Little excitement last night!

Around 9 PM last night, we were all lying in our bed and watching "So You Think You Can Dance." I started feeling very blah and felt my heart start racing out of my chest. So I took my blood pressure (which I haven't done in quite a few days), and it was 148/126. My DH and I looked at each other like "huh?" (My doc doesn't want to see a lower number higher than the 90s). After lying down for 20 minutes, I took my BP again, and it was 163/111.

So, I made the call to my doctor. The doctor on call (his partner) told me to come to Labor and Delivery to get checked out. So off we packed the kids into the car and went. Of course, I'm sitting there thinking "Come on, we only have a week to go! Everything is planned!"

I got hooked up to the fetal monitors for what ended up being 2+ hours, and during the whole time, baby girl was doing great. She was just doing her thing, moving around a bit, sleeping, etc. But she looked good.

They took my BP when I got there, and it went down to 153/98. During the course of the 3-hours we were there, it slowly went down back into the normalish range.

But because of my BPs, the doc wanted me to do bloodwork for preeclampsia and a urine dip test. My urine came back first, and the nurse wasn't took thrilled, as it showed 2+ protein with a number in the 100s. No clue exactly how serious this is, but she mentioned the doctor was waiting until my bloodwork came back before she would decide if I had to be admitted or I could go home. I also mentioned how I had just dropped off a 24-hour collection that morning at their office, but the results wouldn't be available until my appointment with my doctor this Friday. Fortunately, after a 20-minute more wait, my bloodwork came back good. My liver and kidneys are still functioning in the normal range. Thank goodness!

Because my BPs had stabilized, my bloodwork looked good, and because I had an appointment with my doctor on Friday morning, the doctor agreed to let me go back home and continue my strict bedrest regimen. So, here I am!

35w4d

Just got back from my ultrasound. For 35-1/2 weeks, this is one big girl! She is measuring 7 lb 4 oz already! If I went full term, 40 weeks, she could have been a 9-pound plus baby! Everything looked great. We found out some cool things on the ultrasound though today, as our technician was not that busy (doc is out of town so not that many patients) and seemed to show us more than usual.

• Baby girl has hair! She showed us the hair on her head floating in the amniotic fluid. So cool!
• Her foot is 7 cm long, almost 3 inches! That's a big foot!
• She has quite a big belly LOL. Her belly was measuring 40 weeks already -- now I know where all the weight gain I haven't had has been going.
• She was practicing breathing. You could see her diaphragm going up and down. Our technician pointed it out to us. That was REALLY cool. Apparently that means her lungs are already on their way to maturity!
• Amniotic fluid, heart beat, and umbilical blood flow looked great.
• Her head is down low, I mean REALLY low -- yeah, I can feel that!

The nurse in the office took my BP, and it looked better than it had recently at 148/85. I go back on Friday when my doc returns for another checkup.

Oh yeah, we confirmed my CSection date -- 12 noon on the 31st!

We have a date!

Well, we had my nonstress test again this morning, and I drank about 16 ounces of orange juice before the test to make sure little girl was awake and active. It definitely worked because for the first time, she passed on the first go round!

After laying there for 30 minutes, the nurse took my blood pressure, and it was 150/92. Pretty high considering I had been lying there and not moving. My 24-hour urine test came back, and my protein was still in the normal range at 225 and my creatinine was also normal. Putting all that together, my doc still wants to buy us some more time before delivery. However, he is going on vacation from tomorrow through next Thursday.

So the plan is to go back on Monday and do an ultrasound and blood pressure check. If my BP is over 160/100, then it is time to reconsider with one of his partners and take action. If I'm still "hanging in there," I go back to him on Friday (the day he returns) and see what the latest BP and protein urine collection (which I have to do on Tuesday) numbers are.

But the great news is that we have a definite "end date," as he wants to schedule a CSection for July 31st at 37 weeks. His logic is that it is harder to induce a first time mom who isn't ready for delivery, especially with my BP issues. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me because I just want a healthy baby. It is just so great to see the light at the end of the tunnel, you know? Oh yeah, the 31st is my nephew's birthday, how cool is that Cassie?

