Well, it was back from Lake Placid and straight to Newton Wellesley! I had to go to the Gestational Diabetes clinic in Maternal Fetal Medicine. First up was a meeting with the endocrinologist for what ended up being a Q&A. My only question had to do with exercising. He told me that I CAN add a little snack in before working out to keep my blood sugar from going too low (mid/late day swims left me with BS levels in the 60s, too low). When I had called the diabetes nurse to ask about this last week, she told me just to exercise less. Not the answer I wanted. I'm glad to know I can adjust my food intake and keep up the exercise. He also confirmed that what I have is gestational diabetes and not regular diabetes... which is great. A blood sample they had taken the last visit was able to determine that my blood sugars had been within a normal range over the past few months. Phew! I still have a chance of remaining diabetic post-pregnancy or becoming diabetic later in life, but I'm very glad to know that I wasn't before!
Next up was a meeting with the dietitian. She reviewed my food intake and blood sugar levels. Got the stamp of approval from her, and I don't need to go back for 2 weeks. She even gave me some good new rules- like bumping some snacks from 15 grams of carbs to 30 grams of carbs, and not to count carbs in nuts/nut butters or non-starchy veggies. Sweet! I'm getting sick of recording every little thing that I eat, but I will deal!
I've been taking it really easily recently, as I've learned that my back goes out way too easily. Lifting things and housework have left me barely able to move! My chiropractor has been helping, but even with that it takes about 4 days to feel better. Not worth it! I recruited help from Nana Nan a week ago to help cleaning up some baby stuff. I have a feeling I'll be doing that again!
Next up is baby weekend o-rama! We have a "Meet the Pediatrician" night at a local doctors office, an all-day Childbirth Class at NWH on Saturday, and a Newborn Essentials class on Sunday. We're going to try to squeeze in some house shopping in between too!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Lake Placid (week 29)
What a fun weekend in Lake Placid! I headed up on Thursday afternoon, and Dan joined me on Friday. We stayed in a gorgeous and comfy home about 2 miles from town. We were joined by 6 BTTers (Heather, Mary Beth, Jen Tucker, Laurie D, Lori M, Ian) and my cousin Tom and his wife Elpi. Tom was the only one racing... the rest of us were there to support, volunteer, and/or relax. The house made it very easy to relax with ALL of the amenities we needed... full kitchen, big grill, wrap around porch, big screen TVs, pool table, hot tub, sauna.... we had it all!
I started two of the mornings with a swim at Mirror Lake.... and it felt great. The easiest way for me to swim while keeping my blood sugar from crashing is to swim immediately after eating breakfast. I may have been breaking the cardinal swimming rule, but it worked great! Both times I took my breakfast down to the late and chatted with friends I ran into while I ate. Then off into the water I would go! It took me 40 minutes to do a full lap of the IMLP course (1.2 miles), which is about 5-10 minutes slower than usual... but hey, I'm not too aerodynamic right now! I got a kick out of some people's reaction to me swimming. I ran into coach Tim the first time, when I told him I was there for a swim he said "bullshit".
Other than that, we did a lot of lounging, cooking, catching up with friends, walking around the neighborhood, and strolling around town. On the day of the Ironman, I headed down to watch the swim and bike start while Dan slept. After a few hours break back at the house, Dan and I returned to town watch the run. We watched Tom finish the bike and start the run, and then headed over to the BTT cheering tent out on the run course. We got to catch up with more people, including the newest BTT babies Elan Davenport and Adam&Ryan Aronis. A bunch of cuties! It was fun watching the run, especially with a few BTTers doing really well out there! Coach Tim and wife Cait did really well also... 5th overall and 2nd female, respectively. Oh, and we had a Michael Phelps sighting. Apparently he was there watching his sister race!
All in all, it was a great weekend. I was bummed to head back to Boston, especially since I was heading straight to the docs. More on that later...
I started two of the mornings with a swim at Mirror Lake.... and it felt great. The easiest way for me to swim while keeping my blood sugar from crashing is to swim immediately after eating breakfast. I may have been breaking the cardinal swimming rule, but it worked great! Both times I took my breakfast down to the late and chatted with friends I ran into while I ate. Then off into the water I would go! It took me 40 minutes to do a full lap of the IMLP course (1.2 miles), which is about 5-10 minutes slower than usual... but hey, I'm not too aerodynamic right now! I got a kick out of some people's reaction to me swimming. I ran into coach Tim the first time, when I told him I was there for a swim he said "bullshit".
