36 Week Pregnancy Update

Happy full-term pregnancy, Killian! We should be meeting you very soon.

I am now on weekly doctor appointments. I had my 36-week check-up last Tuesday. Things had been getting a bit strange the week before, but my doctor reassured me there was no concern.

I'll start with the story of the strangeness, then continue on with my 36-week checkup.

It started at my 34-week check-up. All seemed very normal. My blood pressure, which had previously been low, was now in the normal range. That seemed strange to me as it indicated a 20 point jump in 2 weeks. At my 32-week check-up, I was 107/71 blood pressure, but at my 34-week I was up to 122/72. Doc asked me if I had any swelling, looked at my ankles, and said "Nope! No swelling at all". Apparently he cursed me.

Two days after my 34-week appointment, it was very hot and I admit I was probably dehydrated. Sasha and I went to Walmart and as we walked through the pharmacy area, Sasha asked me about the blood pressure machine. I explained the concept of blood pressure to her and let her use the machine to take her blood pressure. Her arm is still so tiny yet that it didn't really get much of a reading on her, but I had considered it mostly an educational venture anyways. I sat down and let it take a reading on me so that she could see it actually work. I was at 130/75, which is starting to get a bit high for me. At the same time, I noticed my right ankle had swollen up quite a bit and my right knee was starting to swell as well. I couldn't find my ankle bones, and if I pressed my swollen foot with my finger, the imprint lasted a minute (pitting edema). Later on that evening, I was noticing a few other strange symptoms. I was really irritable and felt angry for no reason.
I told my husband about the symptoms, as he was in medic school at the time, and he thought it sounded a bit like preeclampsia. He encouraged me to get rehydrated and elevate my leg.

The next day, the irritability was gone fortunately, but the swelling was still very significant. I made much more effort to stay indoors (it was hot outside), drink lots of extra water, and keep my swollen leg elevated. I felt some strange pains on my left side abdomen, and the baby dropped. With the dropping of the baby, I felt a whole new range of symptoms. My rib pain disappeared and it was easier for me to breathe, but I felt a lot more pelvic pressure and my bladder capacity was significantly reduced. I also had a harder time walking around.

It took about a week for the swelling to go back down. It never returned to normal, but fortunately the swelling stayed just on the right ankle and didn't spread elsewhere. At some point the next week, the baby un-dropped. I didn't know that could happen but it did. He somehow clawed himself back up into my rib cage.

So, back to the present! At my 36-week check-up, I told my doctor of the symptoms I had earlier in the week, and he was quite unconcerned. Clearly my baby was no longer "dropped", and my swelling was very mild he said.

My blood pressure was 132/75. Weight was 147 pounds. Baby's heartrate was 144. And I will now be seen for weekly appointments.