It's complications...

"Labor of Love"

On January 13 Jim and I went to our growth check appointment, the boys looked great! I have placenta previa- the placenta is covering my cervix, but it looked like it was slowly moving away. They started monitoring me to make sure that there are not any signs of labor as well. So far so good. Then I checked my blood pressure, which is usually perfect, and it was 156/90. Red Flag. They checked it again to see if it was a mistake. It wasn't. My doctor gave me the option of going to the hospital that night or re-checking my pressure in the morning. I did not have any other signs of preeclampsia so I came back in the morning. Jim took the day off just in case and I got ready for work, hoping to be able to go to work. Blood pressure was just as high in the morning- off to the hospital. I was really, really upset. This was not the way it was supposed to be at all. I still had 4 months to go.

My options were-

High blood pressure = 4 months of hospital bed rest
Lowered blood pressure after hospital stay = at home bed rest
Really great blood pressure in hospital = miracle that I might be able to work in some capacity

We stayed in the hospital on 24 hour observation, taking my blood pressure ever 15 minutes, then every 2 hours. They also did a 24 hour urine collection to look for protein (sign of preeclampsia). Our specialist was able to come in and do another sonogram to check on the boys- they were completely fine and getting big- Baby A was 10 ounces and Baby B was 14 ounces, a great sign! HUGE he said!

My blood pressure went down immediately once I was laying down in the hospital bed all day so they let me go on Friday afternoon. I talked to my doctor about work and she agreed to let me work from home and basically be on house arrest, ie modified bed rest for awhile. I don't have to lay flat, but I have to limit my activity and take it as easy as possible. The next day I finally was ok with all this. If it was the best thing for me to do for the babies then I really needed to do it. It really could be worse and I will get through it. I now monitor my blood pressure at home 4 times a day and see my doctor every week to check for protein. I got approved to work from home and have been keeping busy with work projects on my laptop and watching the occasional Judge Judy and Oprah.

Jim has been so great- it's not fun for me to be at home all day, but he has been doing all the grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, everything I can't do anymore. I don't know what I would do without him :)