Frustration...

So....Kyle and I go to the appointment on Monday to have a repeat ultrasound due to the new doctor not being able to see all of Sydney's parts (because of her being Franks breech and anterior placenta). I made sure that this appointment was with my OB that I've been seeing for most of my pregnancy. Upon arrival, I was taken back into the room (after the dreadful weigh-in) and the nurse drew my blood pressure. She used the smallest cuff, which could have been confused with a pediatric blood pressure cuff. Of course, my blood pressure read high (150/90). She deflated the cuff and did it again - in the same arm just seconds after the cuff deflated. Of course, it read high again (140 something/80 something). I informed her that I need a big cuff due to my arm circumference and perturbed by my mention, she went to search for a big cuff. She comes back into the room, not with a big cuff, but with another small cuff...but in a different color. She placed the cuff on the SAME ARM that she drew the previous two blood pressures in just second prior. Again, high....lower, but high. Geez. I'm no nurse, however, I've been trained enough to know that you never take the pressure in the same arm twice unless adequate time has lapsed between readings. ALSO, when someone has a large arm circumference, using the wrong sized cuff will give you falsely elevated readings.

So, my wonderful doctor walks in the door. She tells us that she doesn't feel that the repeat ultrasound is necessary due to us being seen at the perinatologist's office and she has a report to show that Sydney "has all of her parts". We were a little relieved, although I was looking forward to seeing her on the ultrasound again. The doctor measures my belly and we discuss options if Sydney decides to stay breech until the end. We have the option to do a version (turning the baby from the outside, which I heard wasn't a pleasant experience) in hopes that we are the 50% of the population that it works for or going for a c-section at 39 or so weeks. We have some time before we have to make that decision and we hope that Sydney just makes that decision for us.

Then, we began discussing my blood pressure. She was really concerned considering it has been hovering around 120/60-70. She requested that we go to labor and delivery at the hospital to "try to get my pressure down". Because I was so worried that something may actually be wrong and I wasn't thinking with a totally clear mind, I agreed. I never even mentioned to her the cuff size or anything because I was a little worried and not thinking clearly. So, Kyle and I went to Chandler Regional (not the hospital that we plan to deliver at) because they are capable of delivering and housing babies at 32 weeks. My doctor scared the be-Jesus out of me stating that if they can't get my pressure down, they would have to deliver the baby. I was out of my wits at this point.

We get to L&D at the hospital, check in, and finally I'm brought back to their mini-triage area. My doctor had already called them to let them know to anticipate my arrival. The really nice, and obviously well-trained nurse, sat me down in the chair and hooked me up to the monitors and it began tracking the baby's heartrate and my blood pressure and heartrate. I didn't even have to tell the nurse that I require large cuffs, as she was replacing the small one with the large cuff before I could say a word. The first reading was 134/80....not too bad considering I was thinking that Sydney's birthday would be sooner than we thought. I was brought back to the regular triage area, where I was hooked up by a different nurse who also replaced the small cuff with the large cuff before I could say anything. I start to feel better immediately.

Kyle and I spent 2 or more hours at the hospital. After monitoring the baby, me, labs, urinalysis, we were sent home. Every 15 minutes, my blood pressures read in the 120s/60s. The urinalysis showed no protein in my urine as well. Baby's heartrate was good and she was trying her best to get the monitor off of her (aka my belly).

Kyle was really upset about the entire situation. I don't blame my doctor as she was only doing her job in ensuring that Sydney and I were okay. I do blame myself for not standing up and mentioning that the nurse could have been an airhead. Oh well, it was a learning experience and I'm sure that I won't let it happen again.

Oh, and because of all of this, I have do a 24 hour urine collection which I'm doing today to be sure that there isn't any abundance of protein in my urine (which could be a sign of preeclampsia). I'm not too thrilled about this, but I'm willing to do anything to prove/disprove that something may/may not be wrong. UGH!

Yay for learning experiences!!!

Love,
K&K&Syd