Christmas!!

Figured I'd make a quick post regarding how our holiday went!

I spent Christmas Eve Eve burning Christmas scented candles and watching several classic Christmas specials on DVD - the original animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and most of Frosty the Snowman. I also wanted to watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town and The Little Drummer Boy, but I fell asleep about halfway through Frosty!

Hubby's crazy 2 weeks of overtime ended Friday at 430am, but he still had to get up and go to his day job at 9am, so he was still a bit tired and worn out (last week he averaged 2 hours of sleep a day while the week before he was running on maybe 4 hours a day!).

We went to the annual Christmas Eve Candles and Carols service up at our church and hubby kept falling asleep throughout the service (which is only like 45 minutes long). Afterwards we went over to my parent's house for Christmas dinner and gifts. Dinner was yummy as usual - mom made her traditional Shepherd's Pie dish, which is basically a meat, carrots, mashed potatoes and cheese.

After dinner we opened gifts - my big gift was the Shark Vac then Steam vacuum and steam mop which was a combined gift from my parents and my mom's dad. I saw the infomercial a few months back and I *hate* sweeping and Swiffering our floors as they never seem to get all that clean and this new Shark steam/vac looked pretty neat and easy to use and actually seemed to get the floors clean! I figured it'd be a good item to have especially in a few months when Jay is playing around on the floor and starts crawling. Hubby got a few techie gifts he wanted, although he mainly wanted cash or Best Buy gift cards so he could get a new computer monitor since he's 2 flat screen LCD ones both crapped out last summer.

After gifts we had dessert - I was bad and had some cheesecake - and then some of us watched a showing of 24 hours of A Christmas Story while the rest of us sat around and talked. Hubby - poor guy - took a nap.

Christmas morning hubby and I woke up and watched the end of a showing of A Christmas Story in bed together and then got ready to head out to his parent's house, as they live over an hour away. Pulling into their driveway, we immediately got our car stuck. They live out in the country and their driveway is about a 1/4 mile long. Usually his brother's shovel it, but this time they just cleared a path... only our front-wheel drive car veered off it a bit and got stuck. It took a good 10-15 minutes to get the car parked near the house! lol...

We ate dinner out there and it too was good! My father-in-law's been sick with pneumonia the last few weeks - he's on antibiotics for it, but I still had to keep my distance. We did some gifts after dinner, although my mother-in-law is giving them later as she was just too preoccupied with my father-in-law being sick to get out to the stores. She did give me this really nice porcelain Party-Lite figurine of a mother and baby which you put scented oil in. She also asked if I got my Sketcher Shape-Up shoes I wanted and I told her I got a check from my grandparents I was going to put towards them and she told me she'd give me some money to cover the rest of the cost. I figured those shoes would be good to have once the weather is nice out as I plan on taking Jay for walks in his stroller regularly and they'll help me "shape up" and tone and tight stuff as I walk. She also told hubby she'd give him some money to contribute to his quest towards a new monitor.

We got hubby's 3 younger brothers the Call of Duty: Black Ops game for PS3 and while hubby wanted to play it with them afterwards, they had to get ready to head out to a friend's house, so me, hubby and hubby's little sister took turns playing together for a bit before we headed out when his brother's did, as we needed their assistance to help get the car out of the driveway and out to the road!

Hubby enjoyed playing Call of Duty on the PS3 a little too much as he decided that instead of getting a new monitor, he'd rather have a PS3. We found a decent bundle online and so he put his giftcards towards that and with the money he still has coming to him, as well as the money he's saved up, we put it on my Best Buy card and will pay it off on our next payment in mid-January. He had a few of the guys from Verizon over the other night and they were taking turns playing on it with our big TV too - he seemed to be having fun!

I took advantage of some post-Christmas sales too. Border's gave me some more free Borders Bucks for being a loyal Rewards member and so I was able to get this desk calendar we wanted for just $2! I also traded-in a few games at Gamestop and took advantage of their post-holiday buy 2 pre-owned, get a 3rd free. Today I went out and finally bought Christmas stockings as all places have Christmas stuff 50% off or more now. I figured we'll definitely be in a house next year and we'll need stockings to hang. I got Jay this cute one with a snowman on it while I got hubby and me matching ones with our first initials on them, all for $5 each. I also got Jay a "My First Christmas" bib for $2.50 that he can wear at our 2 Christmas dinners next year! They also had hats that said "Baby's First Christmas" on them, but considering he'll be around 10 months old next Christmas, they seemed a bit small - more like the size of a newborn's head - so I passed on that.

