Posts Tagged: Dr’s Visits

Pregnancy — No Comments
28
Feb 08

“The Big Anatomy Scan” Pre-natal Visit #9 (30 Weeks)

Last Wednesday, during my 29th week visit to the OBGYN, it was discovered that the doctor’s office completely missed doing the 20 week anatamy ultrasound.  Being that this was my first baby, I had no idea that a 20 week scan was needed (yet I was still blamed by this office for “not reminding them”).

But anyway, today’s ultrasound at 11:45 am was my first scan since 13 weeks.  It was also my first “tummy” scan!  Personally, I prefer a transvaginal one because the images are clearer but the tummy one was my only option this time.  I really couldn’t tell what in the world was going on though, but whether it was the fault of the new tech or the fact that my baby is now big, I really don’t know. 

I did get some clear views of his ribs, his heart beating (viewing the 4 chamber heart beating was awesome), his forearm, his butt (which confirmed that he was indeed a boy…whew), and…

…HIS ORBITS!

That’s right folks.  His orbits.   Throughout the entire scan, the tech kept using the official words (i.e. lateral right disbobulating fibula?) for everything we were viewing.  And she was saying it as if I knew exactly what she was talking about - and the few times I asked for clarification (the common name) she looked at me as if I was a lobster with no intellect.  Seriously.  Finally, I just resolved to keep my mouth shut.  :)

Well, that is, until we were viewing his head and she said “Awww and there is his orbits!”

I had taking about as much as my pregnant nerves could take and said in exasperation “Uh…you mean his EYES???”.

*sigh*

My mom was in the room with me, keeping quiet this whole time.  She told me after the visit that she assumed I knew what the lady was saying, although she wondered why I was keeping quiet!   I told mom I definately did not know what she was talking about during 95% of the scan. 

At the end of the scan, she gave him a clean report - he looked perfect from what she could tell (no cleft lip, heart looks great, bones formed well).  Thankfully, their video recorder was working this visit and I got a great video tape for my husband too!

I then cleaned up my tummy, and me and mom said thanks to the tech, then left the room.  Mom headed on back to the lobby while I stopped by the check out window and handed the receptionist lady my chart.   I also asked her if I could get prenatal vitamins now.

See, at the beginning of my pregnancy it was recommended that I take the Walmart Equate brand of prenatal vitamins, then later on at the end of my pregnancy I was to transfer over to taking the stronger doctor prescribed brand.  So, the other day I ran out of my Equate vitamins and seeing that I was already at 30 weeks I thought it was now time to make the switch.  I briefly explained this to the receptionist after she looked at me as if I were an alien asking about taking KHDHFIEJLDOK Bonb Bonk or something.

She then raised her eyebrow at me and said “Are you still pregnant???”.

It was about all I could do to stop from jumping over the half wall and attacking at that point.  This was the same lady who blamed me (the worst) for not reminding them about the 20 week scan.  But I kept my cool, composed myself after about 5 seconds of shock, glanced at my chart (in her hand) that I just handed to her and said “Yes, I am only at 30 weeks”.

She then smiled and said “Oh, well you know you can take the over the counter ones”.

And at that point I proceeded to repeat the fact that I’ve been taking the over the counter ones for 7 months and it was recommended by their office that I switch to prescribed doctor vitamins (aka “the stronger ones”) near the end of the pregnancy.

She then called over Dr. Nancy (one of the 2 women doctors in the office that I see regularly) and I had to repeat my question – and my reason for asking for the vitamins.

I kept thinking, should getting vitamins from the doctor be THIS hard????

Dr. Nancy finally understood (whew) and sent a nurse to the back who returned with 40 days worth of sample boxes of the stronger pregnancy vitamins that I had been shown way back in August.  I was expecting to actually purchase some but wasn’t going to look down on my good fortune of free samples.

Truely, I don’t think I’ll be returning to this particular OBGYN with my next baby. 

