Pregnancy Week 35 - Friday January 16th, 2009

Dear Nakasone-Chan,

Today we went in for our 35 week check up. It started off as a normal visit but turned into a series of life changing events for both of us.

The appointment started off pretty typical. Check in, pee in a cup, weigh in (190lbs, son!) and have Lois the office midwife check our vitals. Lois took note that my blood pressure was on the high side, but attributed it to the sometimes faulty machine. She also made a comment that your weight measured by the ultra sound the night before was on the low side (they estimated you were 4lbs 11oz). Other than that everything checked out. As the appointment was ending, my OB Dr. Parekhji bursts through the door and told me to get undressed. She told Lois that they found a high amount of protein in my urine and she needed to check me out immediately. Lois filled her in on my high blood pressure and your low weight. I’ll never forget how frantic she looked as she checked my cervix and uterus.

After she gave me a full inspection she told me that I have pre-eclampsia and asked me the location of my local drug store. I had no idea what pre-eclampsia was, but figured that the prescriptions she was writing would solve the problem. I asked her what the prescriptions where for and she told me pain medication in case I have the baby today. WHAT!?! I seriously think my heart stopped. She went on and told me that pre-eclampsia was a serious complication of pregnancy that can affect both you and me. If left untreated it can lead to severe seizures for me and lack of nutrients for you (that explained your low weight). She went on to inform me that the only cure for pre-eclampsia is delivery and that I would need to go to the hospital to check into Labor and Delivery immediately.

At the hospital, they immediately checked into a room and hooked up a monitor to observe your heart rate. Of course I forgot my cell phone that day, so I couldn’t call your dad until I was settled into my room. Once I got a hold of him and he recovered from the shock of the news, he came over immediately to the hospital. I think he probably suffered from a mild anxiety attack.

My doctor decided that she wanted to screen my urine for a 24 hour period to determine the severity of the pre-eclampsia. Since I was only 35 weeks she preferred to wait a week to deliver rather than induce immediately. If the protein level in my urine was high (above 3 grams) they would deliver. If it was under 3 grams they would put me on bed rest and wait a week or so to deliver. I didn’t have any other major symptoms of pre-eclampsia at that point except for a slightly higher blood pressure, so I felt pretty confident that we wouldn’t have to deliver.

At this point the only thing we could do was wait.

Love,
Mommy