and more bedrest …. November 13, 2008

Another doctor visit, another trip back home.

I must remember that although its quite a pain to drive into town repeatedly for checkups, it’s all for good reason but I won’t lie and pretend like it’s not getting a wee bit frustrating at this point.

Today my BP was elevated again : 135/100
I still have the protein spilling into my urine.

Another check revealed that I have a “cervix made of steel” according to the OB and while the baby is sitting directly on it and at station 0, my cervix is doing diddlysquat and still posterior and firm. The OB did say that if my cervix actually started to dilate or soften I’d go into labor fairly quickly considering how engaged he is right now. That’s wonderful,except it doesn’t seem like this baby boy is quite ready to be evicted.

What does this all mean?
If you guessed more strict bedrest you’re correct.

He’s passing all the fetal stress tests with flying colors. His amniotic fluid levels are perfect, thank God. But alas, mama is the one who needs to continue taking it easier so I can be in the best condition possible when labor comes, whether its natural or induced.

My next appointment is Monday morning with my regular OB who’ll be back by then (yay!) Please continue praying that my blood pressure remain in check so as not to put us in danger when the time comes. As always, we’ll update via blogs because it’s much easier to reach everyone this way.

Weekend Update 11/07-11/10 November 9, 2008

We thought we’d be delivering on Friday but it wasn’t quite time yet. Here’s what went down that day:

i arrived and they decide to repeat the same tests : blood pressure check, urine check for protein and blood work. I lay on my left side the entire time and my bp is 117/45 – 134/48 – totally normal and GREAT.
My protein check came back FINE. so did the platelette check from the bloodwork.
so they are sending me home. We celebrate with a goofy photo of me in the L&D.

Strict bedrest for the next two days AGAIN. On sunday at 8am I start ANOTHER 24 hour urine collection. On Monday I turn it into my OB and wait.
Based on those tests they’ll decide what’s next.

Looks like we’re on a 2day wait and see cycle now which may repeat itself a few more times until they decide its time. Baby boy himself is doing great, but mama is gonna end up going crazy thinking today is the day when its not! lol I AM however happy that he’s going to be in there into his 37th week as everyday gives him a better chance of not being in NICU. Ray is staying home with me the next two days to make sure that I am in bed as much as possible and don’t have to get up to cook something for myself.

PS. I’m sorry if we don’t get to take/respond to your phone calls/emails during all of this..as you can imagine we are focused on one thing only at this time and that’s getting him here safely.

Saturday update:

We are being bombarded with phone calls & emails from family, friends and clients who are worried about bambino and I, so I decide its probably best to put updates on Myspace, the biz blog and here to keep everyone up to date.  so below is the blog that puts a name to whats going on.

After many phone calls, emails, doctor & hospital visits we have a diagnosis : preeclampsia.

As you can see, this is potentially a life threatening condition for both mom and baby so we are being monitored very closely. The doctors have stressed it can be rapidly progressive and make a turn for the worse without warning. Because of this, we are asking for continued prayer and apologize if we are unable to return everyone’s emails and phone calls.  We feel so blessed to know so many people are praying for us and supporting us to alleviate undue stress. It’s during times like these that you can wholeheartedly recognize what it means to be loved.

A special thanks to our clients who understand the severity of our situation – we cannot express how thankful we are for your patience and consideration during such an unpredictable time. * I won’t even get into specific details but we actually have someone who’s giving us hell because I’m not “actually delivering today” and Ray is taking care of me instead of shooting the event even though we have hired someone to replace us. * Yes, people like that do exist in this world. Sad eh.

Another Saturday evening update : My best friend offers to come stay with me while Ray goes to shoot the event for a few hours. Many have said that its insane for him to even worry about this clients needs, especially since we HAVE legally fulfilled our contract by hiring someone to replace us both, but the last thing I need is some inconsiderate client breathing down my neck and being even more unreasonable after baby boy comes. Some things just arent worth it and since we found a way to allow him to go , he did. Make no mistake though – I’m not dealing with this client and her event in any way until my return from leave on Jan 17th. Considering the fact that I’m trying to control a pregnancy condition that can be potentially fatal to myself and our child, I think we have MORE than accomodated her by allowing my husband to be at HER side instead of mine.

A message to family and friends November 7, 2008

As you know, we are getting closer to welcoming our new bundle of joy. Ray and I have decided that it’s important to rest up as much as we can and we’re kindly asking for no visits during our hospital stay. You are all special to us and we can’t wait to share him with you in the comforts of our home. For all of our online family, we have not forgotten about you and we’ll be sure to post up photos as soon as we can.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. We love you!!! 

Blood pressure update November 6, 2008

Today I went to my OB appt. and praise God my blood pressure has gone down! It was certainly not what I expected to hear given the pattern I had developed. It was 155/88 last time, today it was 142/80 so they let me come home!

Tomorrow morning we get the results of my protein check and depending on the results , if they are bad, I may be induced tomorrow. If the results are good, then I may go for another week with blood pressure checks every other day. At this point, they are preparing us for the real possibility that he will be here by next Friday at the very latest.

Needless to say that we are asking for continued prayer that my bloodpressure keeps getting better as that will only help make the delivery much safer. It would be wonderful to carry him another week to give him time to gain a bit more weight as well, however we know that God has already chosen his birthday so no matter when he comes, we pray for strength to be ready.

At this point they are also guessing he’s about 6lbs at 36wks.  He’s gonna be a little peanut but that’s ok! I”ll fatten him up

We’ll try to keep everyone up to date when we can. Thank you so much for your prayers!!

My latest OB and L&D visit November 4, 2008

Here are the events as they unfolded:

I called the dr. office to describe my symptoms of itching and they asked me to come in. I arrived and they took my BP and it was elevated even more than last week – 154/88.  He did a u/s to check the amniotic fluid levels and they were normal and my cervix was not doing anything. I described the itch to my OB and without even having to ask him if he thought it was cholestitis, he decided to send me to the L&D to have a fetal stress test and to get my liver functions checked for just that. WHEW.

At the hospital, they did the fetal stress tests and everything was great. Baby boy is doing fine, but my BP was still elevated after several hours. My lab results for my liver function were normal too, but here are the dr. instructions:

-bedrest for the next two days until my next dr. appt on thursday
-urine collection for the next 24hrs which we have to take to a lab for testing
-at my dr. appt on thursday depending on my bp and the results of the urine test, i may be induced this week or next, but the nurse said its VERY unlikely he’ll let me go to 38wks.

So yes, I”m in shock right now trying to absorb this sudden turn of events. We may be having a baby wayyyy sooner , not because he’s ready but because my freakin BP decided to shoot up suddenly the last week. I may be induced this weekend or next.

ok..i need to eat something. DH just got home so I need to sit down and discuss all of this with him.

wow….someone hold me.

It’s a great pumpkin charlie brown November 1, 2008

Yesterday I had a little fun with my punkin’ and we dressed up together…yes, mama was Juno but I had to dress up my baby boy too!

and here are a few more pics from the maternity session I last posted.

I must also report, before I forget that my latest OB appointment this past Thursday on 10/30 revealed that his head is “way way low” but my cervix is still back and closed. I gained 2.5lbs and now weigh 145.5. Since I only have a month left it looks like I may be right under 150 when he comes. Woo hoo. Right on target according to my OB.