Baptist Round 2, Day 8, Confused

(Feel free to skip to the bottom of this entry for the real information-sorry it is so wordy.)

Well, it has not been the best day to say the least. Don't worry--nothing is wrong with the baby- just a day of miscommunication (which by the way doesn't seem to be good for my blood pressure).

I see many professionals here every day with many different opinions, and sometimes it becomes a little confusing and overwhelming. Typically, I see two different doctors a day, usually Dr. B. and Dr. C., unless they are out of the office. Then I see at least 2 different nurses in the day time and 2 at night. Every morning around 5 or 6 AM, my blood is drawn by another nurse. Yesterday, I also had a visit from a nutritionist, which I later learned is routine when a person stays over a week in the hospital. Finally, I see a sonographer twice a week for an ultrasound.

I feel like I need an agent or something to write everything down and translate it for me. My illness is not an easy one. Let's review preeclampsia. There is no cure, and researchers are still trying to predict it and understand it. Symptoms can include: excessive swelling in the hands, feet, and face; high blood pressure; protein in urine; headaches; major weight gain; and pain in the liver. Today I learned a few more possible symptoms: high red blood cell counts and indigestion. The annoying thing, which I think I have talked about before, is that most of these symptoms are normal third trimester symptoms.

So in the middle of last night, I had some awful chest pains. After the nurse checked me, we decided it was probably just indigestion. It went away an hour or so later. Dr. B. stopped by a few hours later and explained that my uric acid level was up a little but not high enough to cause any alarm. He prescribed a medication for the indigestion. He also said we should definitely make it to 32 weeks, which I found a little odd because I thought 32 weeks was tomorrow morning and of course I can make it 12 more hours. It looks like the hospital has my due date a day or two later, so I won't be 32 weeks until Saturday (confusion starts). I'm sure this sounds like a silly thing to get upset about, but when you sit in a hospital room all day marking each and every day as a major milestone it becomes a huge deal. So that upset me. I want time to speed up, and sometimes it feels like I am swimming backward.

Dr. C. stopped by next. He explained that the date is not important, and he wanted me to relax. He also explained that the goal is to have a baby and not worry about how premature she is or whether or not she will have to visit the NICU. I just get a little greedy; I have made it this far and would like to keep going for the baby's health, especially when I hear other success stories. Dr. C. helped me refocus and understand that we don't want mom (me) to get severe preeclampsia again---if only mom could stay healthy!!! He told me tomorrow morning we would evaluate the protein level in my urine and go from there (aka decide if we would deliver). Finally, he shared that my red blood count was a little high in the lab report, and that could possibly be a sign of preeclampsia (confusion growing). Both doctors also confirmed that I would have an ultrasound Friday morning, and that we wouldn't have another estimate on her weight since we just had one a week ago.

After Dr. C. left, the nurses put me on the monitor (monitoring contractions and baby's heartbeat). They do this after meals every morning and evening. However, fifteen minutes into my monitoring session, a sonographer knocks on the door and says that it is time for my ultrasound scan. What? I thought it was tomorrow--that's what the doctors just told me (confusion + anger). The sonographer showed me her paperwork which confirmed the date. Once again I understand it is not that big of a deal, but my mom was planning on coming tomorrow and I just didn't understand why I was told one thing and the sonographer another.

During the ultrasound the sonographer estimated the weight of the baby (confusion + happiness). I wasn't quite sure why she was doing this, but she had great news. Her estimate was 3 lbs. 15 ozs.! Remember it could be 6 oz. higher or lower due to human error, but it is still nice to know that she is getting close to 4 lbs.

I tried to take it easy the rest of the day. They monitored me again after lunch, since my blood pressure was high. Her heartbeat was above the red line which really scared me. However, once I calmed down, she was back on her baseline and stayed there for the remainder of the session.

So that's all we know for now. The lab will investigate my 24 hour urine test in the morning, and then we will know what the weekend will bring. Please pray for the baby, my dear husband, my blood pressure, indigestion, urine, and SANITY.