Salinye Posted August 10, 2005 Report Posted August 10, 2005 **This piece will be ongoing for a while until I get all I want into it.** July 26, 2005 Low blood pressure. I have always, ALWAYS had very low blood pressure. I’m the woman who even in the middle of delivering a child has such low blood pressure that the nurses will often come into the room and say, “I can’t believe your blood pressure is THAT low right now!” I’m commonly in the 90’s over 60’s range when not pregnant and even sometimes when pregnant. It may rise slightly during pregnancy, but not by much. So, you can imagine my surprise when I went to the midwives today and discovered that my blood pressure had suddenly jumped up to 125/ 90. The bottom number of 90 is the first number indicating Pre-eclampsia. (Formerly known as Toxemia.) You never want to see the bottom number of a pregnant woman’s blood pressure hit higher than 89. Once it reaches 90 they have to start being concerned about Pre-Eclampsia. The thing about this condition is that it’s really more of a first time mom’s disease. For it to present in a 5th time mom, especially one who has such unusually low blood pressure, is very odd. So, the midwives decided to draw some blood to check my creatin levels. (Now I have no idea how to spell Creatin, so you’ve been warned.) It’s basically a count that tells you how well your kidneys are working. The danger of Pre-Eclampsia is that it can cause your kidneys to shut down as well as a long list of other terrible things. My biggest concern when I learned that I might have this condition was that I didn’t want to have to deliver in the hospital. I had spent a lot of time over the last year planning this birth and I have been very excited to deliver at the birthing center with midwives rather than at the hospital. I am especially excited to have a water birth. My husband and I have done a lot of research and study into the subject and have decided that is definitely the way we want to go this time around. The midwives explained that they could still deliver me here at the birthing center as long as the condition was minor. She said she would call me this evening when the blood results came in. In the meantime, she did an exam on me and told me that I was already 3cm dilated, 75% effaced and my baby was at –2 station. This was all very good news. I am almost 39 weeks along (just over a week away from my due date) and my body seems really on the verge of going into labor on it’s own any time. They swept my membranes to try to encourage the process and sent me home. On the way home I made a few phone calls, I was still quite in shock that any of this had occurred. It’s now 9:00pm and I just got off the phone with one of my midwives, Tracy. She said my creatin levels are indeed at a .8. She said in the hospital with a .8 they would put me on bed rest for a couple of days and watch the condition, and if it were a .9 they would induce me immediately. She thought that most likely within a week I would be fully pre-eclamptic, which can be dangerous. So she gave me the option to watch and induce within a couple of days or to induce the next morning. I thought about it and told her I would rather not wait a few days because I wouldn’t want to be in the situation where the condition fully set in putting my baby and I in danger, not to mention setting us up for a really crappy birthing experience. I also thought that if we were going to induce right away I’d rather just do it that night instead of waiting until the morning because I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep knowing I’d be induced the next morning. So she agreed and told me to meet her at the birthing center at 10:00pm tonight! I’m so full of mixed emotions. I’m excited because I know I’ll be holding my baby by tomorrow morning. I’m nervous because being induced is a little bit scary. When a woman’s body is already showing signs of going into labor, sometimes being induced can make hard contractions come on really quickly without much time to mentally prepare to handle them. Also, the reality is sinking in. The birthing center has NO pain medication. There is no backing out of the decision of natural childbirth once you get there. Could I handle it? Could I do it? I coach women all the time through labor and delivery. So often I am told “I could never EVER have done that without my doula, Shelby.” I am just about as educated as a person could be on the subject and have devoted so much time to preparing myself physically, emotionally and mentally. However, now that the moment is here I find myself just a little bit worried. This is still the birth I want, hands down, but I’m suddenly feeling a little bit afraid. My husband is my hero, as always. He takes the time to gather me up in his arms and remind me how strong he believes I am. Tells me how much he supports any decision I wish to make regarding this birth and that he’ll be with me all the way. I know he’ll never leave my side. It’s always in these last few moments before I know I’m about to have a baby that reflection hits me. I realize these are some of the last times I’ll have this precious baby inside of me. The last time I’ll feel her movements and hiccups. As exciting as giving birth to a child is, there is a short time before birth that I try to absorb the amazing miracle of pregnancy and how blessed I am to have the opportunity to carry this child with me. After gathering all of our things together, we loaded the car and gathered all of our children together in the dining room. Kerry’s mother and brother have been living with us since March while their house is being built, so they were there as well and would be staying with the children. We took the time to hug and kiss each child and tell them we love them, and then we had a prayer. My husband said the prayer. He asked for both the baby and myself to be blessed through the labor and delivery. He also asked that the children and grandma would be kept safe while we were away. Everyone was excited to meet this new baby. My oldest daughter, Emma, was especially excited as she was going to attend the birth with us. I remember looking back at the house as we pulled out of the driveway. Everyone had gathered on the steps and was waving and blowing us kisses. I knew a wonderful thing was about to happen and wondered how it would change our sweet family.
Recommended Posts