Scared now...

[Smokering]

My midwife came over today for my 39-week appointment. I told her about the swelling in my feet, and she wasn't too worried until she found I had protein in my urine and high BP (120 over 98, I think it was--I'm usually low). And, well, we all know what those are signs of!

So she took me to get bloods done, and now I'm waiting on the results at home to see whether I'll have to be induced! I can't believe this is happening--I mean, the birth pool's in the garage and everything. Words cannot express how much I want to avoid our hospital and its horrible, ancient maternity wing. The worst part is, even if it isn't pre-e, just pregnancy-induced hypertension, they probably won't let me homebirth.

I am, quite frankly, a mess. Could use some prayers and good thoughts. I know this happens to women all the time, but... but! The Pathlab person mucked up the bloods, too--I wasn't watching, being of a squeamish nature, but apparently gushed blood everywhere on the first try, so she had to do it again. Not conducive to relaxation...

[gretasmommy]

Oh, I am so sorry you are dealing with this now!

O hope things work out so that you have the birth you so desire - but I have to tell you, having just had the exact opposite of my ideal birth . . .we have a fabulous, healthy daughter and I am over the moon in love with her! I would love to have been awake for her birth, and to have avoided surgery . . . but that just wasn;t how it happened.

And here we are, just the same as we would have been (minus some steri strips on my belly!), and I couldn't be happier!

Hang in there!

[MamaHen2J&J]

Not in your DDC but prayers and good thoughts!!

Take care!

[dogmom327]

Don't panic yet. My blood pressure also went up at the end of my pregnancy but taking some different supplements and upping my protein intake (to 150 grams a day) got it down low enough that legally my midwife could still treat me. Don't go down without a fight. Find out if it's a legal issue (BP must be under x amount) or if it's your midwife's comfort level. Ask your midwife what she would do in your situation.

[Jes'sBeth]

Hoping all is well!

[rmzbm]

[1hautemama]

Sorry I have no words of wisdom. I swore I read an article a few years back about the wonderful effects of cinnamon bark supplements for high BP. If nothing else, I send lots of healing vibes your way, mama:::

[Smokering]

Thanks, everyone.

It seems I have a bit of a reprieve--the midwife just rang and said my bloods are fine! For now, anyway. She's going to come by later this afternoon and check my BP again. DH and I are having thick steaks for dinner tonight. I guess I'm going to be watched pretty closely from now on, and things are no longer as certain as they were--but at least I have, maybe, a few days' grace to go into labour of my own accord! I might step up the EPO/RRL tea regime. My midwife said there was nothing particular I should or shouldn't be doing, as long as I got lots of rest.

So, we'll see!

[monamcmona]

that's really good news for now! take good care of yourself. I'm sending you good, healthy vibes :

keep us updated.

[DoulaJulian]

How stressful for you!

I read Tiny Cassidy's blog (she wrote Birth) and she laments about her battle with b/p issues right before her successful HBAC...her mw suggested getting the birthing tub out and set up...evidently being submerged once a day really helped to keep her b/p hovering around normal until she was ready to birth.

And the added relaxation cannot hurt you at this point! We have had our pool set up since week 36...and let me tell you how wonderful it is to have that luxury when i get stressed!

Sure, we have had to sacrifice a large area of our house to dedicate enough space to keep the darn thing up so long...but it has sort of grown on us. Personally, i think it will actually look bizarre to put the room back the way it was!
So dig that pool out of the garage, momma.
Keep up with that protein.
Lay and rest on your left side often to keep your kidneys supplied with blood.
Most importantly: LET IT GO! Thinking/worrying about it won't do anything except INcrease your b/p.

:My thoughts are with you!

[DBZ]

I'm sorry you are dealing with pre-e symptoms. Maybe you will get luckyand go into labor right now. One can hope right?

[dogmom327]

Glad to hear the results were okay! Hang in there

[Smokering]

Well, I kinda hoped I'd go into labour last night, but it's morning and here I am. *yawn* Today I'll get the results of my urine sample back, which may explain the protein away as a low-grade UTI (ahhh, you really wanted to know that, didn't you!); and my auxiliary midwife will be around to test my BP again. Here's hoping!

If nothing else, this experience has taught me to really appreciate homebirth, and not to take the concept for granted! Let's just hope I don't have to further learn the lesson in a maternity ward. DH went there last night to drop off the urine sample and came back disgusted, saying 'That place is horrible, I don't want you to give birth there!'. It's... well... slummy. They're building a new unit, but it won't be done for another few months.

[~Robin]

HOping that things are better now.

[Smokering]

Okay, my BP was lower today. 120 over 82 or something. Still highish, especially for me, but better than yesterday. The midwife's coming around again tomorrow morning to take it again... if it's high she'll probably have me admitted, so I'm really hoping it stays down! She got cross with me for going out this morning, although when I pointed out that my other midwife had said not to change my daily routine she was like 'Oh, well, you don't need to be on bedrest, just take it easy and have lots of naps', which is a fairly fluid set of requirements! Protein count according to those coloured strips was also a bit better today than yesterday--yay.

I just posted in 'I'm Pregnant' to ask for more advice about BP-lowering foods and supplements--I'll send DH out on a mish to buy 'em tonight! Maybe if I eat nothing but cucumber between now and tomorrow morning, things will be happier.

[Datura]

Pming you!

[Smokering]

*sigh*

Well, I was terribly virtuous last night and this morning--I got up before the midwife came, had a soak in the bath, ate watermelon (supposedly good for decreasing blood pressure, oddly enough), relaxed while she took my BP, didn't talk, took deep breaths etc...

But I'm 120/92, which is Too High. So she's sending me to the hospital for some more bloods. This despite the fact that my protein is down (it was 4, then 3, then 2 today), and my swelling is much improved.

I hope things are okay--if for no other reason than the waste of cucumber. I hate cucumber. The midwife was very nice though, and stayed and chatted for ages, presumably to calm me down. Things could still be OK, but... you know!

The worst part of it is, I had to ask Mum to take me to the hospital after church, because DH and I don't have a car. I hadn't been telling her about the pre-e scare because I didn't want her to worry (well, maybe I didn't want to have to deal with her worrying... same diff), but I guess the cat's out of the bag now. Grrr. I hope she's cunning enough not to tell everyone at church--I do NOT want to be inundated with well-wishers! (Bad mood, sorry).

Arrrrrrgh.

[MonP'titBoudain]

I hope everything works out perfectly and you can still have your little one at home in peace. Keep plugging away at your bp-decreasing stuff and packing the protein into your diet. Maybe it's just taking a little longer than ideal for things to turn around? Best wishes!

[jadedone80]

Egg Whites. Try eating at lest six or more eggs. The egg whites albumin helps extract toxins in the body, along with drinking lots of water. Some times just eating 6-12 egg whites will dramatically reduce your BP.

Good Luck!

[Jes'sBeth]

psst... she had her baby already