Bedrest....

During my week 32 check up, my blood pressure was up for one reading. I rested 10 minutes and it was fine. He had me buy a BP monitor though and keep track while I was living my life, not resting. I took readings for 2 weeks 3 to 4 times a day.

I had my week 34 check up today. Today I compared my monitor to the office's monitor. What I thought were good readings, were 20 points low. My average over the past two weeks 145/90.

I have swollen by 6 pounds of fluid over the past 2 weeks.
My blood sugars are good.
There is no trace of sugar or protein in my urine.

I had a non-stress test (NST) today. This is a test to find out how the baby is doing. Is there stress to the baby? No. At this time the baby is doing fine. This test puts a monitor around my tummy in two places. 1 to measure the heart beat of the baby and the other to measure any contractions I might have. Then there is a little jeopardy buzzer that I push when I feel the baby move. The combination of these 3 indicators let the doctor know if the placenta is still strong, giving enough oxygen and so on. The baby's heart rate would drop if there was a problem. No dips in the heart rate. All is well.

However I have worked my last day at the office. I am officially on bed - rest. Of which he clarified.... that doesn't mean you can keep doing everything outside of work. That means that you should be laying down - 45 minutes out of every hour. That allows for bathroom breaks, eating, stretching etc. I said that I had wireless internet and a laptop. He said that is fine, if I can do it from laying down. I'll see how long I can keep that up. If I develop protein in my urine, he'll put me in the hospital.

In a week I go back to see him. He wants me in his office once a week and maybe 2 times a week for the NST. I asked about still delivering the baby at 38 weeks. He said that at 36 weeks he'd do an amniocentesis to see if the lungs are developed enough to deliver the baby. If they are, he'll induce me early. If they are not, he will wait. There is a steroid they can give to accelerate the development, but it will mess with the blood sugars.

That is it in a nut shell. Nothing to worry about. It does mean however we could welcome the baby sooner rather than later.

It is already May???

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted. We've been really busy. Outside of finding a name for this baby - here's what we've been doing.

Jacob has been playing soccer and tennis. Practice for both is twice a week + games for the soccer team have been scheduled/rescheduled due to snow, rain and general weather wettness. Yes, snow. On Easter weekend we had a fluke snow storm of 3 inches. It froze some of the foliage too but it seems to have bounced back fairly well.

Jacob turned 7! and we had a fantastic party weekend. For 3 days we celebrated and he had a fantastic time. Roller skating on Sunday afternoon with friends from school and soccer made it a great day.

Michael has finished 2 more articles for submission to journals and completely rewritten his introduction to his dissertation. It is becoming a struggle to deal with - ok it IS a struggle to deal with his co-chairmen. One is out of the country on sabbatical and the other is completely non-confrontational. The three are struggling to get final definitions and terminology down for the data collection. Mainly is the question at hand about Information... or Knowledge. Very deep thoughts and two completely separate sets of literature.

We've gotten a storage unit, moved a bunch of things out of the house to make room for baby. We've put the baby items into the nursery and Michael's done 4 loads of laundry - I've forgotten how many onesies a baby can go through. We're having the house painted. Sadly, we're only about 30% through with that project. I hope it is done by June 4th. The carpet cleaners are scheduled to come that day.

I have been busy at work planning our internal conference for the department - very fun and very satisfying - but a LOT of work. My boss and I divided up my existing projects yesterday, so that I can bring a substitute up to speed while I'm out on Maternity. It is down to the last 6 weeks!! It will be here before I know what hit me.

I've had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists over the past 4 weeks. Both wrists are healing very well. My hands were numb... not sore, thankfully. My finger tips just had no feeling of hot/cold or even if I were holding a cup or pen. The swelling of pregnancy makes it worse. I've ignored it for far too long.

The gestational diabetes is also going fine - my blood sugars are under control and the baby is measuring perfectly normal. I see both the endocrinologist and the OB today. The orthopedist is next week.

I think that about covers it. I'll keep you posted on any changes.