Sadly, I think I'm finally coming down with hubby's cold. Considering he was running on almost no sleep the last 2 weeks, him getting sick was almost inevitable - I knew it was most likely going to happen! I saw him Wednesday night at dinner and commented that he didn't look or sound too good - he told me he was getting sick. I tried to avoid getting it, but today I have a little bit of a sore throat and my nose is being all icky - he said that's what he had at first too. I know I can take Robitussin though so I'm planning on doing that, as I can't chug orange juice right now because it has too many carbs/sugars in it.

How was your holiday?

32 Week Dr.'s Appointment

This morning we had the first of our 32 week doctor visits, as they're now seeing me every Monday as well as having me come in for a follow-up at the end of the week due to the gestational diabetes so they can check how I'm doing with it.

Last Thursday (which I forgot to post about due to the holiday) they put me on medication - 2.5mg of glyburide (1 pill) to be taken with dinner - as while my dinner levels were looking good and under the cutoff since making the changes the dietitian/nutritionist recommended last Monday, my fasting numbers were still a little high.

Well... the pill seemed to get my fasting levels down the 1st day (Friday) but Saturday through Monday it was back to what it's been at (high 90s or 100 when the cutoff is 90). Today the doctor bumped me up to 5mg of the glyburide (2 pills) to see if that does it.

Christmas also messed me up a little, as they say it's difficult to count carbs when you yourself home-make food, let alone when someone else does it and we had 2 big Christmas dinners within 24 hours. I ate smaller portions but I knew that most likely it was going to be off and it was... although not too bad. The doctor basically told me to get back on track and keep monitoring my meals like I was now that Christmas is over.

Today they also started me with the weekly "stress test." What that is, is where they hook you up with the contraction belt like the one the hospital had me wear when we went after the car accident in October, and they have a separate one they put on you that monitors baby's heartbeat. You sit back in a comfy chair for about 20 minutes while they monitor baby's heartbeat and any contractions you might be having and it all shows up on the printout. Also, you get this button clicker too that you press everytime you feel baby move.

Yeah... Jay didn't seem to like this too much! He was quiet prior, however they had the volume turned up so they could hear for the heartbeat just outside the room at the nurse's station in case anything did happen (the hospital one was quiet) and I think that peaked his interest! After a few minutes he started moving around a little bit... and then he found where the hard round plastic contraction monitor was in the center of my belly and started kicking and punching it - he got in a few good ones! Hubby came with today and started laughing at how the lines on the printout machine were spazing when Jay was beating on the plastic monitor! He gave up after a few minutes but then soon found the similar monitor that was monitoring his heartbeat and he started beating on that one! lol... eventually he stopped and gave up, realizing that like the other one it wasn't going anywhere, but it was pretty funny!

He seems to have issues with things that press on my belly or when I'm curled up in a position that "cramps" his space and he's not shy about letting me know he doesn't like nor is he afraid to get aggressive and start beating until he gets his space back! lol...

We had a brief ultrasound today - she mainly checked the placenta and his growth to see how much room and amniotic fluid he has as well as if the placenta was looking healthy still and not old and icky. The doctor said 10-20 (forgot the units she used) is where we want to be and we were at 14.5 so she said that's good and he still has room without us having to worry. His heartbeat was 149bpm which is what it's been at the last few check-ups, so no change there and that's good. She also said he's head down, which is the position we want him to be, so that's good too!

Guess we'll see how my follow-up goes on Thursday!