Other than that, we did a lot of lounging, cooking, catching up with friends, walking around the neighborhood, and strolling around town. On the day of the Ironman, I headed down to watch the swim and bike start while Dan slept. After a few hours break back at the house, Dan and I returned to town watch the run. We watched Tom finish the bike and start the run, and then headed over to the BTT cheering tent out on the run course. We got to catch up with more people, including the newest BTT babies Elan Davenport and Adam&Ryan Aronis. A bunch of cuties! It was fun watching the run, especially with a few BTTers doing really well out there! Coach Tim and wife Cait did really well also... 5th overall and 2nd female, respectively. Oh, and we had a Michael Phelps sighting. Apparently he was there watching his sister race!
All in all, it was a great weekend. I was bummed to head back to Boston, especially since I was heading straight to the docs. More on that later...
Friday, July 16, 2010
My new toys (week 28)
Last Friday I got the dreaded phone call telling me I failed my one-hour gestational diabetes (GD) screening test. Since only 15% of people who fail this actually end up being diagnosed with GD I tried to stay positive. So I went on to take the 3-hour, fasting GD test (which is not fun- 3 hours in the waiting room, starving and thirsty). 1 hour after the test was over and I was back at work it became clear to me that I wasn't going to pass. Even though I had a good snack before leaving the hospital, I shortly thereafter had what I assume was a hypoglycemic episode. I got dizzy, lightheaded and nauseous. My head hurt and I started profusely sweating. My hands were shaking. I couldn't concentrate. I knew I needed food but I wasn't sure I could even make it to the refrigerator without passing out. I finally got my food... and ate... and ate.. and ate. I ate all the food I had for the rest of the day (I was at work), plus 2 of my emergency Larabars. 20 minutes after that... I was wiped and could barely keep my eyes open. I knew I was doomed! Sure enough, I got a call confirming a diagnosis of GD the next morning. The scary thing is... although this episode was the worst I've ever had, I have gotten them before. I'm really hoping that the diabetes goes away postpartum, but I think that is a bad sign. I expect I'll be amongst the 50% of GDers who develop type 2 later in life. Or maybe I've had it all along...
Anyway, this week I met with a nutritionist and a nurse at the diabetes management office at Newton Wellesley to learn how to control GD with diet and take my blood sugars. Meet my new toys:
I have to strictly watch my diet and carb intake (can't have too little or too much), take my blood sugar 4 times a day, and pee on a stick every morning to measure for ketones. Too many ketones mean I'm not getting enough calories.
In a week I meet with an endocrinologist to review my blood sugars and diet. If something looks off, they might decide to put me in insulin. I'm now considered a "higher risk" pregnancy and will have to start regularly meeting with the folks at the Maternal Fetal Medicine department as well as my regular OB. The big concerns are big birth weight for BBH and some potential complications for me such as Pre eclampsia. I'm nervous about both of those, because they both mean they might induce early and/or have to deliver via c-section. That's not how I want it to happen...
Anyway, this week I met with a nutritionist and a nurse at the diabetes management office at Newton Wellesley to learn how to control GD with diet and take my blood sugars. Meet my new toys:
I have to strictly watch my diet and carb intake (can't have too little or too much), take my blood sugar 4 times a day, and pee on a stick every morning to measure for ketones. Too many ketones mean I'm not getting enough calories.
In a week I meet with an endocrinologist to review my blood sugars and diet. If something looks off, they might decide to put me in insulin. I'm now considered a "higher risk" pregnancy and will have to start regularly meeting with the folks at the Maternal Fetal Medicine department as well as my regular OB. The big concerns are big birth weight for BBH and some potential complications for me such as Pre eclampsia. I'm nervous about both of those, because they both mean they might induce early and/or have to deliver via c-section. That's not how I want it to happen...
Thursday, July 8, 2010
3rd trimester!! (week 26.5)
Woo hoo... 3rd trimester is officially here! I think every source I've read has noted a different start date for the 3rd trimester. My week-by-week book says week 24. The Mom-2-Be app I downloaded on my phone said the end of week 26, one website says 27 weeks. One online source had a calculator that noted July 8th, which mathematically it makes the most sense (2/3 of 40 weeks is 26.6). So that's what I'm going with!
