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!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Home again! (week 25)
We had a great time on vacation. 10 days out west: 2.5 in Seattle, 2.5 in Vancouver, 2.5 in Missoula, and lots of time in the car. Seattle was cold and rainy (not really a surprise though, right?), but it was a lot of fun to stay with my aunt Cathy and uncle John at their gorgeous home in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle. It was an easy drive to downtown Seattle. We took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island one day, checked out the History of Flight Museum, and did a tour of the Boeing factory (wow, big building!). Cathy fed us really well while we were there too- what a treat!
A 2.5/3 hour drive took us up to Vancouver. When we got there the cloud cover was very low, making it hard to see the mountains that surround the city. But when those clouds moved off... wow! What a gorgeous place. It's amazing to walk around the city and see the mountains peeking out between the buildings. Even the unimpressive neighborhoods of the city were made beautiful by the backdrop. While we were in Vancouver we walked around Stanley Park, took a hop-on/hop-off tour, checked out the waterfront, and took a float plane tour. I started having bad sciatic nerve pain which limited my ability to move around easily, which was a huge bummer. I would have loved to be able to go for a run around Stanley Park. It was amazing there.
We then made the long drive from Vancouver to Missoula. It actually wasn't bad at all. After several days of walking and walking and walking, it was nice to relax in the car! And except for a boring stretch in Eastern Washington, it is a gorgeous drive. South along the Cascades, East through the Snoqualmie National Forest and past Mt Rainier, through the rolling hills of Central Washington, then the stunning Coeur D'Alene Forest... and finally, Montana. Just incredible views!
Missoula was a charming town with gorgeous scenery. It was a lot of fun to catch up with Derek and Katie, BTTers who moved to San Diego a few years ago. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, I think! Dave showed up the next day, and we all had fun at Donna and Seth's pre-wedding BBQ night at a park in Missoula. It was so much fun seeing Donna! Grace, Tony, and Ian showed up later and we had quite the fun gang. We did some hikes together, checked out Missoula's farmers markets, ate a few meals, and hung out at Missoula's fun Coffee Shop, Liquid Planet. The morning of the wedding we even ran into Donna there. She was in-between makeup and hair appointments, already looking gorgeous!
The wedding was amazing. It was about an hour and a half drive from Missoula, in Hamilton MT, at Seth's father's house. The weather was perfect, the setting was beautiful, the ceremony was touching... and the reception was fun. The BTTers had a great time together, which only made the day that much better.
The next day, after another hike of the "M" trail and a stop at Liquid Planet with the gang, Dan and I hit the road. We were in Seattle by 8:15, returned our rental car, and checked into the hotel by 9. The following day was a long one- 5 hour flight to JFK, lots of waiting for our (very delayed) flight to Boston, and the final plane trip home. We were both glad to be back... even if we are experiencing jet lag today!
Some things I learned on this trip:
1) 6 months is the latest I ever want to fly pregnant. I had a hard time getting comfortable, even though we had purchased seats with "extra legroom".
2) If I do fly again while pregnant, remember the compression socks! I forgot to put them on during one leg of travel and my ankles turned into cankles!! Yikes! Thanks to Jen for lending me hers for the trip, next time I have to remember to put them on right away.
3) Drink lots and lots of water when traveling and sightseeing. I started experiencing lots of BH contractions in Vancouver, which made me very nervous. A quick call to my doc had me understanding that even though I felt like I was drinking a lot, I still wasn't getting enough water. I'm supposed to be downing 1 gallon per day! Man, that's a lot of bathroom trips!
4) Always check google maps when booking a hotel and make sure the hotel isn't near train tracks (or a highway.... or anything else noisy). Apparently freight trains run ALL night long in Missoula and they love to blast those horns!
A 2.5/3 hour drive took us up to Vancouver. When we got there the cloud cover was very low, making it hard to see the mountains that surround the city. But when those clouds moved off... wow! What a gorgeous place. It's amazing to walk around the city and see the mountains peeking out between the buildings. Even the unimpressive neighborhoods of the city were made beautiful by the backdrop. While we were in Vancouver we walked around Stanley Park, took a hop-on/hop-off tour, checked out the waterfront, and took a float plane tour. I started having bad sciatic nerve pain which limited my ability to move around easily, which was a huge bummer. I would have loved to be able to go for a run around Stanley Park. It was amazing there.