Obviously something could happen in between and we have to go sooner (preterm labor or BP issues), but at least there is a definite end point to meet my daughter!!

Updates

My cousin
Well, it is very difficult trying to figure out what is truly going on down there is Costa Rica. However, my brother did talk to my cousin today, and it seems that he has lost sensation in all of his extremities, even though he is sugarcoating it for his parents. He is doing physical therapy three times a day, and it is exhausting for him. Thank goodness he is still young (36). The great news is that they are trying to arrange for him to be flown from Costa Rica back to California in the next day or two. THAT would be fantastic. He has such a long road ahead of him, and we still don't know how much he will be able to improve. It is so shocking to me, almost unbelievable that this could happen to someone in my family, you know? I will just be so glad when they can get him home and get the best care for him that is available.

Me
The drama surrounding my cousin really kept my mind off being stuck in for the past couple of days. Puts things into a bit more perspective, you know? However, my BP is still creeping up when I check it at home, and I go back tomorrow for another recheck, possible nonstress test, and to find out the results of my urine/protein test from Friday. Tomorrow puts me at 34w5d. I think I'm finally getting used to the medication effects, only took a month. However, I'm still getting exhausted during the day, but I'm wondering how much of that has to do with being forced to relax all day, every day, you know?

Even though I know she isn't "cooked enough" in there, I'm so ready to meet her and get to touch her and see what she looks like. Part of me is hoping that he is going to say "now is the time!" Then again, if he says that tomorrow, that doesn't bode very well for my health because I must be getting either preeclamptic or my BP is just rising too high for him. We'll see how it goes.

E and A
E had a much better day today. He didn't have camp this week (he goes alternate weeks), but he did get invited to two playdates today. His bestfriend down our street and another neighbor's son. It is ironic because he really hasn't seen these two boys much at all this summer, so to have two playdates on the same day was good for him. It also kept him away from the Wii and DS for most of the day!

A had a good day too. She's upset though that she has to go to camp tomorrow when it is supposed to be her mommy-A stayhome day. But with E home and having an appointment tomorrow (and not knowing what is going to happen there), it is just easier having her at preschool this week. Having her and E home all day at the same time is just too much, especially if they get into a fight or disagreement, as most siblings do at that age.

Scary drama...

One of my cousins is in his late mid 30s. He went down to Costa Rica with some friends and was severely injured in a freak accident. We don't know all of the details yet, but apparently he was tubing in some shallow water, fell, and something happened and he ended up unconscious. Some of the sketchy details we have received are that he ended up in local village clinic, and he was paralyzed. Then the American consulate got involved, and he ended up in a hospital in San Jose (the capital). He had neck surgery yesterday, and they had to implant two plastic disks into his cervical neck as well as a titanium rod. My brother (who is very close with him) talked to him, and I guess he still has some paralysis in his hands and fingers. He was also very drugged up on pain medications obviously.

My aunt and uncle flew out last night. My aunt's passport had expired, so my uncle had called a local government official who met my aunt and uncle at the passport office at 7:30 PM last night and offered her a temporary passport. Nice to see our government work positively and quickly! I guess they do offer this only for medical emergencies.

I'm really worried about my cousin, and I can't believe this happened. It is hard getting firm details out of everyone out there, but hopefully things will become more clear soon. Also, I keep wondering how long it will be for him to get stable so they can send him back to the US, and how exactly does this all work?

Very, very scary...

I admit it, I cheated today!

Me
I cheated today. DH and the kids went with me to get my haircut down the street. I had to do it. Having curly and frizzy hair that was getting way too long was driving me crazy, especially after having to lay in bed day after day! I didn't want to go by myself because I didn't want a repeat episode of what happened at the market a couple of weeks ago where I almost passed out. However, nothing happened except I got a few inches cut off (A and DH got their hair cut too!). And then we went out for lunch AND dinner today. I felt like a liberated woman, but I did take it easy and stayed on bedrest in between lunch and dinner. Actually ended up taking a nap for 2-1/2 hours after lunch. I was worn out, but it was so worth it. I checked my BPs, and they didn't really get much higher than they usually are, so I was okay.

