I consider myself to be pretty healthy. I've been lucky enough to have an uneventful pregnancy--in fact, it's really gone rather well. Aside from the little bit of morning sickness I had at the start and the occasional backache, I've really felt very good. My doctor's appointments always go well, and both Baby Bean and I seem to be doing just fine. So imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I received a call from the doctor's office on Friday afternoon. I had just gotten home from work when the phone rang. I recognized the number to the doctor's office, which struck me as odd (I hadn't had an appointment for 10 days and wasn't scheduled to have one until the following Friday, so I knew it wasn't a confirmation call), so I answered. I was immediately told by the nurse on the other end of the phone that my test results had come back (what test results?!?) and that the protein count in my urine indicated that I had a protein spillage, and I
would need to go on complete bed rest immediately. I was still trying to figure out what test she was talking about when I heard those words..."COMPLETE BEDREST". Well, I sort of freaked out. I didn't know
what she was talking about! So I asked her to please repeat what she'd just said. After repeating several times that my urine protein count was high, I finally asked her what that meant. It meant, she explained, that I had preeclampsia, which is a condition that occurs in 5-8% of women sometime after their 20th week of pregnancy, that results in high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine (so THAT was what the nurse was talking about...). Basically, it gives you crazy hypertension, and the only way to stop it is to have the baby. They put you on bed rest as a preventative measure, and many times, the baby is delivered early. I was told to buy an automatic blood pressure reader and take my blood pressure three times a day. If it was higher than a certain number, I needed to call the emergency line at my doctor's office. We also needed to buy these special strips to test the protein count in my urine, and again, if it was above a certain
number, had to call the doctor. I told the nurse I didn't feel any different and always had healthy blood pressure when it was checked at my appointments. She was insistent that this didn't make a difference--it was the protein that was indicating the problem. With that, she cheerfully told me to have a good weekend and to make sure I called in my numbers when the office reopened on Monday.
Needless to say, it was not a very good weekend. By the time Brandon got home from work, I was hysterical. He, on the other hand, handled the situation calmly and coolly, and was exactly the type of steadying presence that I needed. I'm sure that he was freaking out on the inside just like I was, but he never showed it. He was wonderful. He ran out right away and bought the blood pressure cuff, then made a special trip to a pharmacy near our hospital, about 30 minutes away, for the test strips.
During all of this craziness, Lisa and Bouck came to visit us! They were nice enough to volunteer to bring down the furniture that we had planned to pick up the weekend of the shower. We had been looking forward to getting it into the room and putting everything together. Instead, I was stuck on the couch all weekend, trying to make sure I followed the nurse's vague instructions on bed rest. This didn't put me into the best mood. Luckily, the Olympics were on so I had something to watch, and I still helped out with things a little. It was so difficult for me to just sit there--I felt fine! I continued to take my blood pressure and test for protein. Each time my blood pressure was in the healthy range and the protein test came back negative. Despite all of this, we had a nice visit with Bouck and Lisa, and were able to get a good portion of the room put together (which was a huge relief as we were now convinced, based on the preeclampsia diagnosis, that we'd probably have a baby sometime in the next few weeks rather than going full-term).
By the time Monday rolled around I was fully convinced there was nothing wrong with me, and I had every intention of calling the doctor and telling them just that. My girlfriends tried to gently remind me that it was possible that I really did have the condition and just didn't have any of the normal symptoms that went along with it, but I was adamant--they had the wrong person. I requested an appointment with the doctor that afternoon so she could explain to me how they had determined their diagnosis. I'm sure that the nurse thought that I was just being a pain, but I didn't care. It was so strange to me that they had called with the test results ten days after my last appointment. The longest they'd ever taken with anything for me had been three or four days. On top of this, I just couldn't wrap my head around all of those healthy blood pressure readings and clean protein tests.
When I arrived at the office, they took my blood pressure like the normally do, and, like usual, it was fine. Then they had me pee in a cup, like usual. I asked the nurse how, with those results, I could have preeclampsia. She referred to a sheet with test results on it that stated that my protein count was off the charts, but couldn't explain to me how it could be so high one day and negative every other time it was tested, so she deferred to the doctor. Once Dr. Midkiff came in (because they squeezed me in I wasn't able to see my usual doctor) we started going through the same series of questions I had with the last three nurses I'd spoken with. She also referred to the sheet of test results, and when she pulled it out of my file, I happened to glance down at it. The test results belonged to Jennifer Snyder. They weren't mine! I quickly pointed this out and the doctor immediately left the room, probably to have the nurse notify poor Jennifer. In the meantime, I sat there grinning like an idiot. I was so relieved!! She came back, apologized, told me I was fine and sent me on my way. I just about skipped out of the office and back to my car where I promptly called Brandon. He was not as nice about the whole situation. In fact, he was rather upset that the office had made such a big mistake. But for us, it ended well. Ms. Jennifer was about to get a pretty crappy phone call, but we were in the clear. I'm pretty sure I'm going to wear a nametag when we go to the hospital to deliver, just in case Jennifer is there the same day for a scheduled c-section or something. They're not mixing us up again!
