Things are happening fast. The gestational diabetes is a non-issue (my ob even agrees with me about not following the meal plan), but now it looks like I might be on the road to pre-eclampsia. My blood pressure has been rising and fluctuating. At my ob appointment today, they took two readings. The first was something like 143 over 69 and the second was 125 over 70. I tend to have low blood pressure, so these are definitely high for me.
The doc did a blood test for pre-eclampsia again today (the last one was negative) and he wants me to come back on Tuesday - just four days from now - for another check. I told him that I had purchased a home blood pressure monitoring kit and he agreed that it would be a good idea to test at home here and there. If I get a reading of over 130 systolic or 80 diastolic (did I get those right? I always get the names mixed up), I need to call him immediately, and if it's on the weekend, I'll be sent to the hospital.
I'm not worried about pre-eclampsia, so much as I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with it - it's just a matter of when. To me, all the signs are there: the incredible swelling, the rising blood pressure, and the clear signals I'm getting from my body, telling me, "you must lie down immediately!" And, just in the past week or so, I've been getting nauseated in the middle of the night, which I took as a need for more food, but which can also be a sign of pre-eclampsia.
If I am diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia, I'll be put on bed rest. If it is severe, I'll be on bed rest in the hospital.
The good news is that the problem can always be solved by delivering the babies (and the placentas). So when the condition gets to a certain point, they just do a C-section. I am 31 weeks along now. If I can just get a couple more weeks in, we're past the really bad premature delivery issues. But I still have a goal of making it until September, and hopefully until September 16. (Did I tell you that my "just in case" C-section date was changed from the 15th to the 16th?) So, I now have the excuse that I need to slow down. I mean, I really, really have to slow down. It's going to be very difficult. I don't really know how to do it. What do I do with all the things that need to get done? Sam's last day of camp is today. What will I do with her all day after this? It might be time to start calling on that list of friends who have offered to help. And I have to sit down with Adam and figure out a plan to deal with this. Asking for help is hard, but I'm going to do it.
Amy, as I'm sure I've told Adam on more than one occasion, I developed pre-e with Hill and was induced for it at 38 weeks, and given mag sulfate for 24 hours around labor. I think my swelling and first elevated blood pressure showed up around 32 weeks or so. I wasn't carrying twins, obviously, but all went well. If you ever want to talk about it or email about it, please let me know.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, I think I missed the pre-eclampsia part. What I remember is that you got gout or something crazy like that with Harrison. Geez, is there anything you didn't go through? I did ask about the cortisone shots today and my doc said there is a small risk to the babies (I didn't ask for details) so he doesn't recommend that unless I just can't take it. That actually surprised me because I thought cortisone was pretty safe, but I don't have time to shop for second opinions, so I'm just going to let it go. So far, no diagnosis of pre-e...just suspicious signs, and my own gut feel, but I might take you up on that offer to talk about it. Much scarier than GD!
ReplyDeleteAmy, I'm in awe of how well you know / listen to your body. It's fantastic and inspiring. I hope things go well and you don't develop pre-eclampsia, at least not soon!
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