Preeclampsia and Testing...

The dreaded official diagnosis finally came today. I have pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) also known as preeclampsia. Today, needless to say, did not go as planned we had a dr appointment at 2:20 and ended up at the hospital for a few hours finally getting home at about 7pm. When they checked my blood pressure today it was still in the high 150's over high 80's. Ok so it was like this last week only this week lying down didn't really lower it like last time. My urine also had more protein in it, so this was not a good combo! Not to mention on top of this I have been having a few more Braxton hicks than normal. The difference being that they were painful, aka real contractions, but not regular. So Dr. M did an exam the good news I was not dilated. Dr.M then had us draw labs to check my kidneys and liver function. I also have to collect a 24hour urine sample, which means I will have a jug of pee in my fridge (kinda gross I know, just don't drink out of the brown jug in the fridge). After the lab work she sent us to the birthing center for a non stress test (because they can not do that in the office with twins) and to get our first dose of steroid shots to develop the boys lungs in case we have to deliver early. The non stress test was basically me laying in a hospital bed hooked up to 3 monitors. One for each of the boy's heartbeats and then one for contractions. I was having a few contractions but they were not too concerned with them. Sadly at this point I had a major headache so they kept checking my blood pressure ever 15 minutes. The boys did beautifully on the non stress test except Jackson who decided to be all over the place and they had to keep adjusting the monitor because his heartbeat would disappear off the monitor. Happily they let me go home but I was one tired mama.

The steroid shot was not so pleasant, you would think after giving myself shots twice a day this would not bother me but it still does. We have to go back to the hospital in 24 hours for a second steroid shot. We also have an ultrasound at the high risk ob tomorrow. Then Friday we have another non stress test and doctor's appointment. It seems like we may be getting these tests twice a week now till delivery, I guess we will know more by Friday.
I know that was a lot, it was a lot for us to take in too. We are asking for your prayers. Specifically that my blood pressure would stabalize and the lab work would come back ok. Also pray that the boy's lungs develop with these shots in case we have an early delivery in the next few weeks. We also ask that you would pray for Bob's work to be flexible with these increase in doctors appointments and testing. Pray we stay calm and not stress over this possible preterm delivery of the twins and blood pressure issue. You try to prepare yourself but it is hard when it is actually happening. Thank y'all in advance for your prayers and we will try to keep you updated as much as possible through the blog so keep checking back.