More Pregnancy Fun (NOT)
So now I get to watch out for signs of pre-eclampsia.
When the nurse took my BP it was high (132/93). The midwife said that in combination with my swollen feet raised a red flag for her.
Now, I get the BP thing, because I generally have low(ish) BP anyway so any major deviation from my norm is certainly cause for concern. But the swollen feet? They’ve been that way since I found out I was pregnant, so to me, no red flag. And I would have thought that would have been the case with the midwife since I’ve had the swelling since I’ve been seeing them, but…whatever.
So I had to lay on my side for five minutes and then have the BP redone, and it was fine. Then she sat down and brought up the pre-eclampsia and the words “modified bed rest” came out. Basically I’m supposed to lay around (or in this case sit) and do nothing, which is basically what I’ve been doing (minus a few chores which I gave up just this week)! She wanted me to come in earlier than one week so I could get my BP taken again but it couldn’t be arranged. So she said, find someone who has a BP cuff/machine (mom does yay!) and check it on Monday (laying down) and if the bottom number is over 85, they want to hear about it. She also gave me other symptoms to watch out for: further swelling of my feet, bleeding, headaches, pains in the chest that aren’t heartburn related. And then she actually said, “Can I trust that you’ll page us if any of this happens?”
WTF??? I’m 32 years old, college educated and after everything I went through with Liam (which I’ve told them about, several times) why wouldn’t I call???? I’m just as concerned about my own health as well as that of Sarah as you are!!! I wanted to say something, but by that time I just wanted to get out of there so I could go to the store to get milk and go home. Now I love everything that the midwives have done for me so far, they have given me far superior care than I ever got with the health department when I was pregnant with Liam. But that…*seethes* it made me want to hit something.
Sphere: Related ContentI Haz A Desk
At which I am currently sitting at in an battered but comfy chair. It’s kind of nice not to have my laptop perched on the edge of a chair’s arm.
But more importantly, the reason I have a desk is that it was moved from the office/third bedroom to make room for the crib. Tomorrow there is massive amounts of cleaning happening. In the office, in the living room, just lots of cleaning. And somewhere in there I go see the midwives.
Most of my days lately have just involved trying to get into a comfortable position while sitting. While Sarah thwarts those plans by sticking her head/foot/some body part just under my ribs. Two weeks ago the midwife was all “well, she’ll start slowing down now, less moving because she’s getting bigger and there’s less room to move around in there”. Uh huh. Somehow I don’t think Sarah got the memo. Of course my child is going to be stubborn. I don’t think she’d be my child otherwise.
Oh, unofficially, we’ve started a baby pool. No money involved, but if you wanna take a stab at when Miss Sarah will be making her arrival into this world, go right ahead. My baby sister has already claimed Nov. 4th, cause she thought it would be kinda cool for Sarah to be born on election day.
Sphere: Related ContentFour More Weeks
That’s right, as of today, I am 36 weeks pregnant. And boy do I feel it.
Getting to sleep and staying asleep is an adventure. Solid eight hour nights are going to be a thing of the past until Sarah is sleeping through the night. When I stand up, I can’t see my feet, that’s how big I’m getting. I’m not sure how I feel about that. My bellybutton is threatening to become an outie. That never happened with Liam. And best of all (sarcasm), the nausea has returned. Depending on what I eat, when I eat or how much I eat, my stomach protests. All perfectly normal the midwives assure me.
Next week is the bigger milestone. 37 weeks is typically considered “full term”. That means Sarah has pretty much done all her important growing and can survive outside the womb should I go into labor. So, yeah, after next week, all bets are off as to when she’ll arrive. Then Brad goes and tells me stories of one of his online friends who, despite all the ultrasounds saying there was only one baby, had twins. Good God, if that happens…… Now there have been twins, on my mother’s side of the family, but none in two generations. I prefer to think the two ultrasounds I had were correct and that Sarah’s the only one in there.
So basically at this point, it’s all sit and wait. The office/nursery is almost clean so we’ll be moving the crib in there soon. We have everything else we need; stroller, car seat, playpen. Clothes are coming from my family. Here’s to waiting.
Sphere: Related ContentUpdate after appointment
I think I am going to really like seeing the midwives at this place. The one today was very friendly and knowledgeable. I got to hear the heartbeart today. It was still awe inspiring. *G* I have an ulrasound scheduled for next week so fingers crossed that we can see if it’s a boy or girl! Also get all the bloodwork done then too, so yay.
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