So I'm nearing the end of my third and most easy going, uneventful pregnancy to date. I remember, during my first pregnancy, during which I was classed as low risk, I felt almost bored a lot of the time. I wanted more antenatal appointments, to be made a fuss of I suppose. After all, it was my first baby, it was all new to me, and exciting, but not as exciting as maybe I thought it would be. I had awful heartburn from very early on in my pregnancy, and at the end my feet were horribly swollen to the point of pain if I so much as sat up normally. Luckily though, I suppose, I had the luxury of being able to keep my feet up on the sofa all day to keep the swelling down.
With my second, well, I had a 9 day old baby by now! From 28 weeks I saw a health professional practically every week. Either my midwife, or a consultant, or a dietician, because of the gestational diabetes I had developed. And it quickly got very irritating.
This time round however, no gestational diabetes, no swelling, much better heartburn, and a normal amount of appointments, which, given two other children to take care of, and fitting things around Robert's nursery sessions, is a blessing.
I am just 3 days away from the big EDD, which incidentally was the gestation that Robert was born at. I have had no signs that things might be about to start, not since I had the runs a few weeks ago. I am however, getting increasingly tired, not just from the ever growing bump, but also the fact that I am sleeping HORRIBLY. It's not just the peeing in the middle of the night... The feeling of needing to pee rarely wakes me. But I do still pee when I wake up in agony where the hip I've been laying on gets numb and puts my pelvis out of whack. My soft V pillow is still in the loft, and may help if I have it down. Ideally I want it down tonight to see if it actually gets me a better night's sleep. I find I stay more comfortable for longer if I lay on my back, which you're not supposed to do in late pregnancy!
I still have lots to get done ready for baby's big arrival. Sheets and newborn hats/bibs/muslins/socks need to be washed. Cot needs to be emptied and raised up to the right level, and got a sheet on it. It would be nice to get the study sorted out too, but I have no idea when that is realistically going to get done now. Emotionally, I am READY for baby to be here. But in terms of things getting done.. Yes baby can wait a little while. I just hope the baby doesn't wait too *much* longer.
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Monday, 29 April 2013
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
18 weeks tomorrow!
Well I'm 17 weeks 6 days now. This pregnancy really is flying by. It seems an age ago since I found out I was pregnant, yet it's going by so quick! I can't believe I'm 18 weeks already (well, tomorrow).
The little blob seems to be growing well. I'm still not feeling MANY kicks, I think because I don't have the time to just lay down, relax, and concentrate on them!! I've had my last midwife appointment until the middle of January now, when I'll be almost 25 weeks. I have just three weeks to wait til my next scan, which while I'm itching for it NOW, I'm sure those three weeks will whizz past just like the previous 14 weeks have (since I found out I was pregnant). And I really REALLY want to know the sex of baby this time round!! Yes, I'm hoping it's a girl. But I'm not holding my breath, and I am thinking it is most likely a boy. But if it is a boy... then I'll get to one day, get this (or get it made) for all three of the boys...
And plus the boys will have another brother to share their fun with and grow up with :)
There is just so much on lately. I am trying to fit in more housework. Which is very much needed. I so badly want a tidy clean home. And I know the best way to do that is to gradually work it into my routine to do more around the house.
In addition there is decorating, and also work has started in our kitchen. We are three days in, out of a maximum of ten days work. The old cupboards, oven, sink, etc are all out. The horrid lino has gone. The new laminate tiles are down (and look lovely!!). The plumbing and electrics have been adapted to accomodate the new position of the sink and the addition of a dishwasher. The new kitchen is all in, in boxes or ready built in the case of the floor cupboards. The floor cupboards are all roughly in position. That is roughly where they are up to at the moment, and tomorrow I am expecting him to make sure all the floor cupboards are fixed in, and to start on cutting the work tops. It is all exciting seeing it all come together. :) And very much looking forward to it all being done and having a brand new shiny kitchen! Once the kitchen is finished, we will have 12 days til the scan. And, it being December, will mean we are focussing on getting Christmas preparations done. And before long it will be the scan, then Christmas, and then comes the next part of the preparations, that is emptying out the old study, and sorting out that room.
I like having projects, seeing things getting done in the house. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing things, and that breaks up the daily monotony. Things certainly are moving forwards, and I'm looking forward to what the future holds. :) Another precious child, fun family times, making our house our HOME finally, making it uniquely ours and painting this blank canvas :) And keeping this house as somewhere pleasant for all of us to be proud of, and enjoy!
Oh! I almost forgot! Most of you will know this as you have me friended on facebook, but for those of you who don't... I am not diabetic this time round :D Over the moon!!
The little blob seems to be growing well. I'm still not feeling MANY kicks, I think because I don't have the time to just lay down, relax, and concentrate on them!! I've had my last midwife appointment until the middle of January now, when I'll be almost 25 weeks. I have just three weeks to wait til my next scan, which while I'm itching for it NOW, I'm sure those three weeks will whizz past just like the previous 14 weeks have (since I found out I was pregnant). And I really REALLY want to know the sex of baby this time round!! Yes, I'm hoping it's a girl. But I'm not holding my breath, and I am thinking it is most likely a boy. But if it is a boy... then I'll get to one day, get this (or get it made) for all three of the boys...