32 Week Survey

How far along?: 32 weeks, 1 day
How big is baby?: His fundal height measured 32cm on Thursday, the What to Expect app says he's the size of a head of lettuce O.o
Weight gain?: 189-190 at weigh-in today - I blame Christmas
Stretch marks?: They look gross but rubbing lotion on them most nights
Maternity clothes?: Yep - same as last week
Sleep?: I wake up having to pee in the middle of the night most nights and then wake up at a "normal" time in the morning to go and tend to just stay up after.
Best moment this week?: Christmas!!!
Food cravings?: Nothing in particular
Gender?: Still a boy as far as we can tell
Movement?: He's an active little bugger and quite fussy too - he doesn't like it when I'm in positions that "cramp his space" and he lets me know it!
Belly button?: Flat =(
What I miss?: Being able to shave certain areas =/
Labor signs?: Nothing major, just the occasional Braxton Hicks which always seems to happen in Walmart!
What I'm looking forward to?: Hubby being around more this week
Milestone?:  Looks like we'll make it til at least January!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas for us starts in less than an hour as we meet up with my family at church for the annual Candles and Carols Christmas Eve service and then this year we'll be going over to my parents house for Christmas dinner and presents with that side of our family. Afterwards we'll come home and catch at least one airing of 24 Hours of "A Christmas Story" on TBS before bed and then head out in the late morning to visit with my in-laws for presents and Christmas dinner there with hubby's side of the family. Unfortunately we won't be spending the night out there this year as hubby has to get up in the morning to open his Verizon store for the day after Christmas shopping madness.


Just wanted to leave you all with a digital version of our Christmas card this year!


Happy Holidays!

31 Week Survey

I've seen this weekly pregnancy meme done on several other pregnancy blogs lately and thought I'd take part too as a fun way to track my weekly progress in these last few weeks =)

How far along?: 31 weeks, 1 day
How big is baby?: Fundal height measured 31cm today, they said last week he weighed 3lbs, 14oz
Weight gain?: I actually lost weight thanks to gestational diabetes diet - down to 188!
Stretch marks?: Got some on my lower belly as well as by my love-handles and the side of my boobs. Started using Palmer's lotion for stretch marks though so we'll see how that works!
Maternity clothes?: I only wear maternity pants at this point (cept for my PJ bottoms at home), and I mostly wear maternity tops when I'm out
Sleep?: Ugh... I wake up to pee halfway through the night and some nights I have trouble staying comfortable
Best moment this week?: Hm... not sure - I've been pretty tired this past week.
Food cravings?: Things with carbs - this diet is a bit restrictive in that aspect and I can only have smaller portions of what I normally would eat =/
Gender?: Jay's all boy - there's no doubt about it!
Movement?: Plenty! Some days more than others but he's still a little wiggle bug in there!
Belly button?: It's pretty much flat at this point
What I miss?: Eating how I was =/
Labor signs?: Had a few Braxton Hicks this past week, but nothing major
What I'm looking forward to?: Christmas this weekend!!
Milestone?:  Finally had some Braxton Hicks - was starting to wonder when they were going to show up!

31 week appointment and glucose diet follow-up

So I had my 1 week follow-up appointment with the dietitian/nutritionist this morning followed by my regularly weekly check-up at my OB/GYN clinic this afternoon.

My meeting with the dietitian/nutritionist went okay... she looked over my numbers and commented that yes, some of my post-dinner levels have been a bit high lately and said my fasting numbers were a bit on the high side too. She thinks part of it might be that I'm waiting too long between lunch and dinner and dinner and breakfast and not snacking enough. She counted up my carbs too and said without the snacks I'm not getting enough as I should be closer to 175 per day. So I guess I need to make sure I'm having a bedtime snack and a maybe one between lunch and dinner for when we're eating dinner late - she thinks that might help. She said it's up to my clinic whether or not they want to put me on medication to help with my post-dinner levels. Other than that, she said I'm doing good with keeping track of my carbs. I haven't made a follow-up appointment with her yet as she said it's up to my clinic and what they want me to do for now but she recommended I keep counting and monitoring levels for at least another week and see how it goes with the changes.

At my regular appointment, the scale shows I lost weight. Last time I weighed in at 194, although I did have my snow boots on too as it was kinda icky out and I didn't want to take several minutes in the hallway putting them back on. This time I weighed in at 188.8 without my shoes on. They said it is possible that the shoes and the low-carb diabetes diet did it. They said if I keep it up a bit post-delivery in addition to breastfeeding I'll be able to shed off my pregnancy weight easily!

I met with one of the doctors I've only met with once prior today. I wasn't aware I needed to bring my glucose reading records with me but fortunately I had my meter on me. She flipped through it and I filled her in on what the dietitian/nutritionist said this morning - she said she was going to send my stuff over to the clinic today but apparently this doc hadn't seen it yet...? She said they were going to have me come in again on Thursday to see how the diet was doing after making the changes we had discussed today to see if that made any difference or not before they decide to put me on a prescription and told me to bring my sheets I've been recording my levels on in with me.

