Tales of the Crazy Pregnant Lady

Normally, I'm pretty much a happy pregnant woman. I haven't been sick my entire pregnancy and the only thing I can complain about is gravity's ability to make my belly feel like it weighs 50 pounds at the end of the day. I try to maintain a positive attitude because I believe that my emotions have a direct effect on the baby. And most days, I feel like I'm pretty successful at staying upbeat and drama-free. But there are days when I become a frighteningly hormonal emotional crazy pregnant lady. Last Friday was one such day.

It all started when I woke up way to soon and after way too little sleep. Normally, I would have attempted to take a nap after being awake for a few hours but I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 10:40 a.m. that day and didn't want to chance falling asleep and not waking up in time. So, I read the news and poked around online until it was time to head to the base's hospital.
The hospital's policy states that you need to be at your appointment 15 minutes before your scheduled time or else you are considered late. I don't know why they just don't schedule your appointment for 10:25 if that's what time they expect you to actually show up, but I'm always paranoid about being late anyway so it's not really a problem for me.

Except that Friday, in my sleep-deprived and pregnant state, I completely forgot about this rule. I left my house in what I thought was plenty of time to drive to the hospital in the pouring rain (monsoon season has begun), find a parking spot, and check in for my appointment with a few minutes to spare.

I realized just as I was pulling out of our parking gargage that I hadn't accounted for the 15 minutes and was now almost certain to be "late". What if I drove all the way there and they told me I was out of luck and had to re-schedule?

Instead of calmly continuing on my way (would they really cancel my appointment for being on time?), I did what any sane, logical person would do.

I started to cry and to think my life (and my baby's by extension) was ruined.

Because I was not sane or logical. I was crazy and hormonal and pregnant. And driving a moving vehicle.

I was making good time until a truck pulled out in front of me and proceeded to go 25 KPH (about 15 MPH) down the only road that connects one side of the base to the other. So I cried some more. Didn't Mr. Truck Driver realize he had a very distraught pregnant woman behind him who NEEDED to get to the hospital right away?

I eventually got around the truck and pulled into the hospital parking lot which is almost always completely full. I noticed one car had its lights on and so I waited for a little while, thinking they might be pulling out. They didn't budge so I continued on my way. And a few moments later, the car finally pulled out. There wasn't another open parking spot available so I prayed that I'd be able to get back around to the open spot before someone else beat me to it. Just as I was rounding the corner to get the spot, a car entered the parking lot and took the spot.

So I cried some more. Didn't that car realize that I was seven months pregnant and I NEEDED that spot so I wouldn't be late for my appointment and suffer the condemnation of the punctually-challenged?

Through my tears, I drove to the overflow parking lot some distance away from the hospital entrance and pulled into the first spot I saw. I grabbed my umbrella and purse and started walking as fast as my pregnant body would let me to the OB-GYN clinic (which is, of course, as far away from the hospital entrance as you can get). Unfortunately, my umbrella was no match for the monsoon rains and so I arrived at the hospital distraught, disgruntled, tear-stained and wet, my shoes now squishy and completely soaked through.

I high-tailed it to the OB-GYN clinic. It was 10:35 when I checked in, expecting to be berated for my "late" arrival. The receptionist didn't say anything and told me to go wait in the waiting room. All those tears for nothing? Stupid hormones.

I sat in a chair for a few minutes, trying to calm myself down, when an Army medic called my name to get my vitals. She weighed me and took my blood pressure. Now, I never look at my blood pressure reading because I have no idea what those numbers mean (despite David explaining it to me multiple times) and I'm always told that my blood pressure is normal anyway. The medic didn't say anything about it, so I thought nothing of it as she led me into an exam room to wait for the doctor.

When the doctor finally arrived, she said that my blood pressure was a little high and they wanted to run some tests (including a blood test and a 24-hour urine collection) to be sure I didn't have pre-eclampsia [hypertension which can lead to seizures]. The doctor noticed my less than happy response to this news. Even though I tried to explain that my "high" blood pressure might have something to do with me being a raging hormonal basket case, and that if they took my blood pressure again--now that I'd had time to calm down--it wouldn't be high at all. No such luck. I had to do the tests even though I have absolutely none of the other symptoms and signs of pre-eclampsia. None.

After my regular check-up, I went to the lab to have more blood drawn (which I HATE with a burning passion) and to collect my massive urine jug in which to deposit all my urine for 24 hours. (Another sign of pre-eclampsia is protein in your urine. Why they'd need a whole day's worth of urine to test for that.....I have no idea.)


My urine jug. Nice, huh? And you want to know the best part? The urine had to be refrigerated. Yup, my urine got to sit in fridge next to the apple juice and eggs.

I spent the rest of Friday sitting on the couch, staring into space with a sad, melancholy look on my face. David just kept giving me a small, tentative smile with a look in his eyes that read: "Holy crap, what do I do with my crazy pregnant wife?"

Luckily I got over it. And for the record, I drank so much water the day I "collected" my sample that I filled the whole jug up, much to the surprise of both David and the fine folks at the lab. That's what you get when you mess with a hormonal pregnant lady. I also took my blood pressure today and it was absolutely normal. Stupid tests.*

*Of course, I'm all for being cautious in situations like these, but I felt given the situation and the fact that I have no other indications of pre-eclampsia, it was a waste of everyone's time. I'd rather they had me monitor my blood pressure for a week to see if it remained high and then ordered the tests.

Anyway, sorry for all the talk about my urine. I'm sure most of you didn't want to read about that. Or about my raging pregnancy hormones. The next time I decide to be an emotional wreck, I sure hope it's over something substantial.

Ah pregnancy. It sure is fun sometimes. And since it's been awhile, here are some pictures of my ever-growing belly.

29 weeks, taken June 19th

32 weeks, taken July 6th


Me and my babies :-)