And plus the boys will have another brother to share their fun with and grow up with :)
There is just so much on lately. I am trying to fit in more housework. Which is very much needed. I so badly want a tidy clean home. And I know the best way to do that is to gradually work it into my routine to do more around the house.
In addition there is decorating, and also work has started in our kitchen. We are three days in, out of a maximum of ten days work. The old cupboards, oven, sink, etc are all out. The horrid lino has gone. The new laminate tiles are down (and look lovely!!). The plumbing and electrics have been adapted to accomodate the new position of the sink and the addition of a dishwasher. The new kitchen is all in, in boxes or ready built in the case of the floor cupboards. The floor cupboards are all roughly in position. That is roughly where they are up to at the moment, and tomorrow I am expecting him to make sure all the floor cupboards are fixed in, and to start on cutting the work tops. It is all exciting seeing it all come together. :) And very much looking forward to it all being done and having a brand new shiny kitchen! Once the kitchen is finished, we will have 12 days til the scan. And, it being December, will mean we are focussing on getting Christmas preparations done. And before long it will be the scan, then Christmas, and then comes the next part of the preparations, that is emptying out the old study, and sorting out that room.
I like having projects, seeing things getting done in the house. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing things, and that breaks up the daily monotony. Things certainly are moving forwards, and I'm looking forward to what the future holds. :) Another precious child, fun family times, making our house our HOME finally, making it uniquely ours and painting this blank canvas :) And keeping this house as somewhere pleasant for all of us to be proud of, and enjoy!
Oh! I almost forgot! Most of you will know this as you have me friended on facebook, but for those of you who don't... I am not diabetic this time round :D Over the moon!!
Saturday, 17 November 2012
16 weeks 2 days
Well... I feel like I don't have much to say on here anymore. I don't know why. Anyhow, here's some stuff that's been going on.
1. I've been feeling some kicks - very light, and not as often as I did in the 14 week mark. I know there's nothing I can do, but wait for little one to get stronger before I'll feel his kicks more, as I know I'm probably busy when he is kicking.
2. Heartburn is here. Only occasionally so far, and not so bad I need gaviscon. But yep, seems to be a thing of mine in pregnancy, loverly heartburn!
3. Had my glucose tolerance test. Went and had it done Tuesday morning. Going to get the results next Friday, which also is Robert's 4th birthday, but he'll still be in nursery all morning, so that leaves me free to go and see what the news is.
4. I have been taking belly pictures - but got none online yet. I have a 5 week, 10 week and 15 week to go up.
5. I am definitely packing on weight - I just don't know if it's belly weight or just flab :S I fit in my size 12 jeans pre-pregnancy. I am now starting to get uncomfortable in the size 16 jeans I had kicking about. I have practically zero maternity clothes, due to me getting rid of most of them when I lost weight. Tops I'm not so worried about, although some winter ones would be good, but I definitely need a few trousers/skirts (hah, skirts, me??!!).
6. I am definitely able to feel the baby this time - physically through my skin I mean. With my last two pregnancies I was already obese at my booking appointment, this pregnancy I was, with a heavy cardi on, just a smidge into overweight. Sometimes I seem to "lose" the baby, I'm assuming maybe the baby is laying against my back. But at the times when I can lay in bed and see a bump, I can feel a hard lump, find a smooth line for the back, although I can't distinguish the head from the bum! This morning, baby was laying quite high up, on the right. I could feel the back running along the right hand side, crossing over my belly button which I found quite unusual for this gestation!
7. The study is decorated (minus a few finishing touches - a few patches on the ceiling mainly! Carpet is in, and the computers are down, but the upstairs ex-study is still a junk pile, with lots of stuff needing sorting out!
8. Kitchen has been ordered, with work starting on the 26th November. It'll be continuing for 2 working weeks, hopefully with it being functional after 1 working week.
9. Hormones have been raging! I had one HORRIBLE day last week, where I felt unloved, friendless, useless and so on. I've been feeling much better since, so I'm hoping it was simply hormones!
1. I've been feeling some kicks - very light, and not as often as I did in the 14 week mark. I know there's nothing I can do, but wait for little one to get stronger before I'll feel his kicks more, as I know I'm probably busy when he is kicking.
2. Heartburn is here. Only occasionally so far, and not so bad I need gaviscon. But yep, seems to be a thing of mine in pregnancy, loverly heartburn!
3. Had my glucose tolerance test. Went and had it done Tuesday morning. Going to get the results next Friday, which also is Robert's 4th birthday, but he'll still be in nursery all morning, so that leaves me free to go and see what the news is.
