Wrap It Up

I had my 36th week OB appointment yesterday.  Andrew sounds great!  His heartrate was a lovely 140 and he kicked soundly at the doppler several times while we laughed at him.  I am measuring a full two weeks ahead (big boy!!) and he is definitely an active little guy.

Dr. S feels confident that my platelets will hang out in the 80,000 and above range and told me we could go to weekly blood draws.  If I am still pregnant the week of my scheduled c-section, he will want to do them every other day.  He didn't seem that concerned about the platelet issue, but he was concerned about the 2+ protein in my urine and some other pre-eclampsia symptoms.  I have developed these issues in my previous pregnancies, so this isn't unexpected. 

My blood pressure, which has been running in the 110/60 range was up slightly to 130/70.  I also have italian bread loaves where my feet used to be and my fingers have started swelling.  I have been having mild headaches and my nanny noticed on Friday that my face seemed a bit swollen.  Dr. S agreed.

He asked me if I was in a place with work where I could stop with relatively little stress.  I said that I could definitely be done with my work in the field and then take a few days to wrap things up from an administrative standpoint.  He said that it would be best if I could do the administrative work from bed.  He made it clear that he wasn't putting me on bedrest, per se, but that if my BP and swelling isn't down by the next time he sees me, he likely will.  They moved next week's appointment to this Friday, so I feel as if the clock is ticking on getting work things wrapped up and done.

While it will definitely be nice to be off of work for a little bit before the baby comes, it definitely makes me nervous to be taking so much time off of work.  I won't be taking a long maternity leave (eight weeks of STD from the c-section, plus the two weeks of vacation I have saved), but if I go to October 11, this adds another three weeks on to that.  And remember that I am not eligible for FMLA because I will not have been with my company for a year until October 24.  I don't think anyone is giving my job away while I am gone, but it is still a little scary to be taking "unprotected" leave.

But I also don't really feel as if I have much of a choice at this point.  I am definitely not feeling great, and I have noticed this feeling getting much worse these past few days.  I am hoping that resting up a bit more will help and, in the scheme of life, three weeks of work here and there really isn't that big of a deal.  The most important thing right now is getting this baby baked and here safely.