We then made the long drive from Vancouver to Missoula. It actually wasn't bad at all. After several days of walking and walking and walking, it was nice to relax in the car! And except for a boring stretch in Eastern Washington, it is a gorgeous drive. South along the Cascades, East through the Snoqualmie National Forest and past Mt Rainier, through the rolling hills of Central Washington, then the stunning Coeur D'Alene Forest... and finally, Montana. Just incredible views!
Missoula was a charming town with gorgeous scenery. It was a lot of fun to catch up with Derek and Katie, BTTers who moved to San Diego a few years ago. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, I think! Dave showed up the next day, and we all had fun at Donna and Seth's pre-wedding BBQ night at a park in Missoula. It was so much fun seeing Donna! Grace, Tony, and Ian showed up later and we had quite the fun gang. We did some hikes together, checked out Missoula's farmers markets, ate a few meals, and hung out at Missoula's fun Coffee Shop, Liquid Planet. The morning of the wedding we even ran into Donna there. She was in-between makeup and hair appointments, already looking gorgeous!
The wedding was amazing. It was about an hour and a half drive from Missoula, in Hamilton MT, at Seth's father's house. The weather was perfect, the setting was beautiful, the ceremony was touching... and the reception was fun. The BTTers had a great time together, which only made the day that much better.
The next day, after another hike of the "M" trail and a stop at Liquid Planet with the gang, Dan and I hit the road. We were in Seattle by 8:15, returned our rental car, and checked into the hotel by 9. The following day was a long one- 5 hour flight to JFK, lots of waiting for our (very delayed) flight to Boston, and the final plane trip home. We were both glad to be back... even if we are experiencing jet lag today!
Some things I learned on this trip:
1) 6 months is the latest I ever want to fly pregnant. I had a hard time getting comfortable, even though we had purchased seats with "extra legroom".
2) If I do fly again while pregnant, remember the compression socks! I forgot to put them on during one leg of travel and my ankles turned into cankles!! Yikes! Thanks to Jen for lending me hers for the trip, next time I have to remember to put them on right away.
3) Drink lots and lots of water when traveling and sightseeing. I started experiencing lots of BH contractions in Vancouver, which made me very nervous. A quick call to my doc had me understanding that even though I felt like I was drinking a lot, I still wasn't getting enough water. I'm supposed to be downing 1 gallon per day! Man, that's a lot of bathroom trips!
4) Always check google maps when booking a hotel and make sure the hotel isn't near train tracks (or a highway.... or anything else noisy). Apparently freight trains run ALL night long in Missoula and they love to blast those horns!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
I see you baby (week 23)
Well, we're past week 23 now. I'm definitely getting bigger! The cool thing about the week 24 milestone coming up is that, should I go into premature labor, BBH has a decent chance of surviving (with massive help, of course). That's amazing.... hopefully we won't need to worry about that though!
BBH has been going through stages of activity/inactivity. Some days I might only feel him once or twice throughout the day, other times I will feel him bouncing around all day. I love to rest my hands on my stomach when he moves so I can feel from the outside too. It makes me laugh! I really wish I could see what he's doing. I've noticed recently that I can sometimes feel a body part with my hand when he moves. I can't tell what it is, and it doesn't last long. Maybe it's an elbow dragging across my belly or something. Last night I was lying in bed feeling BBH doing some karate kicks in there and decided to just watch my stomach to see if I could SEE the kicks. And yup, sure enough- my tummy was bopping around.
On Friday we leave for our western adventure. Seattle, Vancouver, and Missoula. The trip wraps up with Donna and Seth's wedding... I'm excited to watch them tie the knot, and see their cutie pie Ciaran. Can't wait!
BBH has been going through stages of activity/inactivity. Some days I might only feel him once or twice throughout the day, other times I will feel him bouncing around all day. I love to rest my hands on my stomach when he moves so I can feel from the outside too. It makes me laugh! I really wish I could see what he's doing. I've noticed recently that I can sometimes feel a body part with my hand when he moves. I can't tell what it is, and it doesn't last long. Maybe it's an elbow dragging across my belly or something. Last night I was lying in bed feeling BBH doing some karate kicks in there and decided to just watch my stomach to see if I could SEE the kicks. And yup, sure enough- my tummy was bopping around.
On Friday we leave for our western adventure. Seattle, Vancouver, and Missoula. The trip wraps up with Donna and Seth's wedding... I'm excited to watch them tie the knot, and see their cutie pie Ciaran. Can't wait!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)