So my doctor promptly sent me over to OB-triage, where they hooked me up to various monitors, including an automatic blood pressure cuff, which took my readings every fifteen minutes or so for three hours. They also drew blood, and sent it to the lab for testing. Thankfully, I had a book with me, because it would have been insanely boring otherwise. (Also somewhat painful, as I couldn't get comfortable in the bed they gave me; every position just created new and more interesting back pain. Sigh.)
In the end, it all turned out fine -- everything came back negative, and my blood pressure seems back to normal. They sent me home eventually, with instructions to do a 24-hr urine collection (fun) just to confirm it's all fine, but they seem pretty sure it will be. The main upshot was that I had to cancel the last graduate class we'd hoped to have (a make-up class) last night. Frustrating. Well, maybe I can see them all this summer, after the baby's born.
Ah well. Better to waste some time than to have had something actually be wrong, of course. In the bed next to me was a woman who had had some problem (bleeding, I think), and they were telling her that she had to stay in the hospital for a while. The guy with her said, "Oh, will she have to be here overnight?" And they managed not to laugh when they informed him that they were talking about more of a long-term stay, i.e., quite possibly months of hospital bed rest and monitoring. That could've been me, and I'm so glad it wasn't! It's sort of nice being taken care of for a while, and told you don't have to do anything but rest and get better -- but after a few days of that, I think I'd be seriously stir-crazy.
Speaking of a few days in the hospital, we've scheduled the c-section. It'll be May 18th, a week from Friday. Eep. (Assuming she doesn't come early on her own, of course.) Should be plenty of time to get everything done.
Last night, the glider chair that Jed got us arrived, and Kevin assembled it, so as soon as we put up a shelf, the nursery will be complete. Once we order a baby monitor, pack an overnight bag for me, and install the car seat in the car, the baby-stuff will be done. My gardening is almost done; I just need to pick up and plant four roses with perhaps some artemsia and lavender to underplant them, and enough of the bones of the garden will be in that I'll be happy (though of course, I always want to add more plants :-). Almost the entire list of household tasks is done (just need to clear the railing and send out a chair to be repaired). Today, I hope to get through the three main Roosevelt tasks: finish updating the grad student contact list, grade final papers for my comp classes, and draft the program newsletter. And then there are just a bunch of financial/legal tasks to do; apply for citizenship (again), file department reimbursements, etc.
Hmm...it sounds like a lot when I list it out like that, but there used to be dozens of items on each list, so having it down to 2-4 items/list is so much better, I can't tell you. And since Kev and I are both done with classes now, we should hopefully have lots of time to get them all done in the next nine days. Wish us luck! :-)
Oh, a quick question -- how soon do you think we want in-laws here to help? Kev's mom is scheduled right now to come out from May 31 - June 14, but she's happy to move it earlier if that would be better. Do we want her here right after the c-section, or are we likely to be fine on our own for the first ten days I'm home? It's unclear right now how mobile I'll be; I may be up and about no problem, or I may be mostly in bed for a few weeks. Thoughts? (Note: relevant info: I like Kev's mom a lot, so this is not a painful in-law situation-type-thing. :-) She has promised to do all the cooking and cleaning and laundry, which I'm sure will be incredibly helpful. Just wondering whether we're more likely to want to be alone with baby or not...)
Right away, immediately, have her come now. (okay not actually that last one) You will have a huge new repsonsiblity and will have just had surgery. Having a loving grandmom around to keep things going smoothly while you adjust will be a huge help.
Well sweety, with a vaginal birth, I would say have her out around the two week mark, when all the locals have run the typical two weeks helpful course, and everyone’s sleep debt starts to hit them. C-sections affect different people different ways, but for my sister at least, there were a couple of weeks of very limited mobility, then several more of difficulty lifting, bending, etc. Is there someone else who can pick up the after two weeks slack if your mom comes on the early end? It does seem like those first weeks can be quite difficult… I would want an extra set of hands for that part.
I’m so glad that it was just a scare yesterday!
*hugs* Thinking of you.
I also vote for ‘as soon as possible.’ It was very helpful having my mother-in-law there shortly after my daughter was born on July 26, 1967.
May 18 is Bertrand Russell’s birthday. May 19 is Margot Fonteyn’s. Your daughter will be in high-status company.
I think it depends. It sounds like Kevin will help you out emotionally and physically those first ten days to the best of his ability. The question is how overwhelmed Kevin will feel and how much you want a veteran mom around and in particular your MIL and your hormones.
I wanted my mummy around the first few days after Special K was born. I was in bad shape hormonally though pretty okay physically. I think a C-section is much harder physically. My MIL would not have been helpful as I wouldn’t have told her how I really felt. Nothing against her but she’s not my mummy. C was worried and that just worried me more. My mom just reassured it was all normal. I started to feel less crazy and my mom left after a few days then came back again in a couple weeks after sleep dep started to really hit.
With a C section, I would recommend help in the home ASAP. You: take care of baby, nurse, get milk supply established (I’m assuming you’re planning on nursing). MIL and Kevin (plus anyone else who is around): keep the home going with cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, entertaining Maryann and Elli. You are going to be sore after C section, and moving around won’t be too easy for at least a little while, so pamper, pamper.
Don’t know much about baby stuff, but I can tell you that you won’t be terribly mobile after abdominal surgery. It was days until I was able to even move about in bed myself — and my incision was a lower abdomin one similar to c-section. I had to have help from another person to turn or sit up, etc., because it was extremely painful and stuff (muscles?) just plain didn’t work! Plus, having a wound really takes it out of you. The more help you have, I think the better you will be. More time to bond with baby and to get yourself on the healing road. 🙂 Take care and watch for a package.
I’m talking through my hat here, but my impression is that it’s reasonably likely that you’ll be getting very little sleep during that period — potentially having to wake up every couple of hours to feed the baby — and that that’s another reason that having someone else on hand during that period could be useful. (Though of course that may be balanced against having to deal with there being yet another person in your space all the time.)
But I’m hoping that people who’ve actually been through this can confirm or deny.
So it looks like my folks will come out for a few days for the birth itself, and we left it up to Ann (Kev’s mom) when she wants to come out; I think she’ll look at her tickets and work schedule and see what’s feasible. Kev still seems to think that the two of us will manage just fine on our own; I think he’s overly optimistic. 🙂 We’ll see…we do have a lot of local friends too, though of course, they do generally have day jobs.