Friday's OB appointment... lots of news

Well on Friday, my blood pressure was 156/84... and there was protein in my urine, so I was sent directly to the hospital for preeclampsia testing. The doctor told me that, depending on the test results, they might be inducing me that afternoon!

I did pretty well at the hospital testing... my blood pressure was down to 116/70 as soon as I got there! But there's still that whole protein thing... they did blood tests too, though I'm not sure what those results were. So I got sent home and put on bedrest. I also got to do a 24 hour urine test which I found rather amusing. See, you collect it all in one big jug that looks like an orange juice jug and then you have to keep it on ice. And somehow the whole idea of a big oj jug full of pee over ice just strikes me as funny.

Anyway, at the end of the 24 hours, I had to take it back to the hospital and do another round of testing - more blood tests, more monitoring, and more blood pressure tests. The blood pressure wasn't as good as the day before, but it wasn't so terrifyingly high either.

However, the doctor decided to induce me anyway.

So I'm going in on Monday for an induction.

Oh my god, the baby is going to be here REALLY REALLY SOON. When they first started talking about induction I was just freaked out and scared. And disappointed that I won't be able to do it naturally. But now I'm getting more and more excited.

The nurse did warn me though that since my cervix isn't soft, it may take a few days to induce labor. What? It can take that long? Good lord. I had no idea.

So the idea of the baby coming made me pretty antsy, and if I could I'd be running around doing all sorts of last minute things, but of course I'm on bedrest now and can't do anything, which is pretty much driving me insane. But the boys have been really good about getting things done for me - they spent the morning cleaning the living room and doing laundry, which made me feel better to know these things were done.

Ultrasound and a quick OB visit

So I had my ultrasound today... everything looks good! Baby is measuring a whopping 7lb13oz according to the radiologist's estimate, though this could be high by 10%. (My OB thinks it's closer to 7lbs right now). Anyway, the radiologist's estimate puts baby in the 90th percentile for weight - or measuring about 2 weeks ahead. (Which I'm guessing is how some people get revised due dates, especially if they got pg on their own, but since we all know exactly when I got pg, it's just a darn big baby.)

Anyway, the baby is still in a good position, head down and everything. S/he was busy sucking on his/her hand and wiggling it's little tush around. We could see the baby practicing it's breathing and the little heart was thumping away (heart rate was 160). Fluid levels and placenta looked good.

At the OB's office, I found that my blood pressure has dropped back to the normal range, so things are looking good there. Haven't gained any weight since Friday. So that was my OB visit for the week. I'm not going back until next Friday - the 25th of May - unless anything changes or feels 'weird'. (which means I get to skip an internal exam since I didn't get one today - woohoo! I didn't mention it after my last appointment, but the internal really sucked. Stay the heck away from my cervix! And for all that I wasn't dialated or effaced or anything.)

I really really need to start calling some pediatricians!

33 week OB appointment

Well, I had my OB appointment today. Everything looks good. The heartrate was 156. I'm measuring a bit large - but apparently my 2nd anatomy scan showed the baby was in the 59th percentile for size, so being a bit large at this point is still in line with that. And I gained 2 lbs in the last month. Still not a lot, but it's better than losing weight! So now I'm back to 9lbs gained overall. It was a pretty fast appointment since I didn't really have any questions to ask. The only other interesting information the OB tossed out was that at this stage in the game, the "take-home" rate for babies is the same now as it is at full term. Not to say that it wouldn't be better to have the baby later rather than now, but to have it now wouldn't be life-threatening for the baby.

Anyway, to sum up my appointment: All is well, and I go back in 2 weeks.

After that I'll start going weekly!! Ack! Is it really that close???

I think I've had a couple of Braxton-Hicks contractions. They were uncomfortable but didn't really hurt. But my whole belly got really really hard. It was weird. It's done it twice this week, on different nights.