eli :: 37 weeks

Today has been such a whirlwind! I had my midwife appointment this morning at 9:00 and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. Last week some of my vitals were not so good, but we had hoped that maybe this week things would have settled down a bit. I still had protein in my urine...not a lot, but enough to look into it further. My blood pressure was not great either. The first time they took it it was 136/78 and the second time it was 125/84. If my blood pressure goes over 140 for the top number or 90 for the bottom number I will have to go to labor and delivery to be monitored more closely.  Due to the high blood pressure I forgot to ask to get checked. My midwife says that she feels like I am at the early stages of preeclampsia, luckily I only have 3 weeks to go and my midwife does not think I will make it beyond 39 weeks. So what is my course of action as of now?

• take my blood pressure every morning, if it goes over 140/90 then I need to call my midwife right away.
• I need to drink 2 cups of beet juice everyday, beet juice has been proven to help stabilize blood pressure. Have you ever drank beet juice? It is disgusting, I have never drank mud, but I would suspect that beet juice taste like mud. If I cut it with grape juice, it is tolerable.
• I need to get plenty of rest every day.
• I have started acupuncture, I had my first appointment today. I am going specifically to induce labor. I have noticed that I have had a lot more contractions today. I have another appointment tomorrow evening. If nothing happens this weekend then I will have another appointment on Monday. We are not anticipating me going into labor right now, but anything I can do to stimulate contractions will help me to progress and will help my body prepare for labor.
• I have also been given permission to take evening primrose oil internally. I have been taking it orally since I was 28 weeks, but taking it internally helps to soften and ripen the cervix. Once again this is just a tool to help prepare my body in hopes that my labor will be easier and faster.
• I have to do a 24 hour urine test starting tomorrow. What this means is that I have to collect all my pee for 24 hours and then take it to the lab on Friday. This will give my midwife a much better picture of my protein levels. I also have to get blood drawn for a preeclampsia panel. This panel will check my kidneys and liver and will let us know how far this has progressed. 

When I go back on Tuesday for my 38 week appointment my labs should be back and we will be able to evaluate an make some decisions on where to go from there. If my labs do not look good or my blood pressure has gone up I will probably go to the hospital for a non-stress test and a possible induction. If my blood pressure has stabilized and my protein levels are not too high I can continue with my plans for a home birth. At this point we will continue trying natural methods for induction.

How do I feel about all of this? I feel OK. I am fine with whatever happens. I feel like my midwife is being very proactive and she has promised me that she will not let me get to the point I was with Garrett. If I have to be medically induced in a hospital then so-be-it. I just want a healthy baby.

I know this post is very detailed, but I am trying to keep a good a detailed log this pregnancy so I can go back and track things for another pregnancy. I did not keep very good personal records with Garrett and when I go back to see how things were progressing at this point with Garrett.