Already July

Wow, has it really been two weeks since I've posted on here?


Is it really already July?


Despite the apparent confusion--things in our house are going well. I'm a couple of weeks into my new diet now and feeling quite comfortable with checking my blood sugars & ketones regularly and making the appropriate alterations as needed to make sure all the numbers stay in a safe range. (I even figured out a way to get to have a bowl of popcorn with peanut m&ms in it as a treat last night--no starchy carbohydrates at dinner!) Important things, you know. Since my last post I've seen the endocrinologist once, the diabetes counselor (again), and had another prenatal appointment. All of my numbers are looking very, very good, and I've been told by the counselor that I don't have to come back and meet with her anymore as long as I keep up with the endocrinologist. Baby measured 35 cms this morning, and I'm nearly 34 weeks! How's that for catching up!


I'm feeling far better than I've felt in months. Lots more energy. I am happily eating copious amounts of steak and wild Alaskan salmon (sigh) and filling in the gaps with every vegetable I can set my sights on. I'm learning to curb my red potato addiction...and am trying not to think about all of the summer fruit that is currently, beautifully in season. The boundaries are a little difficult to adhere to at times, but the payoff has been so great.

The boys are spending their days playing in the dirt pit out front, catching flies out of the air with their bare hands, trying to find ways to earn money for Legos, and eating me out of house and home. The usual. We're s-l-o-w-l-y checking things off of our to-do list, trying to prepare for having a bit of "down time" once Baby decides to make an appearance--whenever that may be. Cole's birthday is on Saturday and we ordered---SHHHH---a junior (not TOY) metal detector for him, and it came in the mail the other day. I can hardly wait to give it to him and to go out "treasure hunting" with him for the first time. I think you're going to find us spending a lot of spare time at the parks and beaches in the coming weeks.

That's all for now, I guess. The two littlest ones are napping...I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and doze on the couch for a bit before entering into life here again.

The Long(er) Update

I'm a little delayed in writing this post, but this past week has been full of phone calls and appointments and I am definitely still in the "gathering information" stage. So here it is: My diabetes test from last week came back positive. Blasted Crazy Juice! My glucose numbers are still just a smidgen high--but because technically they are still above normal range, we have all been working to decide what the next step is.

I'm not thrilled to have a positive diagnosis, obviously. But there is some relief in knowing why sugars have been bothering me so much during this pregnancy, and knowing that there are people out there who are able to help me keep my levels more in line. Just in the last few days, I have altered parts of my diet on my own and have noticed a HUGE change in my energy levels and overall well-being. It's empowering to feel like I can affect change so quickly. And I'm loving being able to focus on the boys more without feeling so loggy all the time.

So, the next question is: Where do we go from here? At this point, I still have a chance of delivering with the midwife, but that may change depending on how the next few weeks go. I had my regular prenatal appointment this morning and it was FABULOUS--this belly is still measuring 34 cm (only 2 1/2 cm ahead now!) and Baby is now head-down (there was actually a moment this week when Justin and I were talking and suddenly my stomach gave a huge gelatinous SHAKE--Justin said, "wow, did the baby just flip or what?!")....all good reports. We spent a lot of good time talking about gestational diabetes and what it all means, and I left there really feeling like everything was going to work out beautifully.

This afternoon, I met with the hospital dietician/diabetes counselor to talk more in-depth about my unique situation and what the options are for change. I think I went into it pretty well-informed, but still I felt like my head was swimming a bit when I left a short hour later (though that may just be my pregnant brain!). So I think the next few days will be key as I actually start putting some of this stuff into effect--watching my foods carefully and charting my blood sugar numbers. I have to meet with an endocrinologist on Tuesday and I am anticipating that I'll be feeling like it is all "old-hat" by then, ha!

I am so appreciative of all of your prayers as we navigate these new waters. There are still several things up in the air about how exactly this delivery will go, but I'm not feeling anxious about any of the details.

"Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children within you!" psalm 147 12-13

Thank You, Wipeout

Quote of the Day:

"This looks like a banana hammock" --Reuben, age 3 (holding up a sliver of sauteed onion)

The Short Update

Everything went well today at the lab--thanks for those that were praying and sorry to those who were secretly hoping to see covert photos of my sugar coma, ha! The lab techs were all in Happy Friday moods and did what they could to keep me in high spirits. I got some good reading done of my (semi-boring) book, did what I could to stay relatively comfortable (though I got a few nasty looks for having my feet up on the coffee table--even though it was the one WAY in the back of the room) and even took a little bit of a walk outside during the last hour. Justin did great with the boys and graciously allowed me to sleep away the afternoon when I returned home. Now we just wait for the results and look forward to my prenatal appointment next week!

Glucose Laments

I forgot to mention in my last post on here that I had my glucose test on Friday--the one where you drink the Crazy Juice and then get your blood drawn an hour later to make sure your body is able to adequately deal with the vast amounts of corn sugar you just pumped into your bloodstream. Fun times. Thing is: I have become more and more sensitive to sugar with each pregnancy and my test this round made me want to promptly fall into a coma until it was all over. Which of course I mentioned to the midwife--and to which of course she responded that there was a chance my results would show levels of intolerance--and that perhaps this intolerance was affecting the baby's growth rate and contributing to my Giant Belly Syndrome.

I got my test results today and they came back one point above the level that is considered normal. Or safe. Or whatever. So...it's probably not much to worry about, but all things considered, it's best that we go through the next level of testing. I'll go into the lab and complete those tests on Friday. It requires an 8 hour (overnight) fast, an early morning blood draw, a new bottle of Super Charged Crazy Juice, and three subsequent blood draws at one hour intervals throughout the morning. (Sidenote: I have to take the Volvo to the shop that morning, and Justin and I giggled at the thought of me trying to run errands in between blood draws all hyped up and turned loose on the town in the loaner car...) I'm planning on bringing my Book Club book and getting some good reading done while hanging out at the lab for HALF THE DAY. Or, alternately, going into Said Coma on the floor there and drooling. We'll see how it all turns out.

Movin' On Up

...but more slowly now, thankfully. Baby is now measuring 34cm and I will be 30 weeks on Monday. We're closing the gap! The baby has settled nicely into a breech position, however, so I will be spending the next few days doing jumping jacks, standing on my head and the like trying to encourage a FLIP before he (she?) gets much bigger and runs out of room!

On a more comical note, I had a dream early yesterday morning that I was in a garden and everywhere I looked, there were HUGE green cabbages so ripe that they were falling off the vines, so ready were they to be harvested. Then I dreamt that I woke up from that dream, to find I was in labor with contractions 2 minutes apart. And I lay in bed (in my dream) and thought, "Hmmm, better call the midwife, she'll have to deliver here instead of at the birth center....WOW I wish I had cleaned my room!"

So if any of you are looking for me the next few days, I will be cleaning my room. And washing the newborn clothes. And setting up the cradle. You know--just in case!

Postponed

For all of you that have been stalking June 11th on your calendar to see how this Giant Belly Story is going to turn out (okay, that might have just been me): My appointment has been postponed until tomorrow! See you then!