Thoughts on pregnancy

The early part of this pregnancy was so similar to my first, I suppose I expected everything to be the same. However, I found out that I failed my 1-hour glucose screening test that I had taken on October 29th. I was bummed, but figured okay, whatever, I'll suffer through the 3-hour glucose tolerance test (GTT) and did so on November 4th. But then I found out that I failed that one too! My fasting number was fine, but because my first draw number was over 200, that meant an automatic diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes (GD). GD!

I was pretty broken up about it at first, and the two weeks between the diagnosis and meeting with the nutritionist were hard because I didn't know how bad things were or if I was eating appropriate things. My doc told me that until I saw the nutritionist, to just try to just spread out my carbs throughout the day and "not go crazy". But I still wasn't sure how much I had to restrict myself or what size portions to eat.

So on November 22nd, (the day before Thanksgiving), I went to see the nutritionist and have a growth ultrasound. I met with the nutritionist and got a glucometer, and instructions to test my blood sugar 4 times per day (fasting, and then 1 hour after every meal) by pricking my finger. The ultrasound was great, and everything looked normal. With GD there is a risk that the baby can grow too large too fast, but she measured at around the 43rd percentile (and has a proportional-sized head!).

I also met with a MFM who told me that if my fundal height measurements and glucose readings were consistently normal and I could manage the GD with diet alone, that I probably wouldn't need to return for any further ultrasounds.

And fortunately, I really haven't had to adjust my diet all that much. During those two weeks I was actually restricting myself way more than I had to. Now I just make sure I eat protein with every carb, and pay attention to spacing out my carbs throughout the day. Almost all my numbers have been great, so after 2 weeks of keeping a food/glucose log and sending it to the nutritionist, I was allowed to drop the fasting test and just do it once per week instead of every day. So, it's annoying, but I've really learned what doesn't work for me (like cereal with milk for breakfast) and it's not so bad. I was even able to have dessert on Thanksgiving and indulge in some of those Christmas cookies we made with no problems. I'm sure looking forward to the day I'm done with this daily finger pricking, though. The bummer is that I'm now supposed to repeat the GTT every 3 years for the rest of my life. :-\

The other thing that has been occupying all my time lately is getting the Sausalito house ready to move into. We've been spending all our free time lately painting and doing small repairs. We had the floors refinished and they look wonderful--I wish I had before/after pictures! Our contractor is currently working on replacing rotting doors and windows, and hopefully will be finished by the time we move in mid-January.

I plan to work until January 20th, and then go on leave at 37 weeks. Hopefully the little miss will be content to stay put for a few weeks past then so I can get the house unpacked and organized! At least we finally have a name for her. :)