Went to L&D last night...

First thing, Caleb and I are doing fine. I am now on bedrest for an undetermined amount of time.

This kinda all started last Wednesday for my 32 week appointment. My blood pressure was 140/82 so the doctor sent me to the lab to get blood drawn and to do a 24 hour urine collection (to see how much protein I am spilling in my urine. If I have a lot of protein, then it is a sign of pre-eclampsia.) She also wanted me to come in twice a week for NSTs (non-stress test. I am hooked up to a fetal heart monitor to see how Caleb is doing) and a weekly AFI (it is an ultrasound that checks the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby).

So, yesterday ,I went in for my first NST with AFI. My blood pressure was 152/84. I wasn't feeling well at all so I knew it was going to be high. The nurse hooked me up the monitor but she was having difficult keeping his heart rate on the monitor. He kept moving around too much. So, she told me to hold the probe and to move it if he moved. He was still moving around like crazy. About 30 minutes later, the nurse took me off the monitor and had me get of the bed to get ready for my ultrasound.

The doctor came in to look at my NST strip and she was having a hard time reading it. She couldn't tell if his baseline heart rate was 120 and it would accelerate to 150 or if his baseline was 150 and his heart was decreasing to 120. She was worried that he was stressed in there.

She did the ultrasound and he has a lot of amniotic fluid around him (which is good), he is breech (which isn't great but he still has time to turn around). We now know for sure he is a boy because he was flashing his goods at us. She went to look at his diaphragm to see if is was spasming. If it was then that means he is practicing fetal breathing (which is good). She looked for about a minute and she didn't see any spasming of the diaphragm. She called in another doctor (which is my boss) to get a second opinion. He didn't like the strip either so they both agreed to send me to L&D for a further work-up.

I called Michael and Mom and left for L&D. When I got in, they checked me in and took me to get another NST and AFI. I got hooked up to the monitor. I was there for a while and I talked to the perinatalogist. She said that my strip looked excellent and she wanted me to get some blood work done. After we talked for a while she sent me for my ultrasound. The nurse said he looked perfect. She got us some good shots of his face. He was sucking on this thumb the entire time. We could actually see his lips around the thumb and sucking on it. It was amazing. I will try to get the photos uploaded for you. Apparently he has my nose and chubby cheeks. She said everything looked great so she sent me back to L&D.

I went back to L&D and I gave them a urine sample. Once they drew my blood I got hooked up to a fetal monitor. They took about 5-6 blood pressures during my stay and they were all normal. Then the nurse came in with a big needle. She told me that the doctor wants to give me a shot of steroids so Caleb's lungs will mature. My doctors are not going to let me get to my due date so they want to make sure he will be fine when/if I deliver early. So, they gave me a shot in my butt. It hurt a little bit but not too bad. I have to go back tonight for my second shot.

After about 2 hours, my labs came back normal and I was sent home. So, I am now on bed rest until furthur notice. I don't know my bed rest restrictions. I called the office this morning and I am waiting to hear back.

So that is about it. I go back on Thursday for another NST. I hope everything is better than the last