I'm seeing my OB every other week now. The check in this week was good, everything looking normal. I gained a little weight, which is good because I hadn't gained anything in over a month. I get to skip out on a few weeks seeing the Gestational Diabetes dietitian now (still have to go in for bi-monthly check-ins with the endocrinologist though). My blood pressure was good, BBH's heart rate was strong, and my uterus measured 32. I asked the doctor what direction BBH was heading, she confirmed my suspicions that he is head down. She pointed out where his back, butt, and feet are. Although it's possible for him to somersault in there, chances are he'll stay head down. At around 37 weeks they'll do a growth scan ultrasound because of the diabetes, so I guess we'll see where he is then!
I had my first middle-of-the-night calf cramp last night... wowza! Thought I was sliding through without that issue, but no such luck :)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Showered! (week 32)
Only 8 weeks to go! I remember way back at the beginning that 8 weeks pregnant seemed really far away. That's when our first doctors appointment was, and the time crawled. I have a feeling these last few weeks are going to crawl by as well!
This weekend we were showered... times two! It was a busy but fun weekend. Saturday was the family and old school friends BBQ shower at (soon to be Aunt) Elizabeth's house. Sunday afternoon was the BTT baby shower which Grace and Tony hosted at our house. And the rest of the weekend was crammed with cleaning house and yard in preparation for our first open house next weekend. We got almost everything done! The yard has been weeded, the house has been de-cluttered, the cabinets/drawers/closets have been cleaned up and organized, baby stuff has been put away, and all the surfaces have been polished. All that remains is tidying up the sunroom/office (me) and re-finishing the porches (Dan).
Baby shower #1 on Saturday was a nice low key event. I got the pass from the gestational diabetes clinic to eat whatever I wanted at my shower and not worry about blood sugar levels. I didn't tell them I had two scheduled this weekend :). The food was delicious, and it was fun to catch up with friends and family that I don't see often enough. High school friends Casey, Kathy and Jess (ok, Jess technically isn't a high school friend, but I consider her one anyway), college friends Jen and Kristin, and family Mom, Dad, Elizabeth, Margaret, Doug, Madeline, and Grandma Esther made up the crew for the day. We feasted on delicious pulled pork, yummy fruit salads, chip and dip galore, and an awesome lemon cake from Margaret. We got some excellent gifts: cute clothes, helpful things off of the registry, fun toys and more. The highlight was a beautiful handmade quilt from Grandma Esther. What a special thing for BBH to have and grow up with... a little piece of his great-grandma.
Baby shower #2... the BTT shower! This was fun, fun... just like a BTT social. So funny that a little over a year ago we hosted a shower for Grace and Tony at the house with a similar set-up and crowd, and now for our shower BBF was there running around, keeping everyone entertained. It was so nice to catch up with everyone- without training I haven't seen as much of the BTTers as I normally do. Grace and Tony put together a perfect event. Lots of delicious food (I cheated again, eating more than my share of fruit salad and yummy peanut butter cookies!! I didn't dare take my blood sugar). We got more great gifts, including some BTT color themed clothes, socks, shoes... you name it! We even got a piggy bank from Maggie so BBH can start saving for triathlons now. I got the chance to catch up with Rachel and Jeff and their 3 month old twin boys too. Got some good tips and funny stories from them! So glad we're only having one... although their boys are super cute.
Ian played nicely with Ryan Aronis, these guys will hopefully be good playmates for BBH!
Gifts!!
BBH is still moving and shaking. He's still not a fan of the kicking, which is a-okay by me. I can feel things are getting snug in there! I've still been sleeping pretty well (when the neighbors allow it). Biggest discomfort for me during the night is that my hands fall asleep several times. Hate that feeling! Up next is a check in with the Doc on Wednesday.
