Pregnancy: Bed Rest

Well it all started last Sunday (I believe – days are starting to run together, ha ha) we came home from church and I was tired so I decided to take a nap.  After I woke up from my nap I had a headache.  Which reminded me I should probably check my blood pressure.  I have a history of high blood pressure and actually used to take blood pressure medication.  It was never known why my blood pressure was high, I was told that it could have possibly been birth control.  So I have been off of the blood pressure medication for over 2 years now and my blood pressure has been fine.  When I got pregnant there was talk of putting me on blood pressure medication and that I would probably develop high blood pressure (especially towards the end of the pregnancy).  Ever since I have been pregnant I was just told to keep an eye on it at home with my home blood pressure monitor.  It has always been fine at home and in the doctors office, so I never needed to be placed on blood pressure medication while I have been pregnant – yay!  So…when I took my BP that Sunday it was surprisingly high (150’s/90’s).  I laid down and rechecked it and it came down to my normal (around 130’s/80’s).  I checked it again a couple days later just to keep a closer eye on it and the same thing – when I was sitting it was high and when I would lay down it would come down.  So the next morning I checked it again and it was even higher on 2 consecutive readings (150’s/100’s), so I laid down relaxed and it only came down to 146/96.  So I decided I should call my doctor.  She decided to send me to Labor & Delivery to do serial BP checks and labs.

1st trip to L&D – some self portraits, ha ha. 

My 1st BP when I got there was a little high (146/86) but continued to come down as I was laying there. There was no protein in my urine, my lab work looked good and I was having no signs of pre eclampsia, so after seeing the doctor she said I was okay to go home, yay! She told me to lay low the next couple days, although she said I could go to work the next day (I promised her I would do nothing strenuous) but that the rest of the weekend I needed to take it easy and they would see me in the office on Monday. I checked my BP’s a couple times over the weekend and the same trend was continuing.

I went to my appointment Monday morning and no surprise my BP was 154/103.  As soon as my doctor came in the room she said, “well I am sending you back to labor and delivery.”  She said we will see how things look, but that I would probably be going home on bed rest.

My 2nd visit to L&D self portrait…ha ha

Thankfully – still no protein in my urine, my labs were good and I was having no symptoms.  I was having contractions both times I went to L&D, but I could not feel them.  I was sent home on strict bed rest – I can get up to go to the bathroom, shower, and eat (and I got the OK to go to my baby shower on Saturday – yay!!).  I was told to monitor my BP 4 times a day and so far it has been great!  I go back to the doctor on Monday, so we will go from there. 

She did check me on Monday and my cervix was completely closed (normal for 35 weeks) and she did a 3D sono (because she wanted to practice :)).  He was sleeping and had his hand in front of his face, it was cute :)

I am so thankful for a healthy baby and pregnancy so far!  We have wonderful doctors and nurses taking care of us.  Very encouraging and supportive family and friends.  I am taking advantage of this forced time of rest and trying to enjoy every minute of it.  I am trusting that God is in control and using this time to seek after Him and what He wants to teach me during this time.  So this is my bed rest set up…

I have lots of blogging to do, so lots of new posts to come!