After an uneventful and enjoyable preganancy, it has been a busy 35/36th week of my pregnancy,
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
I had my 34 week appointment with the midwives. They found that my blood pressure was fairly high during this appointment, so they had me go to the lab to draw blood and run some additional tests because high blood pressure is a sign of preeclampsia. The tests didn't show any additional warning signs, so they decided see me at my next appointment next week.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
DH and I went to the midwives clinic for a regular check-up and to go over our birth plan. While we were there, they found that my blood pressure was pretty high again, so they sent us down to the triage area at the Evergreen Family Maternity Center. They took my blood pressure every 10 minutes, attached a fetal heart monitor, and also did some more blood work. My blood pressure dropped and stabilized while I was lying down, and they didn't see any other indicators in my blood work, and Zach's heart beat was strong, so they sent us home and had me start modified bed rest, and also had me start a 24 hour urine test. They scheduled a follow-up ultrasound and appointment on Thursday, and asked me to check her blood pressure again on Wednesday to see how things were going.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I went back to Evergreen to drop off the jug for her 24 hour urine test, and the midwives checked her blood pressure again. It turned out to be high again, so they sent me back to triage. DH had taken the bus to work, so he caught a ride to Evergreen and joined me later. The midwives consulted with the doctors and decided to admit me for 24 hour observation because they were very concerned about preclampsia. I was given an IV of fluids and magnesium sulfate to control blood pressure, and had a fetal heart monitor attached, and we moved into a room. DH went home to grab some clothes, Netflix movies, books, laptops, etc, then picked up a pizza for a dinner and came back to stay the night. This day was the hottest day in Seattle history (103 degrees!), so it was nice to have some air conditionining. However, due to the magnesium sulfate, the nurses had to come in hourly to check my blood pressure & vitals, which made it a bit of a rough night overall.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
I remained on magnesium sulfate and the fetal monitor. We had an ultrasound in the triage area in the morning, and Zach looked happy, healthy and normal for his age. We were told that the midwives and doctors would evaluate my status and decide in the afternoon whether to proceed with an inducement immediately or continue with bed rest. In the early evening, the doctor stopped by and said that they wanted to try to give Zach a chance to get to 37 weeks in utero (which will happen around August 6th), so they decided to keep me in the hospital for observation for the time being. The tentative plan is to do another ultrasound on Monday, then an amniocentesis on Wednesday to check Zach's lung development, then we'll figure out the exact schedule from there. We had a more restful night since we had a better idea what was in store for us the next few days, but we still had to wake up hourly for blood pressure checks.
Friday, July 31, 2009
I was able to disconnect from the IV this morning and only has to attach the fetal monitor for an hour at a time, 3 times a day. At this point, it looks like I won't be leaving Evergreen until after Zach arrives. This weekend, DH is going to be running some errands and getting things prepared for when Zach comes home.
Re: My pregnancy update (long):
The only Easter Bunny I can get behind.
Maxwell Joseph 4/09 Lucy Violet 10/12
Baby website / My blog
WOW, what a ride for you!
How high is your BP for them to be so concerned? Had it been on the high sie for the duration of the PG'y?
I was on BP meds while PG with Audrey starting at 13 weeks. I got monthly u/s's the whole time and 2x weekly non stress tests my last 8 weeks.
hang in there and I hope you get to come home for a bit before he does make his grand appearance!
Thanks for the update - I've been thinking about you since you posted on facebook earlier in the week. Glad they are on top of things and watching closely.
Good luck with everything!
Theresa
Unable to even.
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