Monday, August 2, 2010
A lot of pregnant ladies (week 30)
The weekend involved a whole lot of pregnant ladies, as expected! Friday night we went to Harvard Vanguard in Watertown for a "Meet the Pediatrician" night. I'm not sure if we'll end up using that particular doctor or even that location (we're looking to potentially move, but more on that later), but it was really helpful to understand how the hospital-pediatrician thing works. Dan and I got several chuckles out of some of the other parents that attended the session... they were asking some ridiculous questions. One mother-to-be wanted to know whether the office had a separate waiting area for sick children. Geez Louise....
On Saturday we had a LONG but very informative birthing class at Newton Wellesley. The nurse who gave the class was funny but also straightforward and honest. Good to hear frank answers! I think the class was more overwhelming for Dan, who didn't know a thing about most of the labor process. I've been reading books and articles over the last few months, so other than learning about hospital procedure and whatnot there weren't any surprises for me. I think Dan is a little freaked out now that he knows what labor entails! The highlight of the day was taking a tour of the labor and delivery/postpartum wing of the hospital. I'm strangely looking forward to the process, and I hope that I'm able to have the experience of "going into labor" (rather than being induced). As long as my water doesn't break while I'm at work ;)
We ended up re-scheduling the "Newborn Essentials" course that we were planning on attending Sunday. Partially because it would have been a lot of information to absorb over one weekend, but mostly because we had other things that needed to be done. Now that we're getting pretty serious about this moving business, we wanted to check out some houses and also do some much needed yard work (necessary before we start showing our place). Dan did an incredible job on the yard. It was a challenge because we get flooding so frequently that we had to come up with a solution that wouldn't wash away or drown. Check out what he did! I helped as much as I could, but that pretty much meant handing him tools and getting him Gatorade.
I would be sad to part with our condo. I love the unit and the convenient location. However, as we were working outside we were quickly reminded of the reason why we want to move. Neighbors. The neighbors in the back were having a party in their parking lot all afternoon and well into the night, blasting music. The neighbors below us (who have an equal share in the lawn but spent the entire day on their couch drinking beer and watching TV, might I add), allowed their friends to come out on the front deck and smoke cigarettes. Hello, pregnant woman doing YOUR yardwork, and you're going to let your friends blow smoke in my face? I told them to go elsewhere. Getting away from neighbors is the goal here. I feel like we're slowly loosing our sanity...
On Saturday we had a LONG but very informative birthing class at Newton Wellesley. The nurse who gave the class was funny but also straightforward and honest. Good to hear frank answers! I think the class was more overwhelming for Dan, who didn't know a thing about most of the labor process. I've been reading books and articles over the last few months, so other than learning about hospital procedure and whatnot there weren't any surprises for me. I think Dan is a little freaked out now that he knows what labor entails! The highlight of the day was taking a tour of the labor and delivery/postpartum wing of the hospital. I'm strangely looking forward to the process, and I hope that I'm able to have the experience of "going into labor" (rather than being induced). As long as my water doesn't break while I'm at work ;)
We ended up re-scheduling the "Newborn Essentials" course that we were planning on attending Sunday. Partially because it would have been a lot of information to absorb over one weekend, but mostly because we had other things that needed to be done. Now that we're getting pretty serious about this moving business, we wanted to check out some houses and also do some much needed yard work (necessary before we start showing our place). Dan did an incredible job on the yard. It was a challenge because we get flooding so frequently that we had to come up with a solution that wouldn't wash away or drown. Check out what he did! I helped as much as I could, but that pretty much meant handing him tools and getting him Gatorade.
I would be sad to part with our condo. I love the unit and the convenient location. However, as we were working outside we were quickly reminded of the reason why we want to move. Neighbors. The neighbors in the back were having a party in their parking lot all afternoon and well into the night, blasting music. The neighbors below us (who have an equal share in the lawn but spent the entire day on their couch drinking beer and watching TV, might I add), allowed their friends to come out on the front deck and smoke cigarettes. Hello, pregnant woman doing YOUR yardwork, and you're going to let your friends blow smoke in my face? I told them to go elsewhere. Getting away from neighbors is the goal here. I feel like we're slowly loosing our sanity...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Back to the doc (week 29+)
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!
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!
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!
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