Baby Bump Update!

So I mentioned in my previous posts that I have had some troubles this past couple of weeks with my pregnancy. Nothing to severe or anything, but some things that have raised concerns. So yesterday I had my 20 week appointment with my OB and also my first appointment with my new perinatology doctor.

So we will start off at the OB office......

First off, the OB I fell in love with went out on maternity leave in the very end of December. No big deal because I knew she was expecting and she assured me that she would be back towards the later part of my pregnancy where things might get a little more dicey for me. Well I found out yesterday that she is not coming back anymore. Another thing is that even if I was planning on delivering at Spotsylvania Regional Hospital (which my insurance didn't cover anyways so I wasn't), they are no longer doing deliveries over there. That sucks for those mom's who had that in their plans!

So I met with the midwife on staff since now I don't have a real doctor. This is where things are getting confusing because I have seen three people now and none of the notes are adding up and they are wondering why this test was ordered and why I haven't done this yet. They even started to do my sonogram which I was suppose to have done later that day with the high risk doctor. I didn't know what they were doing, I just thought they were getting some quick measurements, so when I made mention the sonogram tech seemed to catch an attitude with me because she was starting my anatomy scans. Not my fault that there is communication issues in your office!

ANYWAYS! My appointment went good. I apparently am severly dehydrated, despite the water I am drinking. They said it's just not enough and this can cause my headaches, my cramping, and also dizziness. Some of the other things could be related to dehydration or could be a sign that my blood pressure issues are getting worse and I am getting closer to preclampsia stages. I have two big jugs to fill up this weekend for another "catch" looking for protein in my urine. Not my favorite thing to do, but better to be safe then sorry. Other then that, everything is looking awesome! I'll see them in four weeks!

Now for my high risk appointment.....

I was told it would take about 2 and a half to three houses, but we were in there for a little over four! Craziness! I am happy to say that after a very long sonogram baby girl (and yes it was confirmed twice yesterday!) is looking awesome and right where she needs to be! She is already 12 ounces and loves to move all around. The doctor did ask who was short in our family, because her leg are on the shorter side (nothing abnormal or anything to worry about!). She can thank daddy for that when she gets older ha!

As for myself, he is concerned with my blood pressure since it seems to be all over the place. It is pretty stable in respect of not going too high, but he said it's getting too low at times and most likely is also a cause of the dizziness and my passing out earlier this week. He said if they don't get it up some then I will be "eating concrete" more often. Nice terminology right?!? So he is actually going to drop my meds down to try to increase it and see if he can find that fine line of control on it. This is risky because it's not good for it being too low and too high can also cause issues. He said that as I go along I am more at risk for kidney damage, stroke, and heart attacks. He said preclampsia is the most common killer in pregnancy for the mother. Also by my blood and heart not functioning just right means the baby gets less blood and the placenta will stop working which could cause growth issues for her or for her to be still born. Again, these are worse cases that they are working on preventing, but he said it is his job to get me prepared for what could possibly happen and for me to fully grasp the importance for following his every direction. This weekend is where I need to pay the most attention as my medicine begins to change. I am to be logging three times a day my blood pressure. I also need to call with my numbers on Tuesday and give them to a nurse. He will also begin seeing me every 2 weeks and the baby will have growth scans every four weeks. These appointments will be on top of my normal OB appointments at the other office. He said we will be seeing each other way more then I'll like. He is an older man and has been doing this for 20 some years. He seems to really know his stuff and is more of a "find what works" then "by the books" kind of person. He spent so much time really explaining everything to both Kenny and I. Kenny even said that this was the most informative appointment he had ever been too. He gave us both his personal self phone number to call in the event of any type of emergency and orders that if we call in the middle of the night that we better not call him sweetheart because he "has a red headed Irish woman as his wife who will come after us"! I liked how straight forward he was, but as you can tell he had a sense of humor that was calming. Kenny and I both left with a sense of ease knowing that he will be taking care of both Emily and myself.

So that's pretty much it! Changing up my meds for now, watching my blood pressure, drinking LOTS of water, and following doctors orders!