I turned into the biggest grouch! I noticed this week that my students (who are 5/6 years old and a pretty adorable and lovable bunch) are driving me crazy. They weren't following directions, weren't cleaning up, and weren't being their usual selves. And then it hit me. Neither have I!! Now to be fair, once I got pregnant, the past 30 weeks of my pregnancy have been pretty easy. Minus the recent gestational diabetes hurdle that I'm going through. At this point, I think I've gained 21 pounds, although I'm pretty sure that was after having lost 7/8 in the past 2 weeks. So maybe it's the lack of carbs that are making me a raging bitch and not the pregnancy. Either way, Mr. Desperate and I have been fighting like crazy and sometimes I feel like he's on a whole other planet.
For example, his company is about to go through open enrollment and there is a new insurance option. He tells me he wants to discuss it and come up with questions before he goes to the company meeting where they explain the policy. I don't know about you, but how the hell am I supposed to discuss something when all we have is a generic definition of the type of plan that is being offered. Then he tells me it is mandatory and there are no other options unless we do health care on our own. Which I find odd since the letter from HR said it was one of several options. Which makes me believe that there are other options than the one he wanted to discuss. Obviously, the whole thing makes no sense to me. Yet, every time I tried to ask a question he told me I was interrupting him. Then he got frustrated that I had questions at all because it was "SO simple to understand". (Well, if that's the case, then how about explaining it to me in a different way, or repeating yourself, so that I do understand.) And all of my questions were centered around the end of this pregnancy and the health care for our baby. Shouldn't he be concerned about these things? Am I really as crazy as he made it seem like I was??? Uggghhhhh I'm frustrated all over again! At least he hasn't brought it up today.
On another insurance front, my insurance takes a super long time (7-14 business days) to validate and process the gestational diabetes prescription. Meaning the 10 test strips they gave me at my appointment last Friday are up. And yes, you can count right. 10 days have not passed since last Friday, but I didn't exactly have the easiest time figuring out how to prick my finger and test my blood sugar. The nurse was very quick to explain, and her English wasn't the greatest. When reviewing what I should eat she told me to "take care of carrots" which I translated to mean "be careful of eating carrots". Not a problem, I don't' really like carrots anyway. So it's been a week of testing just my morning fasting glucose. I'm supposed to test 4 times a day but can't do that until I get the extra test strips and needles in the mail. Which could be during week 33 at this rate. I'm a little concerned that I won't see the doctor again until week 35 and I do NOT want them telling me that the baby is too big or there's not enough fluid and I have to go on bed rest or have the baby ASAP. I'm going Monday for a 3D ultrasound so I will voice my concerns then and see what he says. So far I only had one day of testing where the number was above 90, and it was only 93. I was still concerned but the next day it was back down to the 80s and the nurse I spoke with today didn't seem concerned. Or maybe she just didn't understand what I was saying. Uh oh...
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Gestational Diabetes
Tomorrow I have my first appointment with a Perinatologist/Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist to look further into my gestational diabetes. Clearly, the 3 hour glucose tolerance test did not go well. I got the results back weeks ago, but the doctor couldn't fit me into her schedule two weeks ago and then was out of town for something medical board related all last week. They told me that the results were not too out of control so it wasn't too crucial for me to come in immediately. I was a little hesitant about this, but luckily, last week I started to feel the baby moving. Today marks 29 weeks, so I've waited a long time for this! I thought for awhile now I would feeling movement from time to time, but my placenta is in the front, so it acts like a nice little cushion and has kept me from feeling anything consistently.
I'm pretty sure that tomorrow they are going to do an ultrasound (at least that's one benefit to this), go over what I should/should not be eating, and teach me how to check my blood sugar. My doctor told me I would have to do this 4 times a day. FUN. Maybe I can convince the school nurse to do it for me! Although... she isn't too friendly.
My sister delivered at 30 weeks, 3 days after the sudden and unexpected loss of one of her twins so this week is really hard for me. Just knowing that I've made it this far, but that I'm not guaranteed anything, is really real for me. I'm not really sure what questions to ask the specialist tomorrow, or at any of my follow-ups, so if anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it! My doctor did tell me that no matter what I will not go a day past my due date, and probably will deliver between 39-40 weeks. Best case scenario, of course. But then, the midwife was telling me about women who have delivered 9-10 pound babies at that point in their pregnancy and I would really like to avoid that. I'm nervous that this is all becoming real. And that tomorrow they will be able to pinpoint a sooner-than-expected delivery date.
