15 Weeks 4 Days (07/16/13)

On Friday I had a prenatal appointment with my doctor.  Once again I was a little annoyed with the fact that I had an appointment and they were putting walk in’s ahead of me.  I explained to Dr B that the OB won’t see me before 20 weeks without an additional note from him, and at this point they may or may not be able to fit me in.  So seeing things seemed to be going well, I had figured one more appointment of checking my pee, weight (Up about 2 pounds from last appointment) and blood pressure would be a quick in/out and seeing the OB can wait till next month.  Dr B almost forgot to take my blood pressure but when I reminded him he did.  At which point it was 160/110.  For people that don’t know, that is HIGH.  Last appointment I was about 128/85.  He had double checked and got the same number.  So he then said, come back and get blood work done tomorrow and see me Monday and we will check again, if it is still high, we can put you on medication to lower your blood pressure. 

Cue Saturday morning.  If you’re at all familiar with the Labs around Calgary, without an appointment you are waiting a long time, so I got there pretty early, around 9.  At 10:30 I get a call from Dr B.  He explained he was worried and would like me to go to emerge and have my BP taken again and if it is still high, they can deal with it as needed.  I explained to him I was still waiting for getting in to have my blood drawn but afterwards I would go to the Urgent Care center in the building I was in.  He instructed me to give him a call afterwards. 

By the time I got my blood drawn and down to Urgent Care, it was about 11:15; once again to wait some more.

After waiting in line to be seen by the nurse my BP was 144/90.  Better, but still a bit high.  The difference though, my doctor doesn’t have the extra large BP cuff, the one he used is just big enough to fit my arm.  On the same note that is the same one that he used and got the 125/85.  The nurse suggested I see someone at the center to make sure things are good.  So I was back to waiting.  First waiting to get my arm band, then waiting to get into the room in the back, then waiting to see the nurse to get my BP done again, 138/85, getting better after a lot of sitting, then waiting to see the doctor, then waiting to get the results of my blood work, then waiting to see the doctor again.  After all is said and down, the doctor said my resting BP was ok, and most of my blood work was normal, nothing to be worried about.  So I left at about 1:45.  It was a slight waste of the morning. 

On Monday I went to see Dr B again, and once again my BP was 160/110 and today I wasn’t upset about the travel or appointment etc.  Even after resting for a while, it was still the same.  I did ask him to check baby’s heart beat.  He brought in the Doppler and I was excited at the possibility of hearing the heart beat for the first time.  He gelled me up, got new batteries for the Doppler, and put it on, I heard nothing and my heart skipped a beat, but then he said the heart beat was 137.  He must have had the sound turned down/off.  But at least the baby’s heart beat is in a good range. 

So he prescribed something for the high BP and ordered a test on my thyroid levels, as that can cause issues with my BP, the doctor at Urgent Care also mentioned I should get that retested.  So in the end I’m hoping I just need to increase my synthroid to level off that, give me a bit more energy, and hopefully lower my BP.  The medication he put me on for BP is a level C for pregnancy, but is at a very low dose.  On the up side my Iron levels are good, so even though I have missed a little while on iron, and some prenatals, I’m not anemic.  I’m now trying yet another prenatal called Materna, recommended by my GI specialist.  Fingers crossed this one is better for my stomach.  

Of course this all happens while Deb is out of town travelling with her mom.  She was very worried for me, and I was kind of sad not to have her there with me.  Under her ordered I did almost nothing else for the weekend, and just sat and relaxed.  Now she is home, and won’t leave again during pregnancy.  We want to be together for all these ups and downs.