Here is what not to do before an OB appointment when one is 38 weeks pregnant: Drink a cup of decaf coffee (after months of abstaining from any kind of near- or once-caffeinated beverage) without enough food. Wait too long to have lunch. Forget to drink water. Scarf down lunch right before leaving the house for the doctor's office. Feel buzzed from all of the above.
Because here is what happens: You get your blood pressure taken and suddenly realize that racing in your chest and head is going to register on the machine. It does. And all your explaining about it being an "off" day, the coffee, dehydration, etc. doesn't do a thing to convince your doctor that you're fine. So you get sent to the hospital where you have to pee in a cup (this is easier said than done with a gigantic bump blocking your view), get blood drawn, have a non-stress test (even though you've just had an ultrasound and the baby looked perfect) and wait for the test results. And although they're likely to be normal and you're likely to be sent home – as I was yesterday – it's all a big waste of time and an unnecessary anxiety-inducer.
They told me to drink 10-12 glasses of water per day, and now I'm going to listen.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
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4 comments:
Sometimes mine is elevated too, if I've rushed getting to the appointment.
I hate peeing in a cup! My OB just has little bitty plastic Dixie cups. Just, ugg!
I hate peeing in the cup too. My obs office has a FREEZING COLD bathroom and my whole body screams at the idea of dropping my pants.
But you are getting there! Closer and closer!
My OB's office is in this huge building with tons of doctors who each have tons of patients and this particular building has a parking lot the size of a postage stamp. Every week (in August and September no less) I would always have to park BLOCKS away and sprint to the office to get there on time. By the time I made it to the chair I was a sweaty, dizzed up mess. I always wondered what the nurse thought of me.
So sorry that you had to do all that frustrating stuff, it seems like it doesn't take a lot for everything to snowball when you are knocked up. I had a similar problem a week ago. Glad to know that you and baby are doing fine.
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