A Jigsawy Day

2013-01-09Uncategorized Standard

Today promised to be busy, and it delivered.  Thankfully, it was the jigsawy-kind of busy, where one thing just naturally follows the other, without much fuss or muss – so it wasn’t really stressful – just busy.  (Ok, ok, the dentist this morning wasn’t entirely stress-free, but I got lucky in that the next patient cancelled so he could do what needed to be done in just one visit.)

The ‘preggers news’ of the day is that I met with both the midwife (still no protein in urine, baby’s heartbeat is fine) and the preggers doctor (OB/Gyn).  The ‘big’ news is that given the blood pressure issues, I will not be carrying past 40 weeks (23 Feb), and if I’m still preggers then, they’ll do a special ‘previous c-section induction’ (using a cervical ripening balloon catheter) because they don’t like having to rely on drugs that women respond differently to.

The other interesting bit of news was that it’s now believed that a blood pressure of 145/95 is in fact a pretty good blood pressure to have when pregnant, because it appears to support good blood flow to the fetus.  Who knew?  But they don’t like the bottom number to rise above 100 much, which is why I’m being medicated.  Also, my medication is apparently a pretty ‘lousy’ blood pressure medication, as in it’s not strong at all, and there is still leeway to raise the dosage.

So with that, my leash was lengthened a bit and I won’t be seeing the midwife until next week, unless something comes up (I measure my bp at home daily).

With that I went and actually bought three breastfeeding bras, seeing how it’s looking like there might be a baby to care for in the near future.  (Funny story: I never got around to buying breastfeeding bras before Anna was born, so when we went home from the hospital, we were met by Guðrún who’d gone to Sears and bought a bunch of them for me to try on.  She still rolls her eyes at the memory. 🙂 )

Oh, and tomorrow will be a total rest and relaxation day.  And probably Friday too.  Ooooommmmmmm…

COMMENTS

Sarah

Wow I didn’t know the blood pressure could be OK that high, but that is good news for you. And it’s interesting that Iceland has a Previous C-section Induction method when in the US it’s very rare to find an OB or hospital to do a spontaneous vaginal birth after C-section. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but it’s exciting that you are in the final count down!

Hrefna

It’s at least apparently been shown that 145/95 appears fine with regards to sufficient blood flow to the baby, but I’m guessing it still puts a strain on my internal organs?

The OB claimed that the ‘mechanical’ induction method was actually really old (they basically force the cervix open, and then rupture the amniotic sack), but that it fell out of favor because you need a hospital bed, and somebody keeping an eye on you – which isn’t really needed when you can just insert a hormonal pill. I have no idea if this is also standard induction procedure for VBACs (Vaginal Birth After C-section) in the US (which I was a candidate for according to the OB I spoke with there before we moved back – I think they still do them at Stanford…?)

With a VBAC I still have to be on a continuous monitor, but I’m told the hospital has two sets of wireless monitors, so I’m hoping to snag those!

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