Down For the Count

This is it. I'm in the hospital until I deliver these babies. I went to my NST yesterday, and everything was fine. I had a small ultrasound, and everything was fine. Then they sent me to see a doctor to follow up on my hospital visit. My blood pressure was down to where it usually is, so I thought I was good to go...nope.

The doctor discussed with me the fact that my urine had 400 grams of protein when 300 is baseline. He explained that this meant that I did have preeclampsia which could affect many bodily systems. The protein in the urine indicates that the preeclampsia is affecting my kidneys, but I currently have no other symptoms of problems from preeclampsia. Due to the complicated nature of my pregnancy in general, and now with the preeclampsia on top, he recommended that I be put in the hospital for monitoring until delivery. He called the director of maternal fetal medicine to get a second opinion, and he agreed.

"Same plan, different location," is how he described it when he came back in. They are still planning to deliver at 32 weeks, but they want me in the hospital until then. He explained that the preeclampsia can worsen overnight, and they would not want me to be at home if that were to happen. As much as I really don't want to be in the hospital, I think it is probably the best precaution. I guess I'm lucky to have stayed out of the hospital this long. Many doctors put mothers of momo twins in the hospital automatically at 28 weeks, if not before. If there are any major changes in my condition, they will deliver right away, so now we just hope everything is okay until the 17th.

There's No Place Like Home

Yeah, I'm home! They finally did the lab work on my 24 hour urine, and there was just a small amount of protein, meaning I could just have mild preeclampsia. Now that they have a baseline, they will just make sure to monitor it when I go to my doctor's appointments.

They discharged me around 7:00 PM tonight, and I am now on modified bed rest. This means that I don't have to stay "in bed." I can be on the couch or in a recliner, but I just need to relax. I can get up to shower, fix myself lunch, go to the store, and of course, go to my doctor's appointments. I am just not supposed to do any housework or make too many trips up and down the stairs...anything that could raise my blood pressure.

Now we are just keeping our fingers crossed that I do not have to go back into the hospital for another 2 or 3 weeks when I have my c-section. I can't believe it's so soon. It feels like December 17th is just right around the corner.

Thanksgiving in the hospital...

Still here. It turns out they don't do lab work on holidays. Therefore, my 24 hour urine collection was completed today, but I won't be able to get the results until tomorrow. At that point there will be 3 options:

1. If everything is normal (no protein in the urine) I may be able to go home tomorrow.
2. If I am preeclamptic, they will keep me in the hospital and monitor me until the babies are born at 32 weeks.
3. If I am preeclamptic and anything changes, i.e. blood pressure spike, they will deliver me right away.

The good news is, my family came to visit me today. A church from Raleigh provided Thanksgiving dinner for the 5th floor and their families. My nurse created a "pregnant lady parade," and we all got wheeled over the the children's area to get plates to bring back to our rooms. The food was great! My parents, my brother, his finance, Ben, and I all ate our Thanksgiving dinners in my room. It was not the ideal situation, but at least we all got to eat together.

The babies have had two good NST's today, and I have had very few contractions. Despite the fact that I am still in the hospital, I am feeling pretty good. We will see what tomorrow brings!

BTW...here is my 28 week picture from last week