Tues. June 18th
I started the 24 hour urine collection. What an experience!! Needless to say, I stayed home all day so I wouldn't have to worry about taking out and keeping that jug cool. I sorted through the last of the baby shower gifts and got everything washed. I made sure to eat a lot of protein, keep up with my supplements and rest. Around 2pm, Susan checked in and asked about blood pressure readings. When I told her, she said to rest on my left side as much as possible, so that's what I did. She was also playing phone tag with the OU midwives to talk with them about my situation. My mom had planned to come up for a few days and got to my house right about the time Susan said to stay laying on my left. All the things I had intended to do, she took over and did for me. The timing couldn't have been better!!Around 4:30pm, Susan called back after talking with the OU Midwives. My blood pressure readings were too high for them to take me, so we discussed going with an OB. She talked to the Norman (CMS) Midwives and got a recommendation for Dr. Lewis with Mercy. Susan called again around 5:30 and told me that she had called Dr. Lewis and informed her of my situation. Dr. Lewis decided to work me into her schedule on Wednesday, with the caution--if my blood pressure readings were still really high, there's a good chance of an induction. High blood pressure can put pressure on the placenta, compromising it for baby or cause it to detach from the uterus. At that point, I was on bed rest on my left side.
It's so crazy how within the span of 3 1/2 hours, everything changed. My thoughts shifted to packing hospital bags and preparing mentally, emotionally, and physically to possibly have a baby the next day. I cried it all out, took a bath, and resolved to accept the situation and trust that God made my body, He made this baby, and He planned how this baby would come, so no more crying. A sweet friend came by to help me prepare and distract me, then we went to bed early. However, I laid in bed most of the night, thoughts racing my head and unable to sleep. I finally fell asleep for about 3 hours.
Wed. June 19th
I woke up, got ready, finished packing, finished the 24 hour urine collection, and ate breakfast. While eating breakfast, I got a call from the OB office to schedule my appointment for 2:15. It was a relief to know that when we left the house at 9am, we would be coming back home. Evan came with me to the lab to turn in the urine sample, and the receptionist was a sweet, funny, black lady. She drew blood, which went very smoothly, and then I was off to the chiropractor.Revolution Chiropractic was recommended by our birth class and our midwife both for my blood pressure and baby's position. Drs. Rachel and Adam Duncan were great! They listened to what was going on and were very understanding. It was my first time to get a manual adjustment, and they were great at explaining what they were going to do before doing so. They adjusted my cervical/Atlas area, which is what affects blood pressure, my sacrum to help baby's position, my mid-back, my feet, and head. They also suggested a breathing exercise to inhale for 6-7 sec through my nose and exhale for 6-7 sec through my mouth to help lower my blood pressure. They said to come back Friday if I didn't have a baby already. They were great.
Then we headed home to rest and eat lunch. Another sweet friend came over to bring lunch and check on me. We made sure we had everything (that we could remember) packed, and headed to the OB appointment. After some paperwork and waiting for a while, we went back to the exam room. I gave a urine sample then they hooked me up to the blood pressure cuff (which was not positioned on my arm right), turned it on (I wasn't quite ready), then asked me a question (really?! I'm here because of my blood pressure and you're going to make me talk and possible get a bad reading?!) Thankfully, an error showed (because of talking, the nurse said...imagine that?!), she readjusted the cuff, and turned it on again. I did my slow abdominal breathing and got a better, but still borderline reading of 143/85. *sigh of relief*
Dr. Lewis came in and looked over all my labs. Blood test looked good (my iron was back to 10.3 and in a good range), and even though I didn't everything said between Susan and Dr. Lewis, it sounded like everything was good and clear. The 24 hour test looked good, no protein in my urine. The sample I gave at the office looked good. All those things, in addition to me feeling well and baby moving regularly, led us to believe this is labile blood pressure. Dr. Lewis was great! She kept saying "This is your pregnancy and I want it to go how you want, as long as you and baby are safe." She decided to give me a quick-acting, low-dose bp medicine and discussed stripping my membranes to jumpstart labor and let baby come on his own. She checked me and I was dilated to a 1 and 70% effaced. Evan and I decided we wanted to try some more natural methods of jumpstarting labor before stripping membranes, and if we decided to strip membranes, we'd call Susan and she would come do that.
We left to GO HOME with hope of still having a homebirth!! That's probably the best news we could have gotten, and we were over the moon. We would get to go to church and Evan would get to finish out the volleyball tournament after church! We picked up my Rx, ate dinner at Smashburger, then went to church. Halfway through church, the emotional high wore off and the 3 hrs of sleep the previous night caught up with me, so mom and I headed home so I could rest and a friend brought Evan home after volleyball.
We are so thankful for the good news we got and for our birth team, sweet friends, and family who have cared for us lately! We are blessed
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