Adventures in L&D

Kelly
Yesterday started very normally. I went to work and the baby seemed perfectly content, kicking up a storm in the early afternoon. Like usual, she calmed down on my drive home. After work, my husband and I ate dinner, hung out a bit, then ran some errands. We got home a little late and I had realized I really had not felt the baby at all since work. So, I did what I could to wake her up - laid on my side, ate a snack, drank a coke and still felt almost nothing (just a few weak movements). So, at 11pm, I called the doctor on call. She suggested I keep laying on my side for a while, but if I still felt concerned, I could come in to labor and delivery to be monitored. So, I stayed on my left side for a while and after more stillness on the baby's part, we decided to head to the hospital. Although I was worried, I felt bad for dragging my husband to the hospital for what was probably nothing and kept trying to justify myself - until my husband told me I was doing the right thing and to be quiet. When we got there, we were sent to triage right away. As soon as the nurse put the monitors on, the baby started kicking them. Turns out, the baby  was fine, but my blood pressure was high. They kept me there for a while, taking my blood pressure, which was on the borderline of being considered high (around 140/90) when it has usually been perfect. They also took blood work to check for pre-eclampsia, which was normal. They eventually decided to let me go - but not before giving me a jug for a 24 hour urine collection and a note for work excusing me today. I have felt so good this pregnancy so I hope I am not getting pre-eclampsia! I haven't had any other symptoms. Tomorrow, I have a no stress test scheduled and I will turn in my urine sample. My advice to everyone after this is listen to your gut! Although everything was fine with the baby, I am so glad I got some reassurance and I got to preview what an awesome and caring hospital I chose to deliver in is. And if I do start showing more signs of pre-eclampsia, at least we were able at catch it super early. Make sure you are taking care of yourselves everyone!