Friday, March 23, 2012

Low blood pressure= monitoring at L & D

I have been feeling a little off this week, periods of nausea, headaches, etc, and I just chalked it up to the change in weather and more gloriousness of the 3rd trimester, but Wednesday I was just feeling like crap in the afternoon. We have a blood pressure machine at my work, so I went ahead and checked what mine was- 85/53. Pretty dang low, but I always have low bp and I didn't really have anything to compare it to because I don't pay attention when they take it at my appointments- they just tell me it looks good and I go on my merry way. However, coupled with the way I was feeling, I went ahead and called my dr. The nurse asked me to eat more protein, continue drinking lots of water, and monitor it the next day, which I did. The next morning it was 109/72- totally normal. Mid morning it went down to 96/63- still pretty normal for me, and I was getting ready to go eat some lunch, so I was sure it would shoot back up. Well, after lunch it was down to 85/57. Called my dr again, and the nurse told me to head to Labor and Delivery for monitoring, since it appeared to be dropping, despite my having just ate, and drinking water all morning.

Now, the logical side of my brain KNEW that this didn't mean E would be coming anytime soon, but at the same time, it freaked me out. I'm only 33 weeks, my bags aren't packed, the carseat is not installed, and I was on day 3 hair (I only wash my hair every 3 days on average, and my hope is to wash it the day we go in to deliver so I don't have to wash it again while we're at the hospital. Yes, it's dumb, but that's what was running through my mind.

A friend of mine from work took me in and kept me company, which I was so thankful for, because I ended up on the monitor for 3.5 hours.
I don't know if that's the normal time you spend being monitored, but once we figured out everything seemed to be fine it felt like time was dragging. I think it took so long because they were waiting for the on call dr to come check me out, but she never did, and eventually they just had my dr check my blood pressure readings from her office and dismissed me, with instructions to continue eating more protein, more frequently, and drinking lots of water.

I guess during my time of being monitored they had picked up on some contractions (which I haven't even been feeling) and so while I was there they had me guzzle down a bunch of water. At this point we were pretty bored, hence the mini photoshoot...
Moral of the story- I have low bp. It's normal for it to fluctuate throughout the day, and if you have low bp, when it fluctuates to the low side, it's going to make you feel cruddy. Standing up too quickly could make me pass out, etc. Other than making me feel like crap, it's not doing Emersyn any harm, as she was still having a dance party in my uterus the whole time we were at the hospital, and her heartrate was a-ok. So, to try to bring it up during the day (mid afternoon seems to be when mine drops), I have a jar of peanut butter standing by, but the nurse said it may not be anything I'm doing or not doing (since I was doing everything right to keep it level and it was still bouncing around), and that's just my normal. There's a lot of info out there on high blood pressure and pregnancy, but not much about low, as I discovered with my bff Google, so I thought I'd fill you all in on what my experience was.

And here's hoping I still get to go in to the hospital to actually deliver on day 1 hair haha:)

10 comments:

  1. Glad you checked out OK. And REALLY glad you aren't having troubles with your BP being too high. Pre-ecclampsia is nasty, hopefully with yours being so low you won't even have to worry about that 3rd trimester threat. PS: I totally would've thought the same about day 3 hair, lol!!! Hey, we are girls and we need to plan for this stuff! And I will tell you from experience, THAT is a real fear. One day during my hospitalization (post-delivery) I NEEDED a shower DESPERATELY and It. Was. IMPOSSIBLE. Seriously, it just couldn't happen (the shower was broken, maintenance tried several times to fix, the nurse wasn't avail. to help me, etc.) So there is nothing wrong with trying to be prepared!!

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  2. Your photoshoot made me laugh! But glad you, baby, and day 3 hair are ok :)

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  3. You can never be too careful when you're preggo! I remember rushing to the hospital while pregnant with Delia thinking my appendix had burst--I was unable to walk or do anything but lay on the floor in PAIN. After a little monitoring, they sent me home. Apparently, that's when she decided to flip to breech, but I was so scared! Never hurts to get monitored, listen to that sweet baby heartbeat, and just get checked out by caring nurses. Beats worrying every time. ;) So glad you two are okay!

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  4. Just stumbled across your blog :)

    Yikes! That's no fun :( But I'm glad you + baby are doing okay!

    I love the photoshoot ;)

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  5. you really crack me up about the hair situation----I guarantee that when you are in real labor you will not care one iota about that (until after when you see pictures) :)

    Glad baby E is fine and you are, too! Keep hydrated and take good care of yourself, lady!!

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  6. So glad you and E are ok! Better to be safe than sorry. There is nothing worse than being stuck in the hospital for monitoring though- two gf's of mine were in for a week with their 1st babies.

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  7. So glad to hear that you and Emersyn Grace are okay! Tell that baby girl to hang on- it is not time for her to meet the world just yet! :)

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