16-week Appointment

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Well today's appointment has come and gone. My weight gain was less than desirable, but with the goodies of the season I am not surprised. The doctor could not find the heartbeat so off to Ultrasound I went (again). Baby was VERY active and HR was 154. I asked it it was too early to see the gender, and she said she would try. Baby was busy playing with the cord and sucking his/her hands. Sadly, the cord was running right between the legs so she couldn't call it. I personally thought it looked pretty girl-ish, but I guess we will have to wait another four weeks to try again.

I opted out of the quad screen. This one tests for genetic abnormalities, but, well, it's not going to change anything for me, and the really bad (aka fatal) abnormalities, like the trisonomies, are detectable, at least in part, on the 20-week ultrasound. It just didn't feel important.

Now for the bad part - my bp was high (138/74) - that is not terrible I guess but it is higher than the doctor wants it and higher than last time (when I was really nervous). So, I have to monitor it at home three times per day and go back in a week for another check. Please pray that it goes down or does not go up. This is exactly how my pregnancy with Miss N started, and I ended up delivering early with pre-eclampsia with her. The doctor said that it is "highly unlikely" to have that problem since I have the same husband, but I personally know at least two women who had pre-eclampsia on their third pregnancies with the same spouse, and they didn't have it with the first (I don't think) so I am at higher risk just because I did. So, I guess for me "highly unlikely" does not seem all that reassuring. I would really rather avoid being put on bed rest at this point. The fact that she wants me back in a week makes me a little nervous.

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