WEEKS 23 AND 24 (OR IS IT 21 AND 22??) - IT'S A GIRL!

Well, big news today! We are having a GIRL!! We had our first Fetal Assessment on Tuesday and found out (with certainty) that we will be having a little baby girl in a few months! (Diabetic mothers-to-be typically go through a lot of fetal assessments - basically a more detailed ultrasound.) We couldn't be happier - especially because it means we don't have to repaint the baby's room, which is pink from the previous owner.

During the fetal assessment the nurse took lots of measurements and looked at all sorts of things to do with the baby to make sure that she is healthy. We were so pleased to hear that everything looks normal and that there is what appears to be a very healthy baby growing inside of me!

As you may recall, during my 19-week ultrasound, the baby was measuring at closer to 17 weeks. Because there can be a bit of room for error in determining the gestational age of a fetus, and becuase we were quite comfortable with the estimated conception date, my OB decided to keep the due date as it had initially been estimated (June 5th or June 9th, depending on who you ask). But at the fetal assessment, the baby was measuring at 22 weeks instead of 24 weeks, so the nurse is making a strong recommendation to my OB to change the due date (I guess that would put us closer to June 23rd, with induction around June 9th).

Since the baby's growth is stable, and since it really does kind of make sense that we could have been off (e.g. perhaps I couldn't get a positive pregnancy test until week 8 because I was actually only at week 6; and maybe I did start to have nausea at week 7 (which is normal) instead of week 9 (which is a bit later than many women)), I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the idea of changing the due date at this point. I see my OB on March 3rd, so we'll figure it out then. At this point, I'm kind of assuming that I'm actually 23 weeks and not 25 weeks, but I'm not going to make any solid changes until I talk to my OB. Because he'll be wanting to induce me around 38 weeks, I'd like to be as sure as possible that we're working with the right due date - otherwise we risk getting the baby out at 36 weeks...which is getting into preemie range. Thankfully I will be having many more fetal assessments before the induction, so the doctor will have a good chance to monitor the baby's development before making any induction decisions.

In addition to the fetal assessment, I also saw my endocrinologist this week. My A1C was the best this time that it's ever been (pregnant or otherwise)! Yay! Still a few things to tweak, but in general it's going very well.

The baby is still moving around a LOT and sometimes we can feel her kicks with just a light touch. It's nice to know that she's healthy enough to be so active! So far she's not keeping me up at night either. Hopefully it stays that way for a while.

I'm still having some discomfort in my knees and hips if I use them too much, but otherwise I'm feeling very good. I had lots of energy this week! I've tried some more of my prenatal yoga and enjoy it, and I've also tried to go for some indoor walks (my office building is attached to a mall) over my lunch break in order to get some exercise without having to navigate icy and uneven ground outside.

And now it's photo time! First, I have two pictures of the baby from the fetal assessment. The first one is her face. She's lying down with her chin on the right and her forehead on the left. (Eyeballs don't show up on ultrasound, so she just has eye-hollows in the picture.) The second one shows her head and her hand waving at us! (The nurse added the "hi mom, hi dad".) We were very pleased to be able to take photos home from fetal assessment free of charge, as the regular ultrasound pictures cost $50 (or maybe even more)!

I'm also attaching a photo of me taken today. So I guess it's either my 25-week or 23-week picture, but I'm thinking more likely 23 weeks.

WEEKS 21 & 22 - MORE APPOINTMENTS

Well, since I last posted, I've had a couple more doctors appointments.

On Monday I had another appointment with my OB. We talked about the ultrasound results. It turns out that their results (re: gestational age) were only off of my expected due date by 9 days, and they have a "+/- 10 days" added on, so we're still in range and there's nothing to worry about. Good! So my due date by me is still officially June 5th. The doctor's due date is still officially June 9th (calcualation methods are slightly different). He has said that, if all is still going well, he's willing to wait until 38 weeks to induce, but doesn't want to wait any longer and jeopardize the health of the baby. So we're looking at around May 26th for the induction. I'm hoping that Bud decides to come a couple of weeks early on his/her own and that we can skip the whole induction, but we'll see....

My first fetal assessment (i.e. a more detailed ultrasound) is scheduled for February 17th. My understanding is that we will be able to find out the gender of the baby at this appointment and that we will also be able to take some pictures home! We're pretty excited about this appointment! After that I will be having monthly fetal assessments for the time being, but more frequent ones eventually.

