22 Weeks

Last Thursday, day 1 of my 22nd week I woke up to the sound of the ocean. It was the last day of our mini vacation to La Push. That seems like a decade ago now. After Friday back to work, then a weekend and two more days of work. Working. We have to do it. Sometimes I even like it. This week, not so much.

I have struggled with high blood pressure since a pretty young age. It runs in my family. Not too mention some excess weight, less than perfect exercise routine and some bad habits that include salt, alcohol and cigarettes. I was put on blood pressure medication and diagnosed with chronic hypertension at the age of 22.

Years later, with better diet and the absence of alcohol and cigarettes altogether, I still wasn't able to control my hypertension without medication. My numbers were lower, but just not low enough. Nice try but no dice. Stupid genetics. Oh, well. At least I am trying. Quitting the drink and smoke wasn't going to hurt me anyway. Now I'm much more ladylike and dainty. Ha!

So when we decided to go off the pill and see if rubbing our parts together could make a tiny human, I made a doctors appointment. I wanted to know how pregnancy would effect my blood pressure and my current medication. I also wanted to know how my blood pressure and current medication could effect my pregnancy. Smart choice. The doctor switched me to a different prescription that I could take through pregnancy. My wonderful doctor also explained that many women have a drop in blood pressure in the first trimester due to increased blood volume and some other factors. So we'd need to watch to make sure it didn't go to low. Into the third trimester it is common for it to rise again, even for people with normal blood pressure to begin with. The more you know.

Friday morning when I woke up in my own bed for the first time in a few days after getting back from our vacation on the coast, my blood pressure was 110/67 before taking my morning medication. That is unusually low for me, but very good. Not too low by any means. That number would actually be ideal. That night, when I got home from a stressful day of making up for three days off. I redid all the work that was done incorrectly while I was gone, on top of an unusually busy day anyway, by blood pressure was 157/87. Not so good. Not good at all. Too high. I took my medication as scheduled, but I think I learned something very important. Stress effects my blood pressure. Probably more than I would like to admit.

What does all this mean for the baby? Well, I should calm down. Kidding, no really I should but...
As long as I'm controlling my BP with medication things are good. Pre-eclampsia is slightly more common among women that have preexisting hypertension, but not guaranteed. I need to take it easy when my numbers are high, I need moderate exercise when my numbers are good and I need to always remember to take my pills. The rest is just watch and wait.

I've read about women needing to be hospitalized or induced because their blood pressure is high. That is horrifying. I want to work and stay active right up until I'm crowning for god's sake! Please don't strap me to a bed. Worrying about the possibility of that will surely cause stress which will surely raise my blood pressure. So I'll knock that off right now. All I can do is what is in my control, the rest is just hope for the best.