Well, I’m back in the hospital as of Wednesday.

Monday night we had our last birth class and when I got home my blood pressure was 163/98. Eep! I put my feet up immediately and it started coming down. Tuesday I don’t even remember but it was a lot of napping and laying around. Wednesday I had a growth scan and an appointment with my OB. I felt like garbage that day! My BP was 168/102, so they made the decision to send me to the hospital, where I have been ever since. I have my own private room and I’m just gestating, eating, sleeping, and watching a lot of daytime TV. It could be much worse- I’ve heard about some other patients struggles with hanging out before labor for long periods of time- so I’m okay. It is what it is. I’m in the best place I can be for myself and for Hawk. I’m monitored regularly. My next ultrasound and round of blood work is on Tuesday- until then they just take my BP, do a non stress on Hawk every day, and watch my sugar levels which are great. As long as my BP doesn’t get any higher than it has (which would be severe levels), and my labs stay good, I’m starting to feel confident we will make it to 37 weeks. If he’s born before 36 weeks he will guaranteed go to the NICU. I don’t want that!! I’m looking forward to meeting him but I’m still scared of birth. I go from being calm about it to petrified. Two nights ago I was having regular braxton hicks contractions that were a new level for me- they didn’t hurt but they made me feel VERY uncomfortable and I had to breath through them. Adam was dancing around because he thought Hawk was on his way and he was excited to meet him. It was adorable. Adam has been amazing through this whole thing and I am SO thankful that he’s my husband. I miss my dog so much! That’s about it. Reporting live from the hospital bed… 😉

Wowser. I don’t even remember what my last update was. To start with good stuff, we had our maternity session last Sunday- finally a bit of snow! My good friend Shannon took the photos of us and while a few of them I’m iffy about my looks (I am HUGE! lol) I think she did a wonderful job. Adam looks so handsome.. and Cal (our dog) looks so fat! Like momma! lol I can’t wait to see the rest.

I had my 34 week appointment on Wednesday. The night before we had our birth class and so I had been out of the house from 8 am to 9pm. My legs were crazy swollen! I took pics to show my OB..

She agreed they looked very swollen and checked my legs that day- which were swollen up to my knees. My blood pressure was high and there was protein in my urine for the first time ever so they put me on a monitor for half an hour. Hawk’s heartbeat was great and his movements, too. After that I got some blood work. The results came back fine and they said I did not have pre-eclampsia.

This changed. I’ve been having a harder and hard time keeping up my pace at work. It’s been getting busier, and the clinic is expansive so having to walk patients through our maze has been putting a damper on me. I’ve been miserable, but holding out! The plan was to keep working until I went into labor. That’s out the window. Friday I was feeling hot and dizzy and my legs were swollen up again, so I decided to take my blood pressure. It was high again. I called my OB’s office and they were at a holiday party. The answering service asked if it was an emergency. I said I didn’t think so. She told me to feel free to call back if I changed my mind. I polled my mom’s group on FB and they all said I should at least call. My mom said the same, and I still felt really weird, so I did. The on call doc told me to go down to labor and delivery and they would get me sorted. I just figured it would be another monitoring session and I’d get to go. They had me pee in a cup, Hawk and I were hooked up to monitors again, and I sat in the labor and delivery triage for a few hours. Let me tell you- it’s terrifying to NOT BE IN LABOR surrounded by women IN ACTIVE LABOR. I thought holy shit, that will be me in six weeks. As a reminder, my original due date was January 24th. 

I fell asleep at some point after talking with my mom and Adam and I woke up to my OB’s partner telling me the scoop. She said I definitely have pre-eclampsia now and they want to monitor me in the hospital overnight. I’m going to be induced January 3rd when Hawk is 37 weeks- as long as my BP doesn’t go any higher. I asked if I could continue working, she said no. I’m done. They moved me to a private room, they did an ultrasound- Hawk is 5 pounds 5 ounces at this stage, by the way- and they gave me steroid shots to help his lungs should he have to come any earlier than 37 weeks. I did not expect any of this! It was kind of a whirlwind. The nurses and doctors were all very kind. With bedrest my BP went down a bit and though my urine still had protein in it, my liver and kidney functions are good so I was allowed to go home. I’m not on strict bed rest perse- so I asked if I could go to work and wrap up a few things. Not take patients but delegate tasks and send some emails. The doc said that would be fine. Today I went to the movies to see Star Wars and it was not a good idea. It took everything out of me and I could tell my BP was high when I was at the theater. Pre-e is no joke. It took me all night to recover. Now it’s almost 1 am and I did some album re-designs and I’m typing up this blog.