On Thursday I had my appointment with my ophthalmologist to make sure all the growth hormones coursing through my body aren't causing more retinopathy problems (i.e. vascular growth in my eyes). I got the all-clear! Everything looked good and he didn't see anything that looked out of order! Whew! I don't see him again now until early May. This was a huge relief for me!

The baby has been moving around LOTS this week! I'm getting kicked by him/her many times a day. My husband has even had a chance to feel the movement once! (The movements are not always strong enough to feel.) Apparently 22 weeks is quite early to be able to feel it on the outside, so this could be a very strong active baby in the next few months!

My biggest craving lately is fruit! Strawberries, pineapple, apples, grapes, blueberries...you name it!

Last week I was able to decrease my nausea meds a bit more, so now I'm down to 2/day. I thought I may have noticed a bit of nausea come back when I did this, so I think I'll stick with 2/day for the time being. (The little bit of nausea is definitely bearable, though, and it's not every day - mostly just when I'm tired.) Hmm....maybe I wrote this already in my last post. Sorry if it's old news. :)

This week I've started to get REALLY tired of watching my bloodsguar so closely. I"m surprised it's taken until now, but I'm just finding it sooooo tedious. :P I'm taking a brief "break" this weekend. No - I'm not abandoning my efforts altogether (don't worry). I'm just going to take two days of being ok with slightly worse control (emphasis on slightly - nothing that would be risky to the baby), so that I can be refreshed and ready to go on the tight control again on Monday. It's what I have to do to preserve my sanity while still keeping the baby safe.

All for now!

TODAY - A FEW MORE THINGS...

Well, that should bring you up-to-speed on this pregnancy as it stands today. There are a few things I wanted to touch on that didn’t really fit into the previous posts, so here they are now:

Cravings:
I have been SO LUCKY with cravings – especially considering my diabetes! My biggest cravings have been protein (especially salmon and eggs) and fruit (especially apples)! I do crave salt from time to time, and chocolate of course (but that was a pre-pregnancy craving too), but it’s this healthy stuff that really makes my mouth water! This has been especially good as I was trying to get my A1C back down and my bloodsugar back under control, and now when I’m trying to maintain that control!

Doctors’ Appointments:
Obviously pregnancy involves a lot of doctors’ appointments. So does diabetes. As can be expected, pregnancy PLUS diabetes, involves a LOT of appointments! This is my pregnancy-related roster of health-care professionals:

1. Family doctor: I saw him to get the initial pregnancy test, but then he passed me off to the OB and said he doesn’t need to see me about anything else pregnancy-related.

2. OB: I see him once a month for now – but will see him more frequently later in the pregnancy.

3. Ultrasounds: My first one was at week 19. Starting at week 24 I will be having “regular” fetal assessments. I don’t know exactly what they mean by “regular” yet.

4. Endocrinologist: I see her once a month for now, but in another couple of months I will start to see her every 2 weeks, and then every week when I get closer to the end of the pregnancy.

5. Certified Diabetes Educator (i.e. Michelle): I have been seeing her once a month too, but this is actually sort of on an “as-needed” basis. We communicate a lot via email too and she’s great at helping me problem-solve as I adjust to my changing insulin needs.

6. Dietician: I’ve only seen her once so far. Because she was happy with my diet I likely won’t go back unless I have concerns at some point. If she wasn’t happy with my diet, I’d be going back more frequently.

7. Ophthalmologist: I see him once every trimester. In 2007 I was diagnosed with, and treated for, proliferative retinopathy in both eyes, so he wants to keep a close eye on me (pardon the pun). The same growth hormones that run rampant in my body to help the baby grow can also cause vascular growth in my eyes, which is NOT what we want. So far so good, though! No changes noted!

8. Registered Massage Therapist: I see her every two weeks to help me deal with the aches and pains that come with my changing body, including my lower back and my knees (as well as a chronic shoulder problem that goes back well before my pregnancy).

Thankfully my boss is VERY understanding about all my appointments as a good number of them happen on work hours! Also, most of them are within a 3-block radius of my office building, so that makes the appointments nice and quick!

The Pump and the CGMS:
I won’t go on and on here, but I just wanted to reiterate how much of a help the pump and CGMS have been for me during the pregnancy. I am positive that I would not have been able to maintain the tight control that is required during pregnancy if I wasn’t on the pump/CGMS. That doesn’t mean that this is necessarily the “only way” for all pregnant women, but for me…I wouldn’t consider going back. There are adjustments to make between pre-pregnancy pumping and pregnancy pumping (e.g. I had to change the type of infusion set I was using, and I’ll have to work with some alternate sites eventually to keep my abdomen clear in case I need a C-Section), but in all it was a pretty easy transition to make, and well worth it.