To lighted the mood a little, here's a cute story. At the end of the school day today I was walking my class and another kindergarten class to carpool when one of the little girls in the other class looked at me with her head tilted to the side. She pointed to my stomach, moved her finger in a little circle and said, "What's going on there?" It was SO cute and SO funny. Her mom had a baby at the beginning of the school year so I knew she knew what my stomach meant but she wouldn't make any further comments. Her teacher told her mom, who was shocked that she said anything (she swears she taught her never to ask a woman if they are having a baby... which, technically speaking, she didn't!) and was even more shocked to find out that I was pregnant. BTW, I see this woman every week, and possibly multiple times every week. When she asked when I was due, her mouth dropped and said, "Less then 3 months?? You should be HUGE!" I will take that as a major compliment and as a screw you to the gestational diabetes!!
I'm pretty sure that tomorrow they are going to do an ultrasound (at least that's one benefit to this), go over what I should/should not be eating, and teach me how to check my blood sugar. My doctor told me I would have to do this 4 times a day. FUN. Maybe I can convince the school nurse to do it for me! Although... she isn't too friendly.
My sister delivered at 30 weeks, 3 days after the sudden and unexpected loss of one of her twins so this week is really hard for me. Just knowing that I've made it this far, but that I'm not guaranteed anything, is really real for me. I'm not really sure what questions to ask the specialist tomorrow, or at any of my follow-ups, so if anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it! My doctor did tell me that no matter what I will not go a day past my due date, and probably will deliver between 39-40 weeks. Best case scenario, of course. But then, the midwife was telling me about women who have delivered 9-10 pound babies at that point in their pregnancy and I would really like to avoid that. I'm nervous that this is all becoming real. And that tomorrow they will be able to pinpoint a sooner-than-expected delivery date.
To lighted the mood a little, here's a cute story. At the end of the school day today I was walking my class and another kindergarten class to carpool when one of the little girls in the other class looked at me with her head tilted to the side. She pointed to my stomach, moved her finger in a little circle and said, "What's going on there?" It was SO cute and SO funny. Her mom had a baby at the beginning of the school year so I knew she knew what my stomach meant but she wouldn't make any further comments. Her teacher told her mom, who was shocked that she said anything (she swears she taught her never to ask a woman if they are having a baby... which, technically speaking, she didn't!) and was even more shocked to find out that I was pregnant. BTW, I see this woman every week, and possibly multiple times every week. When she asked when I was due, her mouth dropped and said, "Less then 3 months?? You should be HUGE!" I will take that as a major compliment and as a screw you to the gestational diabetes!!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
BAM! Glucose overload
At my 24 week appointment I did the 1 hour glucose test. Evidently, not overloading on sugar does not give you an edge towards passing this test. My doctor retests anyone over 136, although I read online that over 140 is worth a retest. Either way, I was 142. Boo. So now I have to go in tomorrow and do a 3 hour glucose test. Good thing I have good veins and am not afraid of needles, because they are doing 4 blood draws. I haven't really wanted to know about what the test results could mean, because I feel there's no sense in worrying over something for an entire week before the results come in. I, of course, did google some info about glucose testing after getting my "you failed" results (and had flashbacks to a Geology course I took in college that I barely passed).
I tried not to read too much but saw that having a high number means you have gestational diabetes, which means a recommended diet during pregnancy. And, it means you are more likely to have a bigger baby and need a c-section. All things considered, I can take that. The one thing that I'm not so easy going about is that it means your baby is more likely to have Type 1 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes runs in my family, but no one has had Type 1 Diabetes that I know of. After hitting 24 weeks I was feeling pretty good and really believed that since it wasn't easy getting here, that once I got here, everything would be smooth sailing. Wishful thinking!
I tried not to read too much but saw that having a high number means you have gestational diabetes, which means a recommended diet during pregnancy. And, it means you are more likely to have a bigger baby and need a c-section. All things considered, I can take that. The one thing that I'm not so easy going about is that it means your baby is more likely to have Type 1 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes runs in my family, but no one has had Type 1 Diabetes that I know of. After hitting 24 weeks I was feeling pretty good and really believed that since it wasn't easy getting here, that once I got here, everything would be smooth sailing. Wishful thinking!
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