Neil and I have been poked, prodded and tested in every imaginable way and have proved ourselves to be healthy and not in need of labor induction today. The doctor told us last week that he would evaluate our situation today and decide if he was going to induce immediately. So we packed our hospital bags in the car just in case and figured that if Neil passed his BPP again that they would leave us alone. Neil passed it easily. My blood pressure was a little higher, and my cervix has softened more but is not more dilated. The higher blood pressure made the doctor more concerned about preeclampsia even though I have no other symptoms. So he sent us to the hospital to check my platelet levels, liver function, and urine protein and to track Neil's heart rate and my blood pressure. He told us that if we failed any of the tests he would want to induce because preeclampsia can get bad quickly and can only be treated by delivering the baby.
So we walked to the hospital, and they took my blood, used a catheter to collect a urine sample, and put a fetal monitor on my belly while the lab tests were run. Even after blood draws and a catheter, my blood pressure was lower than it had been in the doctor's office. I think it was because my guys were keeping me entertained. Matt was sliding around the room in a rolling chair and making faces at me. Neil was fighting the fetal monitor for control of mommy's belly. The uterine activity monitor was strapped on my belly at just about where my computer lap desk rests against my tummy, and Neil kicks my lap desk until I move it. I couldn't move the monitor, so he kept kicking it for over an hour. He started kicking patiently but insistently for the first 15 minutes or so. He was kicking so hard that Matt was able to take a short video of it with our camera. When it became obvious that insistence wasn't working, he stopped kicking, wiggled into a different position, and started kicking from a different angle. Next he tried combination kicks instead of individual kicks, and then he changed the rhythm. He was very methodical and very determined. I was very impressed, very amused, and pretty sore. The tests all came back favorably, which proved that I have not developed preeclampsia. And Neil was obviously feisty, and his heart rate was perfect as well. Since both of us are so healthy, there was absolutely no reason to induce, so they had to let us go home. They told me to take it easy and come back to my regular Thursday appointment.
So we've got a few more days for Neil to arrive on his own without medical intervention. Who knows if we'll be able to stall induction past Thursday even if we are healthy? One interpretation of "there's no way we'll let you go past 40 weeks" is that Monday (40 weeks and 1 day) is too long to wait. I'm hoping that it means, "we won't let you go to week 41." Some doctors wouldn't let you go to week 41 even if you didn't have high blood pressure and a growth restricted baby. I'm really hoping that Neil comes naturally before Thursday if for no other reason than that the ultrasound lady will be away and so they plan to hook us up to a fetal monitor instead. He's not going to like the fetal monitor encroaching on his tummy space again and will probably fight it. It is encouraging, though, to think that his fighting the monitor could keep his heart rate up enough to avoid a c-section and allow a normal vaginal delivery.
I wasn't allowed to eat during the testing and was starving by the time we left the hospital, so we treated ourselves to dinner at an Italian restaurant, including dessert. Neil likes tiramisu. We got home sometime after 8:00 and discovered that our house was over 80 degrees and our air conditioning isn't working. We've got the doors open and fans on and it's finally getting comfortable. I'm going to call maintenance tomorrow and see if they can get it fixed and maybe look at the dish washer, too. I'm glad to have a little extra time to continue getting the house in order. And I'm going to rest as much as possible. It's been a long, tiring day.
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