Friday, November 21, 2008

38 Week (and 2 days) update

And a trip to Labor & Delivery. 12 Days to go!

Here's what's happening with development this week:
The Little Miss has really plumped up. Babies vary in weight at this point and could weigh anywhere between 6.25 and 7.5 pounds. The Little Miss is now over 19.5 inches long, about the length of a leek. She has a firm grasp which we'll soon be able to test when we hold her hand for the first time. Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

We may not be able to tell what color eyes she'll have right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. The reasoning for this change is because a child's irises may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue.

Appointment Update, including the Labor & Delivery visit


First, let me start o
ff by saying everything's fine, BUT....

This week's appointment brought a bit of adventure. First some key measurements: I was down a pound and a half from last week's visit. My belly was measuring at 34 cm - about where it's been for a couple of visits now. The Little Miss' heart rate was great and I was still 3cm dilated. We don't, however, know how effaced I was because....I was having a bit of a blood pressure issue.

One of the first things the nurse does when I come into the office is take my blood pressure. Normally, there are no issues so I was a surprised when the nurse said my pressure was a bit elevated and she wanted me to lie on my side for a while before she returned for a recheck. The first reading came in at 126/86 - not terrible but not real great either. The second check came in at 133/88. While I was told to stay on my side, another nurse came in a few minutes l
ater to check me a third time just in case my nurse was having an issue. Nope. Third reading was even higher at 138/100. Oh boy.

My OB came in a few minutes later where she was quite concerned with the high blood pressure readings. My urine sample showed I was dumping protein into my urine - those results came in at +1 protein. While my Dr. was doing the internal exam she was unsure whether or not The Little Miss was actually head down. So, she decided to send me to Labor & Delivery for monitoring and some labs. While I was there, she also wanted them to do a sonogram to make sure that The Little Miss was head down and there was still plenty of amniotic fluid surrounding her. If my blood pressure didn't go down or any of the labs came back with adver
se results, I would be admitted and induced.

We got to the hospital around 1pm. They took two vials of blood, another urine sample, attached me to the heart rate and contraction monitors, and took my blood pressure every 15-20 minutes. My first BP reading was a little high at 126/84 but each consecutive reading went down. My last reading was around 111/69. I was having contractions while attached to the monitors but nothing that warranted the start of labor. All lab work came back completely normal, in fact, I had no protein in my urine. The sonogram went great. The Little Miss IS head down and my amniotic level was at 12. Anything between 6 and 22 is normal.

So that's that. We're back in the waiting game and stumped as to why my BP had been high. I return next Tuesday for another check-up if I haven't delivered by then.

1 comment:

bella1021 said...

Good Luck!!!
not too much longer!!