Hi, my name is Kaitlynn and my daughter's name is Hazel.. and this is our story. 

In mid-August of 2024, I was about 28 weeks pregnant, when I started to develop early signs of preeclampsia, as well as being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Fortunately, unlike most women, I was more aware of the symptoms to look out for, because my mother had also experienced preeclampsia in two of her pregnancies. However, this is not the case for most women. Most are unaware of preeclampsia or its risks and symptoms.

One day in mid-September, when I was around 31 weeks pregnant, my husband came home from a work trip and developed food poisoning or some kind of stomach flu overnight. He was sick to his stomach all night and the following morning. I finally took him in to urgent care because I was worried he'd become dehydrated without some kind of intervention.

On a whim, I asked the NP in the office if she could check my blood pressure before we left. I wasn't feeling off or bad in any kind of way, maybe just a little tired - which I always was at this point in my pregnancy, so I thought nothing of it. It turned out my blood pressure was incredibly high. The NP urged me to contact my OB immediately, which I did. When my OB heard of my symptoms, combined with an elevated protinurea sample in our visit a few days prior, he asked for me to immediately head to the maternity ward at the hospital to be admitted for tests and overnight monitoring. 

I immediately finished my errands and got my husband tucked in at home with gatorade and his prescriptions, packed a bag, and drove myself to the hospital. While I was in triage, my blood pressure spiked again, higher than it had been even previously in the day! I tried to keep myself calm, with deep breathing and just focusing on my family and our baby. After several hours in the triage unit (it happened to be Friday the 13th and probably a full moon, judging by the chaos in the wing), the doctor on call finally came in and told me she didn't like what she was seeing in my labs and all the spikes in my blood pressure, so instead of keeping me overnight, they wanted to check me in for the weekend and continue monitoring my progress closely. 

I updated my husband and family immediately and buckled in for a longer stay than anticipated, wishing I'd packed some snacks, and more than one night's worth of extra underwear. After a few days in the hospital, and continued elevations in my blood pressure, the doctors finally told me they were officially diagnosing me with preeclampsia. They said would like to keep me admitted, and hopefully pregnant, until 34 weeks, at which point they intended to deliver our baby early and admit her to the NICU. Anticipating an early delivery of our little one, they administered a couple rounds of steroids to help her lungs develop faster and prepare her for birth earlier, in hopes of giving her a fighting chance. They said they could use medications to help manage my blood pressures, but needed to be careful not to mask worsening symptoms, and that early delivery of the baby was the only way to stop preeclampsia.

It surprised me that in all of our medical advancements and technology in this day and age, there wasn't a better solution. One of the doctors informed me that preeclampsia was really only discovered in the 70's and there is still very little information or research into the causes or a better cure than delivery. I was grateful, however, that our hospital was connected to a renowned children's hospital with a well-equipped and staffed NICU.

So, there we were, in the hospital and just focused on relaxation and low blood pressures. I ended up staying in the hospital for about 2 weeks, before one day my body just couldn't fight it anymore, and all the medications weren't keeping my pressures down any longer. At 33 weeks and 3 days, the doctors came in and told me they were moving me to labor and delivery to be induced. We hadn't quite made it to the 34 week gateway, but we were relatively close. 

I was scared though. I knew our little girl would be tiny and skinny, nothing really prepared me for the fear I had when I finally saw her little self after 34 hours in labor. She was born in late September, at 3lbs 12 oz. We were so incredibly lucky that we had been admitted when we were and she was able to receive the steroids, because she ended up having no issues with her lungs!

After 33 days in the NICU, our little Hazel finally came home, barely tipping the scales at 5.5 lbs. She was one of the smallest babies in the NICU, but one of the strongest. The journey certainly had its ups and downs. Nothing can really prepare you for how hard it is to watch your little baby just work on doing their best to survive and grow, and being so powerless to do much for them. Seeing every little blip on the vitals monitor was gut-wrenching. However, we were so fortunate and count ourselves blessed every day that our NICU story was not as traumatic as it could have been.

We'll forever be grateful to the incredible staff at the Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, NC, but more grateful to God for placing us just where we needed to be, and providing all we needed in our time of distress. He is the author of life and death, and we are grateful He breathed life and strength into our little Hazel. We know she has a great purpose in this world. 

If you're still reading, thank you for taking the time to read through my disjointed and long-winded story of our preeclampsia experience. I hope through our fund-raising efforts, we can spread more awareness for this disease and fund further research into preeclampsia, and the hopes of one day finding a cure. I would love to see more mothers and babies have a full and healthy life, with all the tools of knowledge at their side.