Bad Day.

Today started off like pretty much any other day that I have off.  I woke up incredibly hungry and had a cinnamon raison bagel with peanut butter and some grapes for breakfast around 6 am, watched the news, then went back to bed (tough life, I know).  Then I got up at 10, and did stuff around the house until my doctor's appointment at 1.  Most people who are pregnant probably look forward to their doctors appointments, but I think that going every week gets kind of old.  Jordan has been to all of my appointments, but Scooby had a vet appointment today at 2 so I told him to just skip my appointment and take Scooby so we wouldn't have to reschedule. My trips at this point aren't very exciting, I wait 30 minutes to have them take my vital signs, urine, and listen to the heartbeat, and then I go home.  I should have known that the one day I tell Jordan to miss my appointment is the one day that I would've given anything to have him there.

The first thing they do at every appointment is take your vital signs.  All of mine looked just fine and then my blood pressure pops up on the screen as 150/110... which is high.  A normal blood pressure is around 120/70, and anything over 140/90 is considered high.  And when you are pregnant and in your third trimester, a high blood pressure is one of the red flags they look for in preeclampsia.  Preeclampsia is a condition where your blood vessels constrict and it can limit blood flow to both vital organs and the baby and cause an assortment of other problems.  Mild preeclampsia can normally be monitored closely, but in serious cases the treatment is immediate induction or cesearean delivery.  My mom had severe preeclampsia with me, which is why I was delivered a month early, and after spending a semester in maternity class and on the labor and delivery unit at Rex I know that it is not a condition that is taken lightly.  So, as soon as I saw the blood pressure I thought "Nope we need to take that again because that can not be right."  They took it again, and again, and then again lying down, then after lying down for 20 minutes, and the lowest it got was 140/100.  The other red flag of preeclampsia is protein in your urine, and mine came back with trace protein, which isn't bad, but it's not really good either.  The doctor came in after my first blood pressure and lab tests were back, and told me that this was obviously concerning.  She told me to do a 24 hour urine collection (which is where I dump all my pee in a big jug for an entire day) to get a better look at the protein in my urine, told me I am not allowed to go back to work, and that I would have to come back on Thursday and Friday for more appointments and labs.  Then my blood pressures kept reading  high despite changing positions and resting, so she came back again and said that I'd actually have to go to the hospital for at least two hours of monitoring, more labs, and possible induction.  If they didn't induce me today, and my pressures were still high, they would probably induce me next week because high pressures can restrict blood flow to the placenta and cause problems and if the baby is term, it is better to get them out.  Then she said she was calling the hospital to let them know I was coming and walked me to the door and told me to go straight there.  So I walk out to my car, and sit in it, and I think "What the hell just happened in there? A baby? Today?"

I tried to call Jordan, but he didn't answer and hadn't responded to the texts I sent him in the office, so I just went home.  I decided I needed to call work and let them know that I wouldn't be coming in again, which was probably a bad idea.  I thought I was fine but as soon as Linnea asked if everything was ok I started crying and could barely talk and probably really scared her and Will, so if you guys are reading this, I am sorry, I should have had Jordan call or waited until I could talk properly.  This uncontrollable outburst also led me to decide to not call my parents, because I don't think anything would have terrified them more than having me call them sobbing about how I am going to the hospital for rule out preeclampsia.

After calming myself down some, I started throwing together a bag for the hospital and thinking about getting induced.  Induction is a really long process, even for someone who has reached their due date.  When you get induced you are in the hospital and hooked up to monitors the entire time you are in labor, which is a loooong time from start to finish.   The main drug they give you, Pitocin, causes really strong contractions that can come in unnatural rhythms and are harder to handle than normal contractions.  In majority of inductions that I have seen, the women don't dilate at the rate that the doctors would like to see, and they end up having a ceserean.    Cora hasn't dropped down yet, she is still pretty high up, I feel like getting induced at this point would be an extremely long and painful labor experience that would most likely end up in a ceserean delivery because my body isn't ready for it.  Thinking of induction worried me, but it also reminded me that I needed to pack baby stuff as well as my own, and that was kind of surreal.  I pulled down Cora's hospital clothes I have had hanging up for months now and one of her blankets and smiled for the first time all day.

Jordan finally walked in and I try to explain the situation to him, up until this point the only thing he has seen is our text conversation, which was as follows:

Me: "My blood pressure is 156/110. Not my best"
Me: "They are going to retake it a few times so I will let you know."
30 minutes later I walk out of the office and try to call him. No response, I decide it is better that I wait until I am more composed to try and call again so I don't terrify him.
20 minutes later I get home and try to call again. Still no answer.
Jordan: "Sorry, I am at the vet, call you in a minute."
Me: "You should probably call me now."

This was followed by a brief phone conversation where I told him he needed to get home because we had to go to the hospital.  He acted calm but I think he was pretty freaked out.  I told him he should pack some stuff and he put deodorant, a toothbrush, and a contact case in a Food Lion bag like that was an adequate amount of supplies for what could turn into couple days in the hospital.   Then we get in the car and he starts going to the hospital in a way that I have never been.  I mention this, thinking he has found some new, fast route to get there, and after a minute he tells me that he has no idea where he is.  Luckily we weren't too far off track, and eventually we made it to the hospital.  They admitted me and hooked me up to the monitors and tried to start an IV on me.  I say tried because I got stuck three different times by two nurses who proclaimed themselves the IV masters, yet they could not get an IV in me.  Finally they gave up and just drew blood on me, which took forever to come back.  In the meantime I laid in bed and watched my blood pressure, which took every 15 minutes.  Sitting up upon admission it was 150/100, but after laying down on my side for a while it gradually started to come down, and eventually was at 110/64, which is good.  Cora's heart rate was also good, and she was really active so the doctors were pleased with that as well.    Every time I go to the doctor she gets super active and  bounces around and punches at the doppler, I think she knows when all the attention is on her.   After my blood tests came back normal and about 5 hours of waiting, they told me I wouldn't have to get induced and that I could go home on bedrest.  Depending on how my 24 hour urine results, labs, and blood pressure look later this week they will decide whether or not they think I need to be induced next week or if I can go until my due date.  I am really hoping and praying that I can go to my due date, and that Cora will come on her own by then.   I don't want to be induced, but I'll obviously do whatever I need to do to have the safest delivery possible.

So today was a crazy day, but at least I learned a few things.  First of all, not to take a healthy pregnancy for granted, because things can go wrong quickly and it is important to be mentally prepared.  Secondly, there is a reason why they make me go to the doctor every week now and it isn't a complete waste of time.  Also, that Jordan should come to all of these appointments because being by myself and getting that kind of news was hard to handle.  Lastly, that we might be parents sooner than we thought!  How Cora gets here is just means to an end and as long as she arrives safe and healthy I will be thankful.

Links to info about preeclampsia:
http://www.preeclampsia.org/
http://www.babycenter.com/0_preeclampsia_257.bc

Days until due date: 16