She said Jay's heartbeat sounded good - just under 150 - and measuring fundal height with the tape measure she said he was about 31cm... not sure how accurate that is though as he was measuring 32cm 3 weeks ago...?

I guess we'll see how things go!

Formula feeding vs Breast feeding

Just thought I'd make my statement on this topic.

We are planning on breast feeding and eventually pumping and bottle-feeding for when momma won't be around to feed him (like if mommy's out and daddy or grandma is watching him) or we're out in public.

Now I have nothing wrong or against those that don't breastfeed - I was formula fed, as was my sister and my cousin. To be honest, I'm not all that familiar with non-formula feeding and originally when I always thought of having kids the idea of breast feeding never crossed my mind as it wasn't something we did in my family.

Hubby on the other hand... him and all his siblings were breastfed so to him, it was kind of expected.

I was hesitant at first to the idea but then I know my friend who has 2 kids now breastfed both of them (sometimes while I was over visiting as she used a nursing cover) and it didn't seem all that weird like I originally thought.

To be honest, we are tight on money. And out of curiosity, hubby and I looked at the price of formula while in Walmart one night and wow! You can easily spend $15 a week or more on formula alone, pending how much your kid eats!

Thinking about it, I decided I'd be willing to give it a try and I'm thinking we'd do it for the first 6 months until he can start eating baby food and drinking other liquids like juice and water as it'll save us money on feeding him.

And that's the sole reason we're doing it.

They say there's all kinds of benefits to breast feeding over formula feeding, and I'm sure there are as far as nutrients and I hear there's less doctors visits in the first year and such too, although I hate when people say it makes your baby smarter or whatever - as I said, I was formula fed and I turned out just fine - I was on the honor roll all throughout high school! Honestly, we're just trying it because of the cost.

I think breastfeeding in public is a bit weird and I don't plan on doing that as I'm not really comfortable with the idea - like I said, I'm planning on pumping some so that when we are out in public and he gets hungry we can just give him a bottle of breastmilk and save the actual nursing for at home or when we're with family or close friends and use the nursing cover then.

Braxton Hicks and other thoughts

So I think I'm finally experiencing Braxton Hicks. And seems Walmart is the place for me to get them as both days I've noticed them this week, they've started while I was in Walmart!

The first one I noticed was on Wednesday while I was shopping for lower carb food for me to eat for my diet. I had been walking around for about 45 minutes when I felt this tightening on my left side and it seemed pretty hard. At first I wasn't sure if it was Braxton Hicks or if it was just Jay stretching out and trying to make more room for himself like he often does. It lasted for a brief moment although it came and went several times while I was walking around in the store and I had to stop pushing my shopping cart and just kinda put a hand to my side and wince in slight pain for a moment til it passed.

Then yesterday (Friday) I was out there again picking up a few things I had forgotten on Wednesday and same thing - after walking around the store for a bit, I felt the tightening on the left side again and it felt hard when I put a hand to it. I stopped for a moment, winced and breathed and waited for it to pass. It came and went a few times as the night went on I noticed, making me a little irritable when hubby was deciding to be a little lazy. He was like "what's wrong with you?" and I told him and he was all "oh..."


I think I figured what we're going to do as far as Jay's furniture and stuff, since we most likely won't be moving til March at this point. While it was already decided that I would move my clothes around in our walk-in closet to make room for the dresser/changing table and we'd go through and clear out room on the floor for more space in there, this morning I came up with an idea for the Pack n Play we're hoping to get. In our bedroom we have this one wall that has a smaller couch on it. I'm thinking we see if we can store the couch at my parent's house in their basement til we move and we'll have room to put the Pack n Play up along that wall and then on our registry we also have a little 2 shelf table thing that we can set up next to it and put some of his stuff on top and then on the shelves below we can put his books and these baskets I'd like to get to put his toys away in. So it'll be like his own little area in the bedroom for now.

We're hoping to get the co-sleeper we registered for too, as we figure at nighttime we'll use that so if he wakes up in the middle of the night for feedings I can just roll over and scoop him up, but the Pack n Play we'll use for naptime so I can shut the door to the bedroom to keep the cat out and he can sleep peacefully without us having to worry about him being unattended in the co-sleeper.

