What a day we had last night! The morning and afternoon was quite uneventful because I wasn't feeling well. I rested all day. Then I had my 4:20 doctor appointment and Nate came with me. My doctor was 45 minutes behind in her appointments for the day so I didn't even get seen until after 5:00. By this time, I was her last patient for the day. The nurse took my blood pressure with the automatic machine and it was very high...145/91. Then when the doctor came in to see me, the first thing she told me was that I needed to go right to the hospital because my blood pressure was so high. She also told me that they will monitor me and do a bunch of tests at the hospital and if my blood pressure did not come down they would deliver the baby (I'm 36 weeks along so she said the baby would be just fine if delivered now).

So, off we were to the hospital...which is literally right around the corner from where my doctor appointment was. We were both starving at this point but I wasn't sure if I could eat before all the tests that were going to be done so we made a quick stop to get dinner-to-go for Nate and I just had to wait. We said a prayer in the car and knew that everything was going to be okay because God was in charge.

At the hospital I went first to the lab to get blood drawn. This was not a good experience. It took them 3 different pokes before they found the right vein. The last vein finally gave them blood, but left a HUGE, UGLY, GROSS bruise on my arm. Oh yes, the joys of hospitals! Nate ate his dinner while I had my blood drawn and then we went to check-in at Labor and Delivery.

At Labor and Delivery I was hooked up to the fetal monitor (monitors the baby's heart beat) and non-stress test and my blood pressure was taken every 10 minutes. The "bed" I was in was very uncomfortable, but Nate and the nurse did their best to help me be more comfortable. After around 40 minutes of being monitored they determined that the baby was just fine, my blood pressure was totally normal, and my blood tests all came back normal. This was great news! They released me to go home! I still have to come back to the hospital twice a week to get the non-stress testing done plus see my doctor once a week. But we were both VERY happy to be going home to sleep in our own bed last night!

So, the question remains...why was my blood pressure so high at the doctor's office and totally normal 1/2 hour later at the hospital? Here is my theory: When they took my blood pressure at the doc's office, the machine cuff squeezed my arm so tight that my hand turned purple. I would think that alone would give someone instant high blood pressure! And, usually when my blood pressure reads high on the machine, the nurse or doctor will do a second check manually to make sure...but they didn't do that this time (probably because I was the last patient of the night???). That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

The bottom line from the hospital visit is that I don't have high blood pressure after all. They didn't put me on bed rest or anything. God is good :)

After our whole ordeal I was, of course, starving! So Nate took me to my favorite place these days, A&W. I had a yummy cheeseburger and refreshing Root Beer. And that really made my night!