gestational diabetes

I’m trying to stay positive, but today was a slightly rough day for me. It was my 28 week appointment – fairly routine, gestational diabetes test scheduled, and not much else to worry about. HOWEVER, last night, I began to realize that the dull ache on the side of my abdomen that had been bothering me since Sunday had escalated to the point of excruciating. After much debate, DH & I decided I should tough it out until our appointment this morning.

I arrive for my appointment, and quickly discover that the nurse forgot to give me the glucola to drink at home BEFORE my appointment. So, at the appointment I have to quickly inhale the horrific orange goop without vomiting (quite a task), and then sit and wait an hour so they can draw my blood. We went into the room for my appointment, and then things went downhill. The good news is, the baby’s heartbeat was great, and I’m measuring right on target. I did not gain any weight again, but this midwife seemed totally unconcerned by my lack of weight gain, so I did escape the yelling/lecture. We quickly moved on to more “fun” subjects . . . including the return of my UTI. Yup, it is back. Or perhaps it never left this last time. And my numbers were through the roof – the infection just keeps getting worse. So, I’m being placed back on antibiotics . . . for the rest of this pregnancy. Fun, huh?

So, after discussing my lovely UTI, I brought up the pain in my abdomen. After some discussion and a quick check, I was informed that I have pulled a muscle in my abdomen. I have to go out and buy an abdominal support brace, which she thinks I’ll have to wear for the remainder of the pregnancy :(. I’m definitely not pleased about that either. And it looks like I have to drop out of yoga class now, too :(.

Next bit of fun? We talked about my morning sickness and other tummy issues I’ve been having . . . and I was basically told there isn’t much more we can do. I’m supposed to stay away from fiber/veggies (haven’t heard that one too often, right?) and understand that the antibiotics will probably just make it worse.

So then it was off to visit with the nurse to have my blood drawn. Let’s just say she was not quite adept at drawing blood. Four (yes, I said 4) stabs later, and lots of moving the needle around, she finally got the blood, but it involved tears and hysteria from me. I have good veins . . . any competent phlebotomist should be able to draw blood from me without incident. I was really unhappy today, pretty worked up, and now I look like a junkie with track marks. It is days like this that it is difficult to keep the thrill of being pregnant and not get caught up in the bad stuff. Let’s just hope the test comes back negative and I can at least avoid having to do the 3 hour test!

We did it . . . we finally started a registry yesterday at Buy, Buy, Baby! Yes, we have been putting it off, and no it isn’t anywhere close to complete, but we started it! Elliot was a bit of a maniac with the gun . . . if he could shoot it, I think he put it on the registry. Of course, he has no idea that I have the power of edit on the web site, so many of the items he placed on there may have “magically” disappeared. He initially registered me for 4 different breast pumps! I think Elliot can’t wait to go back so he can have the gun again for more play time. He is also currently obsessed with strollers – I’m not exactly sure what the fascination is about, but he can’t stop investigating strollers, and was quite upset that I wouldn’t go inspect and select the strollers yesterday.

We still want to start another registry at Great Beginnings, and we may put some things online at Target or Babies R Us, too, to make it easier for out-of-town friends and family, but we finally got the ball rolling. We also went ahead yesterday and bought a reclining chair for our living room – so that will complete our living room furniture. We still need to go back to Great Beginnings and pick out a glider, but we hope to do that this week.

As for me . . . . today I am 28 weeks pregnant! Overall, I’m feeling well. This little guy is kicking up a storm. For some reason, he seems to have a fascination with my cervix – he continually likes to poke it and make me uncomfortable. I’m sure when I tell him that during his teenage years, he’ll turn bright red with humiliation and say “eww, mom, do you have to say things like that!” Is it wrong that I am looking forward to embarassing him like that one day? I also have a pain in the lower right side of my abdomen – I hope it is nothing, but it is extremely uncomfortable. I guess I probably pulled a muscle or something . . . I think it started yesterday – I’ll have the midwife check it out at our appointment tomorrow! Here is my latest belly shot, taken today:

Tomorrow we go back to the midwife for my gestational diabetes test (wish me luck!) and a regular checkup. As of tomorrow, we will now be on a 2-week appointment schedule. I can’t believe how the time is flying! Now . . . if only we could get those renovations on the house finished, we’d really be in business!

On another note, I’m obsessing about my dog, Nugget, again. She has skin and allergy issues, so back in July, I switched her to a high-quality grain-free diet. I’d tried all the other tricks, but read an article indicating that many dog skin allergies may be caused by the grains in commercial dog foods. I think her skin has been better, but she has also had a skin infection that won’t quite go away, and has been on antibiotics, so it is hard to tell. My one worry with the new diet is that it is very high in fat, and I was afraid she would gain weight. Today I took her to the vet, and we have to go back on antibiotics for the skin infection. But, I learned that she did put on a bit of weight – maybe .4 lbs. So, of course, I’m wondering what to do next! I’m not ready to give up on this grain-free diet, but I don’t want to make her fat, either. I think Elliot is ready to kill me for obsessing this much over dog food.

After our appointment, I went to the pet food store (since we are almost out of dog food anyway), and found a different grain-free brand that has a low-fat version, but of course, it is even lower in fat than the food she was on before switching to this diet (and if the fat content is too low, it can give dogs dry skin and make them itch!). So . . . I couldn’t decide what to do! I know it isn’t a good idea to change dog food too many times, but I also want to do what is best for Nugget! I can’t believe how indecisive I’m being! So, I was an overwhelmed pregnant lady in the dog food store today. The saleswoman kept making suggestions, and all I wanted to do was strangle her. First, since the new dog food we’ve been on has double the calories of her previous food, she suggested cutting my dog’s food intake in half. Great idea . . . when you are dealing with a big dog. My dog is tiny – and only gets 3/4 c. food per day. And she is already pissed about that, because back in her younger days, I used to give her more like 1 1/4 c. per day. She now KNOWS when I cheat her out of even just one piece of kibble, and is not afraid to cause a raucous if she doesn’t get her share. She has made it quite clear she will not tolerate any more reductions in quantity, caloric count be damned! And my favorite comment from the saleswoman – why don’t you let your dog taste the new brand and decide which she likes better? Um, yeah, my dog will eat rabbit poo, vomit, and dead frogs – exactly WHAT makes you think she has discriminating taste and will “prefer” one over the other – it is food, she’ll eat it (or rather inhale it), probably within about 3 seconds after I place it in her bowl!

So, after coming home and doing some research, and discovering that this new low-fat dog food also was given 6 stars by a pet food analysis web site (that I’ve decided is reliable and have been consulting for the past few years), I decided that perhaps we will try switching to the new low-fat grain-free dog food. For some reason, I felt the need to share this piece of information with Elliot – whose response was the classic “okay.” Men! He could have at least feigned interest in my momentous decision. I might even be able to give her closer to 1 full cup a day, so she will probably love that. Do you think Nugget realizes how much agony I go through for her? And to think she gets pissed at me when I put the food down 5 minutes late.

Oh . . . and here is a pic of my adorable spoiled princess:

28 week appt

A registry!