While we registered for a lot of things on our registry, the things I'm really hoping we get are the Pack n Play, the co-sleeper, the 3-in-1 travel set (with stroller, carrier and carseat), a bouncy seat, a breast pump, the bathtub set, the fishbowl crib toy, and the basic necessities (ie: diapers, washing stuff, grooming kit, basic clothes, etc). Most of the other stuff like a swing and walker and exersaucer and all that stuff is just extra - we don't necessarily need it, but it would be nice to have, ya know?

Glucose Diet: Week 1

So I'm *almost* done with my first week on this low-carb diet they put me on for my glucose monitoring and I must say - I hate it.

Here's what they have me doing:

I wake up around 10/11am and take prick my finger with the glucose thingy and have the monitor give me my fasting number. I write that down, and then I make myself something to eat for breakfast.

For breakfast I can have up to 30g of carbs, although I've been cheating slightly most mornings as the dietitian/nutritionist told me my 2 slice of wheat bread with peanut butter was fine and that puts me up to 35g. I eat and then wait an hour and prick my finger again to get my 1hr post-breakfast glucose level number and I write that down.

Then I wait around for lunch which is sometime in the afternoon - she wrote it down for 2pm but I've gone as late as 4pm. I can also have a mid-morning snack between breakfast and lunch that is supposed to be around 15g of carbs. Usually it's a granola bar.

For lunch I can eat 45-60g of carbs. Lunch isn't too much of a problem - I usually have a sandwich of some sort with some veggies and a fruit cup or if I'm out I drive thru McDonald's and get 2 grilled chicken ranch snackwraps. Then again, after lunch I wait an hour, prick my finger and get my glucose level number.

I can also have a 15-30g of carbs snack between lunch and dinner as we figured I eat dinner later (around 8/9pm). At the grocery store I found I found these yummy fruit yogurt parfaits with granola you mix in that are about 23g so I've been using that as my snack now.

For dinner, like lunch, I can have 45-60g of carbs. Here's the problem though, I'm trying to eat more protein with dinner but protein has like no carbs in it so I feel like I'm barely meeting the 45g minimum sometimes so I feel like I have to scrounge up something else to eat. Also, I'm not used to eating breakfast every morning so by the time I get to dinner I'm not usually *that* hungry either. Another problem I'm noticing is that for the last 3 times now, I prick my finger to get my glucose levels an hour after dinner and they've been *just over* my cut off of 140, which really kind of annoys me.

I can also have a post-dinner, late night snack too of 15-30g although I only do maybe 50% of the time as lately I've just been so tired after dinner that I tend to just crash and pass out and go to bed early.

That's the thing I hate - I feel like crap on this diet. I feel okay for a bit after I eat but then I start to feel all tired and weak once the effect wears off as I'm eating less carbs which means less energy for me. It really kind of sucks. Tuesday, when I wasn't eating, pricking my finger or using the bathroom I spent most of the day asleep in bed I had no energy... and the rest of the week I've felt pretty sluggish, tired and weak too. My friend that does low-carb dieting often says it's probably just my body isn't use to it yet and it's in transition to it which is why I'm so tired from it.

Still, I hate it.

If Jay wants to come out in late January, I am a-okay with that! The sooner he's out the sooner I can get off this diet. Sure, it's got me eating a little better and there's stuff I'm eating now that I'll probably continue to eat after, but I feel like I need more carbs than what I have to function properly. That and the stupid test strips, even after insurance, are kinda expensive, so the sooner he comes out the sooner I can stop monitoring and using the strips which saves us money.

Appointments, appointments!

Today was a day of doctor's appointments!

I started off the morning early by driving across town to our hospital for my first meeting with the dietitian/nutritionist up on the Maternal Fetal Medicine ward at 830am. By the time they updated all my information it was about 845 when I got to sit down with her and go over my typical daily eating habits, she went over a booklet of information with me regarding gestational diabetes and a handy pamphlet of what foods to eat and such and then we made a basic outline of what times I would be having my meals/snacks and how much carbs I can eat at each, as I am mainly counting my carbs as things high in them tend to be high in sugars as well.

