It’s Official: I Have Pre-Eclampsia
Yup, it’s my first pregnancy all over again – kind of. (Insert obligatory Deja-vu Matrix reference here.)
I just returned from the ‘daycare’ (aka non-stress testing/monitoring) at the hospital. There I was informed that my 24-hour urine sample results had enough protein to qualify me as having crossed the threshold from just having ‘gestational hypertension‘ into having ‘pre-eclampsia‘ (meðgöngueitrun). Oh fun!
Being ‘monitored’, one sensor is for the baby’s heart-rate, the other for (uterine) muscle contractions. I wonder if it’s the blood pressure medication, but there have been a whole lot less contractions now than when I carried Anna. Weird.
When I crossed this threshold in the US, I was officially at 38w5d, and was basically given two hours to get my butt to the hospital to be induced. Now I’m at 37w5d (ultrasound estimate, the old-style calendar method would put me at 38w1d), which is ‘full term’, but the docs apparently are in no hurry to induce.
Yes, it would seem like the docs really rather prefer not to induce previous c-section women. And since I have no actual physical ‘symptoms’ of pre-eclampsia (headache, vision flicks, abdominal pain, nausea), and my blood-pressure is behaving itself on the current medication, I’m being put on a ‘wait-and-see’ schedule.
As of right now, I’m to come back this Monday for a blood-test and monitoring. If everything looks mostly ok at that point, then I’m to show up again on Thursday, and at that point they’ll probably start discussing induction for realz.
This plan is of course contingent on me staying asymptomatic. If I do develop a headache, funny vision, abdominal pain, nausea, or if I notice less movements, then to the hospital I go.
Better go practice not being paranoid…
