Mallory's Misery

First off, isn't my daughter BEAUTIFUL! As you know, Mallory is expecting my first granddaughter in 6 weeks. I had to use this graduation picture of her because she refuses to send me pictures of her being pregnant with Sophie. So, this will have to do.....grumble grumble.


Mallory has had an uneventful pregnancy thus far. She, of course, has had the normal discomfort that most women experience during pregnancy. She had a lot of cramping when she was first pregnant, she's had weird cravings, she's had morning sickness and fatigue. But her most severe discomfort is now.

We all know in that last month of pregnancy you feel like a Goodyear blimp. You are miserable walking and the baby kicks so much you get bruised ribs. You start to retain water and you usually put the most pounds on. Mallory is now borderline preeclampsia and is MISERABLE!

It started about a month ago when she called me and asked me if I had ever had problems with my wrists hurting. I never had that problem and I had never heard of anyone having that problem. She said that she looked it up in her book and it said that you can get carpal tunnel during pregnancy. She said that it was really painful and is now to the point where she is having troubles eating, she can barely hold a utensil.

She had a doctor's appointment a week ago and her blood pressure was 140/90 and he doctor was very alarmed. Considering her wrist's are the size of elephant legs and her blood pressure being high the doctor told her that she could have preeclampsia. They discussed what that was and her doctor told her that she needed to stay pregnant for another 2 weeks and then they would talk about delivering early. She's due the 21st of April. They had her do a 24-hour urine test which had to be uncomfortable in her state.

She had to place a catch basin in the toilet, pee in a cup or something like that, then transfer the urine into a larger container and store that in the frig. She had to do this for 24 hours. Can you imagine having urine stored in your refrigerator? How disgusting! Besides the fact that she's huge and probably has trouble using the bathroom anyway. Poor thing!

She had a rough weekend and started showing other signs of preeclampsia, yesterday was even worse. She has been talking to the advice nurse at Kaiser and they finally got her in yesterday to see a doctor. Her blood pressure was 130/80, Sophie's heartbeat was good so that was a good thing. They want to see her back in a week, but meanwhile she is so MISERABLE! My heart aches for her.

I have told her to rest as much as possible, but she gets tired of that. She's been sleeping a lot and complaining about her sudden weight gain. She's just plain tired of being pregnant, but weren't we all at this stage. However, she is having a double whammy and is doubly tired.

I talk to her everyday to check on her and she calls if she is having a rough day or needs to talk. I have so enjoyed these past 8 months with her. I am so proud of her and how well she has taken care of herself and Sophie. She is going to be a great mommy.

One of Mallory's baby pictures....Isn't she just the cutest?