from football to bedrest...

After our long weekend in Charlotte, we had the opportunity to go to the Thursday night Vanderbilt game against South Carolina - Tony won tickets through work. It was kind of misting rain, and definitely crowded on the bleacher seating (yuck) so we only stayed through the first half. But it was a good game and Vandy pulled out a big win. Lots of football in a week!

On Monday, I headed in to the doc for my latest checkup. I am already 1cm dialated, although I know I could walk around like that for weeks and weeks. Unfortunately, I won't be walking much at all. Turns out my blood pressure alarmed them (170/110!!) so they had me lay down and retook it a few times. It only went down to about 140/98, so they had me go straight home and rest for the rest of the day. I went back in on Tuesday, and it was up again at 160/100. That landed me in the maternity ward of the hospital for 24 hours of observation & tests. No fun at all. I did get to see a lot more of our Bunny, as they checked her heart rate and did an extra ultrasound - she is perfect, just the right size, right position, heart rate, everything working just right. Thankfully, all the testing they did on me came out relatively normal, no preeclampsia yet, just hypertension. So I was sent home with a prescription for blood pressure meds and bedrest.

By my doc's calculations, I am in the middle of the 35th week. So the plan is for frequent checks, bedrest, and an eventual induction once we get into the 37th week. So the bad news is that I will be very bored for the next week or two. The good news is that we will get to meet our little peanut sooner rather than later. At 37 weeks, she will be considered full term and will most likely not need any interventions or treatments that will keep her from going home with us. I will have to be medically induced, unless by some miracle I go into spontaneous labor in the next couple of weeks. That may mean a c-section or just a chemically induced regular delivery, we are still being given the choice. I'm gathering some info in my brain as we get closer to the time that we have to make the decision. As we get there, something may change that makes the decision the doctor's business - so I'm not getting too tied to either option just yet.

In other maternity news, I have a fantastic skin condition called PUPPPs. Stands for Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP), also known as polymorphic eruption of pregnancy (PEP). Isn't that an outstanding name? Well, it is a "harmless" pregnancy rash that starts in and around stretch marks on your belly and travels to your legs and arms. And by "harmless", clearly they mean "burns and itches like a travelling pack of ravenous fire ants!" On my next visit, I am going to see what I can get for it, because it is most certainly travelling around my stomach and arms. The bedrest is actually really nice in this case, because it was getting difficult to work being so itchy in work clothes, at least at home I can hang out in soft pjs.

So, by all means, if anyone out there wants to share your pregnancy stories, or labor stories, or just tell me about the insane woman you ran into at the grocery store, whatever - I will be up for some entertainment in the short term! I am working from home on my laptop to tie up my loose ends, but that will only keep me busy during the day. At least I will be able to update my blog, and be certain I will do so!!