37+6

Tomorrow will be 38 weeks! It's been 8 days in the hospital, and I am so tired of being here. I am still hoping so desperately that I will go into labor naturally. I am having some pretty good Braxton Hicks; if we are lucky, they will turn into the real thing soon. I am having a hard time walking because the PUPPP has made my skin so blistered and hard in the places it needs to bend.

37+4 PUPPP

PUPPP

I developed PUPPP within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital. It started just on the tummy, but now it's all over my body. I think the worst part is the soles of my feet and between my fingers and toes.

Here are pictures from Monday.

Here are pictures from Wednesday night. You can see it's progressed very quickly.

Even now it's spread further around my neck and shoulders. It's also moved up the back of my neck under my hair.

37 +1

Today we are at 37 weeks, one day. I have been in the hospital over 3 days, and it's no fun. I am trying to stay rested in case we need to induce. Here's a picture of how big I am right now. I guess I didn't realize how big I was until I saw my own picture, wow. I still have a horrible rash on my tummy, and now I have some new rash showing up on my feet. Itchy and sitting in bed all day is starting to make me a little nuts.

And so it begins

Over the past couple of weeks I have been showing signs of pre-eclampsia, from severe swelling in my feet and lower legs to rising blood pressure measurements. This prompted our perinatalogist to have me complete a 24 hour urine study. We were contacted Friday late afternoon by our perinatalogist that I would need to admit myself to Banner Good Samaritan due to elevated protein levels in my 24 hour test. This means I tested positive for mild pre-eclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension.

We got to the hospital about 6:30pm totally unprepared for a long stay. I was moved to labor and delivery about 8pm. I was put on constant fetal monitoring with regular BP checks. After doing pretty well, it was decided to do another 24 hour urine test. This was started at 11am on Saturday. Sunday morning just after midnight, we were moved to a smaller room to wait out the 24 hour test. I finally got the results at about 5pm on Sunday. The protein level was up from 330 to 465, so we are most likely going to meet Leo in the next few days. My BP will be monitored regularly. If it's over 140/90, we may have to start the induction.

I am extremely disappointed that we are heading down this path. We were really intent on going into labor on our own at 40 or more weeks. We need our baby to be as big as possible for his first procedure, the Norwood. However, at this point I am working on accepting what is happening.