APPOINTMENT DATE: OCT. 6

Ever since I was 6 months pregnant with Jack-Evan, I have wanted to use a mid-wife - specifically one at a Christian Birthing Center about 4 miles away from my home. My heart was set on it.

I had such a terrible experience with prenatal care with my 1st pregnancy that I felt there must be something better out there, right??

I’m not really into the homebirth, all natural, endure the pain aspect of childbirth, especially after enduring horrendous “crowning” pain even with an epidural last time. So my plan was to use the birthing center for prenatal care, and then have the midwife join me at our local hospital up the road from the center. After all, their website had said, “Whether home birth, birth at our center, or hospital birth….”

Seemed simple enough.

So on Oct. 6, at 4:00 pm, my parents loaded up with me in the car to head to my scheduled tour at the birthing center. Dad would watch the baby, while mom went on the tour with me. Kevin wanted to be there so badly, but he couldn’t get off of work.

Walking in the center, I was comforted by the sights, smell, and homey charm of the place. Surely this was the place for me!

After filling out the paperwork, the main midwife joined me.  Her plan was to catch me up with the current tour already in session.  We began talking, and I mentioned I would be having a hospital birth.

And that’s when she dropped the bombshell on me.

They have “no jurisdiction to perform a birth at the hospital”.   WHAT??   In other words, if I used the birthing center midwife for prenatal care, and then gave birth at the hospital like I wanted, she would not be able to attend the birth.

Now, if you can imagine, think about what it feels like to be a child wanting an ice cream cone.  You picture that ice cream cone all day long.  Your parents promise you an ice cream cone all day.  You hear the bells of the ice cream truck coming past your home.  Running outside with your money, all hot and sweaty from playing, you ask for a strawberry ice cream cone.

“Sorry, we’re fresh out of ice cream,” says he.

Imagine the shock.  Imagine the disappointment.  An ice cream truck with no ice cream??

A MIDWIFE WHO COULDN’T ATTEND A HOSPITAL BIRTH?

I was devastated.  I had psyched myself up for using this birthing center for over 2 years.  I had promised myself, during my prenatal visits with Jack-Evan that ONE day, some day, I would be able to use that wonderful, homey looking, Christian birthing center.

And now I was hearing that I couldn’t unless I went all-natural and gave birth IN the center itself.

So right there in the hallway, I began to cry.  I couldn’t help it, emotional pregnant hormonal lady that I was.  How embarrassing!  But I couldn’t stop.  In between heaves, she pulled me into the examining room and coaxed my history out of me, and the story behind why I wanted to use them.  I told her of all the mistakes the other doctor’s office had made in my first pregnancy prenatal care.  I told her of how they had blamed me when they forgot the 20 week anatomy scan (and didn’t discover the error until I was 30 weeks).  I told her how I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes after failing the hour test by only 4 points and then vomiting within 10 minutes of the 3 hour test.  And how I was given absolutely no support after this diagnosis and simply told “not to worry about it”.  I also explained how at 32 weeks, I went in for a required “stress test” because of the gestational diabetes and forced to stay for 4 days in the hospital on a medicinal drip, being told I was going into premature labor.  I did not dilate any during this time and felt absolutely no contractions.  I knew the baby wasn’t coming!  Yet because the monitor detected “faint” contractions, they decided what was best.  I also told her how, after the 4 day hospital stay, the on-call doctor (the same one who eventually attended my birth at 40 weeks) reviewed my charts and said I should NOT have been diagnosed with full gestational diabetes.

I then explained to the midwife how at 10 pm the night I gave birth the on-call doctor walked in the room and TOLD me they were now starting pitocin drip.    I said absolutely NOT!   I was already 8 cm’s dilated at that time (I progressed a little under a CM each hour).  I was progressing just fine by myself, thankyouverymuch.

He just shrugged, while he and the nurse exchanged annoyed looks, and said “I’ll be back at midnight and we’ll decide then.”

HELLO!  Over here!!  Angry laboring lady here in the bed…I SAID I do NOT want pitocin!  I’ve heard way too many horror stories (and known of 2 personally) where the effects of pitocin were terrible and many have resulted in a C-Section.  There was absolutely no medical reason for me to have that dripping in my poor laboring body.  I was progressing just fine in all aspects and even with the epidural in me, I could feel the pressure of each contraction just fine.

I was fully dilated within 2 hours (by 12:15 am) and gave birth to Jack at 2:04 am (May 4, 2008).  Yet to this day I do not know if they started the pitocin without me being aware of it.  They could have put anything into that IV drip if they had so desired, especially since they acted all night as if I had no right to choose how my birth progressed

I also told the midwife how excruciatingly painful the actual crowning and birth was, even considering I had an epidural.  It was such horrendous pain that I felt as if I had exited this world and entered the pits of hell itself.  Surely if childbirth hurt that bad WITH an epidural, how could I endure a non-medicated childbirth?

