L&D has become my 2nd home

Since my last post so much has happened, that I"ll try my best to outline it and keep it straight. Another few visits to L&D.

I went for my AFI last Monday, and it went well. She didn't share the details with me but told me that my AF wasn't decreased- which is what we wanted to hear.

So I had my weekly appt on Wednesday. At the weekly appt, I failed the NST. That means that the baby's fetal movement was low. It's called a non-reactive NST. My BP was also slightly elevated, so they sent us to L&D after the appt.

At the hospital I got hooked up to monitors, then shipped off to Radiology where they did another u/s and the baby's heart-rate became more responsive. They did a 30 min breathing test on her- and she passed. So they let us go back to L&D to get more tests done. There they did blood draws. My blood tests failed. One of my acids ( I can't pronounce it, but started with an S or F I think) was too high, and then my platelet count is too low. They made me stay overnight.

On Thursday morning they did a redraw of the blood, and saw no change. My BP went back to normal during the night as well. They felt I was ok to go home. They suggested I take my BP 3 times a day - if it goes up, I'm to call in.

I felt better after that. I rested up and my BPs were normal at home. Then on Saturday night, we got KFC for dinner. It didn't sit well, and a few hours later I started to vomit violently. Dave called L&D b/c the vomiting was bringing on very strong contractions. They told us to come in immediately.

So we ended up spending yet another night in L&D. Their main concern was dehydration. I was put on IV all night and that seemed to help some. But I had to finish getting it all out of my system - it was a long night. My contractions spaced out- meaning it was not true labor. After a very long night they sent us home Sunday early afternoon.

Now- we learned quite a bit on Sunday when I was being discharged, and I'm still perplexed.

Turns out I'm NOT dilated - at all. At an appt a few weeks back I was measured and told I was 2cm. The doc checked us this time and told us I most definitely was "closed" and not dilated or effaced. So the measurement a few weeks back was wrong. Very odd.

That is why they kept mentioning Cervidil to me. If they have to induce labor and you are not dilated, they will need to use Cervidil to soften the cervix. I've heard horror stories about this- and so I am hoping that I will be dilated on my own enough that they will not have to use that.

When I was discharged on Sunday, the doc told me that she had reviewed my charts with the High Risk OB dept- and I've now been labeled as high-risk. This means I no longer get my weekly appts at the office, but have to go to L&D each week. So this Tues I start. I go for a NST, U/S (AFI and Biophysical), and BP monitoring. If all is ok, they let me go and I have to go back EVERY OTHER DAY until I deliver. So I'd go back Thurs, Sat, etc. If I don't pass all of the tests - they induce. My concern is that if I'm not dilated and they have to use Cervidil that leads to a greater chance of a c-section. So my fingers are crossed I can make it another week or so. Since I'm only 38 weeks now, there's a better chance that by next week I'll be dilated. Fingers crossed.

Unfortunately, my anxiety and fears have gotten the best of me. As much as I want to meet little baby wags- the thought of c-sections and induction pretty much scares the crap out of me right now. So I'm doing my best to stay calm and just go with the flow. Dave has been a godsend. If it wasn't for him and my mom taking time every.single.day to help me relax, I'd be even worse. They've both been doing such a great job and calming me down- even when I'm puking and in the middle of contractions.

I'll continue to update the blog- but it's safe to say that we'll know more Tues, then Thurs, then Sat, etc. In the meantime, I'm still hoping for one more week - or at least some dilation!

Here are my 38 week belly photos- she still hasn't dropped enough yet as you can see.