Diabeetus

Whelp...

Looks like I have Gestational Diabetes. Wonderful. 

So I pretty much knew it was coming...but it's not an easy pill to swallow. I mean, I'll do what I have to for this kid, but I'm not exactly excited about it. 

My doctor's nurse called me today, and apparently I bombed the 1 hour glucose test so bad that they don't want/need to waste time doing the usual follow-up 3 hour glucose test. So after being jerked around by our pharmacy a couple times (long story short- they're morons), I'm the "proud" owner of my very own glucose monitor! 

This is my life now-

Starting tomorrow, I have to do finger pricks to monitor my blood sugar 4 times a day. 

1. First thing in the morning before I eat/drink anything

2. Two hours after breakfast

3. Two hours after lunch

4. Two hours after dinner. 

I made J do a test prick so that he could tell me if it hurt. It looks pretty painless, but for some reason I'm terrified of this. 

When I was going through chemotherapy about 10 years ago, they had to do finger pricks on me sometimes and they freaking HURT. Or at least I think they hurt. It's entirely possible that I'm just psyching myself out. 

Anyway, I have to monitor my levels until my next appointment, where we'll decide if this can be managed by changing my diet, or if I'll need to start taking insulin. 

Cross your fingers for me! 

I'd cross my own, but after all the finger pricking, I'm sure they'll be too sore. 

-K 

P.S. Now all I can think about is Wilford Brimley...

26 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

26 Weeks

This week, baby is the size of a head of lettuce.

Well, this last week has been pretty uneventful (no complaints here!). 

This weekend we got into the Spring Cleaning mood and we finally finished cleaning out the nursery. We moved the last piece of "non-baby" furniture into the spare bedroom. I also felt the need to organize the rest of the house. It was a very productive weekend. 

So now, all we have to do is wait for our nursery furniture! I'm so ready to nest. I only have about 3 months left, and I just want to get everything put together! I'm a very impatient person, especially while pregnant. Just ask my poor husband.

Today I had a routine check up with my doctor. I go in, pee in a cup, he checks to make sure the cervical stitch is still intact and then he does a quick ultrasound so that I can see Baby Salisbury. It really eases my mind to see him wiggling around in there. I appreciate my doctor very much for taking the time to do that for me. Most women get a total of one or two ultrasounds their entire pregnancy but I get one every week. I'm very fortunate to have such a caring doctor. 

And while this was just a routine visit, I found out that I may have Gestational Diabetes. 

I have to go in in the morning for the glucose test. I have to fast tonight after midnight and then go in tomorrow morning and drink the glucose test drink. Then they'll draw my blood and see how my body processed the sugar. Most likely it'll say that I do, in fact, have GD because they found glucose in my urine sample. But as my doctor pointed out to me today, if Gestational Diabetes is the worst thing that we have to deal with this pregnancy, then we'll be fine. We've seen worse. We've been through MUCH worse. 

I can handle this. 

So far, I've been very fortunate with this pregnancy. I had barely any morning sickness, I haven't had any out of control cravings, I've only gained about 10-15 pounds...So nothing too extreme. 

I guess I was due for something not-so-great to happen. 

*sigh* 

It'll be tough. I'll have to adjust my diet and with cravings, that'll be hard! But I'll do anything for this kid. 

I'll eat plain yogurt and vegetables only for the rest of this pregnancy if that means that he'll be okay. 

I'd do anything for him. Anything. 

So yeah...I'll update you all on that this week after we get the results. 

So, tonight, I was looking around the house for my cat Luna...I couldn't find her in any of her usual spots! 

Under the bed? Nope.

Under our quilt napping? Nope. 

On the kitchen chair? Nope. 

Then I looked in the nursery...and this is what I found! 

What a freaking goof! She found the baby swing that I had set up in the nursery and she made herself comfortable. I know that I'll have to break her of this habit, because I don't want her jumping in there when there's a baby in it, but it's so cute! Silly kitten. 

Well, I think that's about it for this week. 

Here's a snapshot of my 26 week belly! 

I'm getting so...ROUND. And I can feel him move several times a day now. I just love that feeling.

Have a good week! Thank you so much for reading! 

-K

25 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

25 Weeks

Baby Salisbury is the size of a cauliflower this week! 

My post last week was about going into the hospital for a toxemia scare. 

