I hope you’ll forgive me for my delay in posting this medical update. I was a little worried about it and felt it in my best interest to wait for some results before discussing.
On Friday, December 30th, I had one of my regularly scheduled prenatal appointments. I’ve been doing these pretty much biweekly since the start of my pregnancy because of our “high risk” category and to keep an eye on my blood sugars. Usually, I’m in and out of the office in about 20 minutes or so. They check my urine, blood pressure, blood sugar chart, and Lil Pea’s heartbeat (easily my favorite part). They also ask if I’ve had any cramping, bleeding, swelling, etc.
That visit started off as normal as any other. She sent me in to pee in my little cup and checked my blood pressure. It was an early morning appointment for me, so I hadn’t had much to drink yet. I’d also made the mistake of using the restroom before leaving the house, so there really wasn’t much in there for me to deposit into the cup. I joked with the nurse about it, flashed my water bottle, and assured her I was working on getting my fluids in. When she checked my sample with her little magic wand of color, she asked me if I’d ever had any protein in my urine. I said no. She said she wanted to take it over to the lab and have them double check what she saw.
When she came back, she asked if she could recheck my blood pressure. At this point, my guard was going up but I wasn’t sure exactly what she was suggesting might be wrong. I’ve done a lot of reading, but there’s a lot of information out there. I asked her what was up. She said that the lab agreed that there was some blood and protein in my urine sample. I swallowed down my impulse to panic and asked what that meant. She said she’d prefer to let the doctor discuss it with me further, but told me my blood pressures were all reading in the normal ranges.
Uhhh, okay… So, she left and I waited.
Doctor E. came in and I knew I’d like her right off the bat. She looked over my chart remarking on this and that. She was really impressed with my lack of a weight gain and said that would come in handy this last trimester. She was proud of my blood sugar numbers and told me that I should be pleased with how well things were going there. She asked about my last ultrasound and asked if we’d picked out a name. When I told her that we were just calling her Lil Pea for the moment, she told me she called her daughter “Firefly”. Then she asked about my pea pod necklace. It was so refreshing to have such a nice conversation, rather than just feel shuffled in and back out. She listened to Lil Pea’s heartbeat and remarked that it was perfectly in range and sounded good and strong. She also joked about what a wiggler we have, as she had to chase her around my abdomen to get a reading in the first place. Haha!
I was feeling much better about things when she sat back and asked me if I had any questions. I told her that the nurse mentioned something about blood and protein in my urine this morning – what does that mean?
Basically, it’s a warning sign for preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is high blood pressure which occurs during pregnancy. Other than the protein in my urine, I had (and continue to have) no other indications of preeclampsia. Because this is our first pregnancy, because of my weight, and because of the gestational diabetes, I am in a higher risk category for developing this condition. She suggested that it could also be caused by dehydration or a bladder infection. She wanted to run some tests on the urine I’d provided and then consider doing a 24 hour urine collection.
She gave me a giant orange jug, a lovely “pee catching hat”, and some instructions on how to do a urine collection. She told me not to be alarmed; she’d let me know the results on Tuesday, January 3rd and we’d go from there. Then, as I’m heading to check out, she stops me in the hallway and says that if I experience any swelling of my hands or face, a headache that won’t go away, or any spotted vision that I should go to Labor and Delivery. Thanks, lady; now I’m alarmed.
So I go home and have a little meltdown. Waiting sucks. The weekend crawled by and the anxiety I was feeling only increased when I looked up the complications of preeclampsia… Damn the internet.
Finally, Tuesday rolled around. I got a call from the doctor’s office and my results were negative for a bladder infection. They wanted to me to go forward with the 24 hour urine collection. They asked that I please call them and them know when I’d dropped it off at Winchester’s Diagnostic Center (where they would also draw some blood). No problem. Wednesday morning, I started collecting. Eeww.
Thursday morning, I took my very full container (go me!) down to Winchester. Their Diagnostic Center is really nice. They have little buzzers to notify you when it’s your turn and it’s well organized. The staff was very friendly. I was in and out pretty quickly. I called the doctor’s office to let them know I’d dropped everything off and they promised to get back to me soon with the results.
I figured I’d be waiting until Monday, at least. Friday afternoon, they called. Good news! My 24 hour collection came back normal. My iron was a little low, so they’d like me to start on a supplement for that, but otherwise things look okay. They want me to come in Tuesday (January 10th) just for a follow up. They can use this normal sample as a baseline for any further problems should they arise.
This was a really disheartening experience for me. Things have been going so well! I feel fantastic. My weight gain has been minimal – if at all. I’ve been able to keep my sugars pretty close to normal. My ketones have been negative. I’ve been really good about my diet. I mean, overall, I thought we were doing really well. This was a harsh reminder that I’m not as healthy as I should be. Though, the doctor did tell me that it isn’t solely based on weight; she’s had little “toothpicks” develop preeclampsia. There’s nothing I can really do, but keep doing what I’m doing. Watch what I eat, stay active, and drink lots and lots of fluids.
We are a little less than 8 weeks from being full term! Just under 12 weeks until our due date! It still feels far away when I look at a calendar, but to say it out loud…. Wow, she’s going to be here before we know it!! I’m so glad that I have a wiggler. Every kick, punch, flip, and squiggle is a comfort to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment