Week 35 Milestones

Week 35 is here!

Years ago, I was on a development team where, besides working on our daily coding, we took many coffee breaks and played all sorts of games. One such game was to a 20-questions guessing game where each clue would begin "In Jeffrey's world ". Here is a little look into my world of Week 35.

So why is this week so important? Because, the kid's chances for a healthy birth just went to 99%. It's only two nines, but in my world that makes the cut. Although the baby has been in the safe zone for a couple weeks, now we have arrived in Jeffrey's Safe Zone.

Also, in my world there has existed a fear that one day I would send Kiersten off to work only to receive a call later in the day that she went into a labor. Of course, in my world I would frantically attempt to get to the hospital in some sort of Nine Months-esque comedy of errors. While this is very amusing to ponder, this past Monday saw my premonition come half-true.

As part of my normal, haphazard routine, I slept through Kiersten's departure for work. I went about my normal day, more coding and coffee. Kiersten has been battling swelling in her feet and had gained about five pounds over two days. A call to her doctor seemed prudent. The doc was concerned, ordered tests, and Kiersten's coworkers took care of drawing blood and such. Now, you might think it is mighty convenient to have all those nurses around in this situation, but Kiersten soon found herself whisked off to a room, hooked up to monitors, and transformed into the patient.

Cue the phone call... Kiersten gives me a call, she's ok...getting tests...blood pressure is up...having minor contractions! Ok, so it was not The Phone Call I feared, but it was close enough that I will claim that the prophecy criteria have been met in this case. Kiersten rested, meditated, and called me with more updates as the day went on. Her tests came back with normal results, her blood pressure was slowly coming down, and the baby checked out healthy and strong. The possibility remained that Kiersten would have to stay overnight if her BP did not return to normal while resting. Fortunately, some quiet time and meditation did lower her BP and I was able to pick her up at the end of her shift.

Now, what happened? Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), or gestational hypertension. You may have heard of or be familiar with pre-eclampsia. This is not what Kiersten has. I have not included a site on PIH because most sites seem to equate PIH and pre-eclampsia which, as I understand, is incorrect. The symptoms Kiersten has at this point are high blood pressure during higher levels of activity and swelling in the feet and legs. There is a risk that Kiersten will develop pre-eclampsia. Since she is fairly close to the end of the pregnancy, we hope that she will "outrun" that scenario. While her doctor has not required bed rest, Kiersten has officially left work on maternity leave following the advice of her doctor. She will be monitored on a weekly basis until she delivers and will be pampered with extra attention at home, of course.

The baby seems to be unphased by the event. The kicks are still coming and I am excited as ever to meet our child. I will keep you updated on any new developments.