Baby Countdown

We are in the final days before baby Brayden arrives, and boy is he making us work for him. Here's how our past week has gone down.

Last Thursday I went to my weekly Dr.'s checkup and was told for the second week in a row the protein levels in my urine test were too high, meaning I had preeclampsia. My doctor told me I had to do a 24 hour test and see her again on Monday to decide if they would induce labor. I also found out that day my base id was expiring in two weeks time.

Friday morning Joe met me to get my new base id card. Over two hours later I was on my way home and talking to a friend about how stressed I was feeling with so much left to get ready for and Joe leaving later that night for Ohio. Considering we had nothing ready for the baby other than I had bought some clothes and Joe had pulled out some of Annika's baby stuff from the storage area of the basement, I was panicking--*Note, none of the clothes were washed and none of the baby items had been brought upstairs or assembled. My friend came over and brought a babysitter with her for Annika, big thanks to Kim, and then we went shopping for diapers and some other baby essentials I hadn't gotten around to picking up. A couple hours later I felt better about being ready. I watched a friends son that night and took Joe to the airport and planned on picking him up on Monday morning.

Saturday morning I wasn't sure if my water broke. I called Joe at 5:00 am and let him know. He told me to go to the hospital. Once again, I had to rely on my friend to help me out. She came over within minutes and stayed with Annika---Thanks again Kim!!! I went to the hospital and they said my water hadn't broke, but I was in preterm labor and it could turn into active labor anytime from that day to two weeks away. Great. So Joe got a ticket to come home that afternoon in case the baby decided to come that day. We had a pretty good snow storm that afternoon and I was sure Joe's flight would get delayed, I'd go into full blown labor, and he'd miss the birth. Joe made it to the airport, took the light rail to the closest station by our house, and then walked the rest of the way home; almost a mile. Poor guy. I felt bad Joe only got to eat breakfast with Austin before leaving Ohio, and then walk home from the station in the snow, but right away my anxiety disappeared and I started feeling a lot better.

On Sunday church was canceled in the morning because of the snow, and we were scheduled to just have sacrament meeting in the afternoon. We used the morning to wash baby clothes and get things better ready. By the time the afternoon came I was too tired both emotionally and physically to make it to church.

Monday morning Joe leaves for work and my Doctor calls me at home and says I need to go to the hospital right away and be induced for labor. My tests I had over the weekend showed my protein levels were almost double the level of what they recommend for labor to be induced. Although I have no other symptoms of preeclamsia, apparently things can change quickly and I needed to be induced. Of course I couldn't reach Joe at work. I called some friends to arrange care for Annika over the next 24 hours. I still needed to pack my bag, but at least I had everything set aside from our preparations the day before.

Joe finally got my message, came home, and we made it to the hospital a little after noon. Our friend met us there to take Annika for the night. Thanks Kara! They admitted me and started giving me pitocin. The doctor on duty that day expected Brayden to be born later that night.

Tuesday, still no Brayden, but more pitocin and sitting around waiting. Joe went home to get some rest, pick up Annika and take her to another friends house, and let the dogs out.

Wednesday, just past midnight in the morning, another round of pitocin. By noon Wednesday I was no further along in having Brayden then I was when I first arrived on Monday. They decided to give my body a break, let me go home and get some rest, and come back Friday. Because we are expecting a blizzard starting Friday afternoon, I didn't feel good leaving Annika with someone without us being able to easily get to her. They decided to schedule me Friday for some monitoring, and on Monday morning for another induction. Tuesday is my due date, so hopefully I will be more ready this Monday and things wont take so long. I'd rather have no intervention with my labor, but I appreciate that my Doctor is keeping a very close eye on me and my health. She also does not want me to have a c-section and is being very conservative in her treatment so as to avoid one.

Joe and Annika picked me up from the hospital around noon. Annika had a full blown allergy attack. I thought she may have had the flu, but she has no fever. The poor girl has puffy and watery eyes, runny nose, and bad postnasal drip leading to a lot of coughing. We have been giving her allergy medication the past 24 hours and she seems to be feeling better. I kept wanting to make her feel better yesterday and tried to hold her, give her juice, a bath, all the things she might enjoy, but she didn't want anything to do with me. She was mad at me for abandoning her all week and cried for 2 hours straight for her dad. I finally called him and said he had to come home and take her to the doctors. The fact that she wouldn't let me touch her was causing me concern. When he got home she immediately stopped crying and snuggled up to him. Joe spent time with her everyday when I was in the hospital, so I guess he's not in the doghouse for abandoning her like I am. We called the doctor and spoke with the nurse. She said there is nothing the doctor can do because it sounds like allergies, so to give her allergy medication and take her to the doctors within the next few weeks for an allergy test.

Today I'm hoping for a calm day. Annika's eyes are already less puffy and her nose is not running nearly as much. I don't know what she could be allergic to, but it does seem like it probably was allergies. Hopefully this weekend will go smoothly and we can relax before Monday. If next week is anything like this week, I'm letting Joe have our next baby.