Wow it seems like every time I write I have something major to write about. My next pregnancy book is going to have some long journals in it this time!
Let me start with last weekend. We had Lily's 2nd birthday at my parent's house because I didn't want to mess with the stress of having it at our house with my blood pressure. Even with just inviting local family we still had about 30 people there. It went very well. We had sandwiches and cake which my sister-in-law Abbie made. The theme of her party was Toy Story so she put a Buzz and Woody on the cake. Very impressive! It was delicious too! Lily enjoyed opening her presents but became a little shy and tired towards the end. Plus it was approaching nap time. I pretty much just sat there the whole time with my feet up. Which is what the doctor ordered.
Monday was my 35 week appointment and scheduled non-stress test. I knew it was going to be interesting because my blood pressure was high that morning. I was expecting to be sent home on bed rest but instead they sent me to be admitted to the hospital for monitoring ( de ja vu?). My blood pressure was 158/98 by the time my mom got there and we left for the hospital. No ambulance this time. Thank God! Once I got there and got settled in my pressure came down. They did an ultrasound and Charlee looked great. They even estimated that she was about 6 & 1/2 pounds. They were calling her a big baby. Which is good considering we were thinking we could be having her the next couple days. After some blood work and monitoring as well as a 24 hour urine test they discovered that I am not preeclamptic. At least not yet. This could be the very early stages of it so we will continue to run tests each week to try and catch it. That being said. If its ONLY blood pressure that is the issue at this point then they have to make me wait til 39 weeks before they can deliver. This would mean bed rest or blood pressure medicine until then. But if signs of preeclampsia show up then they will deliver at 37 weeks. It may sound crazy but I was disappointed to hear this. I was kinda looking forward to having her in the next 2 weeks just cause I want her to still be little and I don't know if I can take 4 weeks of bed rest! Plus she has really been kicking me hard these days. I know she's going to break a rib!
I go back to the doctor tomorrow as a follow-up so we should know more about whether I will be put on blood pressure medicine or if I am to be on bed rest for the next couple weeks. We are so thankful and blessed to have family close by that can take care of Lily for me. I don't know how we would do this without them.
So keep praying that these next few weeks go well and that I don't go crazy from having to sit in a recliner all day! At least I have gotten some reading done. I have read more in the last 5 days than I have in the last 4 months. So that's been nice.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
33 Weeks- Update on Previous Weeks
Well a lot has happened since I last gave an update. I will try to recap all of it.
About 31 Weeks:
The weekend of my birthday, Saturday March 27th I stared having some mild abdominal pains that came and went. I figured it was Braxton hicks contractions. But since I had never experienced them I wasn't sure. As the evening went on they started feeling sharper and more often. By the time we got home they hurt pretty bad and I checked my blood pressure and it was pretty high. I figured it was because of the pain and the fact that we had been out for the night. From about 10:30pm until about 11am I started throwing up about every 30-45 minutes. It got so bad that I ran out of food to throw up and I started throwing up stomach bile. So at about 11am I decided to call the doctor because the pain was unbearable and I had started throwing up more often. The on-call doctor told me that I should go to the hospital and get on an IV and get some fluids back in me while they run tests to see what is wrong. So we spent Sunday afternoon at the hospital and learned that dehydration can cause pre-term labor contractions. I know that throwing up did not help the fact that I was dehydrated but they aren't sure if that's what caused me to throw up. It was strange. My white blood counts were high which indicated my body was trying to fight off an infection but they never figured out what exactly. After being there for about 5 hours they had pumped 3 liters of fluid in me and even after that I was still really dehydrated. Everything else was fine including my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate. So none of this affected her, which is good. I really didn't start feeling normal again until Friday or Saturday of that week. Ryan decided to take a sick day that Monday because I wasn't sure how strong I would be and be able to take care of Lily. Which proved to be a good idea because I decided to have a follow-up doctor's visit with my doctor. I spent 3 hours in the doctor's office while they monitored Charlee's heart-rate and my contractions. They were about every 5 minutes, but not as painful as they had been on Sunday morning. Everything was fine other than that I needed to get hydrated to stop the contractions. Wednesday they finally stopped.
About 32 Weeks (Easter weekend):
This was a busy weekend for us. Saturday April 3rd we went van shopping. We started the morning with the community Easter egg hunt with Lily then we left about 11am and went to a dealership off Shawnee mission parkway. We test drove a couple vans then we went and got lunch. After that we headed to Frank Ancona Honda where right away we saw a van that we wanted to test drive. From the time we test drove it til we finally had signed the loan and were able to drive the van home it had been about 6 hours. Needless to say a long day. We got home and my blood pressure was a little high 140/84 (normal is 120/80). My doctor told me to call her when I hit 140/90 or higher consistently. Sunday morning (Easter) we went to our Sunrise Somewhere service at 8:30am and it was still on the high side 135/89. It continued to stay high most the day as we went on to my family Easter lunch then Ryan's family Easter egg hunt. When we got home at 4pm it was pretty high 132/106 (bottom number not good) but after I rested for awhile it came back down to 122/75. I probably would have called the doctor but I had a scheduled appointment for Monday so I figured I could just wait til then. Needless to say it was an emotional day for me as I was preparing myself for the worst report from the doctor. I really didn't want to hear that I'd need to go on bed rest. Monday at my doctor's appointment my blood pressure was ok. So she recommended that I do another 24 hour urine test and more blood tests at the hospital to check for pre-ecclampsia (like I did at 27 weeks). So I did that and everything came back fine. So other than periodic spiking of my blood pressure I have no other signs of pre-ecclampsia as of yet. She does say that I am a "ticking time bomb" and that we just need to get me to 36-37 weeks at this point. Meaning if I get that far and blood pressure is still a problem most likely we will just go ahead and schedule the C-Section that week.
