I just want to raise awareness on this issue since it was something I had never heard of until it happened to me.

Here's my story and it may be long.

I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl on 5/31/17 @ 3:03pm. When we got moved to out recovery room, I noticed my feet and hands were swelling (my entire pregnancy my blood pressure was normal and I had absolutely NO swelling). I brought this up to every nurse that came into my room including my doctor. They said that it takes a while for your body to go back to normal, again I told them I had no swelling before giving birth. I started to get really bad headaches, on top of the swelling getting worse and had some moments of blurry vision. They released me on 6/1/17 and when I got home I thought maybe this is all due to the stress of a new baby. Fast forward to Monday 6/5/17 the headaches were now unbearable that 4 advil couldn't even touch and the swelling was getting worse. My mom convinced me to call my doctor. The nurse told me to take my blood pressure and give her a call back if it was elevated. This was at 4:45pm and they close 5pm. I got a little side tracked since it was my 3 year olds first tball practice and I didn't want to ruin it for him. I waited until after practice to take it and it was 175/83. My mom said that we should go to the ER just to make sure everything was ok. I reluctantly agreed and went in. By the time we got to the hospital my blood pressure was 185/101. They immediately admitted me to labor and delivery to start magnesium sulfate (I'd rather give birth again than have that stuff pumped in me). I had to have that for 24 hours to flush out my kidneys and prevent a seizure. I also developed mastitis in both my breast since I wasn't able to breast feed or pump during this time because it almost paralyzes your body. I was finally released on 6/7/17 with slightly elevated blood pressure and my headaches are still there just not as bad. My doctor said I should be back to normal once the preeclampsia leaves my body but for now I am in the safe zone. My doctor never ever mentioned that this is something that could happen nor had I ever heard of it. I think mom's need to be aware that this is something that could happen even if your pregnancy was completely normal like mine. I could have had a stroke or seizure if I didn't listen to my mom. Please listen to your body.