I haven't been real great about updating this blog with actual family happenings lately so here goes. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes at around 28 wks. I never thought it was a big deal--just don't eat sweets and that sort of thing. Not the case.
I had to go down to the hospital and take a class on what foods I am allowed to eat and what I'm not. Shocking! to say the least. And depressing. I am very bored with my diet at this stage. To sum it up quickly I'm allowed 2 servings of carbs per meal and snack (15 grams each). I get 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, 2-3 hours apart. Here's some examples of 1 serving: 1/2 a medium apple, 1/2 an english muffin, less than one slice of sandwich bread (they are usually between 17-20 g.), 1/2 c. yogurt or less. I'm not supposed to have any cereal or milk, rice, almost any sauce is a no-no, juice, chips, crackers, pretzels. The liquids I can have are water and diet soda. The only good news is that I don't have to monitor fats or proteins, so I have a lot of cheese, butter and peanut butter on things (although P.B. does have carbs in it).
I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to eat, reading labels and measuring food. I do the needle prick and check my blood sugar 4 times a day (fasting-right when I wake up, and 1 hour after each meal). I'm supposed to be below 90 at fasting and below 120 after meals. I log these numbers and then fax them to the clinic once a week. After 2 weeks of this I was put on a pill form of Insulin called Glyburide. Even with all the monitoring my body still wasn't producing enough Insulin to keep my numbers down in the normal range.
So now that I've been on the medicine it seems to be keeping me normal. But anytime a GD patient gets medicated they have to start doing non-stress tests (NST's) on the baby. So every Tuesday and Friday I check in to Labor and Delivery and go hang out in my room for an hour or two. They hook me up to a heart rate monitor and contraction monitor. The baby is supposed to have 5-6 accelerations in heartbeat within a 1/2 hour. The accelerations have to be 15 beats above resting HR for at least 15 seconds. So far this has never happened. In the last 3 weeks that I've been doing these I've only made it out of there twice in an hour. All the other times have been close to 2 hrs. This doesn't necessarily mean he's stressed, he's just kind of a mellow baby and doesn't really move too much.
Now that I'm 35 weeks I also start having regular OB check-ups once a week, and I've had other Dr.'s appts. for GD as well. I feel like I'm at some check-up or other all the time (over 4 1/2 hrs today alone). I went in for an ultrasound today to check on baby's kidneys and size. The doctor was concerned that with all the extra fluid I have it might be an indication that baby's kidneys are struggling to keep up. At the ultrasound she measured both and I am on the high end of amniotic fluid but the kidneys look perfectly healthy. The doctor warned me that if he is measuring between 5-6 lbs at this stage it is likely I'll need a C-section at full term. Apparently GD babies carry the majority of their weight in the shoulders. Often mom's go through labor, deliver the head and then get stuck, resulting in a scary, emergency section. My baby is approximately 7.8 lbs already and I have 5 wks to go!!! But I guess I'm a tricky case because I've already delivered three 9 lb. babies just fine. The ultrasound tech today said this baby looks like a football player with his broad shoulders and big hands. Perfect! Just what I wanted to hear. After my ultrasound I went to the hospital for an NST. Two hours later they called the doctor in because baby wasn't responding like he should (they have a buzzer that they put up next to baby's head and try to get him to react. They did this about 12 times to poor baby today). Doctor watched baby and said he's fine. We talked about the results of the ultrasound and she said she'll put me on the schedule for a C-section on June 25th (due date). If I go into labor on my own before then (as in dilated past 5 and fully effaced, with major contractions. Anything less is not going to get me anywhere.) I can try to deliver naturally. If I don't go into labor before 39 1/2 weeks I'm going to have a C-section. Even if I go into labor 3 days before due date it'll be too close and she'll suggest a C-section.
These past 6 wks have been very frustrating and stressful, for lots of reasons. I am grateful, however that we live close to family and have such wonderful friends too. I feel completely loved and looked after by all the friends and family who check up on me all the time and offer their help. I feel very confident in my doctor this time around (which I didn't with Stetson's doctor), and I trust that she'll choose whatever is safest for me and the baby. I'm SO grateful I have not had to deal with medical/health issues in past pregnancies, or anytime really. I have never realized how frustrating it is to do everything your doctor tells you to and have your body not keep up. And I would consider my case fairly mild!
I was thinking during the ultrasound today how amazing it is that I get to peak at what this little guy looks like. I love seeing babies in ultrasounds. I love that he has the same profile as all my other kids-- round cheeks and perfect lips. We are all getting so excited to see him soon and have another sweet baby to love on. A month or two ago I didn't know whether we'd have another baby or not, but now I'm fairly certain this is the last one for us so I try not to complain too much and just enjoy each stage because its probably my last. Hopefully everything will go as smooth as we hope for and before you know it I'll have another hefty little boy to brag all about :-)
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