Then the midwife started in on how childbirth is “pressure” and not really “pain” and it’s all in perception.

And I could have slapped her.  Really.  I know the difference between pressure and pain.  It was pain.  There’s no way around it….knife stabbing, fire burning, skin tearing, gut wrenching, haul your heart to Davy Jones Locker kinda of pain.

After about 40 minutes of standing there explaining my story to the midwife, I felt somewhat better.  I wanted to use this center for prenatal care so badly, and the midwife was far more comforting and pleasant than any other medical professional I had encountered.  So, I continued with the rest of the tour.

The center was beautiful.  There were two appointment rooms that looked like a regular OBGYN appointment room.  Then there were 2 birthing suites that were just gorgeous.  The first had a lovely kingsize bed, couch, mood lighting, stereo hookups for your ipod, gripp bar for laboring when standing, and a soothing water fountain.  In the attached bathroom was a huge jetted mood-light jacuzzi for birthing.  The 2nd Queen size room had all of the same amenities, but was even more beautiful!

Down the hall was a gorgeous restroom for family, a main kitchen, a library stocked with educational birthing materials (books, videos, etc.) you could check out for free, as well as a large conference room for the various educational classes they held.

After the tour, Kevin arrived for the main consultation, while my Mom & Dad took Jack-Evan back to their house.  During the consultation, the midwife spent over 60 minutes reviewing center rules, standards, menu recommendations, appointment layout, pricing, and other various little tidbits, including some samples of raspberry flavored Vitamin C powder.   I also took a few moments to show Kevin around the center as well.

Upon paying our $50 consultation fee, I was given 2 recommendation sheets for other clinics because the birthing center outsourced all ultrasounds and labwork.  The birthing center fees, as I just found out, did not cover the outsourced fees.  Those would need to be paid directly to the other clinics out of pocket, and a few days later I would need to have an ultrasound for dating purposes since I could not remember when my LMP was.  I would also have to have full blood work done as well.

Finally everything was completed and we said our goodbyes to the midwife.

Kevin & I left the center that night around 7 pm, full of excitement about using such a wonderful, caring place for our 2nd pregnancy.  I even psyched myself up into a state where I began to think I could endure a non-medicated waterbirth considering all of the amenities I would have at my disposal - not to mention the wonderful midwife we had just bonded with.  After all, I would have 9 months to practice the different techniques, calm my nerves, and instill in myself a sense of confidence that my body could do what it was designed to do.  Perhaps, after 9 months of wonderful caring prenatal care, I would be fully capable of having that really cool water birth.  Perhaps, just perhaps, after 9 months of getting to know the same woman and knowing that in all likely hood she would be at the birth as well (something I didn’t experience with my first pregnancy as I had a different person for every visit), that I would be capable of having the waterbirth.

I could definitely do this.

Or could I?

This morning at 10 am was time for yet another visit to the OB office.

Mom and I arrived about 10:05 (I had overslept a smidgen), checked in and sat down in the waiting room.  Things went pretty quickly today!  Within 5 minutes or so, the nurse had already pulled me back to check my vitals.  This week, they had interns at their office and the girl who was doing my vitals seemed to be very sweet, but pretty nervous. 

I sat down and she did my blood pressure.  I could have sworn she told me 120 over 62, but later learned she had written down 100 over 62.  So whether I misheard her or she miswrote it, I’ll never know.  But the doctors said that in any case everything was fine. :)  Then I stepped on the scales for weighing.  The poor intern had so much trouble with those scales that I felt a wee bit sorry for her.  It took probably 3 minutes to get a correct reading.  As of this week I weigh 144.5 lbs.  Thats a almost a pound less than I weighed last week.  At least I didn’t lose any more than that!   On a more disturbing note though, that’s only 1.5 lbs over my starting weight.   So when people ask me how much I have gained during pregnancy (that seems to be a popular question), my (slightly mumbled) reply right now is only….”Uh, 1 and a half pounds”.   It makes me feel like I’m a bad mother or something. 

After weighing came the unmentionablepeeinacuptest.  Apparantly that looked fine this week because the doctor didn’t mention any protein showing up like she did last time.

Finally, vitals were finished and I went back to the waiting room to wait on an exam room.  About 4 minutes later the nice intern girl came and took me back to the room to await Doctor Ann.  There have been times where I’ve waited in the exam room for 30+ minutes - but this time she appeared within 5 minutes or so.  They must have truly been on the ball today!  I guess they had a lot on their plates showing those interns how things should be done.

