Medical update

It's been a lot to process - but here is the current picture as best I understand it.

The Doc came in on Monday with a portable ultrasound machine to check on the baby's movement and the amniotic fluid. We could see it practicing breathing, sucking its fists, wiggling around, and plenty of fluid. All is well with the Critter! S/he seems perfectly content to hang out in the same breech position s/he's been in for over a month, elbow poking at my belly button.

We had a frank discussion about blood flow, placenta, contractions, and whatnot - as I understand it, I had a contraction while on the monitor the other day which showed that the baby "doesn't like" contractions. More specifically, the contraction seemed to compromise the blood flow to the Critter. Because high BP can also negatively impact blood flow through the placenta, that's additional cause for them to keep me here for regular monitoring. They ordered another 24-hour urine test, which came back yesterday still low for protein. In other words, I'm still in the the "gestational hypertension" category, not officially pre-eclampsia, although at least one of the Docs (I see three, on rotation) believes I will certainly develop actual pre-E at some point.

I don't mind the bedrest, and I don't mind being in the hospital. I even like the food, for the most part! What I do mind is hearing that even if the baby were to turn head-down, they'd still probably want to do a C-section because of concerns about blood flow during contractions. Assuming I don't get worse (e.g. progress into full pre-eclampsia), they'd want to do this at 37 weeks - two weeks from now. Having my sister here has brought me a long, long way closer to feeling ready for the baby as she is working on preparing the physical space and helping me figure out what "stuff" we still need. But mentally? I've never had major surgery, and frankly I'm pretty much scared spitless. But Terry is a very calming influence (believe it or not) :-)

What's encouraging are all the people who have rallied round with e-mails, phone calls (if I don't pick up when you call I'm probably on the monitor or in the bathroom!), offers of help, visits. I'm going to spend the next six months writing thank-you notes, I think!