Two separate appointments with high blood pressure readings, plus some protein in my urine, equals bedrest. Now you know the recipe for “medically necessary maternity leave”.
I am of course unreasonably annoyed at my body for this…especially when I go looking for something — anything — I can do to “help” and see people accusing women of “poor diet” when they get hypertension in pregnancy. But those people aren’t me, and they can kindly go die in a fire.
So, day one of limited bedrest: I woke up hungry; painfully so. I started with a banana-avocado smoothie (for the potassium and magnesium), let that settle, then cooked up two eggs, two slices of ham, and a slice of cheese. And a cup of coffee. I’m probably going to soak in a tub after all that digests a bit. I know this sounds like the most bizarre spa day ever, but I assure you — I would much rather not have to do any of this. In my head, I’m on my feet and working until the water breaks. But part of this adjusting to motherhood life is that things don’t go the way you want them to all the time.
Zoe is still moving and shifting and — based on the pressure in my torso — overall running out of space. She’s at 37 weeks as of Saturday, so if the unexpected happens we can always go the induction route. I don’t want the induction route. But see last sentence in the paragraph, above. We’ll do what we need to for a healthy family.
And once I’m done soaking in a tub and getting over myself, I’ll hit the market for a few things that may be old wives tales, but certainly can’t hurt to try. I’m going to make some tea with red raspberry, nettle, and dandelion leaf, and probably buy a Vitamin B6 supplement. I’m going to buy more bananas and avocados, and some spinach for sauteeing with lunch. I’m going to keep track of my protein and hope that, if I can’t reverse this, I can at least keep it at bay. And someday we’ll have a lovely footnote to tell our daughter.