It's a shame the doctor's office doesn't have a frequent flier program

So, yesterday morning I got to go back to the doctor AGAIN.... yes, I'm going every third day now. This was to be my usual weekly appointment -- you may recall that at my regularly scheduled appointment last Friday, my blood pressure was too high and it kicked off a series of blood work and quite a bit of stealth peeing. I got to visit the office again on Tuesday, and although my blood pressure was still too high, it had stabilized somewhat..... putting us in a holding pattern and that brings us to yesterday.

Well, yesterday's reading was the highest they've seen to date (well, for this pregnancy anyway -- I'm still quite a bit away from the 250/167 reading that kicked off the 'lil Dubya's birth via emergency c-section 17 months ago). So, I got to head to the hospital for yet another panel of blood work (okay guys, I'm starting to feel like a pincushion) and I'm having an ultrasound and fetal stress test at 8:00 Monday morning. I've been instructed to continue checking my BP every few hours and to report to the hospital if there are any notable spikes... of course, I had to wonder what the doctor was thinking when he said "so, I'll see you Monday -- if not sooner" He tends to be one of those strong silent types, so I had to wonder if he's just assuming I won't last 'til Monday...... or if it was a lame attempt at humor. I guess we'll know soon enough.

My "official" due date is December 2nd, (3 weeks from today)..... so, I consider myself extremely fortunate that the baby is almost full term and could be safely delivered any time now if necessary -- there are lots of people who have this kind of thing happen much earlier in their pregnancies and therefore, there babies are in jeopardy...... so, it's really snarky of me to be making light of the situation..... But, good God all this uncertainty is stressful. I mean, every time I go to the doctor's office I have to wonder..... "Is this the time they tell me to go to the hospital? is this the day they tell me I have to stop going to work?"

Granny (my mother) calls every day to ask how I'm feeling and if I'm "puffed", because when I had toxemia & HELLP syndrome with my last pregnancy, the condition was accompanied by a severe case of swelling..... I'm talking about some serious bloat! So, she has to inquire every f*ing day about my level of "puffiness". But, let's be serious people, when you're 9 mos pregnant you are gonna retain some fluid and look a bit puffy..... that's just the way it goes!

Aunt P is going to come help out with the 'lil man when I finally go to the hospital.... so she's now driving around with her overnight bag in her car -- just in case she needs to get here in a hurry. And, like everyone else -- every time I go to the doctor, she's surprised that I really have no new delivery-date-related information to report..... just more tests for me..... and we'll see what happens.

So, we wait......

By the way -- WE STILL HAVE NO NAMES!