Home Again

and most of you didn't even know i was gone. i spent last night in the hospital (don't worry, everything is fine for now), but they discharged me at 5:30 this evening. i've been having some blood pressure issues lately (it was high at my last appointment), and my doc wanted me to pop by her office sometime this week to get it checked again. well, i stopped by yesterday on my way home from the sea lab, and it was high again. so the doctor came over to talk to me and decided to admit me to the hospital for 24 hours to monitor my blood pressure overnight and throughout the day and to monitor the baby. they checked my bp several times when i was first admitted and throughout the night, and they also recorded the baby's heartbeat (though he was moving around a lot, making it difficult to get a steady reading for any length of time) for a while. my blood pressure dropped significantly once i was in bed and not doing anything, which is good, and the baby sounded good.

i don't have any other symptoms, but high blood pressure can be a sign of preeclampsia (aka toxemia). chad's mom had this when she was pregnant with him, which makes me more likely to develop it as well due to a possible genetic connection with the baby (not that there's anything wrong with his genes - the quad screen for chromosomal problems was normal). preeclampsia can progress to a point at which it becomes unsafe for both me and the baby to keep him in there, so the doc is going to monitor things pretty closely from now on to see if i start showing signs of developing the condition (even though i don't have it right now). she went ahead and ordered steroid shots while i was in the hospital. i got one yesterday and another one right before i came home. they do that to speed up the baby's lung development just in case he has to be delivered early (though most likely not in the next few weeks - he needs to stay inside as long as possible). many women with preeclampsia (which once again, i do not have but could develop later on) go on to carry their babies to term, so even if i do develop it, it doesn't mean the baby will be premature. my doctor just doesn't want to take any chances and wants to be prepared in case that should happen.

i'm not gonna lie, i was pretty freaked out when the doc came over and said she wanted to put me in the hospital yesterday. i went straight over to the labor and delivery floor at the hospital from my doc's office (they're part of the same complex, so i just went through the building to get there), so i had to call chad and get him to bring me toiletries and clothes and things. he spent the night at the hospital with me, and he took off work today to be there with me, although he did leave for a couple of hours to take a shower, feed krull and play with him a little bit, and get some food. i was very grateful for that.

i have also been threatened with bed rest if my blood pressure continues to be problematic, since it appears to respond well to bed rest. i guess that's good, since it means it isn't going to require intense treatment, but i dread the very idea of bed rest. i have WAY too much to do, and i would go out of my mind with boredom. one day in the hospital was bad enough. at least i would get to be at home, though.

for now, i am still allowed to work (as long as i take lots of breaks and don't do anything strenuous), but i'm supposed to be decreasing my overall activity level and basically adhering to the bed rest thing whenever i'm at home... which means that chad is taking over the cooking and cleaning and random running around. he seems pretty ok with the idea, and he's doing a good job so far of keeping me calm and taking care of everything for me. the doc told me to buy a blood pressure cuff and keep an eye on my bp from home, so chad stopped by cvs on the way home from the hospital and picked one up for me.

i have another appointment with my doc next wednesday, and she said that if my blood pressure stays high she's just going to keep limiting my activity level more and more, but she said she doesn't want to have to put me on bed rest because i still (hopefully) have at least three months to go with this whole pregnancy thing. but she'll do it if necessary. so let's hope my blood pressure straightens itself out. geez.