Baby Stuff:
Totally non-diabetes related, but I just wanted to say how much fun I’m having accumulating baby stuff! It’s not cheap, so the more you can get used, the better. We were able to buy a number of things used, and we’re getting some used items for free! The rest we’ve bought on some really good sales! Our basements is now full of stuff that’s just waiting to be used – crib, high chair, swing, stroller, jolly jumper, etc., etc. So much fun!

Being Pregnant:
In spite of some of the frustrations (e.g. nausea, bloodsugar gymnastics, etc.), I LOVE being pregnant! It is such an amazing experience! To know that there is a little human growing inside of me, and totally dependant on me, is really something else! I can hardly wait to meet my little one!


And that’s all for now! I will do my best to update this blog on a regular basis. In the meantime, as I said in my initial post, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have (either through comments on the blog or through the email address in my profile)! Even if you have personal questions – give me a try, I might surprise you. If I’m not comfortable answering, I’ll let you know but I won’t hold it against you! I understand that diabetes and pregnancy is a tricky and sensitive subject, and if I can help clarify anything for anyone…especially to put your mind at ease about something…then I really want to be able to do that!

More soon!

WEEK 20 - MEETING THE DOULA AND FEELING THE BABY MOVE!

During week 20 we met with our doula for the first time. She is very nice and gave us a lot of good information. We'll have 2-3 more meetings with her yet before the baby is born. It's great to be able to ask her diabetes-related questions (remember, she's Type 1 diabetic too). I feel GREAT about working with her!

Also during week 20 I was finally quite sure that I was feeling the baby move! He/she tends to be active in the early afternoon and in the later evening (just before I go to bed). I’m looking forward to being able to feel these movements even more!

WEEK 19 - FIRST ULTRASOUND!

This was Ultrasound Week! Yay! We got to see the baby and it was amazing! He/she is a very active baby, and I think I will be feeling a LOT of movement once I can really start to feel it! The baby was kicking and flailing and turning and moving his/her head so much that the technician had some trouble taking all the measurements she needed to! (We may have our hands full when our active baby joins us "on the outside".)

Our technician was excellent and very friendly. She was so nice and answered all our questions and took us on a little baby-tour. We got to see him/her from all angles, and she pointed out his/her organs to us, and even his/her little beating heart (you can see all four ventricles pumping)! Technology is truly amazing!

We weren't able to talk to a doctor about the results when we were there, but the technician assured us that one of the doctors there would be reviewing the results when we were gone and that the results would also be sent to my OB. She did mention, however, that the baby was measuring a bit small. She said the measurements were consistent with a baby of about 17 weeks, not 19 weeks. So...we may be a bit off on the conception date (and, as a result, the due date). We were really pretty sure about the date, but there's always a chance that we're wrong.

I also had an appointment with my endocrinologist this week and spoke with her about the effect of diabetes on the size of the baby. She said that, while diabetics' babies tend to be bigger, some can be smaller too...but that the unusually small ones are typically those belonging to diabetics who are smokers (which I am not) or who have very bad control (which I do not). She really didn't seem to think the size was a diabetes issue, nor did she seem to think it was anything to be concerned about. She said she thinks everything's going well from a diabetes perspective and she's happy with my control (of course with constant "tweaking" necessary as the pregnancy changes my insulin needs).

Here’s my 20-week picture! Look! I look pregnant!!!!!

WEEK 18 - ACHES AND PAINS, MATERNITY CLOTHES, AND BACK TO THE OB

During week 18 I was able to further reduce my Diclectin for nausea. Unfortunately it was around this time that my lower back also started to get a bit sore and my knee swelled up for some unknown reason (most likely related to my joints loosening with the pregnancy). This made it even more difficult to get exercise than previously.

This was the week where I stopped trying to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes and went out and bought some maternity clothes. I was pretty impressed with Motherhood Maternity. I was able to get some nice clothes there at VERY reasonable prices! Maternity clothes today are NOT like your mother’s maternity clothes…they’re pretty cute! And I have to say – they’re also pretty comfortable. I’ve warned my family not to be surprised if I wear maternity pants to Christmas dinner next year! :)

During this week I had my second appointment with my OB. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, which was great :) We also found out that, during my regular fetal assessments starting around week 24, we will find out the gender of the baby (which we have wanted to know). Other than that, there was nothing significant that came out of this appointment. Everything was progressing as it should be!

WEEK 17 - LOOKING MORE PREGNANT!

Nothing much in week 17, but here’s a picture of my belly starting to grow.