Showing Signs of Pre-eclampsia

Yesterday I went to my regular OB appointment at Winn ACH.  I was seen by a doctor on the other team as my doctor was all booked up.  I knew I'd be seeing a different doctor.  The man was just okay as a doctor.  Not because he was old but because he really seemed disinterested in my chart, in giving out information and he wasn't prepared for any of the questions that I or my spouse posed to him.

J had to ask him for the measurements of the baby's heart rate and the fundal height after the doctor completed each.  Normally the doctors will be forth coming with each finding.

The doctor had no clue about the echocardiogram when I asked him about the results.  He did print me out a copy of the papers and said that he isn't a cardiologist and doesn't know how to read them.  Well simply enough just read the summary doc.  The summary is the simplest part of the report to understand.  It will tell you if there is a major problem or not.

The summary reported what I already knew:  I have hypertension.  There was no mention of the PFO.  My blood flow was good.  So I'm not sure why the ultrasound tech even told me three times and showed me the hole in my heart on the echo screen.  I mean I know they have government cover-ups but why would they bother with a spouse?  J has his theory on that one.  First off the findings weren't read here at Winn but were sent to Lackland AFB in Texas.  Perhaps the doctor who read the results was rushed  or over worked?  Maybe there is a conspiracy to prevent a special needs patient being referred off post to see a cardiologist.  We don't have one here and each time a specialist is needed it gets costly for Tricare.  We know that insurance companies try to cut costs.  J also knows that we should never have been stationed here as Winn can't handle my EFMP needs without a cardiologist on staff and I was established with one at Madigan well before we left or he even got orders for Stewart.  Someone just turned a blind eye to the matter of the EFMP and that happens a lot with the Army unfortunately.

Back to the title of this post.  My bp was 148/86.  I've gained 5.4 pounds in a week which now puts me at plus one pound from my start weight at the pregnancy.  I've been getting more frequent headaches.  My face, hands, feet, legs are swollen. My legs show indents easily with minimal pressure on them.  I have a previous history of high blood pressure and have been on medication for five years for it.  I also have an intermittent pain on the right side of my abdomen just above and sometimes equal to the belly button.  I didn't think to mention this last thing to the doctor.  Why?  Well the pain comes and goes and I forget about it until it starts again.  The doctor was the one that suspected the Pre-eclampsia saying he thinks it is quite possible that I've developed it.  Thus he put down on the COB paperwork that I have to see him in a week.

The doctor ordered a CBC and OB panel along with a 24 hour urine study.  I've done the urine study before, back in January, and it came back high on protein.  Way high actually for the baseline; so high that they marked the printout with an "H" next to the number value.  Wish I had thought to write down the numbers when I had my chart accessible during the move.  So if my baseline is high there is a chance I might be considered just normal this time around?  Who knows.

I have two more weeks and two days until I would consider allowing them to deliver her here on post at 37 weeks.  Anything before 37 weeks and I'll be begging them to send me to Savannah where they'd have a NICU to handle the issue.  Here we only have a level one NICU with just 4 beds.  Sometimes I wonder if I'd be better off hoping a train to NYC and deliver up there where I know the quality of hospitals is better.  But that would be a lot of red tape and Tricare would most likely say that I'm on my own with that bill.

Today I go to see my high risk OB in Savannah.  Hopefully they will be opting to do a growth scan.  They are supposed to do a growth scan on the days that I see the actual doctor.  Last time they did the growth scan it was on an appt. day that I was only slated to see the NP.  The NP that didn't put any notes in my chart about the IUGR either or the need for an umbilical cord study!  But I have a witness, J was with me for that appointment.  I'm starting to wonder if the high risk OB I'm seeing is one of those doctors that slid through medical school with a "C" average since he is only rated at 3 stars for his care.  Of course I didn't get to pick him, Tricare picked him because he was the lowest bid for the contract.