And in this corner...Rusty!!!!

The nursery is now 95% complete. All that is left to do is put together the glider and it will be done. This weekend, Fred and I are going to do our last minute shopping of what we need for him that we haven't gotten already.

A few things have changed since my last check in. I am now on insulin 4 times a day. My doctor had increased the medicine to just about the maximum when she thought it would be a good idea to switch me. Now my numbers are all over the place and some have been constantly high. I have been on the insulin for over a week now and I thought it would have regulated by now. The doctor has increased my doses 2 times already. Hopefully things will even out.

This past Tuesday I went for a doctor's appointment and had an ultrasound and a non-stress test. The last ultrasound we had, "Rusty" was measuring in the 56th percentile and looked really proportionate. This time he still was proportionate but weighed 6 lbs 13oz and is in the 80th percentile. I nearly died!! The closer he is to 50 the better. The ultrasound tech reassured me that she had a mobile unit and the measurements might be off. Obviously that didn't help how I was feeling. I was very anxious and scared!!

After the ultrasound, I had a non-stress test and he looked great. It took the nurse a while to get a good position to keep his heartbeat (he is quite a wiggler). But he passed with flying colors. I then had an appointment with my doctor. He informed me due to the weight increase of me (4 lbs which is the first time I have gained) and baby, I will most likely be induced early. I have to come in every week and have a non-stress test now but if in 2 weeks there is an issue with baby, he will induce me. So holy scary!! I knew I needed to be ready but I thought I would have a few more weeks after that. Fred is taking the day off and going with me in case I am sent to the hospital.

I packed the baby and my hospital bag yesterday. Fred is packing his this weekend. We have another ultrasound on Tuesday with the Diabetes doctor. Hopefully he doesn't gain too much weight between now and then. I will update next week.

Oh Boy, oh boy!

There has been a lot that has happened since my last post. We decorated the nursery and put up the Winnie the Pooh decals on the wall. Fred and I had a fun time doing that. We have to put together the changing table and glider and then the furniture in the room will be all set. We still have some stuff gathered at my in-laws and need to bring it home very soon. 

Saturday we had our birthing 101 class. It was informative. I was worried about seeing what birth movie they were going to show but it wasn't bad at all. It didn't make anyone sick. LOL I did find out that birthing process is not what I thought or had seen on shows/movies. I thought once you got to the hospital, you lay in a bed and don't really move around, and that is the position you would have the baby. That is not the case. They encourage you to move around as much as possible and if you don't have an epidural you can birth the baby in any comfortable position you want. I have changed my birth plan and a few things I had thought about once he is here because of this class.

Sunday the Eatons came by and we did a maternity shoot. I had many ideas and I was grateful Luke put up with me as well as he did for it all. He listened and shot away. Fred had a photo in mind and once he explained it, I started crying immediately. He loves that we got our Winnie the Pooh chair for "Rusty". He took the turtle I had made for him (from Timmy), the bear Timmy had made for Fred and the bear Timmy made for me and sat them in the chair together. I loved it!!!! I am so glad he thought of that.

We had a doctor's appointment this week as well.  We had an ultrasound and met with the Diabetes Counselor. "Rusty" is measuring normally and his weight is in the 56% (which is a little high but nothing to be worried about) and he is in the middle weight class weighing in at 4lbs 14oz. Now I understand why the kicks, punches and rolls are so intense!! For one of the pictures, he has his foot up to his head. It is quite humorous. 

How about my day yesterday? I seriously thought we were going to have a baby. I was short staffed at work and decided it would be smart for me to take the students up the 3 flights of stairs to my room (my dr told me no more stairs and should take the elevator). Upon reaching the top flight I started having a contraction. I continued to walk the students to class. Once in class I sat down and waited for it to subside. 10 minutes later, I had another one. I walked around for a bit and was drinking water. I didn't feel well and decided it was time to see the nurse. I went down to my friend Lynn's class and had to sit because I was having another contraction. She brought me down to the nurse. Once in the office for a bit I had had 4 contractions in one hour. This alarmed me but I stayed calm. I called Fred and my mom.