On a lighter note, when my mom and I returned to her house after the visit we popped in the video and was happy to see it actually worked this time (as opposed to what happened after my 13 week scan).  Kevin was very excited to see the ultrasound tape tonight too!  He sat on the couch with a huge smile on his face trying to point out everything he could (“there’s his foot!  there’s his finger! there’s his…uh…”). :)    We also did a frame by frame slow play and was able to pause it on a great (although upside down) view of the baby’s face.   He looks just like his daddy, even in the womb.

Pregnancy — No Comments
21
Feb 08

“Whoops! Says Doc” Pre-natal Visit #8 (29 weeks)

I had my 29 week prenatal visit this past Wednesday, February 20, at 10:15 am

After arriving, I did all of the normal stuff like the weigh-in, blood pressure, and peeinacup deal.  Then I was taken back for the little talk with the doctor.  This time I saw Dr. Ann (she’s really sweet). 

We went through the typical “Do you have any questions” routine, and she went over my vitals.   Thank goodness my home scale was wrong – I wasn’t 140 as I thought this past Saturday.  My official weigh in was at 145 lbs.  That’s still not good though as it means I lost 3 pounds since my last visit.  Since the baby now weighs over 2 lbs himself (not including the placenta), it means that my actual body weight is less than my pre-pregnancy starting weight of 143.  The doc wasn’t very pleased.  They want me to stop losing weight (too bad they didn’t tell me how??).  She thought I might be a bit dehydrated as well, which surprises me because I drink over 6 glasses of water each day (not including other beverages such as milk).

I also have protein in my urine, which she said could be a sign of hypertension.

Hypertension is where your blood pressure shoots too high.  It’s a side effect of gestational diabetes and can lead to preeclampsia – which means a guaranteed early delivery (not good).  Great.  High blood pressure??  For months now, my blood pressure has been running too low – down to 70 over 50 during one visit.  So low in fact that I passed out during church one morning.  My blood pressure at this visit was 80 over 52.

Now I have to worry about high blood pressure?   She assured me that I probably do not need to worry about that given my previous low blood pressure record, but “please be sure you are drinking more fluids”. 

What should I do?  Carry around an olympic pool?  I feel like I’m swimming in water already.  *sigh*

My gestational diabetes issues seemed to take a back stage.  I get the feeling that they just don’t care and there’s really not much guidance coming from their end.  Really.   It was only discussed maybe 30 seconds at the most and brushed to the side.  All I was told “don’t worry too much, just eat in moderation”.    

Ok.  So I have this condition where I could have early labor, high blood pressure, a 13 pound baby, and I’m now at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life – and all they tell me is “don’t worry too much“???  I’m carrying my first child.  Ever.  And I have something only 5% of pregnant women develop.  Of COURSE I’m going to worry.  I want guidance.  I want support.  I at least want to be told something more than “don’t worry…” and maybe a finger prick or two to keep a check on my sugar levels.  GAH!! 

(Sorry.  I’m having an annoyed pregnant woman moment.)

One good thing I learned was that I am now starting my 2 week visits.  

One bad thing I learned was that they “forgot” to do a 20 week anatamy ultrasound on me. 

And guess who’s fault it ended up being?  Mine.   That’s right.  I was blamed for not “reminding them”.

Ok, please tell me – I’m carrying my first child.  I have never experienced this before.  I’m new to this whole pregnancy deal, am being bombarded with advice / tips / books / information from every angle, trying to disect everything, trying to get ready for a first baby, and have NO clue what the doctors do to expectant mothers behind closed doors.  Was I SUPPOSED to tell them how to do their job???   I didn’t even know I was supposed to have one.  All of my cousins have warned me that I need to take charge of my pregnancy health care because the doctors don’t – but I naively believed that people who spent 100 grand on master degrees to do this stuff would know what they were doing.  Dumb 25 year old that I am.

