3 weeks pregnant and I make a daily symptom log because I believe medical professionals don’t take black woman seriously

I’m sorry you’re going through that. It’s hard enough being taken seriously as a women, even more so a pregnant woman, and I can’t imagine adding being dismissed because I was black on top of that. You are doing the exact right thing. Please continue to document every symptom and as @seagoddesslady said, document every time you’re refused treatment or your concerns aren’t taken seriously. I have to preface this by saying that my doctors are great and I love them, but during my last pregnancy I immediately swelled up as soon as my third trimester started. I was already diagnosed with gestational diabetes and had issues with my placenta so I was going to specialists as well, but I just KNEW I had preeclampsia. However, every time I brought it up, the swelling/edema was downplayed. I, too, am petite, lower weight, and have a small bone structure. I KNEW that this was not normal pregnancy swelling, it was just too much. But they just said it was normal. I’d take my blood pressure (which is normally low) with an electronic monitor and it was definitely higher than normal. Whenever I went in for my appointments, they took it manually and it was maybe a little high, but still normal. So FINALLY, at 38 weeks, they did the same manual blood pressure and it was “a little high” - I told them I take it myself, frequently (I worked in the medical field at the time), and that it was usually high, and higher than their reading. Finally(!!) I was being taken seriously and they were going to send me to the lab, but erred on the side of caution and sent me to the hospital for continuous monitoring. Turns out not only did I have preeclampsia, but it was severe. Got induced that evening.

Moral of the story - YOU know your body. You know when something isn’t right. It absolutely sucks that you have to push so hard to get your doctors to see that. If something doesn’t seem right, DON’T give up.

I live in the US so I can’t offer a ton of advice - but sending prayers that you get the treatment and care you deserve and everything goes smoothly.

/r/pregnant Thread