Then she gave me a blood sugar glucose monitor kit so I can monitor my levels 4 times a day - my fast level when I first wake up and then an hour after each meal. Basically I prick my finger to get a drop of blood out and then hold it next to this strip that goes in the monitor and it tells me my number or whatever. There's a chart too that tells me what my level should be at different times for fasting and after meals.

Doesn't seem too bad, but man! Even after insurance the strips are still a bit expensive, as she called in a prescription to get me set up with a 30 day supply of the strips and needles and I picked them up already.

At 930am they took me down the hall for an ultrasound, which turned out to be another anatomy scan like the one we had back in October, however this time they were specifically measuring parts of him to check his growth. It appears he has a big head, as that seemed to be measuring a few weeks bigger than he is, and a few other body parts were just slightly ahead of his gestational age when it came to growth. According the ultrasound, based on his measurements it's showing him to be about 31weeks, 4-5 days while his gestational age is actually 30weeks, 1 day old - so he's measuring about a week and a half bigger than he should be. They said he's within 2 weeks though so that's fine and with me monitoring my glucose, if I'm able to work on keeping that down that should help slow down his growth some. The estimated due date the ultrasound was figuring was February 9th, so I guess that means he could be here around then if not closer to his actual due date of February 20th. He also currently weighs just under 4lbs, at 3lbs 14oz.

We did get some decent 3D shots this time around though!

He did shift positions like we thought he did the other night, as his head is now down near my bladder (which explains why I have to pee at least every 2 hours now!) with his face towards my right hip. He's kinda curved around my left side with his back facing us and his feet are curved up towards my belly button.

Face with hand in mouth and foot/leg coming towards face.

Speaking of feet... Jay has discovered them and seemed quite fasciniated by them during our ultrasound today as he spent a good bit of it with one hand in his mouth and his other playing with his feet! lol... at one point we even saw him kick himself in his face! lol... The ultrasound tech also caught him in the act of bumping my left pelvic bone, as I mentioned to her he seems to like hitting that quite a bit despite me finding it a little painful - right after I said that she was like "Oh look! We just caught him in the act of it too!" It was too funny!

He was quite active today but we were able to get him to quit playing with his feet just long enough to get a few quick shots of his face - he didn't like her nudging him with the ultrasound too much though at first, as he gave us a little angry scowl for interrupting playtime with his feet! lol... He has chubby little cheeks like his daddy did when he was a baby though!

"No more pictures, please!"

 I had a few hours to kill until my regular check-up at the OB/GYN office so I met up with my mom before visiting hubby as they were in the same vicinity (hubby was at Verizon but in the middle of putting away a shipment when I called and mom was on the other side of the parking lot having coffee with friends at Panera). Unfortunately, looking through Panera's nutrition guide, they had nothing that met my 15carb max allowed for a mid-morning snack (everything was AT LEAST 50g of carbs if not more) so I just had water with a lemon in it. I'm going to have to search online and look up nutrition facts for all the places we regularly go so I know ahead of time what I can eat, etc.

After visiting with both mom and hubby, I swung home for a quick lunch before heading across town for our regular check-up at 145pm (it was originally at 11am but I had them push it back a bit just so I wasn't cutting it too close with my appointments at the hospital this morning). By then the hospital had sent over all my information from this morning and we briefly went over that. They did say Jay is still measuring big but reiterated that if I'm monitoring my glucose now that should help get him to slow down his growth a little bit. They also are starting me on weekly appointments now to monitor his growth and then starting at 34weeks they'll be having me come in twice a week since with the gestational diabetes I'm technically classified as high risk.

Also, the scale at my clinic and the scale in the dietitian/nutritionist's office have about a 10lb difference as the dietitian/nutritionist weighed me being 5lbs less than I was at my check-up at the clinic 2 weeks ago, while the clinic's scale had me 5lbs heavier than I was 2 weeks prior! I didn't think a few hours and lunch would make THAT big of a difference... regardless though, at my clinic they said my weight was fine and everything pregnancy-wise seems to be in the normal range (despite Jay's slightly bigger size right now).

Until next week!

Appointment scheduled

So I got a call today from the Maternal Fetal Medicine ward at our hospital to set up an appointment for next week to meet with a dietitian/nutritionist and schedule an ultrasound so we can get my gestational diabetes under control.