I stayed in the office for a bit and continued to have contractions. I called my dr and they said to come to the office right away. Lynn took me and they hooked me up to the fetal monitor and contraction machine (don't know the technical term). Baby was doing fine but I was worried. I kept saying, "we are not ready" "I am not ready for labor" "He can't come now"! I was scared. But alas, no baby (PHEW!!!) I was extremely dehydrated. The doctor told me my Ketone levels in my urine were very high and that is not good for the baby. He wrote me out of work until Monday due to the weather and my needing to rest. I am very thankful that everything is alright. I need to be smarter about my body and my baby. 

You can't always get what you want...But we did!!!!

Our baby shower was last weekend and was hosted by my mother and mother-in-law. It was amazing!! So many friends and family were there to celebrate with us. The place was great, food was delicious, I heard the cake was amazing (frosting still tastes like soap :(), and the amount of gifts was unbelievable. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. "Rusty" is going to be the best dressed baby ever!!! Honestly, there is not much more that we have to get (which makes me less anxious). I have to give a special thank you to my cousin Kristina for putting together a most impressive basket. The day that she found out we were pregnant, her shopping spree started. Her basket had to have weighed a good 40 pounds. I couldn't open it all at the shower and was super excited to open it this weekend. One word-AMAZING!!

The nursery is coming along. The crib is finished and now the dresser is put together as well. All we need now is the changing station and glider to be put together and put in the room. I can't wait to put the decals up in his room. The whole theme of the room is Winnie the Pooh and we have 2 foot tall decals of the characters to put on the walls. I will post pictures when the room is complete.

Some things I can't wait for: meeting this little man that keeps tickling me under my ribcage, and to not have to live with pricking my finger 4 times a day. I just want to be able to enjoy a cheeseburger, french fries and shake without having to check my sugar afterwards (actually that sounds really good and I think that might be my first meal once baby is out!!)

I think all the time, what is he going to look like, how is he going to sound, what temperament will he have, is he going to love me, will I make all the right decisions for him, am I going to be a good mom? As I write this, I have a few tears because I have been told that I will be a great mom but I don't know if I will. I know my motherly instincts kicked in soon after I was diagnosed with GD but will it continue? Do other people have these feelings or am I just being an emotional roller coaster?

Are we going to be ready...

My gestational diabetes seem to be somewhat on track with my medicine. The doctor has increased it a few times but I seem to still be having a few spikes a week. Not really sure why because I am sticking to the diet to a T.

I went shopping last weekend and I came home to find that Fred had put together the crib. When I saw it, I immediately started crying and it was a bit overwhelming. I realized that in about 2 months there was going to be a baby living in this room. I keep asking myself if we are going to be able to get our act together and be ready for him to come. Fred is motivated and is doing so much around the house with cleaning and preparing but I am not. I am so tired when I get home from work and on the weekends our schedules have been quite busy. Fred has been taking care of the cleaning and such when I go to bed.

Tomorrow is our baby shower!! I am super excited and can't wait to see family and friends I have not seen in some time. I can't wait to open the presents for "Rusty"!! Pictures will be posted on facebook. :)

My Big Toe!!!

This past week my numbers for the gestational diabetes have been high. I had an appointment yesterday with the high risk OB who specializes in gestational diabetes. She was amazing!! She made me feel very calm and laid out my options so I could understand them and I was not confused.

After she analyzed my numbers, I had 2 options, either an oral medication or insulin. After weighing the pros and cons I decided to go with the pill. I take it 3 times a day, before breakfast, before dinner and before bedtime. After just starting it yesterday before dinner my numbers seemed to have gone down. The true test was my fasting number this morning and it was FINALLY where it supposed to be. I am super happy that this is working so far. If the pill doesn't end up working the whole time, I will have to switch to insulin but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

We had an ultrasound of the little guy yesterday too.  He is measuring fine and does not seem to have taken on much weight from my extra glucose, PHEW what a relief!! He weighs 3 pounds now and is in the 67 percentile. "Rusty" and I had a long talk in the car regarding his cooperation for the ultrasound. He listened for the most part, but when it came to printing the pictures he decided it was time to become shy. We did get a great picture of his BIG FEET and BIG TOE!!!! (takes after his father)

All in all it has been an uphill battle and I was tired but now I feel I can relax a little and everything is going to be fine. I go back for another appointment in 4 weeks. For now, it's just tracking what I eat, taking my medicine and enjoying the last weeks of my pregnancy.

