Bubs is here! Born by emergency c section on Tuesday. She is doing well in the nicu and weighed in at just over a kilo! She is gorgeous and feisty and was off cpap within hours. The moose is an excellent daddy and has taken good care of us! I will save the whole story for some time when I have real interwebs and not my work phone! I will just add magnesium sulphate is unpleasant.

Back to the hospital...

Only this time we get to do the 3.5 hour drive in the aftermath of a snow storm.  Ack.  I was going to post pictures of the snow, but that will have to wait.

Blood pressure is high again and 2+ protein with a 3 kg weight gain overnight, so I am too risky to stay home at the moment (being at said distance from the hospital).  Hopefully the result will be the same as last time...a few nights with little sleep and bad food and then home with bubs still in the oven.

If not, then hey, I am 32 weeks.  Today.  That is not too terribly bad.

Ok, gots to hit the road before the slush turns to ice.

First monitoring appointment

Bubs behaved herself for the CTG and didn't hide too much!  She is doing great still!  My blood pressure was 135/90, which is at least below 140/90.  They have been happy for it to be where it is anyway. 

My midwife knew about as much as I did regarding my hospitalization, so that was fun.  Hopefully she can track down a discharge report, and find out if the hospital is now arranging my ultrasounds (they did this upcoming one), and when I have to go back to meet with the specialist again.  And whatever else I couldn't tell her. 

Just waiting now on the results from today's urine and bloods.  Will update when I have them.  If it is anything like last week, they will be in tomorrow.  I am debating whether to pack a bag now just in case.  Or at least get a few things done off my to do list. 

So it does sound like if my blood pressure stays down and the other test results don't show anything getting worse, that we will induce at 38 weeks.  Sooner, of course, if Bubs or I start to have problems.  Which means that in just over 6 weeks (or less), there will be a baby.  That has totally blown my mind.  I think it just hasn't seemed all that real. 

Part of that is the fact that I don't feel overly pregnant.  Bubs is active, and moves around quite a bit, but I think I have gotten used to it, and since she rarely causes any actual pain or discomfort with her movements, it is easy to overlook it.  I can still bend over to clip my toe nails.  I can still see my feet.  I am not waddling.  In fact, the boss's wife asked me today if I had already had the baby.  From this pregnancy, I can totally see how some women never know they are pregnant.  Well, that was never an option for me (regular cycles and psychotic peeing on sticks and all), but I kind of get it. 

6 weeks or less until bubs!!  EEK!  There is so much work to do!!  Well, so many things I want to do.  My nesting urge is there, it just isn't enough to get me off the sofa most days.  So I guess it is a good thing that I am not allowed to work anymore.  My midwife has banned me.  I have a certificate.  I am not on any kind of strict bed rest (or I wasn't told I am anyway), so I think I can still clean the house and potter around.  Of course now I am cuddling Toffs, which is totally productive.  Apparently I can apply for some sort of financial assistance, so I don't need to start my maternity leave early.

My water addiction

I have a theory.  I am a water addict not a pre-eclamptic. 

Apparently if you drink too much fluid, you increase the proteins in your urine (according to Dr Google).  And I have always drank a lot of water.  Most normal days, I drink between 2 and 3 liters of water.  This doesn't count any coffee, tea, fizzy drinks (if I drink them), juice, or my more recent thing, milk shakes and breakfast drinks.  So maybe in the course of a normal day, I could easily pound 4 to 5 liters.  And in the summer it is more (I do work outside), and I can drink 3-4 liters just at work.  So...in the days leading up to hospitalization, I had been drinking a bit (a shit ton) more than I probably needed to, considering I was just chilling around the house and not actually at work.  So maybe that explains the high PCR that sent me to the hospital, and the fact that it dropped so quickly once I was there.

However, there are a few flaws in this theory.  They didn't test my PCR after they started the fluid restrictions, so really, I hadn't cut down that much on fluid by that time.  Also, I am always like this, and proteins haven't shown up in my wees before.

