37.5 weeks and Change of Plans

Guess who's on maternity leave now?

Oh yeah, that'd be me.

Yesterday was our 37.5 week midwife apt. We spent the beginning talking about newborn procedures, what we wanted to decline, how and when the midwife did the newborn exam, all that kind of stuff. She asked me if I'd had any swelling, changes, BH contrax, if my urine dip had showed any proteins or sugars.

Everything was the same as normal. The baby's heartbeat was 140, he was active but posterior as per usual, blah blah.

Then she took my blood pressure. It was high-ish 152/86. I ALWAYS am like 120/70. So, she waited a second and took it on my other arm. 154/94 (or something like that).Obviously not good and high for me.

She had me lay on my left side for 10 minutes and then tried again. 128/66. A good sign that laying down can lower it... but also not good that it was high in the first place.

She was really calm and told us there was nothing to worry about at this point, but to be safe she wanted to take blood and have it run that night. The worry is pre-eclampsia. Its a good sign that no proteins are spilling into my urine, and I haven't had any crazy swelling or other signs. At 5:30 PM she did a blood draw to check for liver enzymes and had the lab pick it up, promising to call us as soon as she got the results.

After that we went to the chiropractor, then Costco, then out to dinner at the Guest House. She called back while we were at dinner, nothing abnormal BUT, just to be super safe she wanted me to go ahead and start my maternity leave now, take a 2-3 hour rest/nap laying down in the middle of the day, and monitor my blood pressure. I have to take a reading twice daily and report in then we'll go from there.

At 10am it was 129/81 and at 4pm it was 131/87. Hmmm. We'll see what tomorrow brings I suppose.

I'm not really worried, more like annoyed. I'm used to being that girl who just sails through pregnancy and who's doctor is never concerned. Oi. If I end up having to go on bedrest, I might kill myself.

I had planned on working up until I went into labor. I had the mantra "I'm not sick, I'm pregnant." Besides, I have an easy job and I'd just be bored at home. Right? Then I started getting more uncomfortable. Sitting at my desk for 10 hours makes my feet swell up. The only exercise I get during the day is walking to the bathroom (every 45-60 minutes). Taking some time off started sounding better. Jerad wanted me to leave right at 36 weeks. I've paid into State Disability Insurance since I was 16, so they'll pay for me to take off starting 4 weeks before I'm due.

But I still worried about being bored at home. And leaving my coworkers hanging after they've been so accommodating. Then the midwife made the choice for me. Shew said it'd be better for me to be home, I could take walks during the day, nap if I needed too, have some time to mentally prepare. So here I am.

Today was hugely boring. Plus my blood pressure didn't go down like I was expecting it to.

I love reading, cleaning, being outside.... but for maybe a week. I'm so pregnant now there isn't a whole lot I can do. If this drags on I'm going to go insane.

One positive thing is I am having lots and lots of BH contrax. Like, every time I do anything basically. Sometimes they are even every 5 minutes. This week Jerad is working out at a house where there is no cell phone reception. He's kind of freaked out that I'm going to need to get a hold of him and not be able to. I'm not worried about it. I guess I'm still not mentally prepared that literally any day we could be having a baby. Plus I keep reminding him that even if I went into labor while he was at work, chances are I'll be in labor for a long time so its not like he's going to miss anything.

Since I'll have so much free time maybe I can use some of it to try to turn this posterior baby boy of ours. Cross your fingers for low blood pressure readings for me tomorrow!