32 Weeks

32 weeks! Feeling blessed to have made it this far and trying to enjoy this because it's going to be my last pregnancy, EVER. The enjoying part hasn't been especially easy but I am hoping from here out it only gets better.

Being a gestational diabetic brings a whole level of frustration I never imaged. I could eat the same meal two days in a row and end up with vastly different numbers. My fasting numbers were slighly over and breakfast was a disaster no matter what I ate. I discussed that with the midwife at my appointment on Thursday and she felt that starting a low dose of Glyburide would help. I didn't want to start medication because that moves one into a 'higher risk' and it increases the chance that the baby might be hypoglycemic at birth, but the risk of leaving my sugar levels to run wild is greater. Now, I'm just battling my lunch and dinner numbers which seem to have also crept up, though it's not surprising because 32 weeks is the 'magic time' for that to begin. On the diet, I've lost 3 lbs so I'm up to a total of 12lbs gained for the pregnancy. My blood pressure was great at the last appointment so that's one less thing to worry about for now. I have a follow up appointment for this Thursday so she can make sure that my sugar levels have responded to the Glyburide.

The weekend of March 14th, I pulled into my driveway after work and my Mom's vehicle was here. She lives 6 hours away in VA so it wasn't like she just 'stopped by' to say hi. I was shocked. I came in and she told me that she was here because she hasn't seen the kids since Christmas, won't see the kids for Easter and she had gifts for them. Not terribly strange. Sunday- we were invited over to Chop's aunts to see her remodeled kitchen. We headed over and when we pulled in- she said she needed Chop to look at the thermostat in the Rec center because they were having an event and the heat wasn't working right. We walked in and SURPRISE!

Chop's Mom and 2 cousins had planned a surprise shower for me. I guess the look on my face was priceless. I'll post a few other pics on my Facebook when they finally arrive in my email from my phone. They did such a great job and the food was delicious. Baby S is certainly loved already. <3

                                                                       30 Weeks:                                                                        

31 weeks:

32 weeks:

Ultrasound Update and Advice Needed

My ultrasound to determine babys size was actually a week earlier than I thought- so at 29 weeks. We got 2 pictures that were decent and he had no problem showing that he's very much a little boy. *Insert sigh of relief*. I had a doctor appointment immediately afterwards which resulted in some good news and bad news.

Good news: He's perfect. He has all the parts he needs, he's growing and his heart rate looks good. I've gained a total of 14lbs which is perfect and I'm on target for about a 20lb gain for the pregnancy. That is pretty much what the baby is going to weigh, plus the fluid, placenta, etc. I should be back to pre-pregnancy weight pretty quickly. My c-section is officially scheduled and in the books. I got the paperwork for my pre admission bloodwork and we're ready to rock. I can't believe this is almost over!

Bad news: He's big. Not just big, but VERY big. 4lbs 3oz at 29 weeks. Typically around 30 weeks they are reaching the 3lb mark. He's at 95+%. Knowing his size and what my glucose tests results were- the doctor told me to cancel the 3 hour glucose tolerance test because it would be torturing myself and I very likely wouldn't pass it. Baby is big for a reason, and especially in his belly which is one of the markers for gestational diabetes. I'm officially diagnosed as a gestational diabetic.

The news hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm not exactly sure why because I knew it was possible but I guess I hadn't really thought about what it would be like to actually hear that everything I was eating was 'hurting' my baby. It's not anything that I could ever control since it's the placenta and the hormones changing the way my body handles insulin- but I was the one eating and giving my body things it couldn't handle. After the shock wore off, I was miserable for a few days. I immediately cut out added sugar, sweets and started to curb my carb intake. I felt like I was starving and had no idea just how much I should actually be eating as far as carbs/sugar.

Yesterday, I met with the dietician and I feel better about it. It's still going to be a big change in my life to have to wake up early enough to eat at home (I usually ate at work) and to eat within an hour of waking up. I'm so not a morning breakfast person that early. I also need to test my sugar 4 times a day (immediately upon waking, after each meal) and eat 3 meals and 3 snacks. The diet as far as carbs go isn't bad, but every single time I eat I need to have a protein with it. That means I have to be eating things I don't particularly like and have to be eating on a fairly strict schedule. I am anemic so this will help in that regard but I don't usually have a ton of protein in my diet so this is a challenge.

If anyone out there has any experience or is in the medical field- maybe you have some advice/suggestions:
I have not yet met my deductible for my insurance, so I'll pay out of pocket for all my testing supplies. They gave me 2 meters for free to find out which ones would be cheapest for me to use. I prefer one of them but the strips are $143 for a 1 month supply. Someone at work told me about a cheaper meter from Walmart called Reli On and the strips are only $20 for a month supply. I bought the meter for $15 and $9 worth of strips. I used it today after lunch and also tested with my preferred meter. The preferred meter gave me a 93, while the one from Walmart gave me a 104. That's only an 11 point difference but what if I'm at the threshold one day and the Walmart monitor gives me a number over but I'd really be under with the more preferred monitor? Does anyone know anything about these monitors? Is it worth the risk? I've never dealt with high sugar before- I've always been hypoglycemic. I can't afford to keep testing with both so I need to pick one and stick with it for consistency. HELP!

Iron, Sugar and Picas...oh my!

My 28 week appointment proved to be rather informative. Blood pressure is good, up to 14lbs gained and babys heartbeat is 155. That's about where the good news ended. Haha.

I am measuring 4 weeks ahead which could be a big baby, a uterus that knows what to do so it just stretches out easily, or I have to much fluid. they have ordered an ultrasound for the 16th to find out how big the baby is and what my fluid levels are. Excited to see what the little guy (or maybe not so little) looks like at 30 weeks since our 20 week ultrasound he wasn't very cooperative. He's running out of room so hopefully he will be still this time.

Lately I've been craving the smell of certain things that really aren't normal to crave: the smell of a car exhaust (I don't like diesel exhaust), the plaster/putty smell in the basement from Chop building Tyler's room, and permanent markers. Clearly that's not normal but thankfully I have not tried to eat any of it and I can fight off the urge to keep breathing it in. It's considered a 'pica' but I had no idea why it was occuring. At my appointment on Monday I found out that I'm anemic. I have a hard time taking my prenatals because either I don't remember to take them or when I do I have a hard time choking them down. I also don't eat red meat so I'm not surprised that I'm anemic. I am going to start taking the chewable Flintstones Complete and hoping that helps- time for lots of raisins and nuts I guess too.

I also found out that I failed my 1 hour glucose test. That's not real surprising either since I failed with Tyler and Kallie, but this time I failed with 172mg instead of the 142 that I failed with Kallie. I now have to take the 3 hour test especially because of the possibility that it could be why the baby is so big. Praying I pass because a diagnosis of GD would mean I have to change my eating habits in a big way. I've always loved carbs, and usually my sugar is to low so it's not that much of an issue. Of course there's also my Oreo craving but that could easily be stopped as I've not been having them every night. The carbs are going to be the killer for me.

Today is a snow day for me and the kids, and it's MUCH needed. I like my job but I can't handle training someone anymore. She's not catching on very quickly and with everything else going on, I feel like I am running out of time. It's taking me twice as long to get my work done while I'm stopping to answer her questions. And it's not something I can just let her figure out because if it's done wrong- someone could be falsely arrested or seriously injured.

Calgon- take me away!