Well now, things got a little hairy for a while today. It started at 5:15am, when I got up and creepily found Kami standing right behind me while I was making coffee where she whispered, "Boooo," and I almost crumped my pants. But I got the later laugh (it won't be the last, I'm sure) when she started having contractions 4:45-5:15 apart. Then I realized what that meant, and I got all stressed out all over again.
But Kami said that something felt different, so we took our hospital bags down to the car, I did some work, and we waited.
We had an appointment to see the Good Doctor at 10:15, anyway, so we went to our appointment to see what he thought. Kami had lost four pounds (which, apparently, is another sign of the End Times of Pregnancy), and he wanted to get a look at her blood pressure. The result? 139 over 98 - the highest that it had ever been in her life. She's more of a 120 over 80 kind of girl. This concerned the Good Doctor, because of the risk of preeclampsia. I nodded like I knew what that meant. I Googled it. Preeclampsia causes 76,000 maternal deaths and 500,000 infant deaths every year. And that's the conservative estimate (according to the website). He was quick to point out that one odd test does not necessarily a problem make. "Was there anything that had you keyed up more than usual this morning?" he asked.
Let's see. Perhaps it was the 5-minute contractions. Perhaps it was the three wrecks on I-40 that led from what is normally a 15-minute drive from our place to the doctor's office to a 38-minute debacle. Perhaps it was the parking lot that was full, resulting in Valet Armageddon, and the stone cold b... um, lady in the Lexus SUV with personalized license plate, who was in such a hurry that she just turned her car off in line and walked in to the office, leaving the Valet guy screaming at the top of his voice after her to come back. Because we're suddenly in the Hamptons, apparently. Or it could have been that our appointment was at 10:15, and it was 11:00 before we got called in to see the doctor. Or it could have been that it was a further 90 minutes before the Good Doctor actually came in to talk to us. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, that could have led to such high blood pressure.
Regardless of the reason, Kami's blood pressure was too high. So he sent her to get a urine sample (which, at 38 weeks pregnant, she can produce on command) to check to see if there is protein in her urine. And then she went to get blood drawn, after which we were told that we would get the results this afternoon. The Good Doctor told us to check her blood pressure throughout the afternoon, and monitor it. The bottom number (diastolic, methinks) is the key. If it's near, or over, 90, then Kami would be considered Gestationally Hypertensive. The fear is that, with slightly swollen ankles and legs, there would be an issue with the mother's liver and kidneys, which can cause problems for the baby, and in extreme cases (which doctors love to bring up) lead to a stroke. How do they resolve this? Inducing labor. Maybe tomorrow. I saw stars.
It was unresolved whether being 38 weeks pregnant, with the temperature approaching 105 degrees, had anything to do with the swollen ankles.
We got the go-ahead to go ahead and eat lunch, but stay close by for the results. We got a blood pressure cuff from Walgreen's, and took her blood pressure. Result? 142 over 89. Lower, but not by much. We ate lunch. Checked it again. 135 over 75. Much better.
The results came back that Kami's bloodwork was fine, and there was no protein in her urine, thus no risk for preeclampsia. Seems as though maybe The Most Frustrating Morning of the Month had something to do with the elevated blood pressure, after all.
In other news, when the nurse wasn't looking, I slipped out and got on the scales. I've gained 17 pounds during Kami's pregnancy. Not good. But also, not as bad as I was expecting. I blame the Cabo Burrito I ate last night.
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