On the other hand, I have dropped a kilo or two (if the hospital scale and my home scale are in agreement, which they may not be), and the swelling has definitely gone down.  I still get sock imprints on my ankles (or cankles), and my wedding ring is tighter than pre-pregnancy (but not as tight as sausage finger night a few weeks ago), and I think my face is looking less puffy.  All this from restricting my fluid intake to 2 liters a day?

Apart from the obvious reason why I would love this theory to be correct, I kind of need to not have any pregnancy complications right now, because we are having cat complications.

Big Ginge is back.  The Moose is not good at remembering to lock up the cat food at night, and the two nights we were away plus the two nights I wasn't home to lock the food up have reminded that big bastard that he can get a free feed.  So he and Cleo have been scrapping, and Cleo took a bite to the rump (which I found five minutes after arriving home).  Thankfully it hasn't abscessed, but I took her to the vet anyway because it is no fun having a cone-head.  So a few injections and twice daily pills later...

And that brings us to Toffs.  The Moose can't express her bladder (he is too kind and can't dish out the tough love), so while he tried (and lived to tell the tale), he was unsuccessful while I was away.  And I have been struggling for awhile with her, if I am honest.  She tenses up and has the ab muscles of a body-builder, and I can tell lately that she is in some pain when I express her.  So, today was her day to go to the vet.  Thankfully she has no infections, but she does have blood in her urine, which is probably the result of stress.  The vets reckon it is because of the pregnancy...I think it is more likely to be Big Ginge.  Either way, we are changing her diet and giving her medicine now.

So...not only do I have to keep my own meds straight (ahem...had to count all the pills yesterday to figure out if I had taken any at lunch), I need to pill Cleo twice a day and put anti-inflammatory liquid on Toffs food and make sure she eats it once a day.  As well as keeping track of how much water I drink, I need to make sure I am slowly switching their food over to this fancy and ridiculously expensive food!!  And I have to take care of Big Ginge...

So, if my theory could just be right, and things stay nice and calm with no proteins and good bubs growth...that would be awesome.  Now, time for my next 325ml of water.  

Because I like to be different, I guess...

I am back home!!  Bubs is still where she belongs!!  And I honestly do not know what the hell happened.

Thursday night I was told to go to the hospital in the big city because there was protein my my urine, so I packed and cleaned and waited for the Moose to get home (he was a little late), and eventually we got down there about 9:30pm.  They took my blood pressure (it was high, I don't remember how high but not obscenely so), took some urine, took some blood, and hooked us up to a CTG to hear bubs heartbeat, and then medical students took down my history and checked my reflexes.  About 10:30 or 11 I was taken to my room (the first roommate was awesome but was discharged the next day...hoping for her that her cervix stays tight, she is a week or two shy of 30 weeks).  I didn't sleep all that well from the noise of the place, the uncomfortableness of the bed, the blood pressure checks throughout the night, and what was going to become a nasty sinus issue (which makes answering the question "Do you have a headache?" fun, because, yes, I do, but it goes from my nose through my jaw and into my ear, so I think I'm good thanks). 

The next day (Friday) they did all the tests again.  The anesthesiologist came to go through paperwork with me (he had time and they figured it is better to get it done when it isn't an emergency, I guess...also, he was about 12 years old and scrawny and seriously had the mustache of the monopoly man).  I sent the Moose home because it appeared likely that I wasn't going anywhere, and someone needed to take care of the cats (Toffs bladder needs expressing twice a day, though the Moose really struggles to get anything out of her at least it is better than nothing).  Evil roommate moved in.  Not sure what her problem was (something about ketones, I think), but her whole family was there, and she and her husband/partner/baby daddy kept yelling at their six year old (who obviously has some issues) to "shut your fucking face" everytime he got loud, which was ALL THE TIME.  Classy people.  And they stayed for HOURS.  Thankfully the next day she was discharged and I was put in my own room.  I was put on labetelol and fluid restrictions (2 liters...but they didn't decide this until lunch, and guess who was boredom drinking water??  Yeah, this girl.)

