This morning I got up at 4:50am to get ready to head to Seattle for some testing at the Univ. of WA Medical Center. You may remember from my last OB appointment that my blood pressure was high once. I laid down for about 10 mins, and it came back down to normal. From that appointment, Dr. M decided to send me to the UW to have a specialist check me out.
I got up there a little early and they actually brought me back 15 mins before my scheduled appointment! That never happens! Anyway, I was brought back to a room where I laid on a bed and the nurse performed an ultrasound of my aorta and something else at the base of my neck. With some calculations she figured out that my blood pressure it high because I have so much fluid trying to get through. She compared it to a garden hose hooked to a fire hydrant.
Last week I collected my urine for 24 hours in a jug. From that they determined I already have protein in my urine. That is because the fire hydrant is pushing so much through the garden hose that it is causing small holes in my kidneys for proteins to spill out - or something like that.
I was sitting in a chair in the room and the doc had me move up to the table. I climbed up and he put his fingers on either side of my neck. He asked if I ever noticed throbbing in my neck when I stand up. I said sometimes. He said that is not normal. I could feel while his fingers were there that my pulse was pounding hard. He prescribed a low dose of Atenol (25mg twice a day) to help my bp. He said one possible side effect (of a regular dose) is a slow growth rate for the babies. So he will get the results from the u/s I'm scheduled to have on Monday and then I'll have another u/s before I go back to see him in 8 weeks and they'll compare the growth rate and determine what to do next.
My ankles have been swollen almost everyday in the last couple of weeks (it started when Hubs went to the hospital). It generally goes down overnight, but not always all the way. I need to make sure I'm not consuming too much salt, like canned soup, and prepackaged food, etc. I'm to stay on the perimeter of the grocery store when I shop. I generally do anyway, but I'll have to make more of an effort. I've also been told to lay down a couple of times a day to help my bp stay lower.
Of course I'm supposed to watch for warning signs like sudden swelling of my face, or ankles and fingers that don't go down at all over night. I'm also to call my doc if I see stars while sitting or standing (not necessarily when standing up from bending or sitting).
If things get worse, I'm assuming the next step is bed rest. If that doesn't work the only cure from preeclampsia/toxemia is delivery of the babes. I'm guessing I'm not in too much trouble at the moment since the UW doc doesn't want to see me again for 8 weeks. I just hope it stays that way.
Good news from the appointment, my glucose was fine. I got my finger pricked and it came back at 87 (I think we were looking for something below 100). I had eaten some yogurt and a banana in the car that morning. The nurse said that was plenty of sugar to raise it if I had a problem. I'm so glad it was fine.
My office has been really flexible with me. We have a couch in our break room and I can go down there whenever I want to lay down. We have an event coming up in a couple of weeks. I generally work about 16 hours that day. My boss told me she doesn't want me there this year. She'd rather I just stay at the office so I don't have to be on my feet or stress or lift anything unnecessary. Excellent!
Well I think that about wraps up my appointment. In other news my round ligament pain seems to have calmed down some. Although, I did get a baaaad charlie horse in my calf at about 1am this morning. It hurt so bad, and it even made my calf sore all day. I've also been feeling the babies more. I think *maybe* once I felt someone move on the outside. Everytime I feel strong movement I reach on my belly to try to feel something. Hubby is so jealous that I get to feel them all the time and he can't. I know it won't be too much longer until he can though.
My next OB appointment is on Monday. I'm crossing my fingers the babies won't be shy and we can see what gender they are. I can't wait to see them again!
Aight, that's enough blogging for now. I'll keep you posted on my appointment on Monday!!
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