30 weeks

Most everyone who's following this blog already knows the news, but for those few that don't, I found out early this week that I do, in fact, have gestational diabetes.  (Only now am I able to write that sentence without breaking into tears.)  This news was absolutely devastating at first; I was so disappointed in myself, even though everyone kept telling me that this is not my fault and there's nothing I could have done to prevent it.  And I was shocked – I do not meet any of the risk factors, except possibly being "old," although I beg to differ.  (Actually, that criteria is simply "women over 25," but doesn't that include just about all moms-to-be these days?)  Here's a link to some more information about GD, including the specific risk factors, in case you're interested.

I really never expected this and was very down about it initially.  I allowed myself one day to grieve and just be mad, but the next day, I knew I just needed to suck it up and deal with it.  I became determined to not just manage this condition, but to kick it's butt.

I meet with a dietician next week, but in the meantime, I'm on a special diet (specifically one that limits carbohydrates) and I'm checking my blood sugar levels four times a day.  The diet is not so bad.  Of course I have to pretty much completely eliminate the candy and other junk food that I've admittedly overindulged in the past 30 weeks.  But for this lifetime dieter, planning meals, reading labels, and measuring out food is nothing new.  In fact, only since I've been pregnant have I not "watched" what I eat - that's pretty much been my MO up until last November.  The sad part is that I was rather enjoying my little reprieve from dieting.  I guess the party's just over a bit sooner than I would have liked.  : (

As far as checking my blood sugar goes, it's obviously not fun, but I can deal with it.  At least it will only be for another 10 weeks.  (GD typically goes away as soon as you have the baby.)  The worst part, though, is that both me and the baby run a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life (some statistics say my chances increase as much as 90%, some more like 40-60%).  That's the one fact that I am struggling with the most.  I guess it means that not only do I need to be vigilant about keeping my weight down and exercising for the remainder of my life (to hopefully reduce that risk a bit), but unfortunately, so does our child.  I feel really bad for passing this on to him.

That said, I'm not feeling sorry for myself over this.  I am constantly reminding myself, instead, that things could be much worse and that I have been, and continue to be, very truly blessed.  This is nothing that I can't handle...and maybe I'll even be a better, healthier mommy because of it.

On a happier note, we are working on painting the baby's room this weekend.  Even as I type this, we are waiting for the first coat to dry so we can go in and do some touching up.  I do have one more design element that I'm hoping to incorporate onto one of the walls in a couple of weeks (I didn't want to attempt to do it all in one weekend), but it feels good to have this mostly behind us now.  The nursery is starting to look good, but I can't wait to see it all put together with the crib and the linens, etc.  I'll have to wait another month and a half or so for that, though.

(Check out Kinnick in the baby sling that we got from Eric and Jenny this week.  Much to his dismay, we've decided that Kinnick will be testing out all of the baby equipment from here on out!)

And, it's probably completely imperceptible, but I may look a wee bit smaller in my photo this week.  I have actually lost a couple of pounds since going on this diabetic diet.  I'm planning to ask the dietician if that is normal next week.  I think so long as the baby is still growing (which I won't know for sure until my next doctor's appointment in two weeks), it should be fine.  I'm guessing it just has to do with my body adjusting to LOTS fewer sweets and treats than it had grown accustomed to and will probably level out again next week.

And finally, I am soooooo looking forward to the shower in Iowa next weekend.  This has been a long time coming and I can't even express how excited I am.  Yay!  : )

29 weeks

What a week this has been! I found out on Monday that I did not "pass" my initial glucose screen (I came in at 150 and apparently "normal" is 70-135.) So, this Friday, I had to go back for the big, 3-hour (4 blood draw) test. Initially, I was extremely upset and kind of disappointed in myself - I really hoped I would pass the first one and not have to do the second. But then I realized that there's not a whole lot I could have done about it and that lots of women don't pass the first, but do go on to pass the second, so I stopped being so hard on myself. 

Instead, I channeled all my energy into freaking out about the next test. I had to fast from midnight the night before the test (which is harder than normal, given my extreme hunger lately!) and I had to have blood drawn four times in 3 hours. That is a serious ordeal for me. But I kept telling myself that if I couldn't get through this, there's no way I could get through labor, and that is something I am determined to do well (despite Ryan's doubts). Anyway, to make a long story short, the test went surprisingly well. Ever since discovering that I MUST request a "butterfly" needle (the size they use on infants), I've had very little problems giving blood. All four sticks went just fine and I handled them pretty well. I even downloaded a movie on iTunes and brought my laptop in with me to help pass the time. I won't know the results until Monday, and am hoping for the best, but at least I've got the test behind me now.

One other thing to note - I was woken to my first "oh my gosh," crying out in pain leg cramp the other day. I keep hearing how common those are, but so far, have managed to avoid them. It happened about an hour before my alarm went off on Friday morning and my calf is still very stiff and sore today. Those are no fun!

And Ryan's back (he's been gone for the past week), so that makes life so much better! It's good to have him home. We're planning to paint the baby's room next weekend, so this weekend we are trying to get it all cleared and cleaned out. It's been hard to stay focused, though - it's absolutely gorgeous outside today! So, on that note, I'm off...to do something (hopefully productive).

28 weeks

In lieu of a photo of me this week (Ryan is out of town, so I don't have anyone to take my picture!), here are the latest photos of Baby P. I was not expecting to get another glimpse of him after our 20-week ultrasound, but because I had to have another one to follow-up on the two cysts they found on my ovaries back in January, I was lucky enough to get another peek!

Apparently baby is in breech position, but it's still too early to worry about that. The tech made me close my eyes when she viewed the baby's sex organs, so the gender is still unknown. We did catch him making little sucking or chewing motions, which was kinda cute.

