so quickly is weighing on me.

I feel like a ticking time bomb because preeclampsia doesn’t just go away. Either I will start to develop severe features or if I’m lucky make it to my induction. And even if I make it to my induction without severe features I STILL have to worry about it postpartum. I feel like no one understands how scared I am for myself and the baby.

Diagnosed with gestational hypertension at 31 weeks, diagnosed with preeclampsia at 33 weeks due to protein in my urine sometimes, it’s not always consistent. No severe features yet. Has anyone else had a similar diagnostic timeline where they made it to the 37 week induction without developing severe features, and had a successful vaginal birth?

I have OCD, specifically health OCD really bad. I’ve been in therapy and meds for it for a couple years and have seen a lot of improvement. That is until I started getting preeclampsia symptoms. I’ve have varying high blood pressure. Half the time it’s normal half the time it’s 130/95 ish and sometimes gets up to 140/105 range. I have had home readings above 160/110 (which makes me go in) but never get that high in the hospital.

I’ve been in labor and delivery 4 times in the past two weeks because of either possible preeclampsia symptoms or high BP readings at home. My labs always come back normal. I have none of the classic symptoms like swelling or URQ pain.

I’m in constant fear I will suddenly have a stroke or seize suddenly without warning. On top of that, I have chronic headaches due to bruxism that pain meds usually don’t touch. So when I get these I start freaking out that it’s a preeclampsia headache.

I’m so scared I will die or have a stroke/seizer and be permanently disabled. Or that my baby won’t make it. I feel like I can’t enjoy my pregnancy anymore or look forward to the baby because I’m fearing the worst.

I am being monitored with twice weekly NST and BPPs.

Even if everything turns out fine this pregnancy I’m scared that next time or the time after that it won’t. I’m afraid every time I get pregnant I’m really risking my life from now on. My husband and I want a big family, this is my first pregnancy. Everything was going amazing until 2 weeks ago.

I feel like I won’t even be able to enjoy our new baby because I’ll be paranoid of postpartum preeclampsia.

I’m diagnosed with gestational hypertension but not pre e. I’ve been getting floaters in the past 2 weeks (32 weeks pregnant). They are hardly noticeable and it’s just a black/grey mark in the peripheral of my vision that lasts not even a second. I don’t even know if I’d notice if I wasn’t on high alert for pre e. I’ve been getting them a little more frequently the past couple days.

Just had an OB appointment the other day. Been to labor and delivery 3 times in the last week due to high BP but get sent home because my BP goes down and labs come back normal.

So when we say changes in vision means go to the hospital, does this mean every time I see a floater?? Or are the pre e vision warnings more noticeable and don’t just go away?

I have been treated for OCD for a couple years now with therapy and medication. I have been doing pretty well. This week, my OCD has caused me to completely spiral because I had a preeclampsia scare. Had a weird vision thing, went in and my labs looked great and didn't have any other Pre E symptoms. I was however diagnosed with gestational hypertension because I was in the 140/90 territory.

I bought and at home blood pressure monitor and it has been driving me crazy. On Wednesday I got scary readings (diastolic up to 106) and went into L&D for the second time this week. Same thing as Sunday. Labs came back great, baby is fine, but still was getting high readings.

Finally yesterday I was able to get my BP down to my normal numbers after doing deep breathing before I took it. I have gotten consistent normal readings now that I do that.

My problem now is my brain is on high alert for ANY concerning symptoms. My OCD causes me to literally feel symptoms that aren't there, because when I take my mind off it I feel normal. This happened pre pregnancy as well.

I have had stress induced headaches for 10 years (bruxism) and it's always been resistant to medication. Obviously this is a pre E warning sign but these headaches are different from "normal" headaches so I feel like I can tell the difference.

I genuinely will be in L&D every day if I don't get this under control. And stress obviously doesn't help BP and my headaches. I was so excited for motherhood, I was feeling great. Now I feel like I am just in survival mode until he comes and I feel so unprepared for the birth and taking care of a newborn, because all I can focus on is something terrible happening until he comes.

I’m 31 weeks and was diagnosed with gestational hypertension on Sunday. FTM, never had issues with high blood pressure. I went in because I had a brief weird vision thing, and they monitored me and diagnosed me because I kept reading at about 140/95.

I went in again on Wednesday because I wasn’t feeling right, and I had a couple REALLY high readings creeping up to 106 diastolic. My labs looked great though so no preeclampsia.

Now my problem is that I am so stressed about this that it is messing up my at home readings and my ability to monitor symptoms. I am a hypochondriac so I will feel phantom symptoms. When I relax and take deep breaths my BP is back to normal in the 120/85 area. But when I am even slightly stressed and thinking about the reading my diastolic jumps back up to high 90s.

Does anyone have advice :( I just keep thinking of the worse case scenario. I feel like I can’t even tell what’s anxiety and what’s real symptoms now.

I joined a fairly small company (about 80 employees) about 5 weeks ago. I think things have been going well. I report directly to the owner as I am filling a specialized role. I have one other counterpart in this role. I am pregnant and due the first week of September, I let them know of this when I received my offer and they said it wasn't a problem at all, and I was nice to even let them know before joining officially. However, I recently found out I may have to be induced at 37 weeks due to high blood pressure.

I really wanted to make it to at least 40 weeks to solidify my place in the company before maternity leave. My concern is, what if during my leave, they realize they don't really need me and can let me go? I really love the company and the culture so I have been overthinking this. I have the option for how long I want to take maternity leave (min 6 weeks, max 12). I was going to tell them 8 weeks because of my fears of being away any longer, but now with some of these pregnancy issues coming up I am wondering if I should ask for longer. I have not told my manager how long I plan to be out yet.

My question is, how honest about my worries should I be with my manager, without coming across as overly anxious/needy? I feel like saying I'm afraid to take a longer maternity leave out of fear of being let go puts them in a VERY uncomfortable situation for obvious discriminatory reasons... but I want them to know I am committed to the role. They have given me NO reason to think they would let me go, but at the end of the day its just business and if they realize they can save money by downsizing, why wouldn't they?

Currently 29 weeks pregnant and it’s so stressful sometimes :( my husband tripped and kinda broke his fall on me (I know lol). It wasn’t like his whole weight came on me, more like if a toddler or dog was being too rough. I had slight pain on my side and then started overthinking and freaking out that something is wrong.

I called my nurse line and they said I don’t need to be seen and to just keep an eye out for worsening symptoms. I don’t have any of the scary symptoms like bleeding. I feel slight soreness but is it because of what happened or the normal pregnancy belly soreness? I have no idea.

And then the whole thing about fetal movement. I’m supposed to look out for a decrease (okay, I can manage that) but also an increase??? Baby started moving after it happened and has been active on and off but I have no idea what constitutes an increase. I think he’s moving like normal??

Has anyone else been kinda hit in the stomach and been fine?