My post this week is about going into the hospital for another scare. 

Ugh. It's been an eventful couple of weeks over here and I'm sick of it. 

I want a nice, boring, uneventful pregnancy. I'm tired of being scared all the time.

Well, this hospital visit was a direct result of my PgAL (Pregnant After a Loss) Brain. I've been through 3 losses, so EVERY LITTLE THING that doesn't feel just "right" sets off alarm bells in my head. And then I dwell on those negative thoughts and I overreact to just about everything. 

So here't the sitch- 

Yesterday afternoon after my nap, I started to feel some tightness and soreness in my uterus. Usually when this happens, I drink lots of water and try to relax because it always passes. By 9 o'clock, I was still feeling tight and it had even become a little crampy. I drank more water and tried to lay down to go to bed. I laid awake for about 2 hours trying to just shut my brain off and ignore the cramps. 

But they didn't go away. They were like the cramps I used to get during my time of the month. Not as intense as contractions, but still really uncomfortable. I knew I wasn't going to be getting any sleep.

I guess I was thinking that they may be the start of contractions. I have a cerclage (cervical stitch) in place, but the stitch wouldn't stand up against contractions. It would just pop out. So I was not only worried about contractions, I was worried that my stitch would fail and that my cervix would try to open on it's own. 

My late-term miscarriage this last July was due to my cervix opening by itself. 

So there I was, laying in bed, having Vietnam-style flashback and working myself into a panic. 

J had to wake up at 4 this morning for work, so I was really hesitant to wake him up. But I just couldn't deal with these feelings on my own. I woke him up and told him that something just didn't feel "right". He insisted that we go to the hospital. That's when I started crying. 

I wanted to go to make sure that everything was okay, but at the same time, I really didn't want to know. I wanted to be ignorant. Because if I stayed home, I wouldn't have to get any bad news. 

I fear news like that more than almost anything. But the fear of losing our baby because I was being stupid won out and we went to the hospital. 

We checked in, and were sent down to Labor & Delivery

 (since I'm over 20 weeks, they take me instead of the ER)

The nurse who was there was the same nurse who was there in July when we lost our little sweetheart. 

(insert more flashbacks)

She was great. She comforted me and told me that it was absolutely no problem for me to be there. She said that if they could put my mind at ease, they were more than happy to do so. 

First, they used the doppler to check on the baby. His heart rate was great and I could feel him kicking in there so that helped calm me down right away. They checked my urine for amniotic fluid (all clear). They hooked me up to a monitor to see if I was having contractions (nope, just cramps). And she checked to make sure that my stitch was still in place and that my cervix was still closed (yes & yes). 

So basically, there was nothing wrong. Just cramps. She gave me a heat pad to help relax me and within 2 hours, I was home. 

It made me feel better to know that nothing was wrong, but I feel like such a rotten person for waking my husband up for nothing and dragging him to the hospital in the middle of the night. 

Annnnd, I'm still crampy this morning...so that sucks. 

Anyway...here's a picture of my belly at 25 weeks. Only 15 more to go! 

Time is flying (: 

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully my next check in will have NOTHING to do with the hospital.

-K

24 weeks

Weekly Check-In

24 Weeks

Baby Salisbury is the size of a cantaloupe this week! 

Wow, I realized that I never did do my weekly update on Sunday. It totally slipped my mind! 

So here it is, better late than never. 

Baby is doing great! He's flipping around in there like no tomorrow. I can feel him a lot at certain times of the day and I think I've figured out his sleep pattern. He's really active in the early morning and late in the afternoon/early evening. Then he's pretty still at night and during the mid mornings/early afternoons while I'm at work. I like that I kind of know when he'll be moving. Like right now, for instance- 

He's going nuts in there. I love it. 

I'm so happy that he's okay in there. Every time I feel him, I'm reminded that he's there and he's (sorry to be blunt) alive. It's really nice to be able to have that reassurance. Especially after 3 losses. 

But even with the movement, there still comes times when I get really nervous. Today was one of those times. 

This past Monday at my routine doctors appointment, my doctor noted that my blood pressure was a little high and that my ankles were a bit swollen. Both are normal pregnancy symptoms, but they can also be symptoms of a larger problem; Preeclampsia or Toxemia. 

My doctor is especially vigilant of this condition with me because my older sister suffered from HELLP Syndrome with her last 2 pregnancies. 

