My daily visit to Kroger

(Leslie) wrote in message ...
My BP was all in the 150s on top this time, highest 159, lowest 150. The
bottom number was 90 one time, the 80s the other three. Of course, I was
actively shopping (l just spent $400--ACK!!) trying to stock up on things the
helpless people in my house can cook for themselves. Yes, I AM going to go lie
back down now!

The swelling has actually not been quite as bad today.

My OB's office called back and said they'd like to see me on Thursday instead
of Friday. I already have to come in Thursday at 8 am for a biophysical
profile (what is that anyway, besides an ultrasound?) but my doctor will be in
surgery until the afternoon. So I asked if I could just have my BP taken then,
and my urine checked for protein, and then just keep my appt on Friday if
everything is okay, and they agreed to that.

standard "not a doctor" disclaimer

Swelling isn't considered an indicator any longer, because it is so
very very common in late-term pregnant women. It's now just
considered annoying and uncomfortable. DH said I looked like the
Pillsbury DoughWife. I remember being absolutely delighted when I
could put my jeans on again -- and now I look at my ankles and have to
remind myself that there was a three week period there (all of it
after delivery) where I literally couldn't fit my ankles through the
bottom of my jeans. I put on 29 pounds of water between my last
midwife appointment and the first time they weighed me after delivery
so I'd say swelling was certainly correlated in my case, but hey.

As I understand it biophysical profiles are primarily a standardized
way to measure placental function by measuring indicators of fetal
hypoxia, although IIRC hypoxia is the least likely thing to be causing
any one of the given scored values to be skewed. DS's BPP came back
10/10 on admission and 4/10 after 48 hours on bedrest and drugs in the
hospital and the best guess of the perinatologists I spoke with was
that it hadn't actually been because the placenta was in the process
of abrupting (because it wasn't, though it *was* abnormally small and
highly oxidized) but because DS really, really didn't like the
labetelol and the mag sulfate.

They'll measure muscle tone, breathing movements, gross muscle
movement, fetal heart rate, and, I think, how much amniotic fluid is
around the baby. (They stop urinating as much when they're hypoxic,
for whatever reason.)

Pulling for your protein to come back normal and for Lorelei to come
Real Soon Now, because her Mama is just DONE doing this,

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

A biophysical profile is just an in-depth ultrasound. It may or may not
include a NST (mine have not, so far). It's not as interesting as
ultrasounds earlier because you don't see much which is distinguishable as a
baby. What they're looking for is fluid volume, oxygen flow in the umbilical
cord, cord position (may not be part of the BPP, but the sonographers always
look at it), fetal movements, reactivity, practice breathing, etc. They can
be quite quick-some of the websites say as much as 3 hours, but I've had
some which were over and done in about 15 minutes. Sometimes this is done
with a structural U/S as well-about every other one I have, to get an
estimate of weight and developmental age.

So far, with just hypertension, this baby has been doing great!

wrote in message
m...
(Leslie) wrote in message
...
My BP was all in the 150s on top this time, highest 159, lowest 150.
The
bottom number was 90 one time, the 80s the other three. Of course, I
was
actively shopping (l just spent $400--ACK!!) trying to stock up on
things the
helpless people in my house can cook for themselves. Yes, I AM going to
go lie
back down now!

The swelling has actually not been quite as bad today.

My OB's office called back and said they'd like to see me on Thursday
instead
of Friday. I already have to come in Thursday at 8 am for a biophysical
profile (what is that anyway, besides an ultrasound?) but my doctor
will be in
surgery until the afternoon. So I asked if I could just have my BP
taken then,
and my urine checked for protein, and then just keep my appt on Friday
if
everything is okay, and they agreed to that.

standard "not a doctor" disclaimer

Swelling isn't considered an indicator any longer, because it is so
very very common in late-term pregnant women. It's now just
considered annoying and uncomfortable. DH said I looked like the
Pillsbury DoughWife. I remember being absolutely delighted when I
could put my jeans on again -- and now I look at my ankles and have to
remind myself that there was a three week period there (all of it
after delivery) where I literally couldn't fit my ankles through the
bottom of my jeans. I put on 29 pounds of water between my last
midwife appointment and the first time they weighed me after delivery
so I'd say swelling was certainly correlated in my case, but hey.

As I understand it biophysical profiles are primarily a standardized
way to measure placental function by measuring indicators of fetal
hypoxia, although IIRC hypoxia is the least likely thing to be causing
any one of the given scored values to be skewed. DS's BPP came back
10/10 on admission and 4/10 after 48 hours on bedrest and drugs in the
hospital and the best guess of the perinatologists I spoke with was
that it hadn't actually been because the placenta was in the process
of abrupting (because it wasn't, though it *was* abnormally small and
highly oxidized) but because DS really, really didn't like the
labetelol and the mag sulfate.

