Adventures in Pregnancy, week 37

Fri. June 14th

After drinking water until I couldn't anymore, I went to Susan's house for a blood draw. While I was there I did a urine ph test, listened to baby's heart, and felt for his position. ph test and baby's heart rate were great, but his position had changed to head-down oblique with his head near my hip instead of in my pelvis, where it had been on Tuesday.

She did my blood draw, and took enough for a metabolic panel and an iron test (I don't know the technical name of that one) because Tuesday's iron check had come back low...a drop from 193 at week 26 to 155 at week 36. 155 is still in the normal range, but it was a pretty significant drop. And, she took my bp, which was high.

So I left that with a list of supplements to start to help my labile (fluctuating) blood pressure and low iron--

• Hema-Plex, 
• Yellow Dock Tincture, 
• Hawthorne Berry (instead of Milk Thistle), 
• Natrum Muriaticum (a homeopathic for bp), 
• 1/4 tsp sea salt dissolved in water since I'm drinking so much water, 
• Smart Water to help with electrolytes on the especially warm days,
• Red Raspberry Leaf Tea for preparation for labor...it helps prepare the uterus for labor,
• check out Revolution Chiropractic, who specialize in maternity care and baby position,
• check out Spinning Babies to help baby's position, and
• buy a blood pressure cuff to check bp 3 times a day.

I cried.

I picked up most of the supplements Friday in the midst of delightfully distracting afternoon thanks to my bestie, and started them on Saturday. I also started keeping track of when I take each supplement in addition to the food I eat.

This is what the table currently looks like to help me not forget something...

I took it easy Saturday, and most of Sunday, staying around the house and getting things organized and put away.

Mon. June 17th

My morning blood pressure reading was good, so I continued with my day as usual. Just before I ate lunch, Susan called with my lab results--

• My gbs came back clear (yay, no antibiotics at birth!)
• I have some liver function compromise. My liver enzymes are fine, but my protein levels are dropped. That combined with my high blood pressure makes me Threatening Pre-eclamptic.
• I have Macrocytic Anemia, which means I have fewer, bigger red blood cells. That indicates a B12/Folate deficiency, but thankfully the Hema-Plex I started taking Monday morning should take care of that.

So I need to:

• Hit the Brewer Diet hard, making sure I get at least 80 grams of protein, including at least 2 eggs a day
• Keep up with the Hema-Plex
• Do a 24-hr urine sample. We decided to start it Tuesday, and do a follow-up blood draw on Friday.
• Call if I get a bp reading over 140/90

A few hours later I took my mid-day bp, and it was high-- 139/119, so I waited about half an hour and took it again-- 160/126, and I waited about another half hour and really tried to relax before taking it again--135/86, finally under what Susan had told me to watch for. I sent her those numbers, and she called back, asking me to come over for a bp check and to start the 24-hr urine asap. She also said she was going to call the OU midwives (the place I had chosen as backup to my homebirth) to bring them into the loop, in case a transfer of care became necessary.

I cried.

I got to Susan's house around 5:30, we talked for a bit (I cried a bit), and she said she has faith that all of this can and will be resolved and Baby and I will be just fine. She listened to baby's heartbeat--good, and felt his position--back to head down in my pelvis though not engaged...good. Then she took my bp while laying on my left side, a really good reading, and while sitting, a pretty high reading. She gave me the 24-urine bucket, a thing to put on the toilet to catch the urine and pour into the bucket and instructions of when to start, keep the bucket refrigerated, don't let a potty break not make it into the bucket, take it to the lab, and get blood drawn while at the lab.

What a week! Baby is healthy and moving and I feel fine, which probably makes all these developments a little more frustrating. I know God will take care of us, and however/wherever birth happens, we'll have our baby boy in our arms soon. I'm just disappointed that the birth I've been planning for seems to be slipping away and all my efforts to be healthy seem to not matter now. I have great friends and family who are praying for me and I'm praying for peace and strength through whatever the next few weeks hold.