1st trip to Labor & Delivery

I had rather hoped to not see the inside of HEB Harris Methodist until it was all done up for Christmas... something about garland and Christmas trees seem to take the scare out of hospitals in my brain... alas that was not in the cards.

For about 2 months I have had some localized swelling on my left ankle & foot. This swelling started after falling off the curb coming out of one of my many trips to Babies R Us after being startled by a car that was not intending to stop for an obviously pregnant woman... my doctor has seen the swelling and the ankle and said that sometimes when you injure yourself during pregnancy, you don't heal as easily. Your body is concentrating on other things and decides an ankle isn't worth it's time.

Slowly the other foot has begun to puff up as well and I haven't had my wedding rings on in weeks, all of which my doctor was aware of.

On Wednesday my ankle & foot had gotten so large that I jokingly took a picture of it and posted it to some of my pregnant & new mommy friends. They freaked. They assured me this is not normal pregnant swelling and then when I told them my blood pressure was 147/89, we all decided it was time for me to call the doctor.





After a 10 minute phone conversation with my doctor's RN yesterday, she said 1) she didn't forsee me actually finishing out my last two weeks of work and 2) that she was sure the doctor would want to see me that day.

I cannot explain the surprise when I heard back 20 minutes later and was told to head to Labor and Delivery!!! I calmly explained to my doctor's RN with tears running down my face that I didn't even know where Labor and Delivery was, which she assured me that they will direct me as soon as they see my 30 week pregnant belly.

The hospital experience was not so bad, I actually feel MUCH more comfortable about delivering there now that I've met some of the nurses and seen the way the L&D floor flows.

I was hooked up to a doppler belt that monitored Amelia's heartbeat and movement (crazy to listen to hiccups on a doppler like that, they are SO loud) & I was hooked up to a blood pressure monitor that recorded my blood pressure every ten minutes. I had some bloodwork done and after 3 hours of being monitored I was sent home.

Diagnosis: Gestational Hypertension (probably caused by dealing with a jerk boss the entire pregnancy) & edema (swelling).

Treatment: Complete bedrest with bathroom privledges through Monday to see if swelling reduces. Lowering sodium intake & any stressors.

Bedrest is horrible! I'm not good at staying still for long periods of time and everytime I think I have myself settled in for a little while I either need to pee, the dog needs to pee or I realize I need carmex.

The good news is I have 3 fresh netflix dvds, 3 episodes of Gossip Girl to watch & a nifty hospital bracelet.

I promise to update everyone next week. Until then, I'll be the lump on the couch!