Much Ado

And so, it was in the 37th week of my pregnancy with my 2nd child that I found out what it must be like to be the child of a Jewish mother. . .

I met my doc for the second time.  I promised her I wouldn't cry if she told me I had made absolutely no progress since week 36.  Then I got to make good on my promise when the only good news she could offer was that the baby was still head down. 

I truly felt on the verge of a physical collapse and I lamented to her that I was SO very tired and that I was thinking of just going on leave early.  She said she could do that if I wanted, that she does it all the time.  Then she cupped my face with one of her hands and cooed "how could I say no to that face!" and the resulting mix of comfort and confusion is what I imagine children of Jewish mothers must often feel.  I told her I was taking the rest of the day off and would see what the weekend brought.

Well, the weekend brought a slightly higher blood pressure and increased episodes of palpitations that I could feel in my neck and throat and head.

So, Monday morning I went to the hospital, where it was discovered that my blood pressure was 140/102.  Scary high.  I was monitored, my bp dropped to 119/80, and baby seemed fine.  6 hours later I was released with instructions to rest.  No problemo.

My feet look better than they have in two weeks and I feel better than I have in at least a week - though I still have palpitations every now and then.

Today I followed up with my doc and she really was not kidding: she's not moody like Dr. M was at all.  In fact, she's sometimes so chipper and understanding and nice it's almost more saccharine than I can comprehend.

My bp was 119/79 - normal, but still a little high for me.  I am NOT pre-eclamptic (hooray!) but she put me on leave from work and scheduled an induction for next Thursday (39 weeks) just to be safe. I am measuring small so she thinks I won't have a big baby this time.  That fits with a dream I had last week: he'll be long and lean and have crazy amounts of dark hair that sticks straight up. . .

I'm a little freaked about induction and secretly hope my body will progress on its own.

We shall see. . .

~Nichole