154/106

Yes...154/106 was my blood pressure today at school. Remember that 140/90 was my cut off. I have been going to see the school nurse, Melissa, twice a day to get my blood pressure checked. It has been high all week, but at lunch today, she gave me the look. The - I really hope I just read that wrong - look. Just in case the digital blood pressure machine was wrong, she took it manually. There it was again...the look. Melissa reported my blood pressure to me and told me I was going home. I went to my classroom to get some things in order so I could leave and rest for the afternoon. An afternoon off to put my feet up...can't really complain about that.

As I was walking to the car, I decided that if my blood pressure was high enough to be sent home from work, I should probably call the doctor's office. Realizing it was Friday afternoon and Dr. Burkholder's office closes at noon, I left a message for the on call nurse, asking if going home and resting was sufficient or if more needed to be done. While waiting on a call back, I called Nick to tell him I was being sent home from work. As soon as I heard his voice, I lost it. The tears came and the scared feeling I had managed to suppress to this point reared it's ugly head. He told me to go home and relax. I also managed to call my sister and parents before I got the call back from the on call nurse. My phone rang with a number I wasn't familiar with so I knew it was probably her. She informed me that going home and resting was not sufficient and that I needed to head to Labor and Delivery. ARE YOU KIDDING ME LADY!?!?! 33 weeks, 5 days doesn't sound like a time for Labor and Delivery to me, but of course that is exactly what had to be done.

Nick and I pulled up to the hospital about 3:30. We walked hand in hand up to Labor and Delivery, filled out the appropriate paperwork and headed to a room with about 4 curtained off beds. I put on my gown and got hooked up to monitors. They were monitoring my heart rate, oxygen levels and of course the baby. Hagen was doing great which was definitely a relief. The nurse, Jamie, took my blood pressure and it was not good. It looks like I might be here for a while. My sister took off work early and came to the hospital for support. We all sat and chatted, watched tv and waited. Waited for the next time they would check my blood pressure. Waited for the next time it would make that noise that told us it was high without even having to look. Waited for the doctor to come and tell us what had to be done. We were in this room for about 3 hours or so. The nurses put in an IV and started me on a saline drip. I had to start a 24 hour urine screen which would tell us if protein was pouring over into my urine. If it was, pre-eclampsia was in full swing. The filling up of an orange container would be no problem due to the saline drip. I wasn't able to see Dr. Burkholder because it was a Friday evening and he, of course, was out of town. Nothing against Dr. Burkholder. I love the man, but really, out of town when I needed him the most...seriously! We were told that Dr. Killeen would be the doctor who would review my case and give the all clear to go home or the instructions to stay. When Dr. Killeen arrived, he looked me over and said that I would probably be in the hospital through the weekend. That's just how it had to be. We would need to see what the urine screen said before the real decisions could be made.

After, 3 hours in labor and delivery, an iv and multiple trips to the bathroom, we were moved to antepartum. I didn't even know there was such a place. There were only about 6 women in antepartum. Almost all of us dealing with the same condition. Once in antepartum, I was hooked up to a magnesium sulfate drip. Magnesium sulfate can make you feel pretty crummy, but was the best thing to bring down pregnancy induced high blood pressure. I was on a tiny dose. Way less than the women who are in full blown pre-eclampsia. The only real side effect I felt was the heat. MY GOD, THE HEAT! I felt so hot and it came from within. It wasn't anything a cool rag could really help or a very cold room, but that's all I had to get me through. Nick about froze to death that night. A night which, compared to some of the others, was pretty easy. They woke me up about every four hours to take my blood pressure and of course every time I heard that disheartening sound that meant it was high.

The most important thing about that night...Hagen was just being Hagen. Moving around and keeping up a great heart rate. I can deal with this hospital, iv, peeing in a hat and magnesium sulfate stooper as long as my boy is alright. Praise the Lord he is great!