Under pressure

Had my 35-week check-up today (and the group B strep test; nothing like getting to know a Q-tip really well). My blood pressure has finally reached the point where it warrants a little concern. Now, that doesn't mean it's particularly bad; it was only 140/90 at the beginning of my appointment and came down to 120/70 by the end of my appointment, and there was no protein showing up in my urine. But that 140/90 is the cut-off point, where women who DON'T have hypertension need to start being concerned about preeclampsia. Since I have high blood pressure anyway, my cut-off point would be a little higher, but this is a good alert level for me. I've already been checking my blood pressure several times each week; clearly it's time to monitor it daily. Otherwise, my doctor didn't suggest that I need to be doing anything beyond what I'm already doing. I need to stay off my feet as much as possible (to prevent swelling), check my bp regularly, drink lots of water, and make sure there aren't any other symptoms that show up.

Beyond my blood pressure, everything has been going very well. I haven't had any bleeding or contractions (other than those darned Braxton Hicks contractions). The baby is still very active. I'm definitely having more trouble getting around and being more short of breath than I was, but none of it has been more than just an inconvenience. Thankfully, my issues sleeping with my husband don't seem to be a regular problem; it's really only if I'm have significant trouble sleeping anyway. As long as I can just hang on for two more weeks, I'll technically be "full-term", so if my blood pressure does cause trouble for me, they can induce me or do a c-section (whatever is most common for preeclampsia) without being too worried about the baby's development.

So, fingers are crossed that everything continues to go as smoothly as possible. I'm getting close to the end...there's still so much that needs to be done! The nursery is not finished yet--there's plenty of furniture that still needs to be put in place, the girl clothes we inherited need to be stored somewhere, the bedding and boy clothes need to be washed and put away, and we need to accumulate all the diapers, bottles, and assorted supplies that we'll need when the little spud shows up. Let the countdown begin...