Tomorrow the office is going to call me to tell me when to come in to see my doc- my mom will be driving me around everywhere now. They want to see me at least twice a week. My maternity leave officially starts tomorrow. The best laid plans… I’ll be back at work March 28th. I’m bummed this takes time away from Hawk and I but honestly I was really really miserable at work and it was just getting worse.

Adam has been taking such great care of me and Hawk and Cal and he is just wonderful. He said he feared he would need a kick in the ass and be lazy but he says he feels his mindset has changed and his world revolves around myself and Hawk now. He’s been amazing, I could not ask for a better partner. I think he still holds on to how he was when he was in his early 20’s (hard to motivate) but he’s a grown man now and is so responsible and caring. I cannot thank my lucky stars enough that he is my husband.

Anyway, this is kind of rambley. I can’t believe in about two weeks I’ll be induced and Hawk will be on his way. I am petrified.

Trucking along here. I had a vomitty episode on Friday. I went to bed at 8:30 and woke up a few hours later. My whole body got hot and I got up and walked downstairs. I told Adam I thought I had the flu and I was probably going to throw up shortly. I did, it was not pretty. After vomiting for what felt like forever, I stopped and slowly sipped water. I have an irrational fear of vomiting so I was crying a little and just generally pissed off. After THAT I had some diarrhea, followed by more vomiting. I had already got everything up and out so I was throwing up foamy water. Adam came in and rubbed my back softly. In between pukes I told him he was going to be great in labor- I had just finished reading The Big Book of Birth that night and his presence was super comforting to me. I had A LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions all night after this, and my blood sugar was SUPER low (like 54) on Friday morning. We both took Friday off and he took care of me. I’m feeling much better.

Saturday we met with a birth photographer- annnd we found her! She was super warm, super professional, and I am comforted that she will be our birth photographer. I even cried during the meeting when she asked me what the ONE SHOT is that I envisioned the most- which is meeting Hawk for the first time. She also does a free “end of leave” session as a thank you to her clients, so about a week before I go back to work she’s going to come over and photograph Hawk and I doing our thing. So wonderful.

We’ve been making a lot of headway on the nursery- I went through my hoard and got rid of a TON of stuff- things from my childhood that I shouldn’t be holding on to- I kept some stuff too, of course. I found my old favorite stuffed animal dubbed “Bun bun” when I was young- it was a stuffed Easter rabbit from my Meme when I was young, as well as a stuffed Dalmatian that I had when I was little. I’m going to wash them both up and give them to Hawk. ❤ I got rid of 5 bags of clothes- donated them- and it’s been nice to get a lot of this junk out of the house. You can say I’m full out nesting now.

We have the crib set up, Hawk’s bureau and changing table, a pack-n-play type thing with a bassinet and a changing table built in for our living room, the glider of course with the ottoman, and I’ve done two loads of Hawk’s clothing and swaddles and sheets. Folding his clothing and putting it away made me smile. This weekend coming up we have two baby classes – breastfeeding and Newborn care, we are seeing some friends, and Sunday we are going to put in the car seats and start bringing stuff from my parents house home. We took an infant CPR and safety class last week which was great! I love that my wedding season is over, being able to hang out with my husband again has been marvelous and I just love him so much. He is going to be such a great Dad to Hawk.

I had my 32 week appointment on Wednesday and I’m doing great. Hawk is measuring right on target. At my 36 week appointment we are going to do a growth scan because of the gestational diabetes to see where he is at, then we will “go from there.” My sugar has been controlled via diet very well, so I think I should be fine- but you never know.

My pelvis is hurting worse and worse lately, and I’m starting to have trouble getting up and out of bed. I’m looking forward to getting back to yoga and spin class one day, and not getting winded walking up the stairs.

I started reading a new book- “The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby’s First Year” because I know shit is gonna get REAL.

I can’t believe he’s going to be here NEXT MONTH!

My friend and hairdresser is due a few days after myself 🙂 Here we are at her baby shower!