They'll measure muscle tone, breathing movements, gross muscle
movement, fetal heart rate, and, I think, how much amniotic fluid is
around the baby. (They stop urinating as much when they're hypoxic,
for whatever reason.)

Pulling for your protein to come back normal and for Lorelei to come
Real Soon Now, because her Mama is just DONE doing this,

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

Leslie wrote:
Larry said:
Oh, one more commnet on the title of this post. Buy your
own BP machine.

How much do they cost? I had thought of renting one, but it's only
a few more days.

I think I paid $29.95 for mine.
--
Be well, Barbara
Mom to Sin (Vernon, 2), Misery (Aurora, 5), and the Rising Son (Julian, 7)

There is no joy in Mudville...

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

Thanks for the info, Donna.


Leslie

Emily (2/4/91)
Jake (1/27/94)
Teddy (2/15/95)
William (3/5/01 -- VBA3C, 13 lbs. 5 oz.)
and Lorelei, expected 11/2/04

"Children come trailing clouds of glory from God, which is their home."
~ William Wordsworth

I think my BP would be high after a $400 shopping trip


I had the sense to take it BEFORE we rang the groceries up!


Leslie

Emily (2/4/91)
Jake (1/27/94)
Teddy (2/15/95)
William (3/5/01 -- VBA3C, 13 lbs. 5 oz.)
and Lorelei, expected 11/2/04

"Children come trailing clouds of glory from God, which is their home."
~ William Wordsworth

C said:

Swelling isn't considered an indicator any longer, because it is so
very very common in late-term pregnant women. It's now just
considered annoying and uncomfortable. DH said I looked like the
Pillsbury DoughWife. I remember being absolutely delighted when I
could put my jeans on again -- and now I look at my ankles and have to
remind myself that there was a three week period there (all of it
after delivery) where I literally couldn't fit my ankles through the
bottom of my jeans. I put on 29 pounds of water between my last
midwife appointment and the first time they weighed me after delivery
so I'd say swelling was certainly correlated in my case, but hey.

Wow. I know that swelling doesn't mean anything necessarily--the way I looked
in my first pregnancy proves that! I was swollen the entire time (from like 4
months) even though my BP stayed at 100/70 all the time! The reason I was
concerned this time is because of the sudden onset and because my face looked
swollen, just like what happened last time.



As I understand it biophysical profiles are primarily a standardized
way to measure placental function by measuring indicators of fetal
hypoxia, although IIRC hypoxia is the least likely thing to be causing
any one of the given scored values to be skewed. DS's BPP came back
10/10 on admission and 4/10 after 48 hours on bedrest and drugs in the
hospital and the best guess of the perinatologists I spoke with was
that it hadn't actually been because the placenta was in the process
of abrupting (because it wasn't, though it *was* abnormally small and
highly oxidized) but because DS really, really didn't like the
labetelol and the mag sulfate.

They'll measure muscle tone, breathing movements, gross muscle
movement, fetal heart rate, and, I think, how much amniotic fluid is
around the baby. (They stop urinating as much when they're hypoxic,
for whatever reason.)

So it's just something they do at the end of a pregnancy to try to justify
inducing or not?


Pulling for your protein to come back normal and for Lorelei to come
Real Soon Now, because her Mama is just DONE doing this,

You've got that right! Thanks. :-)


Leslie

Emily (2/4/91)
Jake (1/27/94)
Teddy (2/15/95)
William (3/5/01 -- VBA3C, 13 lbs. 5 oz.)
and Lorelei, expected 11/2/04

"Children come trailing clouds of glory from God, which is their home."
~ William Wordsworth

(Leslie) wrote in message ...
C said:

As I understand it biophysical profiles are primarily a standardized
way to measure placental function by measuring indicators of fetal
hypoxia...

snip

They'll measure muscle tone, breathing movements, gross muscle
movement, fetal heart rate, and, I think, how much amniotic fluid is
around the baby. (They stop urinating as much when they're hypoxic,
for whatever reason.)

So it's just something they do at the end of a pregnancy to try to justify
inducing or not?

Not necessarily; though I have no doubt that there are unnecessary
inductions beibg performed right and left nowadays, a bad BPP is
tightly correlated with a bad blood flow to the fetus and the test
itself has a low false-negative rate. You hear it described as
"measuring placental sufficiency." The variables they measure are
ones where if there's not enough oxygen to the brain, you see
autonomic system changes because of blood acidosis.

I saw a chart once (don't remember where, though I probably have it in
my bookmarks and I'll look for it if you like) where they broke down
what sort of action was recommended based on the different variables
of the score. DS's 4/10 was "if 26 weeks, deliver." So not
necessarily the end of pregnancy, especially not in some specific high
risk pregnancies where you're having routine BPPs.

