36w4d: Six Days to Go

Yesterday was another interesting appointment at the peri’s office. The thought of spending another weekend feeling so uncomfortable in my own body was making me want to cry, so I asked the NP if there was any wiggle room to move up our c-section date to Friday, which their office calculates as 37 weeks. I figured the worst they could do is say no, and I did not believe a couple of days would be detrimental to the babies. (Later I learned that the doctors typically deliver twins in the 38th week, and they are a little concerned about lung maturity. I’m not sure why they are cutting me a break and delivering at 37.5 weeks, but I hope it isn’t disadvantageous to the babies.) The NP didn’t say no to my request but instead asked me a lot of questions about symptoms I’m having related to pre-eclampsia: swelling in legs/feet (check), headache (check, but I think this is mostly b/c of sleep deprivation), heartburn (check), etc. Then I went for diagnostic testing.

First blood pressure check: 137/96. Yikes. I gained not even quite a pound since last week, putting me up 34.9 lbs at this point. The NST went perfectly–both babies were completely wild, requiring the tech to move the monitors around my belly to keep up with their insane somersaulting. It’s almost as if they know they’re in the spotlight during these tests and decide to show off. Second blood pressure check: 132/90. At this point, I confided in the tech that I am SO ready to meet these babies and start the next phase, and she pretty much put herself on a mission to keep my blood pressure on the high side in the hopes that a high BP would lead to an earlier delivery. She had me just barely turn on my left side, thinking my BP would be less likely to respond if I wasn’t completely turned on my side. Third BP check: 130/83. Still a little high, but not even worth showing to the peri. I think the tech was a little disappointed that her efforts were in vain. And with that, I was free to leave the room and provide my lovely urine sample.

The protein-in-your-pee test takes only 65 seconds to get results, so my nurse tested it right then and there. Since last Tuesday, I’ve gone from traces of protein in my urine to one step up from that, so we were sent to the lab for bloodwork. The plan was that if anything in my bloodwork looked bad, they would deliver at the end of the week. If not, we would stick with our original date of next Tuesday. My blood wasn’t even drawn until 4:30 p.m., so we had to wait until this morning to learn the results.

My labs came back “stone cold normal,” according to the NP, so we are still on for next Tuesday. Six more days. I will make it and with a minimum amount of complaining. After all, I am so fortunate to have been able to carry these babies this long and will be carrying them into their 37th week of life. I’ve grown two tiny humans who are estimated to be the size of a singleton newborn, and there is no greater advantage for a baby at birth than having size and lung maturity on their side.

I am continually amazed at the way my body has handled pregnancy. Yes, I may have thrown up on a weekly basis for the past 36.5 weeks, but my superwoman body protected two babies flawlessly while I fell in the shower and broke three bones. My body took care of them while I was having knee surgery on May 28 and helped them to thrive during the long weeks of my recovery. So to complain about my body now seems rather selfish. It has done all of the hard work since January and has provided a sanctuary for these babies during a rather rough last four months. Who cares about a few aches and pains? These next six days will fly by, I’m sure, and then it will be time to meet our girls!