10 more days!

Our family of 3 will shortly become 4! My c-section has been scheduled for July 27th if baby doesn't come before that! Crazy how time has flown by!

A fair warning..most of this post is just so that I remember all of the details of this pregnancy...probably not too interesting for others...

The past 2 months have been quite interesting as far as the pregnancy goes. Mid-May I took the 2 hr Glucose Test for and it came back elevated. My Dr. recommended I be treated for Gestational Diabetes (GD). I was really upset about the whole thing. I didn't understand how I could have this as the only risk factor that applied to me was being over 25 yrs old. I Googled everything I could think of and asked everyone I knew that had dealt with it before. I'm sure I was driving my Dr. crazy with my questions and resistance!

I setup my appointment with Sweet Success - a statewide program to help pregnant mothers deal with GD. I was somewhat relieved that they couldn't get me an appointment for 3 weeks, but I immediately changed my eating habits while I was waiting. I went for my first appointment there on June 13th and was setup with a Blood Glucose Meter, instructed to test 4 times a day (prick my finger - ouch!) and continue to watch my carbs. The first week went pretty smoothly, but I discovered my morning coffee would have to go - it gave me a high reading and I wasn't about to subject myself to insulin shots if I couldn't keep it under control! After the first week, my hormones continued to rise and caused my morning blood sugar to rise significantly. It didn't seem to matter that I was still eating the same foods; my body seems to have a mind of its own. So, at my next appointment, I was given a low dosage prescription for Glyburide to help control my fasting blood sugars. Thankfully it is an oral medication, not insulin shots!

I went in for another appointment around 36 weeks and the dietitian and Dr both seemed to think that my numbers were acceptable and that my hormone levels would be dropping in the coming weeks. I still have to test my blood sugar and continue the low carb diet, but I don't have to go back for monitoring. Hooray!

The low carb diet has saved me quite a few extra pounds this time around. Total weight gain is around 22lbs, which gives me hope it will all disappear quickly this time! I must say I won't be surprised if this baby doesn't like peanut butter or nuts..I've been going through both in large quantities. I can't wait until I can eat all of the wonderful summer fruits again...I've been limited to one or two SMALL pieces a day (as long as I eat it with nuts), which is soooo hard for someone who loves practically any and all fruit and lots of it!

So, that has been my GD experience. While I still don't understand why it it effected me, I think I was able to come to terms with the fact that I did not cause it, it is something controlled by hormones and out of my control. Very ready to be done with it - and have a Starbucks Mocha!

The other issue that I had to deal with this pregnancy has been pelvic pain. In one of my mid-pregnancy blogs, I mentioned that I had a lot of pain but that my midwife said it was round ligament pain. Well that pain continued to elevate and persist so much to the point that I could hardly walk! It got to where I couldn't lift either foot off the floor without shooting pain, rolling over in bed was miserable, getting dressed and getting into the car were horrible. The worst part was that it hurt so bad to pick up Natalie. So, back to Google I went. I came across some articles that listed a bunch of symptoms for Pelvic Misalignment and I had 9 of the 10! Some sources suggested that a chiropractor could help. I've always been skeptical of chiropractors as I hadn't ever needed one, but I immediately found one and went. I figured it couldn't get any worse!

ONE appointment was all it took to figure out the cause! The right side of my pelvis was shifted forward causing bones to rub and muscles to stretch and pull in ways they weren't supposed to. My right leg was visibly (to the chiro, anyway) longer than the left. She had me turn on my side, and did one "pop" of an adjustment and it was back in place!! It took another week or so for the muscles to stop being sore, but I could lift my feet again! I continue to go back for periodic adjustments. I guess the hormones that relax the joints for birth were causing things to shift, but for the most part I've been able to keep it under control. So glad I made that appointment, because I couldn't imagine surviving another 10 weeks of pregnancy with that kind of pain! (and it's not in the cards for me, but I have no idea how I would have survived a natural birth)

The GD has also made this pregnancy somewhat high-risk. The Dr. likes to monitor GD patients closer to make sure the baby is not at risk. I started going twice a week for NSTs (non stress tests)..it sounds worse than it is. I go into the office and they hook me up to a monitor for 20-30 minutes to record the baby's heartrate and any contractions. They are watching for the baby to move and see that the heartrate accelerates and then returns back to normal. It's kind of a nice break in the middle of the day and I get to hear the baby moving around. This last Friday (just short of 38 weeks), I finally showed some contractions. I wasn't entirely sure whether I was feeling contractions or just baby stretching, but the monitor was definitely showing contractions. I've continued to feel them off and on, but nothing consistent.

This coming Monday (July 18th), I'm going in for another ultra-sound to check the baby's size. (GD can cause large babies). I'm guessing (hoping!) it shows that everything is normal, since I'm still measuring right on track. David's coming too which will be nice since he hasn't gone to most of the routine appointments.

My blood pressure has been super, so that is a relief. A lot of times women with GD end up with elevated blood pressure and pre-eclampsia. I was worried that mine would creep up, but Friday it was 110/60, so definitely not elevated. And I've had virtually NO swelling! A couple of times my feet have been sensitive after standing for long periods of time, but other than that, everything looks normal. In fact, I can still fit my wedding ring...it feels a little tight, but it does fit!

I've definitely been having more of a "Nesting" instinct this time around..at least the last week or so. We've been rearranging furniture, cleaning out cabinets, I've got the baby clothes sorted, washed and put away. We're going to try having the girls share a room, so we've been moving things around a bit to make room for everything. David installed the car seat and bases yesterday! Only thing left on the to-do list is to pack for the hospital - and I'm even a little nervous that that won't get done!

I'm officially on Maternity Leave! We did some last minute cramming at work to get most of my projects cleaned up. I hate the feeling of leaving things half-done for others to pick up my slack, but we did what we could to get most things done. I'll have to go back around September 1st to help with an ugly deadline on the 15th, but hopefully I can do some things from home and help out when I can.

Another update coming soon..!