Mixed News

ORIGINAL VERSION
LAST POST WAS "INCONVENIENT ILLNESS" OF 12-02-07.

It's suddenly turned cold here. I don't think that will surprise anyone, what with the storms that are sweeping the center of the country. Still, I am hearing people complaining about it getting so cold so early in the year. Naturally, my response is, "Huh? Is that odd?" But the weatherman says temperatures are about 10 degrees below average for this time of year. Kind of balances out much of the fall.

Yesterday was not the first snow of the year, by any means, but it was the first snow on a day that remained below freezing, so it stuck around. Naturally, it was also Jennifer's last trip to the doctor. This means I drove to work and then to the doctor. The drive wasn't bad, mostly. In the morning, the snow on the roads was powder, where there was snow. In the afternoon, the roads were also good for most of the trip, although as I got close to town the amount of snow suddenly jumped from virtually none on the road itself to thick and packed, but not really slick. (Slick was reserved for the in-town areas that traffic had melted and that then refroze.) But I saw a fuel truck off the road right where the snow became thick on the road.

Still, while a lot of people in the area seem to forget that the roads can get slick until after the first icy roads of the season, I seem to go to the other extreme and slow down based on paranoia rather than road conditions.

So, yesterday was the latest of Jennifer's doctor visits. The baby is still doing well in the NST's (non-stress test). It is also still breech. The doctor we saw yesterday is relatively new at the practice Jennifer goes to, and at first seemed willing to try turning the baby -- until after he consulted with the others. Jennifer has been set on vaginal birth the whole time, and does not want another C-section, so the news was a bit stressful. And although her regular doctor had not said so, this one seems to believe that the gestational diabetes and probable C-section mean that an early delivery is required. Jennifer is also adamantly opposed to spending Christmas in the hospital.

Well, the visit did not go quite per the usual routine. It started with the NST, then this doctor decided an ultrasound to check Jennifer's fluid level was required (last week her doctor said it would not be necessary, and in fact the levels have changed by less than one cubic centimeter in the last four weeks). And the routine physical portion of the visit came last.

Well, Jennifer's blood pressure was high on the systolic reading. She downplays this. Jennifer has high blood pressure, which has been well under control for this pregnancy. And, as the previous paragraphs explain, she was under some stress by the point her pressure was taken. But this doctor didn't see things that way. He ordered further tests, out of concern that she may be developing preeclampsia again. This morning his staff also called and asked Jennifer not to attend her water aerobics until after the test results were back. Last week, her regular doctor seemed happy that she was still exercising.

So. . . Mixed results this time around. Maybe I'll get her to check per pressure here tonight.

Meanwhile, my parents, who we were counting on to entertain Jellybean while we're busy with the birth, have decided that they cannot come to stay with us the next few weeks. And while I agree with their reasons, I'm a bit bummed. My mother has developed excrutiating neck/shoulder pain. At first she thought it was a pinched nerve, but after treatment they have decided they don't know the cause. And since she ended up in the emergency room for the pain on Sunday, after already having been to her doctor and being on medication, I'm not sure the treatment is working. Tonight when I talked to her, she said she was doing okay, but loopy from the new medication. She's having an MRI tomorrow, but I don't think there'll be a miraculous "Aha!" that lets her travel. . .

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