Thank you to everyone who is supporting me and reading this. Your advice and comments are greatly appreciated and very helpful!!

It is confirmed...

It has been confirmed by my doctor, my diabetes nurse, a high risk OB, and a nutritionist that I do in face have gestational diabetes. So, where do we go from here and what does this mean? It is a long roller coaster of doctor's visits, finger sticks, and ultrasounds.

On Wednesday I went and saw the Diabetes nurse Kathy. She was very nice and answered all of the questions I had (no matter how crazy they were). I did do some research before going and she was impressed that I looked at the ADA website and not just some random ones that might have said terrible things that would put me in a panic. Anywho, She taught me how to use my meter and we talked about keeping a log so we know where the numbers are coming from.

Today, I am going to the nutritionist and we are going to discuss my diet. Hopefully I will be able to help this with diet and exercise. I know that I am not skinny and that could have been one of the contributing factors of this. It is not a definite indicator though.

I had a doctor's appointment with my OB yesterday and Fred finally got to meet him. Boy can this doctor talk. I couldn't even get a word in. He said that the way the numbers were looking, I am able to process and metabolize the sugar through the day but not at night (my fasting test in the morning is high). He said that it might have to be regulated with insulin. I also faxed over my log to the Diabetes center. Kathy called me on my way home to see if I had made my appointment yet with the high risk OB. I had not but she was working on that. We discussed my numbers and she said the same thing the doctor said. I am glad that things are starting to make sense and I understand them.

I finally made my appointment with the high risk OB and they want me to come in pretty soon because they want to make sure "Rusty" is doing well and has not started growing a lot. I have to do a separate log for them now too. Upon arriving home, Kathy called me back. She said she had talk to high risk OB and they agreed I need to do another test on top of the finger sticks. They want me to check my urine for Ketones. This is what helps break down sugars when you are sleeping. They think that I either am missing those or they are not working correctly and I need to have a snack during the middle of the night to help with that.

So, this is going to be a long third trimester. I now start my doctor's appointments every other week and in the off weeks I have to meet with the high risk OB and have ultrasounds. I am extremely tired just thinking about it. Everything is going to be fine...POSITIVE THINKING!!!!

I have what?!?!?!?

I went for my glucose test yesterday. I was doing the 3 hour one. I had to fast from midnight the night before, they drew my blood and tested it. The nurse then told me it was 101 and I could go eat. I said, "what?" I'm supposed to drink the drink and she told me that because my sugar level tested higher than 94 I had to go see a diabetic counselor at South Shore hospital. I asked her if I had gestational diabetes and she said NO when I went to the counselor she will test me again.

The hospital called me today to schedule my appointment and I was informed I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I nearly dropped the phone. I asked the woman to clarify because my doctor's office was not able to confirm that yesterday. She said according to my chart, I was to schedule an appointment with the counselor to go over my meter and how to test my blood multiple times throughout the day. I also will need to have an ultrasound to check the development of the baby. I explained that I thought I was going in for another test before being diagnosed and she informed me I could speak to the counselor about that. Then, the following Saturday I have an appointment to meet with a nutritionist to discuss my diet.

I am somewhat worried a this point. How can I be told one thing and then another (with a diagnosis) before even having another test done. Has anyone else had gestational diabetes and if so how was it diagnosed? I am also concerned because in my research, there have been statements regarding an increase risk of Type 2 diabetes for me later in life. I plan on calling my doctor on Monday and discussing this with him but any help anyone can give me would be wonderful.