See, I received 4 ultrasounds between my 6th and 13th week of pregnancy.  During my last ultrasound, at 13 weeks, things were measured and we were told the baby was a boy.  Nothing else was ever said of another ultrasound and I naturally thought that everything was fine.  At my November 27th visit, I met with the man who will be delivering the baby and was told “During your next visit we’ll do an ultrasound and tell you what you’re having”.  I said “Oh, they’ve already told us!” and he said that was great then – and nothing else was mentioned about doing it. I just followed what the doctor was telling me and going to my visits each month and trying to take care of my health.  Afterall, I considered myself lucky to have had the 4 other ultrasounds so early on.  Even with all the pregnancy books and things I read, I don’t recall ever reading anything that would have tipped me off to the fact that a 20 week ultrasound was supposed to happen.  And I certainly wasn’t aware of how serious the 20 week anatamy ultrasound was – it’s when they do all sorts of measuring and make sure the baby is developing properly. 

In hindsight I feel so very very stupid for not paying more attention and learning everything for myself, yet at the same time it angers me very much because there was no clue from this doctor’s office – nocluewhatsoever - along the past 16 weeks that indicated I was missing a final vital ultrasound, even though I’ve been there 5 times since that last ultrasound in early November!!  I keep going back and forth between being highly angry at myself for having such naive dependance on the OBGYN, and being angry at this Doctor’s office who’s only explaination (literally) was “Whoops, we dropped the ball on that one, sorry.”

So, anyway, after some whispering of the doctors they scheduled me instead for a 30 week ultasound next Thursday, February 28.   I was also informed that beginning with my 34th week, I’ll be having an ultrasound done each week since I am a gestational diabetes patient.  (That was the only other time the diabetes was mentioned.)

My one bright point with this visit is that they assured me the video tape on the ultrasound machine is now working (an issue I dealt with at my Nov. 3rd appointment during the last 13 week ultrasound).  Now hopefully my husband can finally see his baby move on screen since he’s not able to get off work to go to pre-natal appointments with me!  :)  

Pregnancy — No Comments
31
Jan 08

“I am a Gestational Diabetic” Pre-natal visit #7 (26 Weeks)

My entire life I’ve heard of diabetes.  My father has to monitor his blood sugar with home testing, my uncle has a severe case of it, and a handful of other people I know have it in varying stages of degree.  While I have heard of it, I’ve never paid much attention to it…because, hey, I’m only 25 years old.  I’m young.  Nothing to worry about, right?

I am currently 26 weeks pregnant, getting ready to start my 7th month in my journey to having our first child.  So far, outside of low blood pressure, consistant tiredness, and baby-judo style kicks to my intestines, I’ve had what I would consider a perfect pregnancy.  Nausea and vomiting, so common amongst pregnant women, never even knocked at my door.

Until now.

Between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy, doctors test women for what is known as Gestational Diabetes

Gestational: Referring to the period of pregnancy from conception to birth

Diabetes: A disease in which the body does not properly control the amount of sugar in the blood. As a result, the level of sugar in the blood is too high.

What is means:  Sugar is needed for energy.  The body’s cells use glucose (sugar) in the blood to produce energy for the body to operate.  Insulin is needed in order to break glucose down into energy.  When there is not enough insulin in the body, the glucose does not get broken down – and thus piles up in high quantities in the blood, producing what is known as “high blood sugar”. 

Gestational diabetes is a special type of diabetes that 5% of pregnant women develop, somewhere between the 20th and 24th week of pregnancy.  Although it is not the same disease as regular type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it involves much of the same symptoms – and puts post-pregnant women at a higher risk of developing type 2 later in life. 

Because it is “gestational” only pregnant women develop this type of diabetes, and it usually disappears after the placenta is delivered during the last stage of labor.  If uncontrolled, gestational diabetes can put the woman and unborn baby at severe risk – from unhealthy fetal weight gain (a “too large baby”) to preeclampsia (where the mother’s blood pressure shoots too high and early delivery is the only cure).

Last Thursday, I had my first one hour glucose tolerance test – and failed with a blood sugar count of 144.   I needed to be under 140.  (You can read about the testing experience here).  It is not uncommon for a woman to fail this first test, and for the 2nd test -the long 3 hour one- they do just fine.  In fact, statistics show that only 1/3rd of those who take the 3 hour test fail it.  The 3 hour test involves the same routine as the first one hour test – except it’s done in a more comprehensive manner (you’re give a higher sugar dose, and blood is checked multiple times over the 3 hour period).

