We are officially 10 days away from our due date, but unfortunately that number doesn't matter anymore. Last Monday I went in to my weekly appointment (at 37 weeks) and as the nurse took my blood pressure, she looked up at me and asked if I had rushed to get in there. I said no and she checked it again, frowning. She said some numbers that meant nothing to me, then said that she would have Dr. Karns check it again in a minute. At the end of our appointment, Dr. Karns (Tom as I call him, a family friend) checked my BP again and though it had lowered slightly, was a little higher than he would have liked. To be on the safe side, he scheduled me to come back in a few days later to have his nurse check it again. I went in again on Friday morning, BP still high. I was instructed to take it easy, no stairs, no walking up hills, and no lifting anything over 10lbs. "Taking it easy" isn't easy for me to do, I am a very active person that has trouble sitting still, especially when I'm anxious and guess what? I'm about to have a baby, I'm anxious.So, now we are up to Monday this week, I'm at 38 weeks 2 days, I take the elevator up to Tom's office, sit in the waiting room for a nice 10 minutes (plenty of time to get my heart to calm down a bit) and get called back for my appointment. The nurse (Anita) takes my BP and frowns. 132/90 Still high. I told her I had taken the elevator like she said and had taken it easy all weekend, she checked my urine and checked for swollen ankles/face (signs of pre-eclampsia) and all appeared good beyond the elevated BP. Tom couldn't find an explanation for my high blood pressure either. He explained that if my BP was going to be an issue, it would have become a problem a long time ago, not 2-3 weeks before my due date, and as there are no other indications of pre-eclampsia we were all pretty stumped. This made him lean more for inducing at 39 weeks to be on the safe side, when he told me this I believe my first response was, "Holy Sh*t Tom, that's next week." No, not my best moment, but inducing was the last thing I wanted and the last thing I expected at that point. Marcus wasn't with me and as the panic set in I was told I would be induced next Tuesday morning. He scheduled me to come back in on Thursday morning to have my BP checked again.
Here we are, Thursday morning (38weeks 5days) and I just got done with my doctors appointment. My blood pressure this morning was 142/88 (high) but Oliver's seemed to be perfect, Thank God! He checked to see if I was dilated at all and what do you know? ZERO. Unfortunately no dilation before you induce increases your risk of a c-section. So, as of this morning, I am to check into Stillwater Medical Center Monday evening and get a medication that is supposed to help me dilate/soften overnight before they start inducing Tuesday morning (39weeks 3 days). Bummer.
This was not how I wanted this to happen. I really wanted Oliver to come on his own time and for Marcus and I to have the experience of going into labor at home, sharing the excitement together and enjoying our last few quiet moments before our lives change forever. I'm heartbroken that this isn't how it is going to be. I keep reminding myself that there are pluses that go along with inducing, we can have everything ready, our family can plan around it, Forrest will be taken care of, Marcus' work will have more notice, and either way we will be bringing home our baby boy.
I'm a little heartbroken so as of this moment, my solution is: a few tears, Rush Hour 2, and baking a German Chocolate cake. This time next week (depending on what kind of delivery I have) we could be bringing home our baby boy home for the very first time.
