8 weeks and counting.

I am officially 32 weeks as of yesterday. A number that seems somewhat seared into my mind at this point. 8 weeks until my due date. 5 weeks until little kiwi is full term. Anything less--a wee bit early. This is how we are now thinking from the events of this past week.

Monday:
We arrived home late from our weekend hoorah and got up early to get to Dartmouth for my apt. with the midwife--and appointment I had made because I was meant to leave on a plane the next day to attend one of my closest friend's wedding in Oregon and would miss my usual Wednesday appointment at our nearby hospital.

My blood pressure was high at my appointment (as it always has been thanks to some inherited family stuff) and the midwife was concerned about me taking a trip for 6 days and being across the country. I, of course, feeling fine did not see what we were worried about and was mostly concerned that I was meant to be getting on a plane in a few hours and the idea that it might not be a good idea had crept into the mix.

She ordered an ultrasound that afternoon so she could see where he was hanging out. It was so different from the first ultrasound where he was small enough that you could see him moving around. This was much more of an abstract shape/can't really see anything sort of picture. Although we did see his profile (below) and it looks just like Mike's little head and nose when he was a baby (I think) and everything measured out fine (roughly 31 weeks) except his legs which were 29 weeks. Yep, Mike's legs too :)


The placenta was normal and it all looked good which eased the Midwife's concerns that I might have Preeclampsia but she had become increasingly concerned for the trip to Oregon. Both Mike and I were still a little weary about how it still seemed like they were making a mountain out of a mole hill but wanting to be cautious nonetheless. As I felt totally fine, she opted for me to have some blood work done to check my platelettes and liver enzymes and if those all cleared then she felt ok with me going away since Alicia had already lined up one of her friends who is a nurse to be my companion while in Oregon.

Monday evening I received a call from the midwife telling me that my lab work was borderline and she once again urged me not to go to Oregon. Yep, not going. We went back to the hospital to pick up a milk jug for a 24 hour urine analysis to check for any protein in my urine--another symptom of Preeclampsia.

Tuesday:
Collected all my urine in a gallon milk jug for 24 hours. Yeah.

Wednesday:
Took my jug back to Dartmouth and met with my midwife again. As always, my BP was up and they hooked me up to a fetal monitor to listen to the baby's hearbeat. I also had some more blood taken and we waited for results. The baby sounded really good apparently so once again, it was me with the issue. He's fine. Oh and my urine was fine.

We left for lunch and came back for the test results at which point the midwife explained that my liver enzymes had gone up slightly and my platelettes had dropped a little. She had spoken with the high risk OBGYN and they were admitting me into the hospital.....say what! And just like that, we walked down the hallway to the Birthing Pavilion and I was told I could be staying there until the baby was born.

You see...Preeclampsia only affects pregnant woman and can only go away with the delivery of the placenta= delivery of the baby. As I was only 31 weeks, delivering the baby soon was not optimal but could be necessary depending on the severity of the situation. Dartmouth is a high risk hospital and they take this very seriously so, although it was excellent care, it was hard to take it all in and be with my midwives one moment and with the high risk doctors the next (very different modalities of care).

As I was not developing any of the other symptoms of Preeclampsia (swelling, abdomen pain, headaches, blurred vision) they were going to wait to take my blood again in the morning and Mike and I just waited out the entire day/night in the hospital= my own personal hell. I did receive a steroid shot in order to help the babys' lungs develop in case he needed to be delivered. And we waited...meeting many doctors and many nurses. I worked on some serious meditation to help my BP and feel blessed to have Mike and my brothers come over and give me a special blessing.

Thursday:
I had my labs taken at 5AM and was visited again by many doctors who all explained how they nothing was conclusive. Finally, the head doctor on call did come in and say that she looked at the ultrasound and that the baby looked awesome and that my labs came in and everything was normal, my BP readings had gone down so we could go home! Yes. I was drilled with all the symptoms to look out for, directions on taking another 24 Urine analysis on Sunday and to go back in for labs on Monday. We were off!

Friday:
Rode to Brimfield with JD and K80. I desperately needed to get out and it was a lovely day and I enjoyed the fresh air and no, it was not nearly as crazy as our trip to Brimfield last year. Check out my free rocking chair for the little kiwi.

Saturday:
Keeping my feet up as much as possible thanks to the handy stool I picked up at Brimfield.

And I am really happy that I was able to watch Alicia and Tucker's ring ceremony via Skype this afternoon. I really missed everyone but was very happy to just see them.

As of right now, I have high blood pressure (and when I took it today, it was actually normal) Who knows if it goes anywhere else. Right now I feel fine, the baby is moving like nobody's business, and I feel blessed that he is still inside growing a bit more every day but prayers that he stays put are always welcome :)

So even though they didn't technically put me on bed rest or even limit my activity, I know that i I am going to keep my BP in check, I have to bring it all down. I am lucky though, because my family is watching me like a hawk which I am very grateful for, of course, even though it is very very hard for me to take it easy. I guess, it is just amazing how, in the blink of an eye, everything can change. Pregnancy is such a complicated miracle, and is no surprise that situations such as these can arise but wow--out of nowhere! Both Mike and I do feel, that were blessed with our first parental props to make it through this little rough patch.

33 weeks here we come.