I took my 3 hour test today.

And failed it.

My appointment was at 8 am this morning at the OBGYN.   Thankfully I had my mom with me, because I was extremely nervous about the whole ordeal!  

I arrived at 8:04, checked in, and sat in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before the nurse came in to take me back for my first “fasting” blood test.  After a quick finger prick, I was given the all clear.  My blood sugar at fasting was 77.  It is recommended to be below 99 (or…95 according to the booklet I was given).

This time, I was given a choice of flavor – orange (again) or red fruit punch.  I asked which one she recommended, and she laughed and said she’d never drank it.  (Great.)  I went with the orange because I had liked it last week – and it was “comfortable” knowing what it was going to taste like.  In hindsight, I’m glad I chose the orange color.

I was told I had 5 minutes to drink it, and I went back to the waiting with mom to start guzzling.  Today’s 10 fluid ounce bottle looked exactly the same as last week, with the same directions / caustions / ingredients as I reported on for the first glucose test….with the exception that this label had a green color label trim where last week’s had an orange color label trim.

And it had 100 grams of Dextrose (glucose / sugar) in it.

Last week there were only 50 grams of Dextrose in the same 10 fluid ounces.

For reference, my mom and I calculated from a bag of Dixie Crystal Brand Sugar how many teaspoons of sugar that equals.  In one teaspoon of Dixie Crystals sugar, you’ll find 4 grams.   That means there were 25 teaspoons for sugar in that one 10 oz. bottle!  Or, for more emphasis, that equals 4 oz of sugar (a half of cup).

With the first swig I knew this orange drink was much different than last week.  The taste was disgusting and I had a hard time getting this one down within the allotted 5 minutes.  Finally, after finishing the bottle off, I went back up and picked up my 60 minute timer.  Then I went back to the waiting room couch and started reading a baby magazine. 

5 minutes later I begun to feel a bit light headed and nauseated.  Within 13 minutes of drinking the last sip, I was becoming hot & clamy, and was so nauseated that I could not longer sit up.  After tossing the magazine down and laying down sideways on the couch, my mom began to worry.

“Should I get the nurse??” she asked.

I tried to refrain from bothering anyone.  I truly did.  But the sickness was coming on so strong that I knew I needed help so mom went back to the front and grabbed the nurse – and she came running.  When she reached me she asked what was wrong.  Dizzyness, light-headedness, nausea, clamminess, and all over sickness were my thoughts, but I’m not sure how much of it I spoke aloud.  “Let’s get you outside for fresh air” she said.  

We made it as far as the hall way when I knew the direction I needed to take was strait to the restroom.   She half carried, half ran me there – and I barely made it to the toilet before the entire drink came back up.   It was my first vomiting experience of this entire pregnancy, and I did a great job of it.  And the whole time, all I could think was that my head was 2 inches away from where scores upon scores of unknown women pee in cups.  Lemmetellyou, that made the puking all the worse!

Not only did I feel terrible bodily, but I also felt so bad that I had “ruined” the test.  I felt even worse sitting on that cold bathroom floor thinking that I’d have to come another day and go through all of this again.    “Where do we go from here??”  I asked the nurse that was helping me.

“We stop the test…and we now consider you a gestational diabetic.”

After laying down in a back room with a cold rag and my mom for company for 20 minutes, she gave me the clear to go home.  She also gave me a large “Managing Your Gestational Diabetes” book and a 2 week menu plan that includes advice (and complete menus) for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for each day of the week.

Mom drove when we left and we arrived at her house by 9:15 am.   That was definately the shortest 3 hour test I’d ever taken!

It took me about 2 hours to wander through the whole book and disect the menu plan.  All in all, it’s not too bad, but it feels weird now having to read labels all the time and “think” about my sugar intake daily.   I didn’t realize that 8 oz. of fat free store brand milk has 12 grams of sugar in it!  I suppose it’s to make up for the fat-taste loss?? 

Words such as “fat-free”, “low-fat”, “sugar-free”, and “whole grain” are now emblazened in my mind so deep that I’ll probably be dreaming about them tonight.  Probably some fat-free cow will be chasing me through a wheat field.  Or I’ll get lost in a sugar cane field somewhere.  Great.

 So that’s my experience.  I should have known there was no such thing as a perfect pregnancy!

Pregnancy — No Comments
31
Jan 08

3 Hour Glucose Test… Here I Come!

I’m off to my 3 hour glucose test.  *shudders*

When I return my fingers will be full of holes so I’m not sure how much I can type today.  Nor am I sure how I’ll feel after a 3 hour sugar rush with repeat blood loss.  bleh.

I’ll report back later!

Pregnancy — No Comments
24
Jan 08

“I Failed the Glucose Test” Pre-natal visit #6 (25 Weeks)

 I left this morning for my 8 am appointment a little apprehensive.  I wasn’t looking forward to today’s gestational diabetes glucose test at all!  I have heard horror stories about it before and I had also read online that it involves vein drawn blood from your arm (and if you know me, you know how much I hate needles!). 

My mom and I arrived at the OBGYN about 7:58 am.   Good so far.

I signed in and went to the waiting room.   Still good.

Then the nurse came to the waiting room with the bottle of 10 oz. EASYDEX orange drink that you see pictured here (although, of course, at that time it was full!).   Unfortunately I wasn’t given a choice of flavor.  Fortunately, it wasn’t all that bad.  The orangey sugar syrup, which has 50 grams of “Dextrose” (D-Glucose) in it tasted like your typical orange drink, minus the caffeine rush.  It was 8:05 and she said I had until 8:15 to drink it all….then I was to return and pick up my timer.

So I took the cap off and began drinking.  It was quite tasty actually, although it wouldn’t be my normal drink of choice.  It didn’t taste nasty or “bad” or anything  (nothing like that chalky white stuff you have to drink when you have XRays done).   I was quite thirsty, having not been allowed to drink anything since before midnight last night – so I had the drink completed within 5 minutes or so.   The sugar effect started to kick in about halfway through, and it affected the baby first.  

Bam!  Bam!   He started justa kickin’ me.   Right under my ribs.

Good morning to you too. :)   (I told him).

 After finishing it I went up front and got my little timer.  It was set to a 60 minute countdown.

Back in the waiting room I picked the bottle back up and started reading it  (see, told you, I love to read…curiosity got the best of me).

Oral Glucose Tolerance Beverage:  Orange, 50 grams.

  • Caffeine Free 
  • Non-Carbonated
  • For prescription use only
  • For oral consumption only [Where the heck do they THINK I'd put it??]

Ingredients:  Water, 50g dextrose (D-Glucose) (Source of dextrose: Corn), Citric Acid, Natural Flavoring, FD&C Yellow #6, Sodium Hexametraphosphate [try saying that 10 times fast!], and .10% Sodium Benzoate as a preservative.

Shake before serving and refrigerate after opening [they make it sound like a high class beverage...hehe].

Indications and Usage:  Accessory to an In Vitro Diagnostic Glucose Tolerance Test in the evaluation of diabetes mellitus and related disease conditions.  Oral consumption only [there they go again].

Adverse Reactions / Warnings:  Some patients may experience one or more of the following problems:  Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Fainting.

Diabetics take only under the direction of a physician.

Dosage and Administration:  Nonpregnant adults – 15 oz, Pregnant women – 10 oz.  Children – .35 oz.  …. …. Recommended serving chilled.  Advise patient to fast for 12 hours before test and avoid smoking, drinking coffee, or strenuous exercise prior to and during the test [who is going to exercise during this test??].  Administer test in the morning, when possible, and advise patient to remain quiet for the duration of the test [I found out it's impossible to remain quiet during a huge sugar rush!].  Take blood samples prior to administration [they didn't] and at set intervals depending upon patient type after….  [...blah blah blah...]

….By the time I got to that point, the sugar rush was hitting me square in the face, whereas the baby was still kicking me square in the ribs. It was great fun, letmetellyou.

