Tuesday, July 24, 2007

32 weeks + 3 days

I'm now @ 32 weeks + 3 days today in my pregnancy. As some of you know, I'm back at the hospital again. Last Friday night I had a really bad headache and my BP readings went up as high as 161/90. We called the doctor and she advised us to check back into the hospital so they can assess the situation. They monitored me the whole night and did some blood work. The following morning, Dr. Tan came in and told us that they might go ahead and induce me since my urine sample from the day before also showed very high levels of protein, which means that my kidneys are spilling a whole lot of protein than normal. The normal protein count in urine should only be around 150s. My protein count in my urine has been in the high 300s - 400s. However, in the past week it went up dramatically to 780!!! Dr. Tan consulted with our perinatologist and they both concluded that they didn't need to induce me that day, but that they will continue to keep me in the hospital to monitor me closely. They have set a cut-off period, which is at 34 weeks. However, if my symptoms get any worse before then, they will have to go ahead and induce me.

Despite my condition, the baby is doing very well! We had an ultrasound last week and it shows that the baby's growth is normal. Last week he was approximately 4lbs. +/-11oz. We have a very good profile photo of him from the ultrasound, which we'll upload soon. He had his hand on his head. You can actually see his little fingers resting on his forehead as if he was scratching his head or something (so cute)! He continues to be very active and his heartbeat is still very strong.

We are counting the days and hoping that we'll make it through 34 weeks. I'm hoping by then the doctors can re-assess my condition and we can buy more time to make it through a couple more weeks.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Day 16

I'm now 30 weeks pregnant! woohoo!!!

Dr. Tan told us last Friday that they could release me from the hospital on Monday (yesterday) if I continued to respond well to bedrest over the weekend! My BP readings were steady all weekend long and below the preeclampsia range. However, there was still higher than normal traces of protein in my urine, but she felt comfortable enough to release me and continue the bedrest at home (with strict instructions of course).

So I'm now back at home as of yesterday evening! Tom is now officially my 24-hour nurse! I'm still on bedrest and only have bathroom privileges. :( But at least I get to be at home now! We still have to monitor and record my BP 4-6 times a day. If either or both my systolic and diastolic readings reach > 150/90 we have to call Dr. Tan immediately and I could be re-admitted to the hospital. We are also suppose to call Dr. Tan directly if other signs of preeclampsia symptoms arise like persistent headaches, blurry vision, swelling, epigastric pain or if I start to feel any contractions or start bleeding. From here on until I deliver the baby, I have 2 hospital appointments each week every Monday & Thursday for blood work and Non-Stress Test (NST) to monitor the baby's heartbeat and activity. On one of these appointments (every Monday), Dr. Tan will see me for an update on all the lab work and our BP recordings. I also have to do a weekly 24-hour urine collection that we (or actually Tom) will have to drop off to the hospital lab for analysis. This sounds tiring already, I know...but we'll get through it and everything will be ok!

When I got home last night, I realized that there is so much to do before the baby comes! We need to clean out the guest room (soon-to-be the baby's room), which currently stores a bunch of our junk and a lot of dust, but Tom assured me that he will take care of everything! In fact, he's starting to clean out the baby's room right now! He's been a real trooper!

Tom really has been super husband these days! He's my #1 nurse! He's been really patient with me too when I get cranky and hormonal specially since I've been on bedrest. One of our friends got married over the weekend (Tom was one of the groomsmen) and of course I missed the whole event, but he was super sweet and brought me back a wedding cupcake and told me all about the entire day!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Day 10: Marking down the days


I've been marking down the days in a calendar and I guess no news is good news! Christine's blood pressure has been steady and it reached as low as 106/65 which is normal according to the charts that I google when I hear a number that I'm not use to hearing :)

Since it was the 4th of July I treated Christine to an order of food she was craving. In-N-Out Cheeseburger animal style w/ Fries (We shared an order of fries so we wouldn't overeat). After we had our delicious In-N-Out meal at the hospital bed our doctor, Dr. Tan walked it. She caught us red handed w/ an empty In-n-Out bag on the bed table with the room smelling of hamburgers and fries. I felt so guilty for feeding her it w/ the doctor there but Dr. Tan didn't look twice and said that we do not have any food restrictions to make us feel better :) . Once in awhile is ok I guess. Christine's been craving Falafal Salad from the Falafal drive in but I keep reminding her that iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value. I've been craving Butter Chicken +Naan from Amber Indian restaurant but I've been resisting.

My mom has been making low salt organic vietnamese meals with vegetables that she grows in her garden so we really have been eating well. My mom and Dad drop visit every couple days and drop off bags of food for Christine. Today we had Goi Cuon(sp) ,Chicken Sticky Rice (Soi) and Greenbeans and shrimp with no salt. Earlier in the week she dropped off a jug of freshly homemade soy bean milk. It's really good and less sweeter than the Silk vanilla soy bean milk that the hospital has. I got Christine hooked on soy bean milk when I introduced her to Trader Joe's Chocolate Soy bean milk. I personally got hooked on soybean milk when I starving at the office late at night and I raided the company refrigerator. I saw someone's chocolate soy milk and drank a cup, then another and another. I guess I owe someone some Chocolate soy :) , Yes I will eat your food in the fridge if it is not properly labeled, " Do Not Touch".

Thank you everyone for the e-mails, flowers, teddybears, movies, books, magazines, snacks, candles, music, warm wishes, prayers and support. The days have been flying by and Christine has been doing extremely well.

Happy 4th of July!!

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Day 9

I'm now 29 weeks pregnant! Yeeyy! The doctor says I'm responding well to the bedrest and my BP has been stably low measuring in the 120s-130s/70s-80s. The baby continues to be very active and his heartbeat is still strong!

The nurses here in El Camino Hospital are taking very good care of us! They have a very good staff and the nurses are very thorough with all their duties! We are also getting to know Dr. Tan very well now. She sees me a couple times a day and sometimes during odd hours....just the other day she stopped by around 1am in the morning! She's crazy! She almost seems like she lives here! She's in the hospital early and is here late at night! The nurses all say good things about her and say she's a very good doctor! Thanks Debbie for recommending her to us! We definitely would recommend her to all of our friends and family! Here's a link to her website: www.obgyn-tan.com