First off, congratulations on being at 31 weeks. Make it to 32, and from what my wife's nurse told us, you're in a much better position. My wife and I did have some of the anxiety of "waiting to be hospitalized" during the pregnancy, but it never occurred. Glad to hear that everything is "stabilized" and not getting worse in your wife's case. You're doing everything you can and are aware of what's going on. Can't ask for anything more (except for preeclamspia to go away).

Things will happen when they need to. I know from personal experience as a husband and dad that this is beyond nerve-wracking. The best thing we can do is take it one day at a time. All of your vigilance will be worth it.

P.S. I forgot to pack my wife's bag also. Ladies, don't think less of me, I did get around to it, it's just not in our nature to really plan some of these things. It's not necessarily the "guy's way" to plan these things out as opposed to using "brute force" (e.g., going home six times to get camera, toothbrush, etc. and having it all in one place at one time.)

Glad to hear the blood work came back okay and that there was no increase in protein. Hopefully the working from home will help your wife relax and she can get some extra rest in without the commute. Did you get that bag packed yet? [;)] Keeping you in my thoughts. Please let us know how her next round of testing goes.

Some good news to share - all the blood work Friday came out good (or at least not bad). Even more interesting/better is that the 24h turned in Fri showed no increase in protein since Tuesday's. This actually came as a surprise to us given the apparent pattern over the last few weeks. Also, BP has been back up a bit (for a week or so it seemed to be down) - not consistently above 140/90, but dancing with that line again.

DW has agreed (in consultation with OB) to stop going into the office and just work from home - this will save a 1hr commute twice a week which can't be good for anyone's health [:)]

Anyway, looking forward to next week... NST Monday, Labs Tues, U/S & NST & OB visit Thurs Guess I'll have lots to post about eh?

Funny... of all the things that I've done to prepare for this, packing a bag for the hospital is the one thing that totally slipped my mind (living in denial in some way still?) Seems this rather stereotypical preparation woudl have been one of the first things... guess that's what we need friends for, heh. THanks for the reminder. Now I have to wonder what other painfully obvious thing I've forgotten, heh.

I hope that the "come what may" feeling can last...The waiting can be so difficult. I'd say, pack a hospital bag and leave it in the trunk, then you don't HAVE to worry about whether you'll be going to the hospital after any given appointment. You'll be ready in the only area that you can make any real preparations for. I agree with Rachel, you're doing a great job -keep it up!

Well I have to say...I'm amazed at your will and willingness to do so much for your wife! I know that she is proud of you!

Please continue to update us, as we are always waiting to hear how all three of you are doing!

Until then, the three of you are in my thoughts!

Good news is that I think we have come to terms with things being what they are and that we really are doing all that we can.

Waiting for 'the axe to fall' when there may not even be one is difficult - sort of makes us to want it to just happen if it is going to and stop playing with us if it isn't... But that seems to be human nature. Perhaps one of the more difficult things we face is going into the doctors office wondering if we are going to get the "go straight to the hospital" directive. It hit us so out of the blue with Isabel when it happened that now we keep expecting it on every visit. Perhaps after another couple weeks of appointments we'll get tired of stressing out over it and just go in and take what comes.

Being well equiped with the background to know what questions to ask certainly helps and I recommend anyone going through this to get well educated. Once again, I thank all those who have helped in this area - I hope I will be able to "give back" to others in the future too... but back to the battle at hand for the moment.

I just wanted to add my support here. Sounds like it is still a wait and see situation - and that is good. The longer baby has to cook, the better. Milestones can be so hard and exhausting. You are making it though and I hope that continues until October!

Take care and hugs,
Suz

I'm going to start off with a few links to expert responses that you might find informative.

An expert response explaining what causes proteinuria in preeclampsia: http://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=622

An expert response about whether increasing proteinuria means worsening disease: http://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=109

And finally, here is an expert response discussing what testing should be done for a patient with proteinuria of a level similar to that of your wife: http://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1845

It sounds like your doctor has things pretty much covered in that department, which is always reassuring!

I'm sure you are aware by now that preeclampsia can present quite differently from one patient to another -and even from one pregnancy to another in the same patient. Some people seem to have the entire list of symptoms, others don't notice a single one. Some have hypertension show prior to proteinuria, for some it is the opposite, and there are even others that have PIH and never do develop proteinuria...or more still that seemingly go straight past it all and dive head-long into Eclampsia or HELLP syndrome. It really is unpredicatable. As much as we'd all like a cut and dry answer to whether we'll develop preeclampsia and when we'll deliver, what symtpoms we'll get and how it will all be treated, there just isn't one. I know that must kill you, but trust me, we definately understand! On to the point of all this: your wife's body will react to her condition in its own way. It may be that her kidneys just aren't as capable of coping with the increased pressures, whether they're crossing the hypertensive line or not. It may be that the hypertension she experienced earlier took a toll on her kidneys and it'll take time, likely outside of pregnancy and with blood pressure levels at her norm, before they'll start to recover. In my own experience (not relating directly to proteinuria, but to how differently each person's body reacts) in the first weeks after my PIH diagnosis in my first pregnancy, my blood pressure jumped a large ammount but only rarely crossed into the hypertensive range. Still, this was more than sufficient to cause my placental function to decrease resulting in Oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid). No one, not even my doctor who sent me for that first diagnosing ultrasound, would have expected that BP's on average of 120-130/80 would have caused that. My kidneys seem to be able to handle more than what they've been through, yet in that pregnancy, my placenta and thus my baby were the ones being impacted.

I know this is not the answer you are looking for. Maybe someone with more technical knowledge of this area can explain things in more detail. I am not a doctor and definately am not an expert. I know that the uncertainty of it all can just wrack your mind continually with thoughts, worries, and questions. I really do wish that I had the answers...so many lives would be saved, so many families intact, so many better prepared for what lies ahead. I pray that they will come for us all soon.

You and your wife are doing a great job. You are learning all you can and be vigilant about symptoms so that she can get the best medical care possible. While it may never feel like enough, it is so valuable and exactly what needs to be done.

Sending my prayers that the proteinuria will not increase drastically, that her blood pressures will stay down, and that she and baby will both continue on to full term in good health.

Congratulations on passing the "Isabel" line - very significant and believe me, I understand.

I'm glad that you're getting twice weekly NSTs, those always gave me such reassurance. Also, kick counts are the BEST thing you can do at home to make sure baby is doing well - you guys are all over it!

Hang in there, we're all waiting with you!