Happy Thanksgiving

It has been a busy, yet not busy week here. Last Thursday, Nov 19, was the day of our Hallmark baby shower and I was getting a hair cut before heading over. A little after 9 am I got a call from my nurse midwife saying I have elevated protein levels in my urine and I am to be on bed rest immediately. The protein levels, along with higher blood pressure and water retention are all signs of preeclampsia. It is something that can elevate quickly and often leads to induction. They are hoping to get me to 37 weeks, then look at inducing. She wanted me to come in for a quick check up with them, then to the hospital for fetal monitoring and an ultrasound. I told her I would have to come in later after the baby shower.
We had a wonderful baby shower, about 30+ people showed up, we had yummy cake and goodies and a lot of well wishes. It was great to see so many people there to support John and I. We passed around ultrasound pictures and dog photos. I think more people enjoyed the dog photos just as much, if not more!
From there I headed down to the doctor's office and went over things with the nurse midwife. With preeclampsia the big fear is a sudden increase in blood pressure and pain from your liver. It can come along suddenly, so I have to be aware. It would affect me more than Anna. They were going to try to get us to 37 weeks before having to deliver depending on how I was doing. I then went over to the hospital labor and delivery ward for a non stress test for Anna and blood pressure for me. It was supposed to be an hour, but I was strapped to the monitor for over 3 hours. I tried paging someone and was not having any luck. I think they were waiting on results from a blood sample they had taken. I then went to have a bioscan ultrasound done. During this they look for Anna to perform 4 different things, such as a large movement and moving her diaphragm, all within a 30 minute period. She did accomplish them, but she was a little quiet after kicking the monitors for the previous 3 hours. I finally left the hospital close to 7 pm!
I have been resting, except for my doctors appointments twice a week. Each time I have a NST (non stress test) and my blood pressure checked. The second protein level I had done showed lower levels, which was good. It seems I am on the edge of preeclampsia, but they feel better safe than sorry.
John decided he wanted to do a full turkey dinner still and put together a nice dinner. I did suggest to him that he could go straight to leftovers since it was the two of us. I was able to talk to my parents and grandma on Skype, a free video chat site. Grandma commented on how large I am. I showed them where we were at in the nursery and toured around the house a bit. Later we talked to Scott and Tiffany while John was finishing cooking. Fun to do, especially if your camera is mobile.
This weekend we expect Mary and Earl in with the mobile home on Saturday afternoon. They will be here until Monday morning and will help John out with a few things. And eat turkey!
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving!