Coming to a Nursery Near You

Archive for September, 2006

So, we went to our big ultrasound appointment yesterday, all the way down there in Hanover, NH. Darthmouth Hospital is humongous, I’ll tell ya. The staff was very nice and courteous. The genetic counselor was very nice as she explained that our chances of having a Down’s Syndrome baby is 1:110 because of my age. LOL I knew all this when I got pregnant, but we went cuz it’s another ultrasound and another chance to get a look at Sprout, which we did. Very indepth look, actually.

The ultrasound tech, very “all business” measured the baby’s head, skull & brain (yes, it has one). Showed us his/her face, measured the nose bone even. The baby was pretty active, waving at us several times In the end, the baby measured at 20 weeks, instead of 19, and 10 ounces, which I find interesting, and was well positioned… in that “head down, butt up” position and because of my hernia being where it is, the tech nor the dr. could tell the sex. LOL

Dammit

I was glad, though, that they were able to say that they can’t see any “markers” that would indicate any birth defects… I honestly have no idea how I would deal with that kind of guilt that would come with knowing that my apparent carelessness with birth control would result in this baby having to deal with a lifetime of problems.

In any case, I’m going to post my ultrasound pics for my friends and family who may or may not be interested. I know, they’re weird and it’s hokey, but for me, it’s still yet another reality check that says “yeah, you REALLY are pregnant, Dawn – get used to it”.

For those of you ultrasound-illiterates, this is a profile of the baby’s head.

This is the baby’s whole body in profile – feet, leg, belly, hand, and mouth open little alien face.

This is the baby in profile again, this time with what seems to be his/her hand up, waving “hi mom”. Maybe a football star in the making?

In other news, I decided to test my ketones this past Friday – mainly cuz I saw the strips and realized I hadn’t checked it since I’d gotten them, 2 months ago. When I tested (on friday Afternoon), the results were scary. It came out with “moderate”, which means my body is in ketosis … ketosis is what happens when your body doesn’t get enough carbohydrates and starts burning body fat for energy. Now, when you’re not pregnant, this is what helps you lose weight when you’re low-carbing. This is a good thing for me when I’m NOT pregnant. Howeve,r I AM pregnant, so this isn’t such a good thing. I immediately went online to look for answers, as well as phoned my OB office (a clinic with 2 doctors and too many nurses). While waiting for a return call, I found this site, Plus-size-Pregnancy.org that says that while there’s no DISTINCT research, excess ketones in the blood during pregnancy can result in learning disabilities and possibly brain damage …. GREAT!

Geez.

The doctor’s office eventually called back to say “Well, are you following your diet? Are your #s ok? “

Yes, and Yes.

“Well, test again in the morning and if it’s still there, call dr. so&so. Ok.

So I did, though now that I’m obviously in ketosis and not getting enough carbs, I realize I need to eat more carbs… which is still an alien concept to me seeing as I spent over a year AVOIDING THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.

So that night, I made baked potatoes with dinner. Yum. My #s were fine after dinner, and I did go walking afterwards.

I wound up going to bed early that night – around 9pm, so at 2:30 when I woke up to pee, I realized that this would be my morning’s first (which I needed), so I tested with the ketone strips again. Again, I was in the moderate category, which by then had me officially scared. I went back online to read, since obviously it was too early to bother anyone.

I found a great site that gave me all sorts of scare-the-shit-out-of-me information about pregnancy and ketoacydosis or something like that – this site told me about how I can expect possibly brain death in the baby, and death for me as well. WHAT??

So I chewed on that for a while and eventually went back upstairs to crawl into bed with hubby (at 5:30). It was also during this time that I realized my heartrate, even resting, was over 100. Not good, me thinks.

So I crawl into bed, and becuase of my heart rate going nuts, I decide to take my blood pressure with a machine I’d bought at a yard sale this summer. Unfortunately, the beeps woke hubby up, and it was only then that the reality of what I’d read really hit me and I wound up crying. I hate crying – really, I do. What I hate even more, though, is to be told to stop thinking about (whatever it is I’m worried about), until Monday. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Men may be able to do that – compartmentalize things. Women can’t. At least *I* can’t. I can’t just STOP thinking about something and make it go away. Especially something this scary. Eventually, though, I was able to calm down and we decided to carb my body OUT … to get me out of ketosis at least.

So that’s what we did LOL

I had a half a bagel for breakfast. We went to a pie sale and I had half of a piece of mississippi mud pie. I had A WHOPPER & FRIES for lunch. I had something equally carb-unfriendly for dinner (can’t remember what now), and on Sunday, I woke up ketone free ))

On Saturday evening, the Dr. called (after a couple of my calls to them) and assured me that ketones in pregnancy weren’t a major concern, that he suggested I not even bother to monitor them anymore and that i needed to get seen this week to be put on insulin. I’ve never even met this dr. before, and here he was, just blowing off everything I’d read on a reputable site, saying no, no – that’s not you.

I was not even mildly assuaged by this guy. So I called my mom and said “Ok, YOU read this and tell me where I went wrong”.

As soon as she loaded the page, so did I and realized my error in 2 seconds.

It said “If you’re diabetic and pregnant”

Not “pregnant and diabetic”.

I.e. if you were diabetic and got pregnant and were spilling ketones, this is a problem.

I’m not diabetic without pregnancy, so this didn’t applyt o me at all.

W T F!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\

I spent the entire day scaring the hell out of myself for no apparent reason.

However, the original site was about GESTATIONAL Diabetes and does still ring in my ears, so I contacted the diabetic counselor that I’d dealt with in the past. I sent her my #s for the last month and a half, and my concerns, as well as the comments from the dr. about not even bothering to monitor anymore.

Her response was “ketones DO need to be addressed”.

