Still Kickin'

I just wanted to update anyone who is interested because I know many people have been praying for me! I had my second visit of the week to my midwives this morning and was feeling anxious all of last evening and this morning about how this visit was going to go. I don't know why, other than that I had one pretty high blood pressure reading last night, but it immediately went back down as soon as I was laying down and stayed down after sitting up again - my usual pattern. I don't know exactly what I was worried about with this visit, but am thanking the Lord right now because I felt better when leaving than I have for a while - they took my BP after I had been laying down (rather than immediately on coming into the room) and it looked good - my "normal" is still in the high-normals, but it wasn't in the dangerous zone above 140/90, which it sometimes is.

So they feel that my resting is keeping it under control, especially because I have no other symptoms of high BP - no headaches, no visual disturbances, no pain in my side, etc. My kidneys are clearly working based on the bloodwork and urine analyses they do every visit (or every other visit for the bloodwork, really), and we're having great fetal movements accompanied by "beautiful" fetal heart accelerations. So I am so thankful today. The other happy news is that she is engaged in a head down position (she's been head down but not engaged for the past number of weeks).

I am also thankful that they proactively scheduled a visit for me with the midwife on call over the weekend to go in and have my BP checked and another non-stress test (where they hook you up to the machine and track the baby's heart rate for 20 minutes or so, just to make sure it all looks good). I know it seems like it should maybe annoy me to have to go back in, but I think it is helping my state of mind to know I won't have to wait over the weekend to make sure everything is still looking good. Since it had been four days since I last went in, I found myself all day yesterday obsessively checking for sudden swelling, paranoid about the possibility of "seeing stars" and other nonsense that I have never experienced with either pregnancy and high blood pressure.

But since my BP has been pretty decent all week with all this bed rest, I tried to let all of that go and just rest in the promises that God is caring for me and this precious little one, who is sometimes painfully active! I am amazed at her clear wake-sleep cycles, being really active in the morning, afternoon, and late evening, and her long periods of sleep. It is making it all seem so much more real - a real baby with real patterns and a real personality will be joining us soon!

My little Lyddie girl is being such a trooper! Kids adapt so well and we are trying to keep things as stable as we can. She's been a little clingy today, but I have enjoyed the fact that she has wanted to snuggle and read books together with me since lately she's so BUSY that she is roaming the house and dragging toys everywhere. I think we both miss the special mommy-Lyddie time that I usually try to have with her doing things like play-doh or other fun, and I am struggling with disappointment and I get a little weepy because I was hoping this month would be full of that and instead I have been on my side. But just because it was my hope and plan doesn't mean it was the Lord's, and He knows best; I think this time being "down" has driven me to focus more thought and energy on the baby who's coming and really anticipate meeting her. It would have come into place if I wasn't on rest too, but hey - I'm trying to see the sunny side in this situation! But Lyddie's sweetness, even amidst her sudden rash of toddler behavior (she is definitely showing us her strong little will these days!!) is a big sunny-side and she continues to be a delight and joy to me. I am eager for our "new normal" to start with Baby "Melia" and am praying still that my body would kick-start itself into labor one of these days soon, but trying to be realistic about going up to my due date. It just really is so up in the air, especially with my blood pressure ordeal!

So there you have it... 37 1/2 weeks and still kickin. Amelia is, that is. I'm still... lounging.