Pregnancy Induced High Blood Pressure and Gestational Diabetes

I went into the hospital Friday evening because I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for 2-3 hours and wanted to make sure nothing was happening. I had called the nurse and she said that if drinking fluids and laying down wasn't helping, that I probably should go in and get put on the monitors and see what was happening. I put out a call to my Mom and to Andy to see if someone could meet me up at the hospital with the kids. Couldn't get ahold of anyone, but thankfully Deidra was a huge help and she got them all in their shoes and in the car and sat with them while I got all hooked up to the monitors. I was SO proud of her. She really stepped up to the plate and was such a big help. Andy got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the way to the hospital, but was able to inform me that my Mom was on the way.

The nurses informed me that they didn't think I would be going anywhere as my blood pressure was really elevated and my urine was full of sugar. I told them I had just done my gluclose test in the office but that I hadn't gotten my results back yet and that was the first urine check that I had done since I found out that I was pregnant. Sure enough, she put a call out to the doctor and he wanted me admitted. They did an ultrasound that night to check on the baby...they measured her and she's right where she should be. They said she's about 3 lbs and 7 oz and that she even has hair. I was so surprised that they could tell that she's got hair already. I didn't know that you could tell that from an ultrasound.

I met with the doctor the next morning (not my own, but another doctor in the practice) and he said it was hard to tell what was going to happen, but that we needed to get a 24-hour urine specimen and that they may need to send me to Dallas to be monitored up until I had the baby. He ordered some tests and said we'd go from there. I instantly started worrying about the girls upcoming adoption and Andy told me to quit worrying and that we'd get it all figured out even if he had to do court with them himself.

Deidra spent Saturday night at the hospital with me. It was SO nice to have her up there and she was trying so hard to look out for me. The nurses all got a kick out of her. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of her and she sat up on the bed with me and told me that she loved me and that she loved Melina too. I knew she was worried,but I kept trying to reassure her. So, I think it did us both some good to spend some time together up there.

Every day it seemed I'd be told, well maybe we can get you home in the morning after we see what your 24-hour urine says, but there was a reason to keep me just one more night. I started insulin in the hospital and my sugar levels were still really high. My blood pressure is still up as well. My regular doctor came back from Haiti and came in to see me on Sunday and told me he really wanted to see if they could get my sugar levels down to a certain level before they sent me home. However, he understood that I had a lot of family responsibility at home as well. I went ahead and found a sitter for the little ones until we found out what was going to happen and asked her if she could keep them from Sunday night to Wednesday until Andy got home from work. Thankfully, she had no problem with that and she was a huge help. She even brought the kids up during the day on Monday to say hi after they played in the park.

Monday, I was hoping to be able to go home that morning, but the nurses told me that he wouldn't let me go home with a sugar level over 170. He wound up ok'ing another dose of insulin as the cafeteria messed up and sent me a breakfast tray that wasn't on the diabetic plan and then it came down somewhat. He told me he'd start the paperwork to get me out of there after dinner if I compromised with him and came into the office 1-2 times a week until the baby was ready to be born. So, I got to leave on Monday night around 6:30. I came home on blood pressure meds and the insulin. To say I'm a bit overwhelmed with everything else going on is a bit of an understatement, but I'll get it all figured out after a couple of days. Just going to have to be a bit more of a rigorous schedule with eating at scheduled times and checking my sugars first thing in the morning and 2 hours after I eat meals.