Everything was going along so smoothly and to top it off, last Friday, my co-workers threw a great surprise shower for me at work! There were decorations, a delicious cake (my sweet tooth was very happy) and lots of thoughtful gifts for our little one on her way.
Then the walls came crashing down. Monday evening I went in to the Dr for a regular check up. Everything was going just fine until they checked my blood pressure. Apparently it was a little on the high end because they had me check into the Labor and Delivery Unit for a few hours of observation. They were hoping that my blood pressure would come down after relaxing for a little while because I had walked to the hospital for my appointment. But at the same time, they were a little concerned because it had been high at my appointment 2 weeks prior as well. So, to help me "relax" they had me change into a gown and lay in an outpatient room for a while. The room had bright lights and was shared with another woman who happened to have a little b.o. Her husband was also there along with their babbling little kid, all of whom did not speak English. So needless to say, my blood pressure did not go down much... The good news was that my blood test came back fine and they decided that I didn't need to stay over night at the hospital. (Thankfully they said I would have been given my own room if that were the case.) They did give me a good scare right before I left by saying that I could not work the next day, to prepare myself for the likelihood that I will be put on bed rest and not go back to work until after deliver. At this point I broke into tears. The night was about all I could handle at this point and not being able to work before the delivery would mean less time home with her after the delivery. I was crushed. Then they added that due to the high bp, there was a good chance that I would delivery in the next 3 weeks. Holy cow. I was bit of a basket case. So much for getting the bp to come down at this point. Anyways, I finally got to leave around 10pm with a directions to stay home form work and return in 24 hours for another check on my bp. I was also directed to collect my urine for the next 24 hours. Yuck. Not to share too many details, but we had a big jug in the fridge that we did NOT want to confuse with the apple juice...
So, on Tuesday at 10pm, Jake and I headed back to the hospital. The night before we were told it would be a quick check up and test, however we did not get out of there until 2am. Poor Jake was sleeping on the floor for a while until one of the nurses came in and found him there and told him to get into the bed next to mine. Mind you, hospital beds are not that comfortable, but they are better than the floor. Once again, my blood test came back fine but my bp was even higher than the night before. The good news was that with the urine collection test they were able to rule out preeclampsia, which is a serious bp condition that develops in pregnancy. I just have plain old high blood pressure. They said when it happens in pregnancy like this, there is usually no known cause and no known cure, other than relaxing.
On Wednesday, I spoke with my regular Dr's office and they said I had to stay on "modified bed rest" at least until my next appointment. This means that I have to lay down and relax as much as possible. She is thankfully letting me work from home. The most frustrating part in all of this is that I honestly have not felt stressed until this whole thing happened. I can easily control my stress levels at work, but now that I'm home, I look around and see a million little projects that I want to work on or areas that need to be cleaned or tended to and it's driving me absolutely crazy! Thankfully Jake has been home from work this week as he is starting a new job on Tuesday (!!). He's been able to help out a lot around the house, but I feel terrible about taking over his vacation time. And no offense to guys, but they seem to be capable of doing housework only to a certain extent. So it's driving me crazy that I can't do things my way but I do have to give him a lot of credit for trying. :0)
Now on top of everything else, I've also been running in circles trying to get our insurance set up. With Jake's job change, we have to change insurance so we are now going through my work. And of course this is all falling in a time frame where insurance is critical to have. Our new insurance started on Friday and we have yet to receive a card and cannot access a printable card online. Go figure. And with the pb problems I've been having, my Dr wants me to get an ultrasound as soon as possible, just to check in on the baby. So I have an ultrasound appointment scheduled for this coming Wednesday, however in order for insurance to cover that, I have to get a referral from my OB. And in order to get a referral from my OB, I have to get a referral from my Primary Care Physician. And of course, my Primary Care Physician has recently moved to Washington so I have to go to a new one - all before my appointment on Wednesday and with no insurance ID card. Oh, and it's a holiday weekend so no one is even available to talk to or around to make an appointment. You bet, I'll just relax this week. Grrr.
Today, I was able to sleep in and was feeling more relaxed than I have since before my down hill appointment on Monday. Jake and I even made smoothies this morning for breakfast. Then when Jake was out with Cosmo, he noticed that the spare tire on our Jeep had been stolen - literally cut off the underside of our vehicle. Fortunately for me, I have no comprehension for car parts and car insurance so he's been on the phone all morning with police and insurance trying to get everything sorted out. If it's not one thing, it's another...
Fortunately we have a 3 day weekend. I was really looking forward to going to our cabin this weekend for a little family reunion so I'm pretty bummed about that. But at least I have one more day off where I don't have to try to juggle working from home next week. And my mom and Jake's mom have been kind enough to come down next week for a few days to help around the house, take Cosmo out and drive me to my ultrasound appointment, which hopefully I can get insurance figured out in time to still make it there. I then have another Drs appointment on Thursday where they will reassess everything. And then the fun can start all over again...
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! I'm going to do my best to put my feet up and "relax" for a few days and hopefully get my bp back to where it's supposed to be. Wish me luck!
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