The images are all essentially face shots, but in case you need help deciphering what you're looking at (I did!):

• Photo 1 shows baby's head on the left, eyes closed - isn't he cute?
• Photo 2 shows baby's head on the right (facing the opposite direction) and is a nice view of his chin, lips, and nose
• Photo 3 is another face shot, but in this one you can see his pointy little chin a bit better (I think he'll have Ryan's chin)
  

As far as the rest of my 3-hour appointment yesterday went, one of the two cysts seems to have disappeared, and the other has gotten a bit smaller, but is still there (though no one seems to be very concerned about it, so I'm trying not to be either). I also had to take the glucose tolerance test, which I am really, really hoping I pass, but won't know until Monday. (Please pray I don't have gestational diabetes...I can't handle having to give myself injections! Needles??? Eek!) And I received the RhoGAM shot (in my bottom!) during my appointment, because I am Rh-negative. (If you don't know about this, here's a good article that explains it all pretty well.) The midwife measured me at about 27.5 centimeters, which is right on track, as is my weight gain (about 20 pounds to date).

In other news, the baby's kicks are consistently getting stronger and more frequent. When he's feeling particularly rambunctious, it's fun to just sit and watch my belly thump around. But to sum it all up, things are simply grand...I am SO full of joy and anticipation for this baby! Thanks for sharing this excitement with me!!!

27 weeks

Ryan and I made a quick weekend getaway to Portland this weekend. It's only about a 3-hour drive from here, but I had never been and it sounded like a fun, final, pre-baby mini-trip. We went with our friends Tim and Kat and had a really fun time.

This past week has been great. As I'm reflecting back on it, I can't really think of much to share. Still having some back pain, but sleeping has gotten better. (Not sure why that is, but I'm not complaining.) Oh, and I finally saw the baby's kicks this week. I was sitting in the Midas lobby waiting for my car to be worked on and was feeling a lot of movement up high (I usually feel it pretty low). I looked down and I could actually see my belly thumping with every movement - it was so cool!

Oh, and apparently, I am carrying high which indicates that I'm having a girl...or so I'm told by two people now. One co-worker friend and one homeless woman standing on a street corner in Portland. : )

26 weeks

Greetings, loved ones!  So, I'm nearing the end of my 2nd trimester and am a bit nervous about entering the 3rd. This week I have begun to preview a few of the aches and pains (and general discomfort) that I'm sure will only be amplified in the weeks ahead. Again, I really hate to complain because all in all, this pregnancy has really been quite easy and I've truly felt pretty fabulous. BUT, to continue with my trend of just documenting what's happening each week (good or bad), I'll list a few things.

1.) Back pain. This actually started last week and I have since figured out ways to try to avoid it (like not sitting in the same position for very long, or if I must, maintaining good upright posture and getting up to stretch a lot). But it's the kind of pain, unfortunately, that can't quite be worked out with a massage (or at least not the ones I get at home) or with any stretches that I know of. It's right in the middle of my upper back. I'm now wishing that I had spent more time developing my core muscles pre-pregnancy so I could better support this extra weight up front. : )

2.) Dizziness/light headedness. Just yesterday, this happened to me twice and quite unexpectedly. Not so bad that I thought I might pass out, but I just couldn't quite shake that floating feeling. And the heat flashes that accompanied it were just weird. I got so hot I had to turn a fan directly on me and shed a layer of clothing. And all I was doing was sitting at my desk working. (I feel for all my menopausal friends out there!)

3.) Trouble sleeping. I don't know if it's mother nature's cruel joke or if she's just getting me prepared for what's ahead, but I have had difficulty sleeping this past week. Really, it's just an issue of not being able to get comfortable - my arms fall asleep and go numb from laying on my side, and as a reformed back sleeper, I very much miss being able to sleep on my back. (For those that don't know, once you reach a certain point in pregnancy, you shouldn't sleep on your back because the weight of the baby puts pressure on some major vein in your lower back and can cause a lack of blood flow to both me and baby.) I keep trying different things, namely different pillow combinations, but so far, I have not found the magic cure.

On the other hand, I am quite enjoying the positive attention I've started getting from friends and relative strangers. One woman came up to me at work yesterday and said that she just had to tell me how cute I am pregnant! I thanked her, of course (very sweet). And more than one person has mentioned that pregnancy "glow." Who knows that they aren't just being nice, but I'm beginning to think that pregnancy actually quite suits me. If not just in my appearance, at least by giving me a semi-legitimate excuse to be moody and emotional!  (And to eat all the sugary candy I've been craving so much!)  : )

25 weeks

So, we now have all of the baby's furniture (crib, dresser/changing table, glider/ottoman), however none of it is actually in the baby's room. It's all currently residing in our living room (the room just to the left of me in these photos) waiting for a permanent home - the room now serving as our guest room. But it sure has been fun getting all the pieces the last couple of weeks.

Still feeling great...and getting lots bigger.

Happy Easter!!!

24 weeks

Burn baby, burn. (Heartburn, that is.) I have never really experienced heartburn before, and wasn't even sure I knew what it was. But I definitely know now. It hasn't been too bad, just uncomfortable, but it has become a regular occurrence nearly every night this past week.

On happier news, we ordered the crib (and dresser/changing table) this week! I have been reviewing every possible crib option over the past several weeks and was kind of stressing about it a bit. But we finally decided on one we liked and ordered it - with free shipping, no less! Can't wait for it to get here so we can start piecing the baby's room together. This is so fun!

And finally, Laura - if you're reading this...congratulations!  I am so, so, so very happy for you and Jeremy! Would love to swap pregnancy stories with you sometime soon...

I'm off to go enjoy the sunshine and warm temps today (a first)!