I'll be good again tomorrow, back to laying in bed or on the couch all day. The most activity I think I will accomplish tomorrow is working with DH and the kids on getting the baby's room ready. It has stuff in there, but nothing is put away, and basically just looks like a storage area!

E
On a separate note, we had a rough day with E today. You know, he has done SO well on his ADHD medication for the past two months that when he has his really bad days, you just are shocked back into dealing with that behavior. I mean, don't get me wrong, he definitely still shows his ADHD almost every morning before he takes his medication. But then, about 30 minutes later, it is almost as if his brain slows down so he can think about what he wants to do and say. It usually wears off 5 pm to 6 pm, and many nights we are okay, and on the ones we are not, he takes his caffeine gum. But it has been a long time since we actually had a bad day almost all day while he was on the medication. I mean, he gets so emotionally angry and disrespectful during these periods, as if I don't even recognize him as my child at times. A has even started to learn to stay away from him when he is "in one of his moods."

He is such a sweet and beautiful child...I hate seeing him like this. He really has done so well lately. He has won awards at camp this summer for being the "best group leader," and I've been told that he is such a good listener and a respectful camper. We've definitely seen it here too. He is so helpful, lovable, intelligent, and very understanding when he is on his medication. Don't get me wrong, he is still a 7-1/2 year old boy with "boy" tendencies, but we are learning to see the difference between "normal boy" and what is ADHD behavior. I love the fact that we have rarely seen his ADHD behavior in the past couple of months since starting the new meds.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring me my boy back. I hated how things were with him today :(

34w1d, what a beautiful place to be!

We had an ultrasound this morning. Our last one was at 29w6d, and our baby girl was measuring about a week ahead at 3 lb 12 oz. We were concerned that with my hypertension and me still not gaining any weight in the past two months that the baby wasn't growing as well as she should. Well, obviously someone didn't tell her that -- get this, 6 lb 2 oz!! She is still growing about a week and a half ahead and is in the 72% for growth for her gestational age! She is one heck of a big baby!!! SIX POUNDS already! Holy cow!! If she made it to 40 weeks, she would be almost a 9-pounder! Obviously she is gaining the weight that I'm not.

So after the ultrasound, we met with my doc. My BP is starting to creep up again. It was 154/92 at this visit. We asked him "what is the plan?" Everyone, including our ultrasound technician, kept asking us all these questions, and we just said "don't know!" But we do have some answers now. My dip urine did show some protein, so we will see why my 24-hour collection numbers are on Tuesday.

His plan is to, obviously, closely monitor my BP and labs. If Tuesday's urine collection is still within the safe range and my BP doesn't spike higher, we wait a few more days and test again. Basically, we really are on a few days to few days basis at this point. He doesn't want to see a trend of spikes in my BP.

Also, the farthest he will let me go is to 37 weeks. So this will most likely be a July baby, as the 31st would be our 37th week marker. But, again, depending on my labs and BP, it could be sooner.

He said there is a greater than 50% chance I will require a Csection, especially if he has to take the baby because of my labs or BP. The farther we get, the better chance for a vaginal delivery because my body will be more ready. However, if we have to do it sooner because of my BP or something, it is safer with a Csection. Honestly, I don't care about the "experience" of this process, I just want a healthy baby. But now I know that I have to prepare myself mentally for this possibility.

I'm feeling better about everything now that we are in the "safe zone" at 34+ weeks. The general odds of something life threatening happening to this little girl because of prematurity are really starting to disappear every day more. In my heart I know that if she had to be born tomorrow that her chances of being healthy would be good (even if she had some minor issues that required a NICU stay).

Safe zone!