Apparently BBH is going to be a big baby. I had my monthly check-in on Wednesday morning. I did the gestational diabetes screening test first (drink a bottle of gross sugary stuff and then get a blood test). I'm a little worried about the results because I felt all jittery for a while after drinking the stuff. Keeping my fingers crossed! After the blood test was the regular check-in with the doc. BBH's heart rate is good, but my uterus is measuring at 28cm (should be somewhere between 26 and 27). Doc didn't seem concerned, said that because Dan and I are on the tall side that we should expect a bigger baby. Big to her means 8 pounds, which is okay by me. We've pretty much been banking on an 8 pounder all along anyway. Hopefully not too much bigger than that though!
In other news, my belly button has been slowly creeping it's way from an innie to an outie for a while now. It was flat for quite some time, but it's popping out now!
Apparently BBH is going to be a big baby. I had my monthly check-in on Wednesday morning. I did the gestational diabetes screening test first (drink a bottle of gross sugary stuff and then get a blood test). I'm a little worried about the results because I felt all jittery for a while after drinking the stuff. Keeping my fingers crossed! After the blood test was the regular check-in with the doc. BBH's heart rate is good, but my uterus is measuring at 28cm (should be somewhere between 26 and 27). Doc didn't seem concerned, said that because Dan and I are on the tall side that we should expect a bigger baby. Big to her means 8 pounds, which is okay by me. We've pretty much been banking on an 8 pounder all along anyway. Hopefully not too much bigger than that though!
In other news, my belly button has been slowly creeping it's way from an innie to an outie for a while now. It was flat for quite some time, but it's popping out now!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Happy 4th (week 26)
Wedding #3 was on the 4th of July. It was for Dan's high school friend Andrew and took place in Hartland, VT, about 30 minutes from Dan's parents house. The location was beautiful- the Pearce's have a gorgeous house on a huge piece of property. Of course Simon Pearce glass was everywhere! The centerpieces at the tables were all unique and designed around a SP "theme". We were at the Chelsea table, gorgeous!
Unfortunately, it was about 90 degrees that day and the entire thing took place outdoors. There was a tent for the dinner, but the ceremony and cocktail hour were mostly out in the open. I spent as much time as possible hiding in the shade of a few trees. Over the day two or three women said to me "man, I'm glad I'm not pregnant right now!!" But I wasn't the only uncomfortable one- everyone was sweating!
It was fun catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a while, and especially meeting Eric and Andrea's 6 month old baby girl, Ayela. She is absolutely adorable and so well mannered. We barely heard a peep from her all day. She just hung out happy as a clam, and turned into all smiles whenever her dad was nearby. Too cute. Looking forward to their upcoming move back east from Colorado- hopefully Ayela will be a playmate for BBH!
BBH has been a busy bee. I used to feel him move sporadically, and even would go a day or two here or there without feeling anything. But it's gotten much more constant over the past week. He doesn't seem to kick much, but Dan and I can feel him wiggling, rolling, squirming, head butting, whatever it is that he's doing! It's such a strange feeling, but I love it!
Unfortunately, it was about 90 degrees that day and the entire thing took place outdoors. There was a tent for the dinner, but the ceremony and cocktail hour were mostly out in the open. I spent as much time as possible hiding in the shade of a few trees. Over the day two or three women said to me "man, I'm glad I'm not pregnant right now!!" But I wasn't the only uncomfortable one- everyone was sweating!
It was fun catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a while, and especially meeting Eric and Andrea's 6 month old baby girl, Ayela. She is absolutely adorable and so well mannered. We barely heard a peep from her all day. She just hung out happy as a clam, and turned into all smiles whenever her dad was nearby. Too cute. Looking forward to their upcoming move back east from Colorado- hopefully Ayela will be a playmate for BBH!
BBH has been a busy bee. I used to feel him move sporadically, and even would go a day or two here or there without feeling anything. But it's gotten much more constant over the past week. He doesn't seem to kick much, but Dan and I can feel him wiggling, rolling, squirming, head butting, whatever it is that he's doing! It's such a strange feeling, but I love it!
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