I like Doctor Ann.  She’s an older lady, really skinny, with grey pixie cut hair, and a very pleasant demeaner.  She’s really a sweet lady and very easy to talk to.  Since she has such a nice, motherly demeaner, I’m never uncomfortable with her examining me as I sometimes am with male doctors. 

We went through my vitals, the results of last week’s anatamy scan (everything looked great) and then she measured me.  This week I’m measuring 30 weeks even though I’m actually 31 weeks.  She said it was nothing to worry about though and that’s common later on in the pregnancy.  Then we listened to the heartbeat.  While listening, little Jack kicked really hard and we heard his heartbeat start to race.  It was cute!  The doctor said that was a great sign, because it means the baby is getting plenty of oxygen to him.  Everything else seemed fine.

Then we had our little question & answer session.  My first question was when would they start checking for dialation and all that good stuff.   My friend Cheryl was already 1-2 CMs and starting to thin at 32 weeks, and was put on bedrest.   Doctor Ann said I won’t be checked for that until 37 weeks.  I also asked if it was normal for the baby to have soooo much hiccups!  Jack has gotten to where he gets the hiccups 3-5 times per day.  For me, the cuteness of it is starting to wear off and it just feels annoying (kinda like when we ourselves get hiccups for too long).  She said it was perfectly fine and that her own son (who is now 21) did the same thing when she was carrying him.  Whew.

As for my vitals, she’s still concerned about me losing weight and is encouraging me not to worry myself so much over the diabetes.  Because I puked during the 3 hour test and didn’t actually get to have my blood sugar levels checked at that time, she says I may not even have the diabetes.  They just automatically place anyone who throws up the solution into the gestational diabetes category.  She says she’s worried that I may do myself more harm than good by focusing too much on controlling the sugar in avoidance of other ways of eating.   I think there may be some truth to that, as I have been like a Nazi when it comes to sugar control.  But just the thought of diabetes scares me and I don’t want to make a mistake with my diet and cause harm to my body or the baby.  

“Don’t worry!” is easier said than done when you’re actually the patient who’s has the gestational diabetes.

To ease my worries though, she’s said she’ll have them do a test (hemaglobin test I think it was called?) to check my blood sugar levals.  It involves a vein draw of blood, and she wanted to go ahead and do it today.  However, with my complete and utter fear of having needles stuck in my arm, I said I needed to be mentally prepared.  After looking at my chart, she said it was time for my CBC test anyway, so I could come in next week and both tests could be performed at the same time.  That’s fine with me!  As long as I have a few days to prepare myself for the fact that a sharp object is about to penetrate my inner elbow, I’m good to go.

After that it was time to go.  I was handed my chart, we said our goodbyes, and I headed out to the front desk to schedule my next appointment.  We ended up scheduling for next Wednesday, March 12 at 9:15 am, and I have to fast after midnight the night before since blood sugar levels will be checked. 

Then I was free to leave.  Mom and I usually stop by Target and grab lunch after my appointments.  However, I was feeling pretty dreadful today, with nausea, some stomach pains, and tiredness so we nixed the shopping trip and headed back to mom’s house.  The couch looked mighty inviting, as did the big huge fluffy pillow that mom brings out when I come over.  So the next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sounds of the 6:00 pm news on NBC.   Let me tell you, sleep is sometimes the best medicine in the world.  I felt tons better after that little long nap.  Mom (and I have the best mother in the world) also cooked supper tonight, so after my husband got off work, he came on over to my parents house and we ate supper and then watched American Idol at 8 pm. 

And so that’s that. 

As for next weeks appointment, I didn’t really know what a CBC test was so I just looked it up on the internet.  Here’s a snippet of what I found about the CBC (aka “Complete Blood Count”) test and a link to a helpful article describing the test.

A complete blood count (CBC) gives important information about the kinds and numbers of cells in the blood, especially red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. A CBC helps your health professional check any symptoms, such as weakness, fatigue, or bruising, you may have. A CBC also helps him or her diagnose conditions, such as anemia, infection, and many other disorders.

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.

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!  :) 

Ouch.  My tiny, unborn son seems to have the thigh strength of Hercules.  He’s been kicking me in the ribs all day today!  At least it’s not my intestines that he’s kicking anymore.   I can live with a kick to the ribs. 

 But it still hurts.

I am 29 weeks pregnant today and galloping happily towards the big THREE-OH.  Finally, there is a light at the end of this long long tunnel!  Although I can’t believe in 11 short weeks I will be gazing happily down at a little tiny, perfect living creature that my husband and I created.  It just amazes me beyond words.  There is so much to look forward to and so many memories to make.  I am enthusiastically looking forward to every single one of them!

