Pregnancy Update - Week 39

I had my 38 week (39 according to me!) appointment on Friday. I've been going weekly now, and they're always the same thing: check in, pee in a cup, wait until I'm called back, weight, blood pressure, wait for the midwife, any questions answered, things look good, see you next week! Well, when I was meeting with the midwife, she told me that my blood pressure was on the higher side (130/85) and they found protein in my pee. Those are 2 of the 3 signs of preeclampsia (aka Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension or Toxemia). I don't have any swelling - though, with Lily, my ankles were like an elephant's, and my blood pressure was also quite higher towards the end with Lily, but nothing they were too concerned about. Well, now I have the protein...which is scary. The midwife wanted to see me back on Tuesday to recheck things, so hopefully things will have changed by then.

For those of you who are wondering, "preeclampsia causes the blood vessels to constrict, resulting in high blood pressure and a reduced blood flow that can affect organs throughout the body, including the liver, kidneys, and brain.

When less blood is being delivered to your uterus, it can mean problems for your baby, such as poor growth, too little amniotic fluid, and placental abruption (when the placenta separates from the uterine wall before delivery)."

With this showing up so close to my due date, I wouldn't imagine that poor growth would be that big of a problem. The amount of amniotic fluid and placental abruption worry me, though. I'm not sure what they'll do on Tuesday if they have the same findings...I've read that they'll go straight to induction, or do some tests first. Hopefully with my midwives, they'll do tests first and decide if things are ok. If they are, I'm just hoping that I'll be put under a more strict watch and not induced. I've heard that pitocin makes your contractions much harder...and I don't know how I would deal with that without an epidural. I would really, REALLY love to have an unmedicated birth again, but I'm just not sure if that's going to be possible this time if I'm induced.

I found a great site that said that preeclampsia is caused from low blood volume, caused by poor nutrition. If you eat more calories and increase your protein and salt intake, you can increase your blood amount, thus causing your blood pressure to lower. So I'm eating all of the protein and salt I can...yay. I hate being forced to eat, and I HATE salting my food. Weird, I know. It may not change anything in a couple of days, but what's the worst that can happen? I gain 10 lbs in 5 days? haha. Hopefully I'll go into labor before Tuesday and we won't have to worry about it!

So we'd really love all of your prayers. I'll update after my appointment on Tuesday. :)