We were supposed to go with her for the exam, so I stood at the office window and waited until the guy finally showed back up. I gave my name, said we wanted to be with our daughter, and he nodded and told us to go to through the other door and he would take us to her room.
We got there, just 10 minutes after the beginning of her appointment and the main part of the testing was already done! Now, we have waited with her for up to almost an hour to actually get in to begin the appointment! And her she was, almost finished.
Mel sat down and I walked over and stood near the bed and we just chatted while the final 20 minutes of monitoring the baby's heartbeat finished. Toward the end of the test (baby was very, very active - kicking and moving all over the place), they took Kara's blood pressure again. And once again, it was too high.
That is when the "fun" began. The tech consulted with a doctor and they decided to monitor her in another room for 2 or 3 hours. So, off we went to that room. A very attractive room - dark purple walls, fake wood floor, lots of chairs for family members to sit in while they waited, a scale to measure the newborn baby in, and so forth and so on.
Mel left to go do somethings and I stayed with Kara. As you can see from the photo - her blood pressure did not go down. 
At the end of the 3 hours, she was admitted for overnight observation.As soon as she was taken to "her room", she called John. He left work and came right over. The doctor ordered IV blood pressure medicine and monitoring.
Actually, it's all become kind of a blur to me now. :-) Because John was there, Mel and I left around 9pm and came back to the motel room for the night. When we got back yesterday morning, even with the blood pressure med, her pressure was still way too high. In fact, it hardly came down at all. John had gone to work (he has a new job and can't miss any right now unless it is a real emergency or he'll lose it). Mel left to go do some things that needed done - laundry, to pick up Stirling and bring him down to see his mama, and so forth. I sat with Kara and we chatted and watched a bit of tv with the sound off, and so forth. She had been very nauseous and was only able to eat half a bagel in little bites over about 3 hours. Around noon, she drank some more water and slowly ate about 1/4 of the second half.
About 3 minutes later the nurse came in and said the doctor would (finally!! first time) be in to see her in about 20 minutes. Sure enough, she came in, examined Kara, went over her history and everything, then said she was going to call Kara's primary OB and talk it over with her/him and think about it for a few minutes. This was not an automatic immediate c-section decision. Kara was in for the biophysical because the baby was "growth restricted" to start with. They weren't sure how well developed Baby was at 35 weeks 3 days. A nurse came in and took the tray with the bagel remains on it, and all of her water. That was a BIG hint! Finally, about an hour later the doctor and nurse came back in and told Kara they were going to deliver the baby and set the time for about an hour later. Then they asked Kara when she had last eaten.
The doctor and the nurse were not happy that she'd had something to eat within the last hour and a half - even though it had only been about 1/4 of a bagel. Oh my! So, the c-section was set for 6pm instead. Then they put Kara on magnesium sulphate. Oh dear - that is nasty stuff. Kara was flushing, beet red, uncomfortable, miserable for the next several hours. Finally, the anaesthetic doctor came in, asked a bunch of questions and said her surgery would be at 9pm.
Poor Kara! She really was miserable. And this whole time I watched the blood pressure monitor. Her blood pressure never went down below 155/101, even on the magnesium sulphate. The nurses started coming in more and more frequently, checking everything. They made sure the room was very dim, that the tv was off and that it was kept very quiet. The biggest concern was that something would cause her to have a seizure.
The other concerns were that the high pressure could cause kidney or liver damage or a stroke.Mel, my parents and Stirling all arrived. Kara was still awake at that point. Stirling came in the room, took one very long look at his mama lying there in the bed with all the wires and machines around her and ran over and threw his arms around his papa's neck, and hid his face on his shoulder. John patiently explained a bit of what was happening. After a few minutes John left to go home and shower and put together a bag for Kara with her things. Stirling started getting a bit restless, but he was very, very well behaved. I was proud of him. I took him around Kara's bed and showed him what all the wires were for. He was intrigued by the things wrapped around her leg and the fact that they "breathed" up and down (wrap to keep her from getting blood clots in her legs). I showed him where the wires went from her tummy to the machine and that was why we could hear the baby's heartbeat. And the wires into her hands where the doctors could give her shots of medicines. He was very impressed and really, really wanted to push some buttons but restrained himself very well. :-) :-) :-) When the nurse came back in, she lifted Stirling up and let him kiss his mama. Then Mel and I took him to McDonalds (so I could get lunch and he could have an ice cream).
On the way out, Stirling and I waited in the entrance area while Grandpa went to get the car. I saw a young woman with an older baby, approached her and asked if Stirling could look at her little guy. She was very nice and set her 5.5 month old down low enough for Stirling and him to look at each other. Stirling was all eyes. I told him that his baby would be a lot smaller. We chatted a bit and then she left. We walked over to the glass doors and I saw a new mama and papa sitting on a bench waiting for valet parking to bring their car. After a minute or so, I asked the father if Stirling could just look at their brand new baby and the father proudly turned the car seat carrier around. This baby's face was uncovered, his eyes were open and his hands were showing on top of the blanket. Again, Stirling was all eyes, staring and silent. I told him this is what his little Baby brother or sister was going to look like, but maybe his baby would be even a bit smaller. I think it was finally beginning to set in that his new brother or sister was not going to be 5 years old, too. :-) After we came back, Stirling and I waited in the Family Gathering area while Mel went to get Grammie and Grandpy. They took Stirling back on home.
I went back to Kara's room.And now it's time to go eat breakfast. So, I will continue this later today!
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