So anyway, he told me to watch out for headaches or changes in my vision. As these can be symptoms, and he asked me to call him if I experienced either of these. 

Well, this morning I developed a headache. I powered through until lunch then I decided to call my doctor on my lunch break to give him a heads up and to keep him in the loop. I expected an "Okay, I'll give him the message" from the nurse, but instead I got "How close are you to town? Can you come in right now?" 

Say what, now? You need me to come in right now? Because I told you I have a headache?!

I may or may not have panicked a little bit. I didn't realize that having a headache would lead to a hospitalization! I quickly ditched my lunch plans (AKA going home and eating jasmine rice) and I called J and explained what was going on. He met me at the hospital and we went back to the OB so that they could monitor Baby and I. 

Well, 4 hours later, I learned that my blood pressure was fine (like perfectly normal). There was no protein in my urine. And that I wasn't having any contractions. 

So a nice, boring hospital visit. Thank God. 

I did have one interesting experience in the hospital though...

So I believe I previously mentioned that I have an anterior placenta. Which means that I haven't felt much movement from the Baby. Well today, while sitting in the hospital, I felt him move somewhere near my belly button. This has never happened to me before! Usually the only movement I feel is WAY down low (think groin region). But I felt him up high today! Annnnd when I stopped what I was doing to revel in the new sensation, I saw it. I mean, I literally saw him move. My tummy raised up exactly where he was kicking. 

Looks like I have a strong little man on my hands. 

I am so beyond grateful that I haven't developed toxemia (fingers crossed that I never will). I'm also glad that my doctor takes enough time and care to see me even if it turns out to be nothing. I have to say that I like his "better safe than sorry" approach. Big fan. 

So I guess that's it. My week hasn't been too entertaining other than today! 

Here's my 24 week bump picture! 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a marvelous week! 

-K

23 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

23 Weeks

Baby Salisbury is the size of a Grapefruit 

This week has been a very good week! I've been feeling our little one kick a lot lately! 

That may not sound super exciting, but I have an anterior placenta (placenta is between me and the baby) so it's a lot harder for me to feel him right now. Once he gets bigger, it won't matter where my placenta is, but as of right now, I feel him less frequently and with a lot less force. 

Speaking of feeling him, I actually have started to feel him kick from the outside. J even felt it too! We were laying in bed this past Saturday and I put his hand on my stomach where the baby was kicking and he felt it! 

It's kind of a neat moment when your husband can feel the baby for the first time. Like, it's not just you anymore. The baby is now real because others can feel it. It's a really cool feeling. 

This week, we also received some ADORABLE baby clothes and a baby blanket from J's parents! 

These are our son's first clothes and they're so freaking cute. 

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa! 

My favorite is the whale outfit. 

The onsie says "one cute catch" and the whale on the butt of those pants is just too cute for words. 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We love them!

This week wasn't all about baby though...

My dad and my husband were very handy and fixed our bed frame for me. It was collecting dust in the spare bedroom, but now I have my wonderful king size back up on it's frame and it's glorious. It lifted our bed up by like a 6 inches and I swear, it feels like a whole new bed. 

I've missed it. 

J and I also started spring cleaning our house/yard. We're not really starting anything on the yard this year, but we are starting to comb through our back yard (it's 1 acre, by the way) and pick up cobble stones so that when we do lay sod down, eventually, there won't be small boulders under it. 

It's going to take FOREVER, but it'll be worth it. 

I think I've got spring fever though because I'm going through our house, room by room, and de-cluttering. My nesting instincts are going crazy too! I just want to set my nursery up, but then I remember that we don't actually have any furniture yet. And that we won't have any until June or July. *sigh*

I'll just have to settle for putting together the small touches for now.


Oh! And we also went over to my parent's house for 2 meals today! Mmmm...food.
It's my dad's birthday so we went over for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was bacon and cream cheese bagels and dinner was tamales! There were also large amounts of carrot cake involved. So good!



So Here's a birthday shout out to my dad! J and I are so grateful to have you in our lives. You're always there for us and I cannot wait for you to meet your grandson. He's going to love you as much as we do.

Well, here's my belly at 23 weeks. 

Only about 17 weeks left to go! 

Holy crap...that's only 4 months...

YIKES. 

I hope everyone has a tremendous week!

-K