"I must have gone to bed around a quarter after ten, I need a lot of sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then- I must have read a while... the latest one by Marilyn French of something in that style. It's funny, but I had no sense of living without aim the day before you came." Abba- The day before you came

I'm sure everyone is expecting a baby post... but I'm going to make a few posts (just because this would be one insanely long post if I crammed it all into one)- this post will be about everything leading up to the delivery... On the day before she came. 

June 17th (last Monday), I had just gotten done with a particularly challenging shift- on the drive home (yes, I got to the point I was not really able to walk to and from work anymore... too hot, and too tired) I distinctly remember telling Jason that at 37 weeks/3 days pregnant it was getting really tough physically, to work 12 hour shifts. He gave me a pep talk and said "just a few weeks left"... little did we both know everything was about to change the very next day. 

This was at dinner on June 17th- Jas was trying to cheer me up after a particularly long day

June 18th started out just like any other day... except for the fact that it was our 8 year wedding anniversary! We had kind of a low key morning, talked about where we might like to go out to dinner that night and then Jas set off for work. 

After my long day, just the day before, I decided to treat myself to a pedicure. It was absolutely divine! I relaxed and enjoyed the scrub, the massage... the whole thing! On the way home, I stopped and picked up some fruit (I heard pineapple might help induce labor), so I was sure to pick up some pineapple too. Once I got home, I ate my fruit and took a nap before my weekly OB appointment. 

I went to my OB appointment, and boy was I feeling good! It was my anniversary, I had a pedicure in the morning... I was so relaxed. The swelling that I had experienced the week prior had gone down:

I actually have an ankle!

The tech came in and took my weight- I was down 5 lbs from the week prior! I attributed this of course to the decrease in swelling, and I was quite excited! Then the nursing assistant came and took my blood pressure, I asked her what it was and she said "125/96"- I said- "That's not normal for me. That's actually a really high diastolic." She kind of brushed it off and said "Oh, I'm sure it's fine. I will let the doctor know." The nursing assistant left and the doctor came in and asked how I was doing- I said "well, I got rid of one problem... the swelling. but it looks like I have another one. My blood pressure is up, in particular my diastolic- I live around 110/70, this is a significant change." He said "Well, yea that is high for you. I will recheck it, I'm sure it's fine." Well, the doctor retook my blood pressure and this time it was actually 140/100! I have NEVER in my life had a blood pressure like that, this was mind blowing. 

The doctor said- "Steph, you know I have to send you to L&D for that..." and off we went. I expected hoped to get to Labor and Delivery and have my blood pressure come back to my normal range, but I knew better. They hooked me up to the continuous BP monitor and it continued to go up...and to stay up. I prayed that I didn't have preeclampsia... I was just hoping that it was some gestational hypertension. 

After my initial lab work came back negative for preeclampsia I was hopeful that I would get to go home... this of course was a ridiculous wish (and I truly knew better), but I think I was in denial about having a medical issue in this pregnancy. It had been so easy! There was no way I would all of a sudden have these issues. 

The medical team decided that the best course of action would be to keep me overnight for monitoring- the baby had looked great on the monitor the whole time (thank God!), but my blood pressures just looked like crap. They also decided to do a 24 hour urine, which is considered a much more definitive test for diagnosis of preeclampsia. I agreed, and settled into bed for the night. Happy Anniversary to us... snuggled in bed watching TV. 

After snuggling and watching So you think you can dance, I told Jason to go home, walk the dog and get some sleep. At about 1030 I was getting ready for bed and my OB doctor walked in. She told me that she was really concerned that there had been no change in my blood pressures and that her recommendation at this point would be an induction of labor... unless I wanted to wait until the next night and see what my 24 hour urine results showed. I weighed a whole lot of options in my mind... and ultimately decided that it probably would be best to just go ahead and start the induction... as scary as that prospect was! 

I called Jason... We were going to have a baby!