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I don't blame you for being overwhelmed! My pregnancy turned high risk towards the end when I developed high blood pressure. It never turned to pre-eclampsia but I spent about the last month in and out of the hospital 4 times (overnight stays twice), and visiting my OB three times a week for check ups, fluid checks, and non-stress tests on LO. There were multiple urine collections, blood draws, and monitoring at different sites due to scheduling issues and I was trying to work full time through it all. I ended up getting pulled out on bed rest and they took the baby one week later at 37 weeks. Knowing how I felt for just that short period of time, I can only imagine how tough and stressful it is for you here at 19 weeks. Stay strong and know that being pregnant is really, really hard. Be kind to yourself and do nice things for yourself if you can. Your maternal sacrafices have started already and you are doing the right thing for your baby. I hope your LO remains well!

@Pumpkinspice: I can't imagine what you are going through! Hang in there!

@chrispygal: same!

@Pumpkinspice: I remember feeling alone with my pregnancy. Everyone would laugh at my swollen feet and tell me about how I had to walk and do all these crazy things to start labor and I literally couldn't do anything because I was on very strict bed rest and hospitalized twice before finally having DS. No one understood that I couldn't do a freaking thing. Nothing.
Hang in there - you're doing the what you need to do for your baby. I remember feeling like the blissed-out, active pregnancy I imagined was taken away from me but every journey is different, as you probably know with your other LOs. (((( hugs ))))

I'm sorry you are having difficulties!

My "high risk" was pretty straight forward - went into preterm labor out of the blue at 30 weeks and was in the hospital for 5 days....then discharged home on bedrest. Since there was nothing I could do other than bedrest, I didn't follow with any specialist, just my OB. I did have 2 additional fetal surveys due to concerns over the size of the baby.

Good luck!

I was classified "high risk" mostly due to my severe hypothyroidism and baby size. Luckily there have been no major complications so far. In addition to more frequent doctor appointments, I also saw a perinatologist once a month and had to get frequent blood draws at the lab.

I'm thankful everything has been fairly positive so far(38 weeks today) but I've been so stressed and worried the whole pregnancy. I felt really bad missing work for all the appointments.

Hang in there! You're at the halfway mark now.

So sorry about your difficulty. I am not 'high risk', so I know you have worse to deal with and that just stinks!... But have had terrible morning sickness (all day) and got a risk factor for downs that meant different doctors and more testing. It's so tiring. One week, I went to the dr. twice, two different doctors, and was at each one for over 3 hours. My arms look like pincushions from all the blood draws and I'm a pro at catching my pee in the cups...

So far I've seen two 'specialist nurses', my primary OB, a genetic counselor 1.5 hours away, and a perinatologist. They have me scheduled at the primary care dr. 1/month until 20 weeks (so, 2 more of those), then 1/two weeks after that. I also have 2 more apts on the schedule with the perinatologist. I might get to cancel one, depending on the test results of what I had done most recently.

I'm also worried about GD because diabetes runs in my family, and because I've been eating so terribly due to my sickness, but I"ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Good luck to you!

I had to go in for ultrasounds and biophysical profiles weekly from 32 weeks to monitor my baby since she was measuring small and I had a mature placenta. I also had two episodes of bleeding in the second and third trimester. I ended up being induced at 38 weeks since the baby was no longer growing. I didn't have to see any specialists though, my ob handled everything. My baby is 5 weeks old now and is doing great!

I also had placenta preva up until my third trimester, extreme morning sickness until 27 weeks, an ovarian cyst, and a 1 in 35 risk of down syndrome. Honestly, it all seemed super hard to deal with at the time, but now that I'm no longer pregnant all the stress and pain are just faint memories. Hang in there, you're already about half way there!

I was with a Peri the entire time and went in every two weeks until I went into pre-term labor at 23 weeks. Then I was obviously monitored 24/7 and it was extremely stressful. But it also felt good to- know that I was getting the best care possible.

I saw a cardiologist, but I normally see one. I went to a specialist for the CVS test. I went to the high risk section of our hospital for monthly ultrasounds for growth. My water broke at 34 weeks and after that I was in the hospital.

I was considered high-risk because of the epilepsy medication I take. It puts the baby at a slightly higher risk for certain birth defects. I'm told my OB is very cautious anyway, so I'm not sure how many "extra" visits I had with her aside from bi-weekly NST's starting at 32 weeks.
I had three visits to the Maternal Fetal Medicine group - Level II after my anatomy scan, a heart study, and a growth scan. I liked those because the techs were nicer, had better equipment, and gave us 4-D photos, aside from the good news that everything looked healthy.
At the end of my pregnancy, I was told they wouldn't let me go past 40 weeks (not sure why they didn't tell me earlier) so I was induced at 39w4d. They monitored me pretty carefully during the induction. I had a blood pressure cuff that tested every 15 minutes. That was probably the worst high-risk related experience of the whole pregnancy!

@Oceanis723: I know exactly what you mean . . . 10 days until viability counting today!! I will feel sooo much better when we are there, even though I obviously hope to go much longer!