Friday, May 28, 2004
Update time!
So this is where we’re at:
1. Level 2 Ultrasound with perinatologist on June 7,
2. See OB for first time June 16, and
3. See my primary doc June 18.
In the meantime, I’m trying to keep the chocolate intake to reasonable levels and trying not to cuss too often or loudly about the kicks in the bladder.
Actually, I’m loving this part of being pregnant. There’s nothing in the world like waking up in the morning to the little one kicking away. Feeling that miracle has actually got me smiling before noon. It’s a joy beyond words, it really is.
For those of you who love the stats, at my appointment this last Monday I was at 21 weeks and a day, my bp was astonishingly low (being in the normal range for other folk *grin*), and I had gained 6 pounds in the four weeks since the preceding appointment, for a total gain of 14 pounds so far. Call me crazy, but I don’t think I’m doing too badly.
For those of you who love the gory details, the offhand reference I made the other day over at the other blog about the big orange jug in my refrigerator was indeed a reference to that most beloved of all tests, the 24 hour urine. Lovely, no? Believe it or not, I was actually able to complete this in good cheer, in spite of how funny the chicks in the doctor’s office seemed to find it. I love the sense of humor that my midwife has, but when she referred to the collection device as a hat...and the nurse came in wearing it on her head…
I didn’t laugh. Rueful grin was more like it. 
Anyway, the lowdown is that since I already have a nice case of high blood pressure, not only do I have a higher risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension (AKA pre-eclampsia), but it’s more difficult to sort out whether any elevation in blood pressure is due to a worsening of the chronic condition under the physiologic strain of the pregnancy, or whether it is indeed PIH, which is a disease of pregnancy and must be treated differently. PIH has a variety of other markers, one of which is the spilling of protein into the urine, and the most accurate test for that is apparently to measure total protein in a sample consisting of all the urine the lucky subject produces over a 24 hour period.
Now, the reason I’m smiling about having met the big orange jug already is that said jug (and some accompanying bloodwork) is a baseline lab. In other words, they’re doing the PIH workup now so that they have something to compare later workups to, which cuts the risk of unneeded intervention if there’s something slightly wonky about my body chemistry anyway.
Pretty cool, ‘eh?