- Properly fasted for 12 hours prior to appointment. Did not eat breakfast.
- Arrived at 8:55am.
- Had my blood pressure and weight taken. Both were high.
- Had my first blood draw (out of my right arm) by about 9:15am. This hurt only slightly.
- Began drinking orange drink (not as bad tasting as I had heard!) and finished by 9:24am.
- Played on my iPhone for about 30 minutes, while I thought I was going to sit there for an hour.
- At 9:55am, was called back to lay down for a few minutes so they could re-check my blood pressure.
- Blood pressure remained high.
- Was told there were very small traces of protein in my urine, and that combined with weight gain and high blood pressure was not a very good sign.
- Was told that I would be referred to the perinatal specialist at Alexandria hospital for a follow up appointment.
- Was told I would have extra blood drawn for tests.
- Was told that I would need to do a 24 hour urine collection (oh how fun!), and collect ALL of my pee for 24 hours straight. (I get to do this on Sunday...stay tuned for an update on that excitement!)
- Had my left arm checked for a vein for blood draw. No luck.
- Had my left wrist pricked for blood draw. Hurt like the dickens. No luck...blood flow too slow.
- Had my right arm pricked again for blood draw. Veins had flattened. I was dehydrated. Could feel the needle moving in my arm. Announced that I was going to vomit. No luck...still no blood flow.
- Was given a bottle of water to drink and try to rehydrate my veins.
- As a last resort, had the top of my left hand pricked for blood draw (after I informed the nurse that I have anxiety and fear of having needles stuck in my wrists or hands). Could still feel the needle moving, hurt like hell, but after about 5 minutes, we had success.
- Doctor hooked up Doppler and we heard baby boy's heartbeat (only good part of the visit!).
- Left at 11:30am.
2 and a half hours, 4 band-aids, an apple juice/bottled water/peanut butter cracker snack, minimal tears, no vomit, one large pee collecting jug, and a referral to the perinatal specialist later, I headed back to work.
The doctor said she is referring me because she would rather be safe than sorry and just wants to make sure everything is ok. She said it's best to make sure I don't have signs of hypertension or preclampsia now...or if I do have signs of them, they find out early so that I can go on bed rest or blood pressure meds, etc. She definitely calmed me down and assured me that none of this is my fault and that I have not done anything to harm baby boy...they are just taking all the precautions to make sure we continue along on a safe path to delivery.
She also said the high blood pressure and weight gain could have been largely due to my continued love of salt, and my Thanksgiving gorging that took place all weekend. So now I'm on a strict low sodium diet...and this time there's no cheating. I've already printed out a list of salt-free and low sodium foods for my grocery list.
I'm feeling a little down that it was such a rough appointment, but hopeful that all of the tests turn out well. Being pregnant is not as easy as people make it out to be. I'm learning this the hard way. My wedding rings are officially off, and my ankles and feet start to swell as soon as I get up in the morning. The doctor told me to go to work, and then come home and rest every day. Easier said than done...I still have 3 Christmas trees to put up, and a whole lot of gift shopping to do. But taking care of me, to in turn take care of baby boy is what is most important right now. So I'm going to really be good about my salt intake this time. And I'm going to rest as much as possible. And who knows...maybe Todd will put up the Christmas trees for me ;)
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