sprung!

Luck was on my side with this one! After 24 hours of monitoring – NST, bloodwork, urine labs, etc. everything came back NORMAL and negative for protein or any signs of preeclampsia – just PIH at this point. Doc thinks the dip I did in the office was a contaminated sample. I am sooooo relieved.  He let me come HOME yesterday afternoon and I am to be on strict bedrest and come back to the hospital for monitoring again on Tuesday.  So he’s still keeping me on a tight leash but I’m just so glad to be home, in my own bed. I’m taking BP meds that make me really dozy right now but it’s not like I have anything else to do but sleep when I feel like it. I just want to get to 36 weeks. Longer if I can but 36 weeks would feel awesome.

So thanks for all your prayers, they are working!

damn it – 34 weeks & hospitalized for the duration

Well, looks like my luck has run out my friends. This post is going to be really disjointed, I’m so tired and out of it.  I went to my OB appt yesterday knowing things were going sideways because my pressures have been steadily increasing over the past week and the swelling is now in my face and hands so I took A with me just in case it was more than just my usual appt.  My BP was a hefty 150/95 (a huge increase from previous weeks) and I’m spilling +2 protein. Preeclampsia it is. He sent me home to pack my bag and go directly to the hospital. I was admitted right away and I’ll be here for the duration it looks like. I’m 34 weeks today so I’m in a good place and baby is happy (did an NST last night) but I really want a few more weeks. It’s like déjà vu all over again. Same hospital, same nurses, same routine. I’m on BP meds 3x day, hopefully that should kick in soon. My urine last night at the hospital was negative for protein but the nurse said this disease jumps all over the place and these dips just aren’t reliable. I didn’t want A to leave me last night. My anxiety has kicked in and I’m a bit of a wreck. Sweetlove stayed at my in-laws overnight last night so A could help me get settled here and I’m looking forward to his visit this morning. I finally fell asleep around 2:30 AM and awoke at 5:00 AM, hospital beds suck the big one and these plastic pillows are useless for my SPD. We were in such a rush getting here yesterday I forgot my precious pillow fort. There are no comforts of home here that’s for sure. The food is shit. I remember it well and it hasn’t changed since my last stay that’s for sure! I called my mom and dad yesterday – they were at the lake recouping from my mom’s last chemo treatment (she’s in the throws of side effects right now and really weak) and told them what was going on. They were on the road home within an hour, it’s a five hour drive. I hate alarming them like this but she’s excited a new grandbaby is coming and its keeping her mind off the cancer for a bit which might be good? Doctor is thinking a week maybe two if we’re lucky before this baby needs to come out. Sweetlove was born at 36w0d and he roomed in with me and came straight home so hopefully we’ll get as lucky with this one.  Looks like my dream of a VBAC is over too, oh well, I didn’t hold a lot of hope for that truly I knew things wouldn’t go that way. I don’t know how A is going to cope this week with taking care of Sweetlove all on his own, last time it was just me he had to worry about.  Oh well, we’ll manage. We’ve got lots of family around who I’m sure will step up.  First things first, let’s get this baby here safe.  Doc should be by this morning to let me know the results of all my labs and the plan going forward. I’ll update again later. Prayers!!!

32 weeks

Today marks a major milestone for me. it was 32 weeks last time that I was hospitalized with PIH and spent 4 weeks there until I was delivered at 36.  That 4 weeks changed my life in a lot of ways. I entered that hospital one person and left it a completely different person – not only because I left a “Mom”, but because it was a really challenging time emotionally (and physically) and I developed PTSD – including a crippling anxiety disorder that I still deal with today almost five years later.  A lot of guilt too. Two years of infertility wondering if this was my punishment for my pregnancy going wrong with Sweetlove.  A warning from God that I shouldn’t be attempting another pregnancy.  So to be here today, at 32 weeks, with a perfectly healthy pregnancy, blows me away.  Really and truly, I am feeling so blessed.  There is a healing in my soul, in a way I can not describe.  The idea that the universe throws you curveballs that might not always be your fault. For good and for bad.  And if I can get away with a birth experience that allows me to be present for the birth of my baby – that will make this whole journey so complete. 

So here’s to 32 weeks. At home, with my family, enjoying life and this miracle growing inside of me.  Something a lot of pregnant women take for granted, but I could never.  Each day is a blessing.

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I had a growth ultrasound last Saturday and baby is measuring 4 lbs 6 oz – one week ahead of my due date.  Little chubber!