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Friday, January 6, 2012

Eventful Morning

Hey Friends!

You're going to get two posts today - watch out!  This first one is another "update" from the doctor this morning - I want to document it while it's fresh.  Then, because I have not followed through on my promises all week, I am going to post about my sweet Daddy and the gift he brought for Baby B!

So, this morning we had another doctor appointment to check in.  I was actually glad (for once) that we had to go in today, because my headaches have been getting steadily worse as the week has progressed.  They are still not as bad as a migraine, but to the point where I will sometimes have to lay in a dark, quiet room with my eyes closed for relief.  In fact, I have woken up with a headache for the past two mornings straight.  As I said before, two weeks ago, I would not really have thought anything about this, but because of all of the excitement over the past two weeks I'm sure I'm over analyzing every little thing.

We got to the doctor and I did my thing.  No protein in my urine - check.  Weight was down 1 lb from Tuesday, putting me at a total gain of +28 lbs (still don't want to talk about it).  My blood pressure was the highest it's been yet - 150/90.  This of course sent the nurse into a panic - Dan and I think I was probably just due to me worrying about it being high and that's why it was so escalated.  They took me immediately to the FHM, which I expected.  Baby girl cooperated well today - lots of movement.  The doctor came in and talked to us and asked again about all of my symptoms.  Blurry vision or seeing spots?  No.  Upper abdominal pain?  No.  Vaginal bleeding or water breakage?  No.  Nausea or vomiting?  No.  Contractions?  Yes but not consistent.  She explained that the headaches are probably related to spikes in blood pressure, which worries them - especially since I've had them for almost a week now.  She told me that I have a mild case of preeclampsia, and their concern is that they don't want it to get worse, which is why they've been monitoring me so closely.  She wanted to leave me on the FHM for another 30 minutes and have my blood pressure taken a few more times before discussing the next steps.

As I said above, baby girl was moving just fine, and doing exactly what she was supposed to.  Both doctor and nurse said that she is beautiful and perfectly healthy, and totally unaware of any problems with Mom - which is good.  I want her to be perfect and camp out in there for at least two more weeks, if not more!  The next time the nurse took my BP, it was down substantially - I think 130/76?  We stayed on FHM a while longer, and then she took it again.  It was a little higher - I want to say maybe 133/86 or somewhere around there (it was taken so many times by the time we left that I can't keep them straight anymore).  The doctor came back in and said she'd consulted with the on-call doctor, and they both agreed that it would be best to admit me to Labor and Delivery at the hospital (conveniently attached to the doctor's office) for monitoring.  Dr. R. said that they wanted to have all of my labs re-done, get another urine sample, monitor baby and contractions and also monitor my BP.  She said that they'd also give me something a little stronger than Tylenol for my headache, and that if the BP didn't get under control and the headache didn't go away we'd have to talk about delivering (excellent way to reduce my blood pressure, no?).  At this point I had a meltdown.  Thank God for Dan.

Dr. R. is actually not one of my favorite doctors in the practice, but the on-call doctor, Dr. G., is.  She happened to be in the office for something at that moment and stopped in to check on me - she knew I'd be upset.  She explained that I didn't need to worry, that it was totally precautionary and not an abnormal thing for them to do for patients.  She said her hope was that my labs would be fine, they'd monitor my BP for a little while and it would be under control, and if that were the case I could go home and continue resting.  It made me feel a lot better.

So, off to the hospital we went.  I guess the one good thing about all this is that we will be able to get through registration at the hospital in no time once the baby actually does come, because I had pre-registered so they already had most of my information, but they also went through the registration process.  They asked me questions about my delivery (Do I want an epidural?  Do I plan to breastfeed?  Questions about my medical history, etc.) and also asked if we had purchased and installed a carseat.  Um.  Is, "no, because we thought we had 6 more weeks," an appropriate answer?  Probably we should get on that stat. 

Anyway, long story short - my platelets are still low, but my labs came back normal.  No protein in the urine sample the hospital took.  BP evened out and was pretty normal while I was there, and the slightly stronger drugs they gave me made my headache feel better.  Dr. G. came to check on me and said she was pleased with my progress, and to head on home to rest and they want to see me first thing Monday morning.  She also wants another 24-hour urine sample to be started on Sunday so that I can bring it in with me Monday morning.  Fab.  I'm sure carrying around my own urine at my baby shower on Sunday will be REAL cute.  She also told me to call immediately if any changes or new symptoms occur.

Moral of the story?  I don't think there's any chance this baby is making it to 40 weeks.  If I had to guess, I'd say they will get me to 37 and then we need to be prepared to deliver at any time.  That is only 2 weeks away!  It is hard to believe that it could be happening so soon.  I am so excited to meet our little girl, but worried at the same time.  I want her to stay in there and marinate a little longer!  They did not get into whether I would have to have a c-section or whether they'd try induction, but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Whew, that was a long one!  Bottom line, we're still cooking for at least a little while longer.  More updates after Monday's appointment.

Happy Friday, and happy first baby shower weekend to us!  :-)

Sarah

2 comments:

  1. Wow, Sarah. "Eventful" is an understatement. I am glad she will be marinating for at least a little bit longer.

    Have a great time at the shower and safe travels!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow that must be scary. But chin up, most of the ladies I know who had preeclampsia gained like 50 lbs! Hope your Raleigh shower is fab- sounds like Baby B could even be here before your second shower! Maybe the hosts can make it a traveling shower?

    ReplyDelete

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