So by now the pregnancy is over and done with...and I am left with a beautiful little girl. The nugget now has a face I can stare at...little gums that I love the shape of...and the bodily functions of a 300 lb trucker on a chili diet. But I'll get to her....
First, the end of my pregnancy...I dropped the blogging, and for the most part any other contact with the outside world. My pregnancy stopped "funny" sucking and starting "real life" sucking. Besides the hot flashes, swelling, breathlessness, and constant nausea, I developed something that the doctors actually consider a problem during pregnancy - gestational hypertension. I was sent to Labor and Delivery numerous times because of High Blood Pressure. Evrytime I went in, they told me that I might be having the baby that day - starting at 32 weeks. However, by the time I was resigned to that fact (anything to get out of the little observation room and into a room with a TV!) they would send me home to continue on my new-found, high-risk pregnancy journey.
I had a daily phone appointment with a nurse who needed to know my blood pressure from the night before and that morning, the reading of a urine protein test, all my symptoms and how long it took for the baby to kick me 10 times. Based on this information, they would say "Have a nice day," or "you're going to need to be on bedrest today," or "head over to Labor and Delivery." I wasn't supposed to exercise or do much of anything...so I did just that. The days that I did go to work I felt horrible and exhausted. The days that I didn't were boring. By 36 weeks I just stopped working instead of being the unpredictable employee...also known as the crying employee, the one who pukes all the time, or the employee that only wears 3 different things because nothing else "touches her."
I also had a weekly non-stress test. This is where you go in and sit in a lounge chair while they monitor the baby's heart rate changes during movement. They also hook you up to a monitor that shows you how many contractions you're NOT having, therefore reminding you that you WILL be back next week. These are where I came to learn the brand of nurses that have horrible beside manner...sharing stories of not finding fetal heart beats while searching for one in you, and making general comments of surprise like you are presenting something that is foreign to modern medicine.
At my 35 week appointment I was also told what I knew for a while...the baby was transverse, i.e. laying as if in a hammock. They don't even TRY to turn a baby in this position...you are instantly scheduled for a c-section. I asked for 7-11 (for obvious slurpee association reasons) but got the 15th of July. However, I wasn't about to give up - I ordered a baby turning meditation, I had Chi Qong done, I did inversion positions that you wouldn't believe, and I hung out in the pool. At 36 weeks she had turned...breech. At 37 weeks I went in and my amniotic fluid was low. My doctor said she was sending me to labor and delivery and if they confirmed it, I was having the baby - so stop drinking water (and don't let the doctor see it). Then she said I should even spit out my gum...so I did. Into my mom's hand - make doctor laugh -Check. No good though...fluid was fine and again I went home- thirsty and starving. I jumped in the pool again and at 38 weeks she was head down. C-section canceled, induction scheduled. I hated the idea of an induction, but my blood pressure dictated the schedule.
OH, and there was a heat wave during this time. I gave in and moved into my mom's house for about 10 days. I sat in the air conditioning by day and got mommied by evening...and at night I didn't have to worry about waking anyone next to me if my images of stabbing his snoring face were so strong as to make noise in my head...sleep was almost non-existent.
The last week I was in my own house once again...starting to contract here and there, getting very excited. My induction was scheduled for Thursday morning (7-14). I spent the time leading up making sure I was well packed, the house was cleaned (hoping this would start labor), and everything was perfect. I plucked and shaved so that Thursday at 8:30 a.m. I would be Heidi Klum giving birth. And at 8:30 am on Thursday I was all ready...and called in. Sorry, full moon, no room at the (Kaiser) Inn, call again. Every two hours. So basically I would call Kaiser...then rent a movie off cable...then call...I would cry to the nurse on the phone, I would curse the other people who dared to go into labor, I would watch the clock. Thursday night I was thinking I might make it in without having to be invited, but FAIL. It took until 7pm on Friday night for them to tell me to come on in. It was like winning an Academy Award (I'm guessing here), and that was the end of the end and the beginning of everything else!
