38 weeks!!!

This afternoon/evening was pretty eventful in our house!  I had my 38 week doctor's appointment at 3:45pm.  Usually I got first thing in the morning, but I had some meetings at work this morning so go the latest appointment I could for the afternoon.  Well it turns out going first thing in the morning is definitely better, we had to wait an hour to even see our doctor!  Well anyway the nurse weighed me (I only gained 1 pound!), checked Jack's heart rate (normal), then checked my blood pressure.  That's when the appointment really started to go downhill.  It was 160 something over 100 something.  Needless to say that was way too high, especially since I've never had high blood pressure readings at previous appointments.  Add that to the fact that my ankles and feet were pretty swollen and she was a bit concerned.  The doctor came in soon after and said while everything else looked fine, she couldn't just send us home and that we'd need to make our way to St. Luke's to have my blood pressure monitored.  We remained calm as she explained that they would run my bloodwork at the hospital and monitor my blood pressure for awhile and then call her with the results.  If it went down I could go home and just come back to see her next week, or they would keep me and induce labor since I was already 38 weeks along and there was no real reason to keep Jack in there.

So, we left the doctor's office and stopped at home to drop off my car, grab our hospital bag (just in case), and I took a quick shower because I just felt gross by that point.  At the hospital we got checked into the observation room and they began monitoring my blood pressure every 15 minutes.  The first couple readings were 140 something over 90 something, so already an improvement but not great.  The nurse put in an IV line to draw my blood.  She said she was doing it that way in case I needed to stay then she wouldn't need to stick me again, but mostly she said if she did that then likely I would get to go home (she was trying not to jinx me).  Well every blood pressure reading they took got lower and my blood pressure came back totally fine.  The nurse did ask if I could feel the contractions I was having.  I said well I'm glad to know what is because I definitely feel them.   They were coming about every 7 minutes and weren't too painful, just uncomfortable since I had to lay in the hospital bed the entire time.  The nurse said to keep an eye on them tonight to see if they get closer together, but that I probably just needed some water and dinner and they should stop.

I have to admit I was almost disappointed that it wasn't Jack's time to make his grand appearance, but I am happy that we'll likely have a little more time to "prepare."  I know we'll never be ready, but there are a few more things I'd like to get done next week.

38 week picture to be posted tomorrow, I'm sleepy now :)

Update:  And here is the picture from this week...