Doctor's Orders

Well, the weekly fun has begun as we round out week 36 of pregnancy. I visited with my doctor this afternoon and got some interesting news. As you may or may not recall, my blood pressure at the end of my pregnancy with Joshua wasn't great. In fact, it is what earned us the ultrasound on my due date that earned us an induction. Fast forward to today, and it appears that we're repeating course with the blood pressure. Luckily, it wasn't scary enough or coupled with the other indicators that would have earned me a trip to labor and delivery this afternoon, but it is qualifying us for some special attention.

I was sent for bloodwork this afternoon to determine if there are any other indications of screwy goings on and was told that I'll be called today if that's the case. We've also scheduled a biophysical profile on Tuesday afternoon along with my regular visit with Dr. Miller. The biophysical profile looks at five different things and gives points on a scale of 0-10. With Joshua, we scored a 2 (the biggest test failure of my life...) and required immediate action to speed along delivery. They're looking for movements of the baby, distinct breathing movements visible via ultrasound, fluid levels, heartrate issues, and one more thing that's escaping me at the moment.

The doctor's orders are for me to take it easy. He suggests a resting period of 45 minutes each morning and 45 minutes each afternoon. When I laughed at him, he said, "That's an order." Ummm....OK. So we'll see how I can do at fitting that into the routine.

The hope is that the bloodwork looks good, the biophysical profile shows an active, thriving baby and my blood pressure resolves itself before next week. If that doesn't happen, there's a chance we might be meeting this little one sooner than expected. I'm a little worried about that possibility, not because I'm not ready to meet her, but because it just scares me to be early. Even the idea of scheduling my c-section at 39 weeks freaked me out a little. But we'll do what the doctor says is best--- he's the one who has taken care of 6000 new babies and we fully trust his judgment.

So, hang on to your hats, folks. We'll see what the next few days bring. I'm home today with Joshua working on some potty training. That ought to make for a far more interesting post than this one, don't you think?