Our baby girl is so close to arriving! We are getting very excited and have been spending a lot of time organizing her room and pulling out all of the baby clothes and toys. Harper is very excited about the baby toys and gear, she thanked me for taking out all of "Harper's new toys." Hmmm, this will be an interesting adjustment.
We are not revealing our baby's name but we will share that we have it narrowed down to five choices: Ada, Lennon, Reid, Sawyer or Scarlett.
Unfortunately these last few weeks of pregnancy are not going smoothly. Last Monday, at my regular prenatal appointment, I had a very high blood pressure reading which led me directly to the lab for some blood work because of suspicion of a condition called pre-eclampsia, which can be very dangerous for both me and the baby. Later that day, I went to see my acupuncturist and he immediately put me on herbs to halt the progression of the illness. The next day, it was back to Boulder for another appointment and more lab tests. My blood pressure was again alarmingly high- 145/110- and that value combined with the results of the blood work I had done Monday morning landed me in the hospital for monitoring and more blood work. The second round of blood work that was done Tuesday night came back normal- thanks to the 4 doses of Chinese herbs I had already taken, I'm sure- and there was not enough evidence to warrant a pre-eclampsia diagnosis. However, I was not completely out of the woods due to the continued spiking blood pressure. A few days passed and another high blood pressure reading yesterday landed me back in the hospital for more monitoring. The results have continued to be the same- my blood pressure is high, but the lab results do not indicate anything more serious than that at this time. This is likely the way it will continue for the rest of my pregnancy since the Chinese herbs that lower blood pressure are too harsh for me to take during pregnancy and I will not consider taking the pharmaceutical blood pressure-lowering meds. I will continue to be monitored closely and my midwife believes that this little girl is going to have to make an early entry into the world. Fortunately, I am very close to my due date and will be considered full-term (37 weeks) on January 11. I figured I'd go overdue again and we'd have a Super Bowl Sunday baby- I guess not!
The only good thing that has come out of this complication is that I had the opportunity to have another ultrasound and see our daughter, which was very nice (except for the extra radiation to the baby part, I know that's not very nice). I have not had an ultrasound since week 20 so it was great to be reassured by seeing her. According to the ultrasound, the accuracy of which is in question, she already weighs 6 pounds, 7 ounces and is in the 80% for size. I am measuring a week ahead. The major risk for a "pre-eclamptic" baby is growth restriction, so it was great to see that my placenta is still working properly despite the high blood pressure and she is still getting all of the nourishment she needs to grow. The ultrasound tech said that she had a little layer of peach fuzz hair and when she turned and gave us a good view of her face, it reminded me so much of Harper- well as much as a fuzzy, black and white ultrasound picture can remind you of anything. We are really looking forward to meeting her!
No comments:
Post a Comment