Eventful 37 week appointment

Yesterday I had my 37 week appointment. 37 weeks is considered full term which means she can come anytime and would most likely have fully matured lungs. At my appointment my blood pressure was a little high 145/75 so my doctor wanted to have it taken again after my exam. The 2nd time it was 128/92. So the nurse says "Get dressed, take some deep breaths and will do it again." So I follow the directions and the 3rd time it was 136/95. Freakin great I think. So the doctor says that she wants to send me down to the hospital to Labor and Delivery (L&D) to be monitored. She says it could be my body trying to get pre-eclampsia and that it is very common in first pregnancies. She then goes on to mention induction 8-o and possible bedrest if it doesn't get better. Oh lord! Why can't I just have normal blood pressure. She says that it is just in the "watching stages" right now and that she wants me to start going down to the hospital twice a week to be monitored. I should add that after my exam I found out I am 1cm dialated. Only 9 to go. LOL!

So I had an appointment at the hospital at 3pm for an NST. An NST is a fetal non-stress test that involves attaching one belt to my abdomen to measure fetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement is measured for 20-30 minutes. They were also going to be monitoring my blood pressure.

Mike was at work so I went by myself. At first I was scared. What if something was wrong? What if my blood pressure didn't go down? Was I ready for the possible words "induction"? It's funny how you think you are ready and then something pops up and you think "Wait, not yet. I'm not ready." It made me realize that even though she is considered full term and I can't wait to see her little face and kiss her little toes, I want her to stay in for at least another week or two.

When I got up to L&D, they had me wait a few minutes in the nursery to finish up someone else's NST. They do them twice a week throughout the day so someone had an appointment before me. Then they had me come back to one of the birthing rooms. I took off my shoes and laid in the hospital bed. And surprise, they were going to do an ultrasound to check my amniotic fluid level. I was suprisingly calm while in the hospital...alone. The ultrasound showed that she had great fluid and she also had great movement. They did a quick peek for me and confirmed for the 3rd time that Courtney is still a girl. :) Then they strapped me up to the monitors. I laid on my left side for 30 minutes. Her heartbeat was great and it showed I had no contractions. They tested my blood pressure three times while I was there. The first time it was 130/70, which is great. The second time I saw the result of my blood pressure I started laughing. It was 116/59. That has to be the lowest I've ever seen it. The third time it was 119/60. Totally in the normal range. The nurses told me that everything looks great and that my doctor would still like me to keep coming in twice a week until delivery to keep an eye on me and Courtney.

I'm not going to lie, it was sort of relaxing laying there in the hospital in the hands of the people that will be taking care of me when I deliver. The nurses were all so sweet.

In the last week I have started packing my hospital bag and this weekend Mike and I are going to wash my car and get the car seat base installed. Things are moving along and we are getting very excited. I feel good about leaving work for 12 weeks since I have pretty much trained all my backups and I feel like they are all prepared.

Oh yeah...Dr. Google was right. It do have carpal tunnel in my right hand. It "should" go away after delivery.

As for Courtney:
Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.