A BP of 160/101, and a low end of normal heart rate for Hartley (110) at my OB appointment at 8am on Friday landed us in the hospital for monitoring/lab work. Unfortunately for me, my OB is not on call this weekend, and is out of town for the memorial day holiday weekend. So I was stuck with the on-call provider who knows nothing about me. Bummer deal for us.
I spent Friday and Saturday on strict bed rest in the hospital, and am now home on bed rest until we meet HartleyLane. My BP had "stabilized" enough according to KY standards at 130-140/80-90s, so I was sent home. However given my normal is 100-110/50-60, this is clearly far from stable. Sometimes I wish people could use critical thinking skills to understand that HTN parameters do not apply to every given situation.
This journey to the final 4th Loprinzi is proving to be interesting.
I just am ready to meet her, and for this constant monitoring to stop. OB appointments are now scheduled for Tuesday, and Friday which include an hour long ultrasound/moitoring both days, lab work, and a 24 hour urine collection to measure protein levels (a sign of worsening pre-eclampsia).
In the hospital I had one abnormally high (elevated 10 times the limit is should be) lab level, the rest were all borderline high - meaning not bad enough to induce, but not good enough to carry on about my business. The on-call OB consulted some other physicians who said one lab level wasn't enough to deem an urgent delivery, but insisted that "careful, close monitoring is absolutely necessary." So, with much hesitation, I'm forced to wait because ultimately the MD rules this decision because I am not yet 39 weeks.
I feel the need to add in, I in no way want to put my baby in harm by prematurely inducing, but given that she is 38 weeks, she is considered full term. In fact 37 weeks is technically full term. All of my babies have been born between 37-38 weeks gestation and never spent a moment of their life in the NICU/nursery. But I also have to take into consideration I have a husband, and three kids who need me too, and I need my liver to be healthy, and I don't need to have my blood pressure this high either…being knowledgeable about health care stuff can really suck sometimes. Yes, perhaps I am thinking worst case scenario here, but if it was you, your baby, your family…you would to.
In the hospital I had one abnormally high (elevated 10 times the limit is should be) lab level, the rest were all borderline high - meaning not bad enough to induce, but not good enough to carry on about my business. The on-call OB consulted some other physicians who said one lab level wasn't enough to deem an urgent delivery, but insisted that "careful, close monitoring is absolutely necessary." So, with much hesitation, I'm forced to wait because ultimately the MD rules this decision because I am not yet 39 weeks.
I feel the need to add in, I in no way want to put my baby in harm by prematurely inducing, but given that she is 38 weeks, she is considered full term. In fact 37 weeks is technically full term. All of my babies have been born between 37-38 weeks gestation and never spent a moment of their life in the NICU/nursery. But I also have to take into consideration I have a husband, and three kids who need me too, and I need my liver to be healthy, and I don't need to have my blood pressure this high either…being knowledgeable about health care stuff can really suck sometimes. Yes, perhaps I am thinking worst case scenario here, but if it was you, your baby, your family…you would to.
Yesterday an ultrasound estimated our sweet girl to be 7pounds exactly (ultrasound can be + or - a pound).
So the plan now is to lay low and wait. Wait until:
1)I go into labor on my own or
2)I reach 39 weeks (next Sunday 6/1/14) and they induce labor or
3)my lab levels/BP rise a bit higher and necessitate an induction before 6/1 or
4)Hartley starts showing signs of distress.
So I sit here, frustrated, worried, and prayerful that my body will just kick into action and begin the labor process so we can meet Hartley.
1 comment:
Oh wow. I would definitely be worried and ticked off if I were you too! I know doctors don't like to induce before 39 weeks but they should really consider that 37-38 is your normal and realize that this waiting game is a crock. I'm sorry. :( I'll be thinking about you and baby Hartley. Hope she comes soon!
Post a Comment