They want me to come in at 8am Monday for registration while my appointment with the dietitian/nutritionist is at 830 and then we have an ultrasound there at 930. The point of the ultrasound is to see how the GD is affecting Jay - if he's just growing big or if it has something to do with the GD and placenta. I'm hoping maybe we'll get a good 3D of him this time too, as last time he didn't want to cooperate with us. Hubby's trying to see if he can find someone to open for him on Monday so he can go too as he likes to go to the ultrasounds and see Jay on the monitor.

I ended up pushing my regularly scheduled appointment back a few hours, as that was originally at 11am - the lady on the phone from the hospital said we should be done by 1030am, but there's the possibility of them running late and then getting stuck in traffic trying to get across town... I figured we might be cutting it kind of close so I called my clinic and they rescheduled me over there for 145pm. Hubby was going to try and make this one, but since we're having an ultrasound at the hospital that morning, I doubt they'll do a 2nd one at the clinic that day.

I've started watching what I eat even more than I was and I've been going off outlines for what to eat if you have GD that I found online just to kind of start with it since I didn't know how soon I'd be able to get in with the Maternal Fetal Medicine people. I also started keeping a food log too so they can go over with me what I've been eating and what I shouldn't be eating.

In hubby news... he got a mini-promotion/pay-raise at Verizon - he's now an assistant to the executive administrative of their company, although really he's not doing much more than he already was, he's just getting paid for the extra stuff he's been doing. He also found out this week that he got the 2 week Christmas overtime shift at UPS he was hoping to get. Sadly though, we learned tonight that one the dogs at his parent's house (they have multiple dogs and cats - it's like a mini zoo out there! lol...) suddenly died - it was their smaller dog named Boy and he was only 7. When we've talked about getting a dog of our own in the future, hubby always says he wants one that's a lapdog about the size of Boy.

The results are in!

I got a call this morning from my clinic letting me know my labwork was back from my 3hour glucose screening I did on Friday.

Here's my results:
Fasting blood draw - 83 (cutoff is 100, so that was normal)
1st blood draw post-glucose drink - 158 (cutoff is 180, so this was normal)
2nd blood draw post-glucose drink - 168 (cutoff is 150, so this was high)
3rd blood draw post-glucose drink - 163 (cutoff is 139, so again, high).

Apparently you need 3 out 4 of your draws to be "normal" to not have the gestational diabetes - only 2 of mine were, so turns out, I do have the gestational diabetes (as we kind of figured I would).

The lady from the lab said that a girl from Maternal Fetal Monitoring would be contacting me in the next few days, after clearing everything with our insurance, to set up an appointment for me to come in and go over diet and nutrition, as well as how to monitor my glucose levels. They also said that since Jay is measuring big, they'll do an ultrasound there as well as I guess their ultrasound machine is more elaborate, thorough, and high tech than the one at my clinic - they want to be able to see if he's just big or if it's the amniotic fluid due to the gestational diabetes causing him to measure bigger than he should be at this point, as GD can play a part in that.

I'm not too thrilled - especially since Christmas is right around the corner and there's soooo many sweets. I'm a bit bummed I can't really eat Christmas cookies this year (and I refuse to make them since I can't eat em as I'll be too tempted to eat too many, having them around here). Also, the diet doesn't sound too nice (from what I've read) but I guess it's doable.

I keep telling myself, I'm already 29 weeks along, full-term is 37-40 weeks, so we figure I only have to suffer through this for another 8-11 weeks (and probably closer to 8 weeks, as hubby and I both have this strong, strange feeling he's going to be early) as GD tends to go away after delivery.


Today was also a bummer of a day for me - I had a "call in" shift at work, which I was hoping they'd let me come in and work it as they canceled both my shifts last week and I really want to work or at least do something. I need an excuse to get out of the house, but I can't always afford to go out or visit my friend across town as we're tight on money right now and watching our expenses and it takes gas to go places.

I tried to call my mom and let her know about my results, but as it's been the past few weeks, I can never seem to get ahold of her. I know, she's been busy with the costuming up at church for the Christmas program this weekend, but it's just frustrating when I call every number I have to reach her at, multiple times, leave messages for her to call me back, and I never hear anything. Hopefully after next week she'll be more accessible, but yeah... I'm a bit worried that if I go into early labor, my family's going to be the last to know as it seems like no one in that house can answer their phones =(

What really threw me over the edge today was when I was looking for a top I could have sworn I put in the laundry to be washed but couldn't find it in there no matter how hard I looked, and on top of that I noticed I broke another nail.

