Blood Pressure Woes

After many slightly boring doctor's appointments over the past several weeks, we had a slight "development" last week. To begin, the doctor gave me my checkup to discover that Elliott's head is not engaged, I am not dilated, I am not leaking amniotic fluid (I thought maybe I was) and basically she's not coming out ever. Just kidding about that last part, but as of now, she IS NOT ready. She could not have made it more clear. She was weighing about 7 lbs 12 oz, but I am taking these weight measurements with a grain of salt since they vary so much from week to week. I think she'll be between 8 and 9 lbs or so. The development was that my blood pressure was 160/100, which is no bueno! Doc mentioned that he would like me to do the fetal non-stress test and then take my blood pressure again. He said that if it was still high, we would need to take some action. The doctor threw out the term preeclampsia, again no bueno. My options would be to be put on meds to try and reduce the BP or I could go to the hospital and they could induce. At that moment, he was leaning towards inducing. Needless to say, I don't think my BP dropped at this point. The fetal non-stress test was scheduled already, so I went to a different room to get strapped up to a machine to monitor the baby's movements and any contractions I was having. I was told to lay there for 30 minutes and push a button when I felt her move. We all know that I'm a bit of an overanalyzer, well this comes into play at this point. Because I feel like I'm concentrating too hard to feel her move. You know those hearing tests where you are supposed to push a button when you hear the beep. I HATE those, because I feel like I am making up beeping sounds in my head. My results are totally inaccurate I feel! So you see the overanalyzing I deal with. Same thing here. For 30 minutes, I pushed no button but the monitor showed that she moved around like crazy. I'm sure the nurse thought I was an idiot, but oh well. They could tell she was moving, so I passed or really Elliott did with no help from her mother! She is already smarter than I am! By the way, ZERO contractions were had - again she's NOT ready!

After laying there for 30 minutes, my BP was still above the marker they use for preeclampsia, so I called John as I waited to go back in and talk to the doctor. Glory to God for John getting there in plenty of time to go back and talk with him. I was praying to God for wisdom and discernment as I was really nervous about making this decision. I realized I could really be going to the hospital that day to get induced. How crazy! Praise God, again, when we went in, the doc had already written the prescription for the blood pressure meds. He said since my body isn't showing any signs of being ready for delivery, the chances of a C-section would increase if we induced. I was so thankful for his conservative thinking in this manner. He told me that I needed to stop being active. I can walk to the grocery store, but I cannot go out for a walk. Since then my BP has been fairly normal. A few spikes here and there.

John is a great nurse, taking great care of me and telling me that I can't do certain things. Saturday, I literally did nothing. Part of the reason was that the medicine makes me drowsy, so I could not stay awake at all. Sunday, we went to a CPR class we had registered for a long time ago. Glad we went, we learned how to give CPR on children and babies as well as adults. Also learned that I don't think I'll be able to save anyone's life while I'm still pregnant...it's hard to get down that far to give mouth to mouth at this stage! Let's just pray this is a non-issue for the next few weeks. As we were trying to decide if we were going to stay on for the 2nd class of the day, First Aid, I took my BP and it was high. Defeated, we went home. I won't be going to Japanese class this week either. It's funny, there have been so many days where I've laid on my lazy tail and did nothing, but when you are forced to do it, it becomes hard! Especially, when you have to miss doing things that you enjoy. God is teaching me a whole new lesson in patience and true dependence on Him. I realize that I struggle with trying to take control of situations, but I have to give this over to Him. Probably a really great lesson to learn before becoming a parent, huh? God's timing never ceases to amaze me!

So, we will see how this next week goes. I am emailing my BP results to my doctor daily, and we'll see what he says at my visit on Thursday. My mommy comes on Saturday!! I am so excited. Please pray for her safe travels as she is a bit anxious to fly alone. I can't wait for her to see Tokyo and our little life here. Not to mention, the incredible amount of help she will be while she is here!