27 Weeks and Counting

On this day of my pregnancy with Reese I was admitted to UW for pre-eclampsia. Since there are only 2 hours left of today I think it's safe to say we are going to break the trend without jinxing myself. I really have no idea how much I weighed or how many inches around I was at this point. I am definintely lighter and smaller around than I was at delivery 2 weeks from now. I definitely do not have the swelling EVERYWHERE that I did with Reese's pregnancy, but I do feel way more huge. At least one sweater I wore with Reese now doesn't cover the elastic of my maternity pants--maybe it shrunk. It's uncomfortable to sleep (though now I'm taking Zantac it's easier to stay asleep and therefore not notice the discomfort), it's hard to get up from the couch and bed, I can't seem to pee in the cup at the doctor's office without peeing on my hand anymore---super gross!! I can't bend over in the car to adjust the heat and as of today it is uncomfortable to eat. Which sucks because I'm hungry, but I'm finally feeling sort of normal after my last meal digested a bit seemingly 800 years later, so I'm kind of afraid to eat again.

Here is my photo yesterday. This shirt is a little eye bogglingly busy to really get the full effect of how totally huge I am. But I think I am giant enough that you'll get the idea, just know it is somewhat camoflauged and I am actually larger than I appear. I am finding it hard to imagine women actually continuing to stand upright and move around at 40 weeks pregnant.

They say there is a good chance this baby is already bigger than Reese was at birth. At my appointment with my normal OB on Tuesday I had a high blood pressure reading. Then at my appointment at UW hyertension clinic I had a high and a normal. My cardiac output showed my blood flow is now below the low normal line. But to really have "high BP" and be treated for it with drugs it needs to be up and stay up--not go up and down. My perinatologist said they understand the disease process and the symptoms and what comes next--but he doesn't understand me and doesn't trust me. It is somewhat disconcerting that I can't even be abnormal in a typical fashion and the expert is not sure what to expect. But for now I remain drug free for BP. I was scheduled to begin going to the OB every 2 weeks but the perinatologist decided I can't wait that long to be rechecked, so as of now I will be going every week. Next Friday I have another ultrasound which will determine if there is any blood flow issues to the placenta and verify the baby's size. This week at UW was the first time I actually saw my chart notes that say severe preeclampsia and IUGR. I had to ask what that stands for -- inter uterinine growth restriction. That's actually the first time a medical person acknowledged that Reese was small even for a 29 weeker---which I already knew from my avid Discovery Health Channel watching of all these women having 27-29 weeks multiples that outweighed Reese.

So barring anything freaky in the next 2 weeks I think we'll keep this one cooking a bit longer than Reese got to.