I was pretty annoyed by the whole thing because I was planning a
homebirth; I had no ultrasounds until admission. Pre-eclampsia was
just about the only situation where I was willing to transfer care.
That second BPP made me question it, because on admission DS's BPP had
been 10/10, so I figured he was getting plenty of blood across the
placenta, and then after I put myself into their hands, things started
going haywire. Then my 24 hour catch results came back and I quit
second-guessing myself... even *if* it was the pre-e meds that were
causing the problem, there was no way I was going to make it for 6-8
more weeks with kidney failure.

Pulling for your protein to come back normal and for Lorelei to come
Real Soon Now, because her Mama is just DONE doing this,

You've got that right! Thanks. :-)

Hang in there!

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

C said:

Not necessarily; though I have no doubt that there are unnecessary
inductions beibg performed right and left nowadays, a bad BPP is
tightly correlated with a bad blood flow to the fetus and the test
itself has a low false-negative rate. You hear it described as
"measuring placental sufficiency." The variables they measure are
ones where if there's not enough oxygen to the brain, you see
autonomic system changes because of blood acidosis.

Oh, I see. That's good to know. I'm glad I had it in that case because as of
now there is no legitimate reason to argue for induction.


I saw a chart once (don't remember where, though I probably have it in
my bookmarks and I'll look for it if you like) where they broke down
what sort of action was recommended based on the different variables
of the score. DS's 4/10 was "if 26 weeks, deliver." So not
necessarily the end of pregnancy, especially not in some specific high
risk pregnancies where you're having routine BPPs.

I was pretty annoyed by the whole thing because I was planning a
homebirth; I had no ultrasounds until admission. Pre-eclampsia was
just about the only situation where I was willing to transfer care.
That second BPP made me question it, because on admission DS's BPP had
been 10/10, so I figured he was getting plenty of blood across the
placenta, and then after I put myself into their hands, things started
going haywire. Then my 24 hour catch results came back and I quit
second-guessing myself... even *if* it was the pre-e meds that were
causing the problem, there was no way I was going to make it for 6-8
more weeks with kidney failure.

Your whole situation sounds so scary. I hope it turns out to be a one-time
thing for you!

Leslie

Emily (2/4/91)
Jake (1/27/94)
Teddy (2/15/95)
William (3/5/01 -- VBA3C, 13 lbs. 5 oz.)
and Lorelei, expected 11/2/04

"Children come trailing clouds of glory from God, which is their home."
~ William Wordsworth

(Leslie) wrote in message ...
C said:

Oh, I see. That's good to know. I'm glad I had it in that case because as of
now there is no legitimate reason to argue for induction.

Yeah; I think it's probably one of the best ways to support watchful
waiting as a protocol in a situation like yours. They get to do
something, which makes them less antsy, and you get confirmation that
you're not crazy and the baby is still moving just fine. Kick counts
work just fine most of the time but then they don't get to do
anything...

Your whole situation sounds so scary. I hope it turns out to be a one-time
thing for you!

Me too, believe me -- or at least that it happens a few weeks later
and the baby doesn't have to go to NICU, which would drastically
improve things. I was somewhere beyond terrified at the time. I have
been informed that I knew too much and I wouldn't have been so scared
if I had been blissfully ignorant, but that's just not my style. :-)
I probably am scaring some people here by posting about it when
realistically the odds of something like that happening to any other
individual posting here are really quite low. Severe pre-e at 33
weeks gestation is not a common outcome.

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

C said:

Yeah; I think it's probably one of the best ways to support watchful
waiting as a protocol in a situation like yours. They get to do
something, which makes them less antsy, and you get confirmation that
you're not crazy and the baby is still moving just fine. Kick counts
work just fine most of the time but then they don't get to do
anything...

Of course, I was thinking along those same lines that we could do another one
next week and thus continue to wait for natural labor, but now my OBs attitude
is, "Well, see, everything is fine right now, so shouldn't we induce before
things have a chance to not be fine?"



Your whole situation sounds so scary. I hope it turns out to be a one-time
thing for you!

Me too, believe me -- or at least that it happens a few weeks later
and the baby doesn't have to go to NICU, which would drastically
improve things.

I'm sure!

I was somewhere beyond terrified at the time. I have
been informed that I knew too much and I wouldn't have been so scared
if I had been blissfully ignorant, but that's just not my style. :-)

No, I totally think it is better to understand what is going on. For me, when
I was readmitted to the hospital after William was born, I think I would have
handled all the tests better if someone would have explained exactly what they
were so concerned about.


I probably am scaring some people here by posting about it when
realistically the odds of something like that happening to any other
individual posting here are really quite low. Severe pre-e at 33
weeks gestation is not a common outcome.

And that's good to know. But I think it's important to raise awareness here
about everything that can happen.


Leslie

Emily (2/4/91)
Jake (1/27/94)
Teddy (2/15/95)
William (3/5/01 -- VBA3C, 13 lbs. 5 oz.)
and Lorelei, expected 11/2/04

"Children come trailing clouds of glory from God, which is their home."
~ William Wordsworth