Say Yes to the Dress

What an odd title for this blog post, is what you're probably thinking. But how fitting it truly is. My mother can vouch for that.

July 19th, only a matter of days since I was released from the hospital the last time, I went in for my weekly OB visit and non-stress test. I still had a headache, and this time I had gained another 4 pounds, my blood pressure was even more elevated at 129/92 and the swelling had only gotten worse. To top it all off, I had been throwing up since the night before. I felt like my body was deteriorating every day. I wanted to get these babies out of me, and ASAP. My body surely couldn't handle being pregnant much longer.

I was being admitted to the hospital again, and waiting on blood work to come back to see if I was going to be induced. The protein in my urine was significantly higher than last week, according to my OB. And clearly things weren't getting better with everything else. I waited to be wheeled over to the hospital, yet again, this time hoping I wouldn't be leaving until the babies were here.

A couple hours after being in the L&D wing of the hospital, my BP was only getting worse. And, I was actually having contractions. As much as they hurt, I was glad! Maybe this meant the babies were coming. My nurse and OB said that they wouldn't stop labor if it happened, so I was hoping and praying that this was it. But, it wasn't. My contractions stopped and I was just back to being miserable for what felt like no reason.

They were doing another 24-hour urine test like they had done last time I was here to check the extent of the protein level. The blood work came back "normal" according to them. But, it didn't make sense to me. How could everything else be so extremely abnormal, and my blood work say everything was fine?

I tried sleeping, but was unsuccessful. I'd given up on them trying to get rid of my headache, as clearly nothing had helped up to this point. Why put medicine into my body if it's not doing a damn thing? It could only harm me, or worse, the twins. I wasn't about to let that happen.

The next morning, after spending the night alone in the hospital, the morning nurse came in to check on me. The OB on the floor had ordered for my weight to be checked, and overnight, less than 24 hours, I had gained another 5 pounds! Was this going to be a sign for them to finally do as I'd been asking and induce me? This couldn't be healthy, or normal.

I was told for sure they'd be keeping me at least another night, but at this point they wanted the babies to stay in longer because I wasn't 37 weeks yet and my blood counts were still looking good. How could I possibly stay pregnant and like this, or worse, for another 3 weeks almost?

My mom came up to Portland to stay with me so at least for now I didn't have to be alone. If the babies weren't coming, and there was no plan for induction, she'd have to go back home on Sunday night. Until then, though, we watched more TV than she's watched in probably her whole life. And yes, you may have guessed, a LOT of Say Yes to the Dress. At least now I know what kind of wedding dress I'll want, if I ever get married. There was SOMETHING positive out of all this pain and suffering.