I started crying, hubby came home soon after, and we snuggled for a bit as I was just really frustrated with everything so far today and hormones were making me all sad panda over stupid little stuff.

Jay's being a bit of a butt today too - like he's purposely trying to stretch out as much as possible, throwing painful punches and kicks in the process! He's been pushing on my uterus it seems, and then once he's pushes with all his might in there, he gives it a good kick or punch! Neither the strong pushing or the kicks/punches are very comfortable to me though! lol...

The 3 Hour Glucose Test

Well today was the grueling 3 hour glucose test.

I had to fast starting at midnight. Poor Jay though - he didn't like the lack of food one bit and was letting me know by throwing fits in there every so often. Poor little guy!

My appointment was at 8am, but they didn't take me back til about 20 after as there was a bunch of people coming in at 8. The girl drew my blood before giving me the drink. For the 3 hour test they only had the drink in lemon lime and orange. I opted for the lemon line. Compared to the 1 hour drink, this one tasted extra syrupy - like a Sprite or Sierra Mist with extra syrup in it!

She said I might feel a little sick or queasy the first hour - I could feel it in my stomach but it more just a form of gas.

The first passed by sort of quick, I read some of my book, they took me back to draw more blood and then we started the 2nd hour. The 2nd hour seemed longer. I tried to get comfortable enough to nap, but it was a little cold in the waiting room and the chair just wasn't comfy enough. Eventually that hour was up and they took me back to draw more blood and the 3rd hour began and came and went.

The 3rd time they drew blood it was starting to hurt from getting pricked so many times in the same spot and my arm started to sting. Same with the last time they drew blood before sending me off.

While waiting in the waiting room, there was a guy that came in, acting like he was running late for an appointment. The girl at the desk was a little confused and flat out asked what kind of appointment he had at an OB/GYN office. The guy looked confused and she clarified they only see females here. The guy was a little embarrassed and realized he was at the wrong clinic! It was a bit funny though!

I was soooo hungry and tired by the time we got done. Hubby dropped me off but had to go to work so my mom picked me up and took me out to lunch (I don't feel comfortable driving when my blood sugar is low or after I've had blood draw as I can feel a little dizzy and weak). I came home and slept for most of the afternoon too.

They said my results will be back Monday and they'll give me a call to let me know and figure where to go from there. Hopefully if I do have the gestational diabetes it's only borderline...

3 Hour Glucose Test diet really sucks!

This whole protein and veggie diet I'm on today for my 3 hour glucose test tomorrow morning really sucks!!!


Seriously, I ate eggs for breakfast and was okay til around lunchtime. Then I went over to Burger King for lunch and had 2 hamburger patties and a side salad with ranch (it was the only dressing with 1g of sugar or less in it, as they said to eat as little sugar as possible today and no sweets at all). I ate it all but I was still pretty hungry.

I'm planning on going over to Subway and getting a $5 footlong grilled chicken breast with veggies (and eat it without the bun of course since they said to avoid bread today) for dinner. I also had a thing of string cheese for a snack this afternoon as I feel like I'm starving and it has no sugar in it.

Honestly though, what I wouldn't give right now for some bread - especially with peanut butter on it - or a granola bar or a cup of applesauce...

Jay doesn't seem too happy about this lack of food today either as he tends to kick/punch more often in a certain way when I haven't eaten in awhile to sort of get my attention (if I wake up and don't eat right away he really gets going).

Stupid genetics.

I told hubby, he's probably going to have to drag my comatose butt to the doctor in the morning as I know I'm going to feel all sick and like crap in the morning from not eating all that much.

=(

Interesting....

My mom ran into my mother-in-law the other day and I guess they got to talking about Jay measuring big.

Hubby knew he was born early - early enough that he didn't have footprints yet - but he didn't any other details.

Apparently he was 6 weeks early, BUT he weighed 8lbs, 8oz (and measured 21inches)! If he had made it to 40 weeks he most likely would have been 10lbs or more!

So I guess that's one possible reasoning for why Jay is measuring big - his daddy was a pretty big baby too!

I weighed about 8lbs, 2oz, but I was also 2 weeks late - had I been "on time" I probably would have been right around 8lbs; my sister was a week early and weighed just under 8lbs.