Saturday morning they mentioned discharging me in a few days if I stayed stable.  The midwives that night seemed to think I wasn't going anywhere and one was surprised they weren't weighing me, and measuring my urine output, so she started that up.  She really thought I would be in until induction.  I had to ask her if they had forgotten about me, as I hadn't even done a urine dipstick, but she said they had no orders to do one.  So at this point, throughout my stay, I have seen many midwives, a few doctors and students, and everyone is telling me something different.  They all seem to ask "Do you know why you're here?" and "Did someone explain this to you?" but honestly, everyone explained something a little different.  And I had to remind the midwives a few times about my meds being due (they would come to take my blood pressure and sometimes it was a little high, but I was overdue for the next pill).

Sunday the doctor said I would most likely be discharged on Monday.  Either way I needed the Moose to come back because I only had clean knickers to last to Tuesday.  The midwives arranged for us to tour the NICU (it was less scary than I thought it would be, and was actually a really calm, quiet place).  The midwives on Sunday night seemed to be more aware that I would be discharged.  My midwife finally called to see how I was doing.  The Moose arrived and promptly plopped on my bed and decided to take a nap.  And the daughter-in-law of a former coworker checked in to be induced at 38 weeks because her blood pressure was up, so we talked to them a while (turns out we have the same midwife).  By now, as a result of hospital air, my sinuses have reached a critical level of horrible.  What is back in there won't blow out without making my nose bleed, but will drip down my throat all night and make it feel like someone has mashed my lower face in with a bat. 

So Monday my blood pressure was measured (it is now down to about 120/80), and we did another CTG but it took two attempts because bubs was being naughty and hiding from the monitor (she did this Friday morning).  I was discharged.  I asked the doctor, who came to discuss the discharge, if it was preeclampsia (which is what they had been calling it from Thursday night), and she said "yes and no".  Apparently after I was admitted the protein levels in my urine dropped fast and by a lot, which is unusual.  And with my blood pressure now under control, we are just monitoring.  Bubs measuring small is a concern, and they are hoping with the blood pressure meds she will get a bit of a growth spurt.  If she falls behind or they start to see signs of head sparing, then she gets evicted.  If my blood pressure goes up, they will up my dosage (I am on a lower dose).  I suppose if my kidneys start throwing proteins, or any bloodwork turns up suspicious results, then I will be back in the hospital (I am seriously going to pack a bag now so I am prepared...and I may need to get more knickers).

So...I don't really have any clear answers, but the important thing is that bubs gets to stay put and keep growing for now, and I can be monitored from home twice a week.  So long as we are both doing well, all is good, and when things look a bit dodgy, then its bubs time.

And, now free from the hospital, my sinuses are happy(ier).

Also, I have to say, the hospital food was atrocious.  One or two yummy desserts, but honestly, I am not sure what I was eating half the time, but I was so hungry I didn't care.  So...in your hospital bag, always pack a little something to eat, just in case!

quick update

I am writing this on my phone and have never done it before so sorry if it is hard to read. I am still in the hospital for monitoring. I have mild preeclampsia at this stage. If it doesn't get worse in the next few days I might get to leave! But we are taking things day to day. I am bored and I have an annoying roommate I will blog about later. I have limited interwebs and need to conserve to keep family back home posted. Important thing is that bubs and I are fine and at least at the moment bubs is staying put!

First Admission

Yup.  Being admitted into big hospital in the big city.  Tonight.  It is 5:30 now.  Got the call to go down about an hour ago and have been racing around getting ready since.  It is just to monitor my BP overnight.  If it stays low enough, I get to go home in the morning, possibly with BP meds.  Fingers crossed.