32-weeks (taken on Sept. 13th)
I had hoped that this blog would only be used for all the happy updates but truth be told, it's been a rough couple of days. It actually started about 3 hours before my 32-week checkup on Tuesday. I was at work and I noticed that my watch felt really tight so I went ahead and loosened the band. But within minutes I felt it get tight again. So I immediately went to the nurse and asked her to take my blood pressure, just as a precaution. Turned out my blood pressure was 140/95 (which is high for me). She showed a bit of concern--told me to get off my feet, go do some paperwork and come back in 30 minutes to have it checked again. Half an hour later, it was 134/90. I was just about done working anyway but I decided to go home right away. I called my doctor's office and told them what my blood pressure was just minutes before and they had me come into the office immediately, about 2 hours before my scheduled appointment time. At the office, my blood pressure was 144/84 (at my last appointment on Sept. 2nd, my blood pressure was 106/60). Everything else was perfectly fine--no protein in my urine, weight was okay, and Baby's heartrate was in the 130s. The doctor was clearly concerned though--he had me go right over to the hospital to have some labs drawn, then ordered me to bed rest for 2 days until I came back for an ultrasound today.
So Mike and I went back this morning and had the ultrasound done right away. Luckily, Baby is still doing great. They estimated his weight at 4 lbs. 8 ozs., placing him in the 40th percentile (which is exactly where he was at 24-weeks). They said the fluid levels and heartbeat were okay too. Then we waited for over half an hour in the waiting room before the nurse called me back to check all the normal stuff. She found that I had lost 2 lbs. in 2 days (which didn't surprise me at all--I haven't had an appetite) and my blood pressure was still 144/84. Then we got to wait for at least another 15 minutes before the doctor came in to see me. He went over the lab results and said that the bloodwork all came back okay but that the 24-hour urine sample revealed high levels of protein. I guess the normal amount is 10 (units?) and mine was at 441, meaning my kidneys are stressed. He said that at this point, that number is okay but that they definitely don't want to see it go over 500. So the only treatment is rest. It sounds like I may have to be on bedrest for the remainder of my pregnancy but that he will re-evaluate my status weekly. This means that I will have to go back to the hospital to have the labs drawn every week and I'll have to do a 24-hour urine sample every week. He made it sound like if the numbers go down, I may be able to start introducing some activity. For now though, I'll be on complete bedrest until my next appointment on Sept. 25th. They will be doing ultrasounds every two weeks to make sure that the Baby's growth isn't affected by these complications. And the doctor also said that I will most likely not carry the baby to my due date--that he will mostly likely be inducing as soon as both Baby and I are "ready".
The doctor was very patient and took the time to answer all of our questions fully. He reassured me that things are okay at this point and that this is a fairly common complication (affects about 15% of pregnant women). He also reassured me that I was in no way at fault for this and I couldn't have done anything differently to prevent it. So I shed a few tears (a lot of tears actually) and am mourning the loss of the "perfect pregnancy". But I am starting to accept that this is just a means to an end--the "end", of course, being healthy Mommy and healthy Baby. I realize it could be much worse but I ask all of our family and friends to please keep me, Mike and Baby in your prayers. I'll be sure to add updates as the weeks pass (God knows I'll have the time)!!
34 weeks
Chillin with a magazine