About 30 minutes into my waiting, the nurse came and got me to prep for the other routine visit aspects.  My blood pressure was up…finally….to 100 over 60.   I’ve been running 70 over 50 throughout the pregnancy!   My weight was 148.  That means I’ve gained one pound since my last appointment and about 6 pounds from my starting weight.  At least I’m not losing weight like I was at the beginning, so that’s good.  Then there was the unmentionalblepeeinacuptest.  (I guess it went fine too).  

I was then taken to a room to wait about 20 minutes for my doctor (who is female).   By the time she arrived in the room I wanted to talk so bad (from the sugar rush) that I bombarded her as soon as she came in….and almost fell off the table. :)    She measured me (I’m measuring right on at 25 weeks).   I then sat up to talk some more and she had to tell me to lay back down because she wasn’t through….haha.   Then she listened to the heartbeat (152 bpm).   THEN I got to talk. (Yay!)

After a few minutes of discussion about concerns (primarily about the pain I had Tuesday), my little timer went off and it was time for my blood work.

So down the hall I go.  (I tripped over myself about 3 times…sugar must do something with your balance!)

I was exstatic to learn they would be doing a finger prick for the blood work.   WHY?  I had read that a vein in the arm would be needed.   Well, it turns out that I have B positive blood.  Typically, women with a positive blood type can have their fingers pricked.  Women with negative blood types have to have a vein drawn.  

That was the first time I had ever been proud of my blood type.  :)

Then….She pricked my finger (little ouch..not that bad).   Then, 3 minutes later, “Well, you failed the test”.

Oh no.  :(     She says I only failed it by a couple of points….my level was 144.

So.   Now I have my 3 hour test set up (at my same OB office….no hospital like the articles I read had said would happen) on next Thursday morning at 8 am to 11 am.   I’ve never paid much attention to “nutrition” before or specific ingredients….I just always avoided junk food, too much meats, and loved my veggies.  I guess that’s not enough.   This week I’m going to be on a crash course on “How to avoid sugars” because I do NOT want to end up with diabetes – or giving birth to an unhealthy (and unfortunate) 13 pound son due to diabetes complications.   Eek.

Pregnancy — No Comments
24
Jan 08

Hi ho, Hi ho, it’s off to Glucose Testing I go

Welp….here I go. 

I’m headed out to take the gestational diabetes glucose test.  I’m not worried about having diabetes – but I am worried about getting nauseated and having my blood drawn.  (See this posting!)

As long as I’m feeling ok afterwards, Mom and I will be headed to Target after the appointment and to Starbucks for some treats.

Yummy.  :)

 Wish me luck!  (with the testing….not with Starbucks.  hehe)

Pregnancy — No Comments
21
Jan 08

The Infamous Pregnancy Glucose Test

According to statistics, between 2 to 5 percent of expectant mothers develop “gestational diabetes” (a blood sugar condition).   KidsHealth.org says that having GD can cause problems in newborns and also increases the chance of a C-Section due to abnormally large growth in the baby.  Because of this, between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy, there is a screening done on all mothers.  This screening is the “Glucose Test”, or also called a glucose challenge test or GCT. 

For this first test, there really is no definitive results.  You either “pass” or “fail”.  Testing “high”  doesn’t mean you have gestational diabetes – it just means you “failed” the first test.   An article I read at babycenter.com says that only about 1/3 of women who test high on the first test have diabetes (that’s great to know!).  If you do ”fail” the first one however, you have to undergo a longer (3 hours or so), more definitive exam called a glucose tolerance test (GTT) at a hospital like my friend Jill had to take.

I just realized yesterday that it’s already nearing the end of January – which means that my next doctor’s appointment is this coming Thursday, January 24.   EEK!   It is at that appointment that I will be having my own glucose test done (I’ll be 25 weeks along). 

