Once again we had some drama this week. This time brought to us by hypertension. Yes, hypertension, a pregnant woman's greatest enemy because it can lead to pre-eclampsia. Fun, huh?
Since last year's head injury (subdural hematoma), I've been on meds for chronic hypertension, which has lead to different and increasing meds during this pregnancy. I monitor my bp (blood pressure) at home and track it in a log that I then give to the docs. If my bp goes over 140/90, I am to call the high-risk docs immediately so that they can change my meds, usually up the dose. My wacky bp may have also caused my bleeding last month (none for a while now). One doc explained that the diastolic (second number) records how high the pressure is going through the veins, like covering the nozzle of a hose to increase the spray of water when washing the car. This increase hits the placenta and can cause it to separate from the wall of the uterus and tear, causing bleeding. Because of this the diastolic number must stay below 90. (Any errors in this explanation are due to my lack of understanding and pregnancy brain.) The increased bp can also account for low birth weight since it affects the amount of nutrients carried to the placenta. Because of this, they also check growth to make sure that the baby is growing at a good rate. Now, you understand it all, right?
Now on to what happened this week ...
Tuesday night I took my bp after 11 pm so that I could gauge how my meds were working; one of my meds I take every six hours, and I took it at 10. My bp was higher than the 140/90, and I called the doc on call. She told me to take an extra dose and check it again later. The next morning, I awoke to take my next dose and couldn't fall back to sleep. Not unusual lately, especially with the nasty cold that was lingering. By 5:30, I decided to just get up and work and take a nap later in the day. I took my other meds and by 6:30 another bp reading. Still high. Time to call the doc again. This time she wanted me to go to the hospital in case meds couldn't control the bp and something heavier duty was needed. Ugh was my first thought.
I woke up Brian who was was now suffering from the cold as well, and we decided that he would stay home to put the kids on the bus and not alarm Meg, and that Jeff could drive me to the hospital since he was awake and down at the grill house, a building on our property. I called Jeff and started packing up what I might need for an extended stay and possibly giving birth. You never know.
Fear didn't enter here. A little annoyance at having to go in, but I had two doc appts scheduled for that day anyway. I'm not sure how to describe the state of my heart. I have known for a while that this pregnancy is redemption, but at times, it has been hard to reconcile the difficulties with the redemption. Brian and I finally figured out that once again we were jumping to conclusions where God is concerned. Our redemption is not based on having an easy, problem-free pregnancy. No. So far, it's been about peace through these bumps in the road, about health and well-being of Finn and myself, and hopefully about no bedrest. It's also been about joy from the unexpected and a lack of fear when encountered with potentially dangerous situations. If this pregnancy was problem-free, easy-peasy, I've wondered how that would affect my heart regarding the first two. Detrimentally, I expect. I might wonder why the others were hard and this one not. I also think that I wouldn't trust this pregnancy, that I'd be waiting for something catastrophic to go wrong, and I would worry if I wasn't being watched closely. The most amazing part to me is that God knew this before I did and cared enough to tend to the circumstances and the details.
Ok, back to the hospital. Jeff drove me there and stayed for a while to keep me company. Once my room was ready, they hooked me up to the monitors -- baby heart rate, contractions, and automatic bp. I broke down a little here since I was on my own even though I knew Brian would be in soon. They also did a urine test for protein, a sign of pre-eclampsia, and it was negative, not even a trace of protein. They also took some blood to test for PIH, pregnancy-induced hypertension. My doc also stopped by on the way to her office to see how things were going. My bp was still high. Sigh. Brian arrived shortly after I settled in. He wasn't happy that he couldn't bring me in but knew that it was best for the kids that he was at home in the morning. Poor guy was exhausted. Even with Nyquil the night before, he didn't sleep well. The cold and worry over my bp kept waking him up. Some of the rooms have comfy accommodations for the husbands, but this one only had a wooden rocker, not the best for a sleepy man.
Both of us were too tired to work; yes, we both had our laptops. So we watched daytime television. Fortunately, there was a Law & Order: SVU marathon in progress. I would have preferred one of the others, but you take what you can get. All morning I was starving. I hadn't had anything to eat since 6 and that was only a protein shake. A nurse finally let Brian go raid the snack fridge, and I had a chef salad. It was ambrosia ... but not enough. Finally, lunch came at 1 pm followed closely by the high-risk doc for an ultrasound to check on Finn.
During the morning, Finn was as active as I've ever felt him. He always seems to know when they put a monitor on him and he pushes and kicks against it. He'd actually been so active at home the last few days that I thought he may have turned from his breech position to a new one. And, the doc confirmed Finn had turned a bit and was now transverse. (No wonder I've been so uncomfortable!) Our flexible little boy was showing off and sucking on his toes. I have a feeling that he is not going to like swaddling; the other two didn't either. The doc declared that he was growing fine and weighing in at about 4lbs, 12 oz. All is well.
Finally real -- well, hospital -- food. They brought two trays so that Brian could eat as well. Oh, and they started me on a 24-hour urine test where you have to collect your urine over a 24-hour period, keep it refrigerated, and turn it into the lab. Fun. Especially at night.
By afternoon, my bp was finally going down to reasonable numbers, and we just had to wait to hear from a third doctor who was providing the bp support. This seemed to take forever. We were trying to work out Brian's timing for going home and if he would be taking me with him. The timing was tight. To meet the school buses, he should leave no later than 3:30, but if he was going alone and not able to use the carpools 3:15 was safer. At 3:20, the nurse came in to let us know that we could go home. Both of us. Hurray! I had a feeling that I was going to be released and just hoped that it wasn't after Brian had left. If it was, he would have had to pack up the kids and bring them with him, and I would have to wait at the hospital for at least an hour if not more. I don't think the nurse ever saw anyone get ready to leave as quickly as I did. We grabbed our stuff and the pee buckets and high-tailed it out there.
Traffic was on our side, and we arrived home with minutes to spare. The best part was seeing the big smile on Meg's face when she saw me in the doorway.
She upped my meds a bit, 10 pills a day of two different meds.
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