...sooner rather than later...

well, in a major turn of events, we can now take most of the guesswork out of beba's arrival date.

35 week appointment - i went in to find that i had high blood pressure : 150/90-something. dr. brody ordered tests, i was put on "restricted activity" and told "the goal is to make it to 37 weeks". the concern was that i was developing a condition called preeclampsia. this of course caused me some anxiety, and i went home crying and thinking that there was no way i was ready for a baby in only 2 weeks. i had just gone on maternity leave the day before! then my blood tests came back normal, everything appeared to be okay, and i resumed getting ready for beba [hoping it would still be a month or so].

36 week appointment - went in for a visit with the midwife as dr. brody was out of town. i was expecting the best. high blood pressure again! this time i started bawling before the midwife could even make it in the room. they hooked me up to the fetal monitor and beba was happy as a clam - heart rate was great, and she was movin' and shakin' in her usual ways. the midwife ordered more blood tests and put me on "moderate bed rest" and sent me home. i straight up asked her if high blood pressure was a reason to induce. she said yes. my blood work came back normal but my urine test showed slightly elevated levels of protein.

37 week appointment - full term! dr. brody greeted drew and me, and then she went straight into our action plan. this relieved me greatly as i was hoping not to have to come up with one of my own! :) because of the high bp and elevated protein, i have put in the mild preeclampsia category. the good news is that my blood pressure has been low [probably because of my good bed rest skills] and i'm fine, but dr. brody does not want me going past 39 weeks.

soooooo, unless beba decides to come out on her own before august 12 or 13ish, i will be induced. that's less than 2 weeks away!!! although being induced was definitely not in my birth plan, i have found myself to be okay with the new plan. our top concern is the health of beba, and her coming just a week early is not a big deal. and the perks of knowing when she's coming are that my parents can make it out from colorado and drew can plan his time off of work. it does take away some of the anticipation - "when are those contractions going to start?...did my water just break?...why won't she just get here already?" but all in all, i'm okay with this. and, of course, there's always the possibility that she'll push her way out before then. these days, it does seem like she could pop out of my belly button at any moment.

please pray that my condition does not get worse before the 39 week mark, and that these last weeks are filled with peace and health before [and after!] her arrival. we're really looking forward to meeting her...