May I ask you to pause and take a moment right now to please pray that my blood pressure stays at a normal level?
Thank you.
[Patiently bowing my head.]
Blood pressure can fluctuate within minutes, as you know, and I have have had--in the past--much anxiety about taking it.
It kinda grosses me out. Or, at least it used to.
Prayer and experience have mitigated my fears, as my frequent OB visits have gotten me rather used to the procedure -- and my scores have been previously acceptable. Thus, I had felt encouraged...and on top of my game.
But at my visit last week, my score was a little high. And that week I had experienced nausea, headache, and flashing in my eye, all possible symptoms of preeclampsia, a scary condition that women can get around 37 weeks pregnant, which usually involves a hospital stay, bed rest, and sometimes immediate delivery of the baby.
Needless to say, I have cried a lot of fearful tears recently. And I have concluded that Michael and I probably pack too much social stuff on our calendar, even still. While I should probably just spend my days here at home relaxing, it seems like we're always in the car, driving long distances, visiting lots of people, and scheduling too much. I have fun while doing it, but I think my body is paying the price.
I return to the doctor early this week for them to have another look at me. In the meantime, I've taken it upon myself to use my mother's at-home blood pressure-monitoring kit. And, probably due to the high emotions surrounding this event, my scores have been all over the place. I've taken it 20 times this afternoon, and 45% of them have been "good" scores. The other 55% have been too high.
I guess that's almost 50 / 50, though, isn't it? I guess this means that I could say eagerly, "Half the time, my scores are just fine." And that is encouraging. Would a person with true preeclampsia experience a good score about half the time like me? I'm not sure.
Your prayers to God, dear Reader, mean everything to us. Thank you so much for remembering Baby and me in your prayers.