33 Weeks (today): So far no swelling. I can still wear my wedding rings and I am not embarrassed to wear capris. Unlike with Lily, at this point I was really swollen in the ankles and I couldn't wear my wedding rings anymore. So that's a good sign. I just need to be better about drinking water and taking it easy. Easier said than done. So that has been a big prayer request of mine is that I am able to know when to say no and when to rest. Thankfully most days Lily is great at just watching a DVD or TV show and plays well by herself while I sit with my feet up. 4 More weeks is all I have to do. This will be the longest month I am sure. I am anxious to meet Charlee so I am excited of the idea that she will be here early. I just don't want her too early that I can't bring her home with me.
I think that's about it for now.
About 31 Weeks:
The weekend of my birthday, Saturday March 27th I stared having some mild abdominal pains that came and went. I figured it was Braxton hicks contractions. But since I had never experienced them I wasn't sure. As the evening went on they started feeling sharper and more often. By the time we got home they hurt pretty bad and I checked my blood pressure and it was pretty high. I figured it was because of the pain and the fact that we had been out for the night. From about 10:30pm until about 11am I started throwing up about every 30-45 minutes. It got so bad that I ran out of food to throw up and I started throwing up stomach bile. So at about 11am I decided to call the doctor because the pain was unbearable and I had started throwing up more often. The on-call doctor told me that I should go to the hospital and get on an IV and get some fluids back in me while they run tests to see what is wrong. So we spent Sunday afternoon at the hospital and learned that dehydration can cause pre-term labor contractions. I know that throwing up did not help the fact that I was dehydrated but they aren't sure if that's what caused me to throw up. It was strange. My white blood counts were high which indicated my body was trying to fight off an infection but they never figured out what exactly. After being there for about 5 hours they had pumped 3 liters of fluid in me and even after that I was still really dehydrated. Everything else was fine including my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate. So none of this affected her, which is good. I really didn't start feeling normal again until Friday or Saturday of that week. Ryan decided to take a sick day that Monday because I wasn't sure how strong I would be and be able to take care of Lily. Which proved to be a good idea because I decided to have a follow-up doctor's visit with my doctor. I spent 3 hours in the doctor's office while they monitored Charlee's heart-rate and my contractions. They were about every 5 minutes, but not as painful as they had been on Sunday morning. Everything was fine other than that I needed to get hydrated to stop the contractions. Wednesday they finally stopped.
About 32 Weeks (Easter weekend):
This was a busy weekend for us. Saturday April 3rd we went van shopping. We started the morning with the community Easter egg hunt with Lily then we left about 11am and went to a dealership off Shawnee mission parkway. We test drove a couple vans then we went and got lunch. After that we headed to Frank Ancona Honda where right away we saw a van that we wanted to test drive. From the time we test drove it til we finally had signed the loan and were able to drive the van home it had been about 6 hours. Needless to say a long day. We got home and my blood pressure was a little high 140/84 (normal is 120/80). My doctor told me to call her when I hit 140/90 or higher consistently. Sunday morning (Easter) we went to our Sunrise Somewhere service at 8:30am and it was still on the high side 135/89. It continued to stay high most the day as we went on to my family Easter lunch then Ryan's family Easter egg hunt. When we got home at 4pm it was pretty high 132/106 (bottom number not good) but after I rested for awhile it came back down to 122/75. I probably would have called the doctor but I had a scheduled appointment for Monday so I figured I could just wait til then. Needless to say it was an emotional day for me as I was preparing myself for the worst report from the doctor. I really didn't want to hear that I'd need to go on bed rest. Monday at my doctor's appointment my blood pressure was ok. So she recommended that I do another 24 hour urine test and more blood tests at the hospital to check for pre-ecclampsia (like I did at 27 weeks). So I did that and everything came back fine. So other than periodic spiking of my blood pressure I have no other signs of pre-ecclampsia as of yet. She does say that I am a "ticking time bomb" and that we just need to get me to 36-37 weeks at this point. Meaning if I get that far and blood pressure is still a problem most likely we will just go ahead and schedule the C-Section that week.
33 Weeks (today): So far no swelling. I can still wear my wedding rings and I am not embarrassed to wear capris. Unlike with Lily, at this point I was really swollen in the ankles and I couldn't wear my wedding rings anymore. So that's a good sign. I just need to be better about drinking water and taking it easy. Easier said than done. So that has been a big prayer request of mine is that I am able to know when to say no and when to rest. Thankfully most days Lily is great at just watching a DVD or TV show and plays well by herself while I sit with my feet up. 4 More weeks is all I have to do. This will be the longest month I am sure. I am anxious to meet Charlee so I am excited of the idea that she will be here early. I just don't want her too early that I can't bring her home with me.
I think that's about it for now.
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