If you know anything about me, you know how deathly scared I am of shots (fine thing to be with a baby comin’, huh).  When they were explaining my proceedures, they said “prick your finger” – but with all the reading I’ve done it appears that this is going to be another vein drawn blood tap.  :(   I’m also apprehensive about drinking all that sugary stuff….I don’t wanna get doubly nauseated!  And Baby Center doesn’t help by saying this…

Will this test make me feel sick?
Some moms-to-be feel nauseated after drinking the glucose solution, and a few even throw up. It sometimes helps to have eaten something a few hours before the screening test. If you vomit soon after you’ve gotten the drink down, you’ll have to come back another day and repeat the test. But most women get through it just fine. It’s actually more common for women to feel sick during the three-hour glucose tolerance test, because the solution for that test may be twice as sweet or twice as much liquid as the one for the screening test and you have to drink it after fasting.

As for the test, I’ve been instructed to not eat or drink anything starting at midnight on Wednesday.  My appointment at the OBGYN is at 8 am Thursday morning (bleh!).   When I arrive, they’ll give me a really sugary sweet drink, and then I’ll wait about an hour (they said til 9 am).  Apparantly it has 50 grams of glucose in it and tastes like a very sweet soda pop (it comes in different flavors according to my doctor), and you have to get all of it down in five minutes.   After the hour is up, they’ll draw my blood for the test – and I’m dreading it completely.  What’s worse is that results will take a few days! 

Here is what Baby Center had to say about what the results should be like…

What is an abnormal blood glucose level?
Different practitioners use different standards for determining whether your level is too high. Some will say that if your one-hour blood sugar level is 140 milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood plasma (mg/dL) or more, you need to have the glucose tolerance test. Others put the cut-off at 130 mg/dL to catch more women who may have gestational diabetes, even though there are likely to be more false positives this way.

If your blood glucose level for this test is higher than 200 mg/dL, most practitioners will consider you diabetic and you won’t be required to take the glucose tolerance test. But any score between 140 and 200 means that you’ll have to take the three-hour glucose tolerance test for a definite diagnosis.

Let’s hope I pass this thing so I don’t have to go through that 3 hour ordeal at the hospital like Jill did!

Pregnancy — No Comments
20
Jan 08

“Much Ado About Nuttin’” Pre-natal visit #5 – Dec. 27, 2007

One would think that something important should come out of each doctor’s trip.  Especially when you are pregnant.   But this trip was really nothing much to think about.   Shoot, I could have done it over the phone.

Well, ok….everything except the pee-in-a-cup part. :)

Outside of my routine stuff (blood pressure, weight checking, peeing), the only thing this visit entailed was a short 15 minute talk with my regular female practitioner, Dr. Newman.   I didn’t even had much to ask her.

She was able to go briefly over what happens during my upcoming gluclose test….which I’m scheduled to have at my next appointment – this Thursday, January 24.  (Gosh, is it only a few days away already???  I didn’t realize it was so close!)

Oh – one bright spot with this particular appointment – during all of my previous appointments I had been losing weight (about 3 lbs. off of my starting weight) and that worried us.   This weigh-in was differen though!  I had finally gained weight – to the tune of 7 lbs.   It’s no telling how much I’ve gained since then…..I knew it sure does feel like a lot though!

Ok, now, though.   No chunky jokes, please. :)    My dad has already exhausted them all on me!

Pregnancy — No Comments
20
Jan 08

“Meeting with the Big Guy” Pre-natal visit #4 – Nov. 27, 2007

Have I mentioned before that my practitioners are female?  At the OB office, I have 2 regular female doctors and then there’s “The Big Guy” as I think of him.  Dr. Reynolds.  He always seemed mysterious (probably because I never met him) and the only thing I knew about him was that he would be delivering my son! 

So…I was excited when I learned I would be meeting with him during my 4th visit. 

What wasn’t so exciting was what happened to me just a few days before my appointment.   We were at church the Sunday morning after Thanksgiving and before my appointment that week when I suddenly became very faintheaded during worship singing.  I sat down quickly to try to overcome the “spell” I knew was coming on but it didn’t help.   Within 30 seconds I started losing my hearing and my vision, I felt nauseated, and also lightheaded.   I was on the verge of passing out!   I went as quick as I could to the back hallways of the church. 