ARGH!!!!!!!!

So I have a call in to the clinic, because even the dr. I saw yesterday said ” you need to be seen to get on insulin. (I swear, it’s all just a big conspiracy by the insulin manufacturers!)… and we’ll see when I can be seen.

I’m trying to eat en
ough carbs to stay out of ketosis without gaining 50 lbs. When I read today’s Baby Center, I read both 19 and 20 weeks and it says “you’ve probably gained 10 lbs”. I’ve gained 5. Hubby says “you better get to eating”. Like I’ve been starving. LOL

I have been eating healthy. Meat, veggie and sometimes a starch. Not always- I admit, but I’m trying like hell. I measure my portions, don’t overeat, snack regularly to keep my #s stable.
The diabetes counselor says I’m not a failure (though I feel like I am) and that the fasting blood sugar (the morning one) is the hardest to control – and thusfar, I haven’t been able to. So it’s onto the damned needles I go, so that I don’t have a 99 lb baby.

Melinda, over at Anything Said had her babyyyyyy this week! I’m so happy for her, and her ailing nether-regions… so this is for her:

In other pregnancy news, nothing’s changed much – we’re up to the size of a sweet potato… yum. 5-1/2 inches! He/she has been doing the mambo alot lately, and it’s still such a weird feeling… I tend to stop what I’md oing and just enjoy it (Unless of course, he/she’s doing it on my cervix at which point I’m like “Ok, you can STOP THAT NOW”.

So, there’s the new imagery for my sis, who still calls often to ask how I’m feeling – which is better, btw Still trying to figure out how to balance low fat, low carb and high fiber, which is just a myth. Trying to figure out what pisses off the hernia (certain foods do, but I’m not sure which yet), and in general, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position.

Monday, we go for our “LEVEL II ULTRASOUND”, and we’ve pretty much decided to find out the sex of said Sprout. Of course, that being said, he/she will probably keep their legs firmly clamped shut and we’ll have to guess for a while longer. ANyways,

CONGRATULATIONS to Melinda & her hubby – I wish them the joy and incredible, heart wrenching joys of parenthood, along with , ya know, the sleepless nights, interrupted baths, phone calls, never-read-a-newspaper-or-book-again, life that I find so incredibly rewarding (most days)

Hmmm… I know I posted about this week’s update from the dr. office, but I don’t know where it went. I guess it’s just as well, because the anger is still there.

I lost 84 lbs in a little over a year. I exercised, I ate better, I did what I was supposed to. Others in my family ate like there as no tomorrow for their entire pregnancy. I gained 5 lbs last month – the first weight gain in 4 months, and I get pissed. I eat what I’m supposed to, when I’m supposed to (usually – No, I’m not perfect). They (the others) had perfectly healthy pregnancies.

I have a hernia
I have gallstones
I have gestational diabetes.

WTF.

I went to my dr. appt. this week. I actually saw the Dr. this time, not the lpn. One of the first things he said was “yup, that’s a hernia”. I said well, so&so said it wasn’t. He said “well, tell her Dr. so&so said it is a hernia”. Great… so for the last 2 months, I’ve been picking up and carrying lots of heavy stuff, including my 3 yr old. ummm, are you supposed to do that with a hernia?

My g. diabetes is slowly becoming uncontrollable. My daytime #s, the ones after meals, have been fine. My morning #s, though – are slowly creeping up to the 100 mark, which my dr. tells me this week, is when he’ll have to put me on insulin. What’s that mean? It means I have to give myself shots; I can’t take insulin by pills because it would cross the placenta and the baby would get it. The way the diabetes broad told me was this: when my blood sugar raises, the baby’s pancreas is forced into action, which is what makes for a BIG baby. So in order NOT to have a BIG baby, I will have to either 1) control the bloodsugar or 2) get help doing so. Hence the insulin.

I haven’t read about what this entails. I’m afraid to, but I know it’s coming. He looked at my #s and gave me one more week … like anything’s gonna change. Sigh. I’ve tried everything. I don’t know what else TO do, except try NOT to stress over it. ha ha freakin ha.

It pisses me off, though. In my other pregnancies, I was able to control it solely with diet. Hell, I didn’t even exercise that much. This time, I’m walking a few times a week – purposely seeking out high fiber stuff, etc. Sigh.

23 weeks to go. Dunno how the hell I’m supposed to give myself shots for nearly 6 more months

Oh, and Sprout’s the size of an onion this week… 5 inches long, 5 ounces. I love onions lol

so this week, Sprout is the size of an avocado. The above picture is the actual size of my Sprout! I think it’s pretty amazing that such changes can occur so relatively fast. Yesterday, we were the size of a pea… now an avocado… what’s next, you might ask?

Well, at 19 weeks, he/she/it will be the size (length) of a small zucchini LOL

Things have been going pretty well, considering. The nausea has backed way off, thankfully. My boobs are FULL, but at least not painful – I’m grateful for all that time I spent breastfeeding, because otherwise, I know I’d be in a world of hurt right now. I’ve grown 2-1/2 inches or so around the waist! See, the problem with being fat & pregnant is that to most everyone else, I’m just fat. Not pregnant & fat. LOL But anyways, that’s my update for this week. I go for my monthly checkup next week, when we’ll discuss my GALLSTONES, which have apparently grown larger since my last ultrasound a year ago. So now they want me on a low-fat, high fiber diet to go along with , of course, the lower-carb diabetic diet. Can you say “SCREWED”?

I’m trying, that’s all I can do. I did the grocery shopping this week with all these things in mind. I bought fruits and veggies that I don’t usually buy , nor eat, in an attempt to keep things that need to be kept small – small, and encourage things that need to grow – to grow.

Talk about a balancing act.

UGH.

Technorati Profile