Thursday, September 14, 2006

UPDATE: The pre-eclampsia terror alert level is YELLOW. So far. :)

I spent today "on tour" as I have taken to calling it. I try to schedule my doctors appointments in groups a couple days a week, so I can have one or two days "off" a week too. This morning I started at my OB. My blood pressure was still slightly elevated (130/90) but my test showed no protein spilling. The blood pressure thing really throws me off. For anybody else, 130/90 would be "slightly" elevated. My normal BP is more like 105/65. I normally run just a little on the low end. Compared to everyone else's definition of "normal", my BP is only slightly abnormal. Compared to what I know I usually am, my BP is just a little too high for my comfort. But, so far I'm holding steady at my previous level of health/wellness (depending on how you look at it, I suppose). My condition hasn't progressed or worsened. So, yay!

Then I did yet another non-stress test. Jack hates the NST. He was especially ornery today. Just when the nurse thought she had him, he said "No!" and wriggled around elusively to evade the sensor's probing. The NST showed that he's still healthy as a horse, good heartbeat and no signs of fetal distress. So, yay!

Then we did the Amniotic Fluid Index. I am starting to think that the polyhydroamnios that Dr. Coffee Breath found at my first Level 2 ultrasound was a fluke or a misdiagnosis. Never before or since has an ultrasound shown that my fluid levels are above normal. Again, today's test came out good. I'm not high, I'm not low, I'm normal. Just right in the middle. So, yay!

Then I had to have my Group B Strep swab. Ewwwww. The midwife said it would feel like a tampon. I've felt tampons before, tampons feel nothing like that. But hey, it's over and in a week we'll know if I need antibiotics during delivery. So, yay!

Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Y consulted with Dr. Coffee Breath at Loyola and they decided that since all my Perinatologist consults at Loyola were normal, unremarkable, and my labs didn't even look like a "high risk" patient, I could get my weekly biophysical profile ultrasounds done at the local hospital instead of driving an hour plus every week to Loyola. So, YAYYYYYY!

I'll still see Dr. Fag at Loyola for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks (provided I haven't given birth by then...). I love Dr. Fag. He's the one who really encouraged me to find a new practice and get away from Dr. Boob Check since I was so unhappy and uncomfortable there. Plus, Dr. Fag is well dressed and fabulous and a militant greenie like me. We bonded over a discussion on recycling and composting with vermiculture bins. Plus, he hot. Who cares if I'm as big as a house and he plays for the other team. I'm married, not dead. I can still appreciate a handsome man regardless of his sexual identity.

By the time I got done with all my tests and screenings and OB appointment, it was 3:00 and I hadn't had lunch. But I needed to be back at the hospital at 4:00 for a biophysical profile ultrasound. So I grabbed some grub and then headed back to the hospital for yet another test. Poor Jack. He got poked and prodded and picked on entirely too much today. The hospital's ultrasound department was running late, and I didn't get into a room until about 5:00. However, Action Jackson was quite cooperative with this test, so I got out of there in about 20 minutes. The test showed good healthy lung development and a steady heartbeat. Oh, and fully descended testicles. Why do ultrasounds make babies' schlongs look HUGE? Maybe it was the zoom in feature on the screen. Either that, or my kid is HUNG. So, yay!

It just occurred to me that Jack is going to laugh so hard when he grows up and ends up reading this. He is going to DIE of embarrassment. Or maybe he'll be all proud that he was packin' at such a tender, young age.

I got back into the car around 5:30. I have to pick Tim up at the train station at 6:00. So, I could go home, look at the driveway, and then turn around and go to the train station, or I could go to the train station, kick back for a few minutes, maybe tidy up the interior of the Jeep and toss out my granola bar wrappers, pick up Tim and then go home. I chose the latter. You should see the pumpkin seed and granola bar wrapper-free interior of the car now! :)

We just got done with dinner and I feel like I ran a marathon today! I'm just pooped. Of course the poochies are running around and happily playing. They're psyched to be out of their crates and want to run and jump and fetch and play. I have a load of baby clothes in the dryer that I "should" fold and put away. However, I'm not sure I actually "will" do that tonight. I don't think Jack will care if his sleepers are wrinkled, and I need a break. Because while so far I'm holding steady at Pre-Eclampsia Terror Alert Yellow, I don't want to push myself into the Orange by trying to accomplish too much.

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