Luckily I didn’t go completely out, but it really scared me.  I’ve had “spells” like those before a few times in my life but not without a known trigger (smelling blood, getting too hot, etc.).  This time it seemed like it came from nowhere.

Well – at my appointment a few days later you can be sure I had a lot going on my mind.  Unfortunately, it was discovered during my routine blood pressure check that I didn’t have a lot going on in my BLOOD though!   My blood pressure that day was 70 over 50.   Doctor Reynolds (during our meeting!) laughed when he first looked at my chart and said that wasn’t enough to keep me from passing out.   As you can imagine, I immediately launched into my experience the previous Sunday.  

He calmed my fears somewhat by saying that low blood pressure in my case was a sign of a good, very strong connection between me and the baby.  It’s just that sometimes the mother’s body is working so hard to take care of the baby that when confronted with the choice of traveling to the tip top of the mom’s head versus traveling a few inches over to the baby, it will more than likely choose the baby in those instances (and, thus, that’s when I pass out).  He concluded that a combination of loss of fluids (I had diahrrea bad that week…eww) and low blood pressure is what made me pass out – and so I was taken off of my prenatals for a few days and instructed to get as much liquids in me as possible and get all “dried out” again. :)

His final warning for me was to be careful driving places alone (in case another spell comes on)….

…and to keep my head away from church pews….just in case.  :)

Pregnancy — No Comments
20
Jan 08

“It’s a Boy!” Pre-natal visit #3 – Nov. 1, 2007

November 1 marked not only my 3rd doctor’s visit, but also my 3rd ultrasound.   I was only 13 weeks, 2 days pregnant at the time so we were thinking it was a little unusual to be on the 3rd already.   You see though, during my first appointment the doctors had noticed what could have been a slight cyst on the baby’s cord so they were keeping an eye on me.

Unfortunately they didn’t tell ME this until the last week of October. (Boy was I hoppin’ MAD!)

Fortunately it turned out to be nothing and everything looked all hunky dory again.

…but anyway…

The exciting news during this sonogram was that the baby showed himself pretty darn good!  The sonogram lady was quite astonished and was like “Uh…hey..do you wanna know what it is?”.  

 Of course!!  (Kevin and I had already agreed that if they could tell this early we both wanted to know, even if it meant him not being there for it)

She said with quite certainty that, yet indeedy, our little baby was a boy.  

We were so excited!  We both wanted a boy first… because of many reasons – a boy will protect and watch over his younger siblings, a “big brother” is always great to have, I’ve always wanted an older brother, Kevin did have an older brother, etc, etc.   I hate to admit though that I was a little taken aback at first, because I really don’t know what to do with a little boy…I’ve only been around little girls….and I would love to have a little girl…but once the shock wore off, I warmed back up to the idea. :)

The best part (or so I thought) was that we got it all on video tape so I could show Kevin.  Mom and I arrived home with our tape around noon that day.   In my mind I had worked out this big scene where I would fix a nice cozy candlelit dinner and pop in a “movie” to watch and surprise Kevin by showing him his son.   I even pretended to him on the phone that they couldn’t tell what the baby was yet.  “It’s usually too early to tell at only 13 weeks!” I had told him.

Well, in my enthusiasm, mom and I decided to watch the video and show it to dad before I went home for the afternoon. 

And what to my wondering eyes didst appear?

NOTHING.

The screen was completely blank!!  I felt like crying.  After talking with the OBGYN’s office, we determined it was a malfunction in their own recording machine and they offered to bring me in the following Monday for a reshoot.   I accepted, but still, the damage was already done.  So much for my movie with Kevin that night. :(     I gave up and just called Kevin immediately and gave him the big news (I was bursting at the seams to tell him anyway).   When I went back the following Monday, the same thing happened again – the machine simply would not record my ultrasound.  They promised me they’d call me in when they got it fixed.   That was over 2 months ago.

To this day, Kevin has yet to see a moving ultrasound of our son or hear his heartbeat.