Jen's Pregnancy Blog

Now that my blood pressure was consistently normal, they sent me home. I was told to stop working for now and to “conserve energy”, which technically means I’m allowed to wander around the house some, but to take breaks, lay down, that sort of thing. I am allowed to drive, but nothing too strenuous. I try to save that for necessary doctor appointments and occasional trips to the grocery store.

Because of the blood pressure issue, they had me buy a machine so that I can monitor it myself. I monitor it four times a day and call in my log every few days to the doctor’s office so that they can keep track of it as well. And I’ve now gone from seeing the docs once every two weeks to once a week.

The first few days at home were kind of tough. Brian was still not back yet from Washington, DC (Oh, did I forget to mention he was there the entire time this was going on? He asked if he should come home and I told him no. There wouldn’t have been anything for him to do at the time). Anyway, for the first two days at home I slept. I could not stay awake for more that 2-3 hours at a time. It started to worry me because I wasn’t even hungry much. And not being awake that often made it even harder to eat. Apparently both the sleepiness and the loss of appetite are side effects of the blood pressure medication. Fortunately, those side effects have worn off.

<>Unfortunately, the appointment on the 17^th was not all fun. Turns out my blood pressure was up. Way up. They tested it several times and each time it was high. So, after some discussion, they took me across the street for more assessment. I spent some time in triage where they did more assessment, like tracing Baby’s heartbeat and to see if I was contracting (which I was not). After my blood work came back as normal, they really could not figure out what had caused this sudden and alarming change in my blood pressure. After some thought, Dr. K decided to go ahead and admit me. (My doc, Dr. B, was of course on vacation at the time so his partner, Dr. K took care of me.)

So, they got me a room in the Antepartum Care Unit. The room I had was really nice. It was big and had a television, VCR/DVR player, microwave and mini-refrigerator. There was a place of someone to sleep (besides the hospital bed) and a nice glider to sit in. The desk had a chair and a CAT5 internet hook up. There was even another internet hook up close to the bed!

While I was there, they did several tests, all of which came out fairly normal. They checked my blood pressure every couple of hours. At one point it was 190/105, which is extremely dangerous. First we tried my anxiety medicine (thinking that perhaps I was having a panic attack), but that didn’t make much difference. So, they started me on some blood pressure medication. It took a couple of days of trial and error before they were certain they had the dosage right. Overall I spent four days in the hospital.

I visited the docs again on the 17^th. I was scheduled for an ultrasound to check on Baby’s growth and development. I am constantly amazed at how much you can see in the ultrasound pictures. The first thing Carol did was to try to get some 3D pictures of Baby’s face. She thought it might be a little too early to try, but she did it anyway. Although Baby would not quit moving, she was able to get three shots of Baby’s face. In two of them, either Baby’s arm or umbilical cord were in the way of most of her face. But Carol got a great shot of Baby’s face on the first try. Baby is grimacing a bit, but it’s great to be able to see what she looks like.

After that, Carol moved on to the regular ultrasound mode to check on Baby’s growth. Baby is still progressing on the growth charts just like any other baby, further cementing the diagnosis that she is an average-sized baby. Her brain development is still right on target. I could see all four chambers of her heart, beating steadily. Baby’s stomach and kidneys are also functioning just as they should at this stage. At 23 weeks gestation (almost 6 months along), it’s amazing how many of their organs are present and beginning to function.

On Monday, June 26^th, just before lunch, I was in my boss’s office, talking to him and Amber. The two of them were talking about something that was interesting to me at the time, but I sure don’t remember what it was now. Anyway, as they talked, I sat down in a chair and placed my hand on my belly, which has become habit by this point. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I feel a foot (or a hand) hit my palm. My eyes got really big and my jaw dropped open. I was in shock! I had felt her move around for a couple of weeks, but I had not yet felt her on the outside like this.

Needless to say, I was extremely excited. It was a strange and neat feeling all wrapped up in one. Finally I could share this with others. When there was a break in their conversation, I told Roger and Amber about it. I put Amber’s hand on my belly to see if Baby would do it again, but of course, she wouldn’t. Then I couldn’t wait to tell Brian, but he was in DC that week and I couldn’t talk to him during the day, so it had to wait. I told him that evening and he seemed excited. When he got home that Friday night, Baby was active and he was able to feel her moving around. It was a neat experience for both of us.