Last night I was reading a cute little blog last night called “Mommie Daze” and she talks about a moment where her little son grabs her face, says “Mommie, you ice cream!!” and then licks her cheek.  It had to be the most precious little blog post I’d ever read.  Pardon me for being a sentimental pregnant woman, but I began daydreaming about one day becoming ice cream for my own adorable little man.

Ok, it sounds silly, but all of you mothers out there probably know the emotion I’m talking about - the brand new mom emotion where even the sight of a Lightning McQueen toddler bed will make you weepy.  It’s just all so… sweet and new. 

And life changing.

The thought occurs to me over and over ….stronger each day… Hey, I’m going to be a Mommy.  

It’s just very very exciting.

Well. They all said it would happen.

“The last part of pregnancy begins to fly by”.

I truly believe it! During my first few months, I felt like I had been pregnant my entire life - the whole 25 gosh darn years of it. (The thoughts of a pregnant woman often are irrational, to say the least). There seemed to be a completely new spin on the word “forever” as I awaited my 20th week approach.

However, once that countdown from the 20th week started ticking….and I was no longer counting up…time began to fly by.

And here it is. My 27th week of pregnancy - and the start of the final..last..ending..finito…trimester! Whoohoo!

And then again, notsowhoohooo. It’s getting more and more real as the weeks days hours progress by in a blur of “omigoshihavetogetreadyforourbaby!!” excitement.  I’m feeling him kick more and more every day (thank God he’s no longer kickin’ my poor inner organs!), and yesterday my husband actually got to see and feel him moving for the first time. 

“Are you doing that???!” Kevin asked, making sure it was really the baby and not me playing tricks on him. 

“No silly, I can’t move my belly in one little spot no matter how flexible I claim to be.”  I replied. 

He was bubbling over with new-daddy-happiness the rest of the night!!

…Here’s what Babie’s Online has to say about the 27th week of pregnancy.

This week marks the beginning of the third trimester. The retina, which is important in the reception of light images, develops its normal layers by the 27th week of gestation. These layers are important in receiving light and light information and transmitting it to the brain for interpretation. Your baby’s skin is quite wrinkled from floating in water. This will stay this way until a few weeks after birth as your newborn fills out into a baby. Your baby is about 14.5 inches long, and weighs over two pounds.

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!

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!

My own pregnancy took us by surprise.  Having never been pregnant before, I expected the typical morning-barf-in-a-toilet scenario to alert me of a new baby.  That never came.  Instead, I had to rely on something else that never came - my period. 

The pregnancy of Little Jack was confirmed when I was 4 weeks LMP and 1 week late.  Outside of the growingly tender partsundermytshirt, I felt perfectly fine.  In fact, for my entire first trimester (when most symtoms are acutely experienced), tenderness and tiredness were my only true pregnancy reminders (and the tenderness even dissappeared by my 12th week).  No nausea, no vomiting…nothing.  It wasn’t until my 4th month that I started picking up the more common symptoms of food cravings and light-headedness.

During this time, I read everything possible to try to convince myself that I wasn’t delusional, and that ”Why yes, Lisa, there is a baby”.  All I discovered was the many symptoms of pregnancy that I was not having.  Of course, it’s true that every woman is different - some experience a few symptoms, others experience a lot - and there really is no “normal” pregnancy…..so I knew mentally that I didn’t have anything to really worry about.  But emotionally, I often wished for more normal pregnancy signs.  Thankfully, a lack of these symptoms had no bearing on the health of my baby.

Here is a listing of what I learned during that verylonglong first trimester of pregnancy:

Top 25 Signs of Pregnancy

1. Missing Cycle Flow
2. Implantation Bleeding
3. Swollen / Tender Breasts
4. Tiredness / Unusual Fatigue
5. Lower Backaches
6. Chronic Headaches
7. Vomiting
8. Nausea
9. Food Aversions
10. Food Cravings
11. Constipation
12. Darkening Nipples
13. Mood Swings
14. Constipation
15. Light-headedness
16. Dizzyness
17. Higher Basal Body Temperature
18. Heartburn
19. Nasal Problems
20. High Vaginal Discharge & Infections
21. Changes in Taste
22. Changes in Smell
23. Food / Smell Sensitivity
24. Bloating
25. “Mask of Pregnancy” (aka.  Melasma or Chloasma)

…of course, though, the best sign is a positive pregnancy test.  I outta know - I took 3! :) 

It is interesting to note that although a missed period, although the most popular symptom, does not always mean a pregnancy.  Many of these symptoms above can also be indicators of a more serious condition (more serious than being pregnant!) so if you’re experiencing a combination of these - or if you do suspect you are pregnant - you should get thyself to thy doctor immediately!  Early pre-natal care is the best way to show your future child that you truly care about him or her.

 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.