Twice a Month Dr. Appts.

I mentioned before that I am considered a high risk pregnancy. I don't feel high risk most of the time (unless you count my driving habits), but I have that label because:

• I'm overweight
• I'm over 35
• I have hypertension (high blood pressure)

My thoughts...ok, I'm overweight, but I know there are lots of people bigger than me that have healthy babies all the time. Ok, I'm over 35, but this isn't the Middle Ages for cripe's sake. What about that woman who had twins at freaking 60! Ok, I have hypertension, but before I got pregnant it wasn't considered terribly bad and was controlled through medication (a rather low doseage, I might add).

Before getting pregnant, I even talked with a doctor who later became my perinatologist to make sure I wasn't putting myself at risk by getting pregnant. He pretty much told me what I was thinking, but it was good to get confirmation.

There are benefits to being considered high risk. I didn't have to wait until I was 8 weeks pregnant to see a doctor for the first time. I got my first doc visit and an ultrasound at 6 weeks and an ultrasound every time I went in to see the OB until the heartbeat was able to be heard on a handheld Doppler. I got a Level 2 ultrasound at 12 weeks as well as a blood test to start screening for genetic anamolies. That came with lots of pictures and a cd of even more pictures. I got another Level 2 ultrasound at 17 weeks as well as another blood test to continue the screening. We found out the sex of the baby at 17 weeks instead of having to wait until 20 weeks like the "normies." I feel I'm getting really good care and I'm grateful for that.

Drawbacks of this high risk label: I have to go see my regular OBGYN every two flipping weeks because of my high blood pressure. I've already had to double the doseage of my bp med, which is unusual. Normally your blood pressure drops on it's own during the second trimester. I guess this isn't really a drawback, because everytime I go in there I get to pee in a cup and hear the baby's heartbeat (not at the same time, of course). It's just tiresome going in every 2 weeks.

At yesterday's appointment, my bp was 130/90. Considering it was 135/98 before the meds were doubled, I guess that's movement in the right direction.