Creeping Up

Due to my age, clotting factor & high-risk status, to say I have made it to 37 weeks without any complications is amazing - maybe even miraculous? I should have known that things were going TOO well!? I also learned a very important lesson this week - at 37 weeks you should have your hospital bag packed by now!

At my 36 week appointment, Baby T had his ultrasound & scored 8/8, my amniotic fluid level was good & he did awesome during his non-stress test! Then it came time to check my blood pressure - 142/100! 

Whoa - what? I have run 120's/60's this entire pregnancy so how can this be? The nurses seemed quite concerned so they made me lay on my left side for 20 minutes & then re-checked it. They warned me that if it wasn't coming down I would be admitted to the hospital & asked if I had my bag packed yet.

My bag? Um no, there is no bag packed because I have PLENTY of time to pack my bag. For some reason I just couldn't go there mentally. Call it denial, I guess. I told the nurse I didn't have any bag packed & she looked at me shocked & said "um, you need to get that bag packed sister"! At that moment, shit just got real!

Luckily, my BP had come down to my norm so they let me go on to work but they wanted me to check it randomly throughout the day until next week's appointment. If it were to creep back up I was to call the office & speak to the nurse. I also had to get labs drawn before I left.

The next day they called with my lab results. My uric acid & creat levels were slightly elevated. Along with the hypertension, this signals the beginning stages of pre-eclampsia - boo :( The rest of the week my pressure remained in a "safe-zone" never getting higher than 130's/80's & I only had mild ankle swelling but come the weekend I was unable to check my BP so I tried to just take it easy & not do anything too strenuous - which included NOT packing my hospital bag.

Monday proved that things can change in a skinny minute.

It was around 2pm & I noticed I had a headache & was seeing "floaters" in my vision so thought it be best I checked my BP. Well, it was 145/95 :( I really hadn't been doing anything other than a lot of walking so I sat down with my feet elevated  for about 20 minutes & then checked it again - 151/90. I then made the phone call to the Dr's office. It took them 2 hours to call me back which was kind of annoying but once they finally called they told me to go directly to St. Lukes South to be admitted for overnight monitoring. Shit just got real again & I STILL didn't have my bag packed yet! Ugh....should have packed that damn thing last week!!

I made my way to the hospital, called a few peeps to give them a "heads up" of what was going on, got admitted, hooked up to the fetal monitor, had labs drawn, started a 24 hour urine collection & was monitored until the next morning.

I have to mention that my dear friend Jill is a God-send! She drove to my house without hesitation, let the dogs out, fed them, packed an overnight bag for me & spent a couple of hours with me at the hospital keeping me company watching the KU game until Shane could get there! Such a blessing to have her in my life!

My BP eventually came down after laying in bed for a few hours & Baby T was a rock-star on the monitor. I also noticed I was having lots of contractions throughout the night & it was kind of cool seeing them on the monitor which didn't affect Baby T at all so that was a good sign. Since I was having contractions, the nurse did a cervical check to see if I was dilated at all (which was NOT pleasant) & was disappointed to hear I was 0 cm dilated & my cervix was still "high & closed". With only 3 weeks left & all these contractions this past week I was hoping I was starting to dilate a bit but no go :(

After an uneventful night, one of my OB's partners came by to see me in the morning & let me know that he was pleased with the downward trend of my BP's, my lab results all came back normal, Baby T looked great on the monitor & all was good enough for me to go home. YAY - was so relieved to hear that! As much as I want to meet Baby T, I wasn't ready for hospital bed rest, talk of inductions or even C-sections!

So my instructions this week are to "take it easy", recline whenever possible with my feet up, continue checking BP's randomly throughout the day, notify the office if it goes above 140's/90's again & oh, get my hospital bag packed!!!

I have my follow-up & weekly appointment on Friday morning so we will hopefully get through the week & go from there. As of right now Baby T isn't coming anytime soon & I am ok with that!!