32 Weeks = An Eventful Day

So today I went in for my 32 week check up with the midwife. My blood pressure was fine and my weight gain was fine (1 pound a week for the last two weeks for a total gain of 11 pounds), but I raised the issues I have seen over the last two weeks. Those issues include headaches, pain in my ribs on the right side, swollen feet, swollen ankles, and pain on my right side under my ribs. So they decided that they needed to do a bunch of test to see if I had pre-eclampsia. And they decided that it would be better for me to go to the hospital and do the tests and have the monitoring. The hospital runs the tests immediately instead of sending them off and getting the results in 2 or 3 days.

So I called Mark freaking out. And we decided that we both had 1pm meetings (mine was with my boss to talk about key issues for the week and my schedule) so we would go after the meetings. This worked well with the hospital's schedule too since they would have some time to deal with my paperwork before I arrived. So I went to work and had my meeting and then headed to the hospital.

It wasn't hard to find and I was able to park and then get to the labor and delivery ward without issue. They started working on my paperwork. The good news is that they not only had my pre-admitance form, but they also were able to fill in all of the other info from talking to me today. So when I show up in labor later, everything will be taken care of.

They hooked me up to the monitors and started checking my blood pressure and Max's heartbeat. They also confirmed that I was not having contractions. Max moved around a bit after the first hour and made it a little more difficult to track his heartbeat, but his heart rate was around 140 most of the time. I didn't realize that he is getting a work out in the womb. Whenever he gives a big kick his heart rate goes up. And then settles back down. They had us on the monitors for about 2 hours. And Mark was there with me for most of the time so that really helped to reduce my stress.

My blood pressure was fine all three times they checked it. And the bloodwork all came back just fine too. And they confirmed my guess that I am O positive. :) The people were all very nice. And the midwife in the hospital today is the same one I have my 33 week appointment with. So that is good for me for when I go back in next Thursday.

The doctor (same doctor I saw at my last visit to the doctor's office -- I like her a lot) said that I am allowed to keep working now, but that I need to keep an eye on my stress level. And if I don't keep my stress level down then she will have to stop me from working. So it looks like my plan of changing my work hours to keep my commute short works well with my doctor's idea of reducing my stress. I'll be working 9.30 to 3pm in the office and doing the rest of my hours from home. I'll go in tomorrow just long enough to get my laptop and then I'll be really set up to work from home and get more done.

I'm tired now so you will have to wait to get the 32 week update.