4. I have been taking belly pictures - but got none online yet. I have a 5 week, 10 week and 15 week to go up.
5. I am definitely packing on weight - I just don't know if it's belly weight or just flab :S I fit in my size 12 jeans pre-pregnancy. I am now starting to get uncomfortable in the size 16 jeans I had kicking about. I have practically zero maternity clothes, due to me getting rid of most of them when I lost weight. Tops I'm not so worried about, although some winter ones would be good, but I definitely need a few trousers/skirts (hah, skirts, me??!!).
6. I am definitely able to feel the baby this time - physically through my skin I mean. With my last two pregnancies I was already obese at my booking appointment, this pregnancy I was, with a heavy cardi on, just a smidge into overweight. Sometimes I seem to "lose" the baby, I'm assuming maybe the baby is laying against my back. But at the times when I can lay in bed and see a bump, I can feel a hard lump, find a smooth line for the back, although I can't distinguish the head from the bum! This morning, baby was laying quite high up, on the right. I could feel the back running along the right hand side, crossing over my belly button which I found quite unusual for this gestation!
7. The study is decorated (minus a few finishing touches - a few patches on the ceiling mainly! Carpet is in, and the computers are down, but the upstairs ex-study is still a junk pile, with lots of stuff needing sorting out!
8. Kitchen has been ordered, with work starting on the 26th November. It'll be continuing for 2 working weeks, hopefully with it being functional after 1 working week.
9. Hormones have been raging! I had one HORRIBLE day last week, where I felt unloved, friendless, useless and so on. I've been feeling much better since, so I'm hoping it was simply hormones!
Monday, 29 October 2012
More thoughts on home birth
Last night, while we drove home with the boys, Jonathan and I had a good discussion in the car about the possibility of gestational diabetes and home birth vs induction. The short story is that Jonathan supports me in wanting a home birth, and will help me "fight" unnecessary induction. I feel very positive and it means the world to have my husband behind me, knowing that I don't fear that he will buckle at the first scaremongering that might happen, that he will question with me, and that he won't lay on even more pressure than I will get from consultants.
I am so lucky to have him :)
On other notes - I seem to have gone off tea. The thought of tea makes me feel a bit bloated, and while I can still drink it, I happily go without now. Instead, I have been enjoying, much to Jonathan's bewilderment, dissolved oxo cubes ;)
My next midwife appointment is on the 7th November. I will be 14 weeks 6 days then, but the booking midwife told me to book that appointment early to organise GTT at 16 weeks.
I am so lucky to have him :)
On other notes - I seem to have gone off tea. The thought of tea makes me feel a bit bloated, and while I can still drink it, I happily go without now. Instead, I have been enjoying, much to Jonathan's bewilderment, dissolved oxo cubes ;)
My next midwife appointment is on the 7th November. I will be 14 weeks 6 days then, but the booking midwife told me to book that appointment early to organise GTT at 16 weeks.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Thoughts about the birth - mind over matter? 13 weeks
Well, today marks 13 weeks pregnant, which, by any pregnancy calendar, marks my transition into the second trimester.
I can't remember what I was reading, I think it might have been this birth story on Mama Birth. Anyway, after I finished reading it, I had what I would describe as an epiphany. One of those moments where things become clearer and you just KNOW what to do.
I have wanted - to some degree - a home birth with this baby. Part of me thinking so I could "do it right". My first (home)birth did not go to plan. My second birth went beautifully, but was an induced hospital birth. I was thinking "I'd love to try it again, to give birth and do it right. To get the birth I wanted with my first baby.". There were many "if"s though. My diagnosis last pregnancy of gestational diabetes. If I get diagnosed again, what is going to happen to these plans of a home birth? Will I want to risk a home birth? Will I accept an early induction again? Would I do anything differently? Even though I have lost weight, I do think that I will be diagnosed again. And mentally preparing myself for what I will do given the diagnosis. I am being tested for gestational diabetes in 3 weeks time, when I will be 16 weeks. I will have 12 additional weeks to make sure I am controlling it well after being diagnosed, than I had last time.
Now, I know this woman didn't have gestational diabetes, the one in the birth story, but it did just make me think, that this IS the right thing. That I trust my body to provide a safe environment for my baby, and that I will make damned well sure I do what I can to make that a reality, meaning I will control this diabetes, I will make damn sure I am as low risk as I possibly can be despite diabetes. I will trust my body to nourish my baby the perfect amount, to continue to grow my baby well, and to birth my baby when s/he is ready to be born. That if I go overdue, and they are getting anxious, I will go in for monitoring. I will seek out support with people who have been through the same situation. I will TRUST myself, and my baby. And I will lean on my caregivers for help should I need it. I will not be scaremongered. I will research my options and ask for information. If I ask them to elaborate on a risk they perceive me to be subject to, and they are vague or try and fob me off with a non-answer, I will question, and question again. I will ask what the risks are with what they PROPOSE (they will of course freely provide me with the risks of what they DON'T want me to do). I will trust my body and my baby to work together perfectly when the time comes of the baby's own choosing. I will do it.
I can't remember what I was reading, I think it might have been this birth story on Mama Birth. Anyway, after I finished reading it, I had what I would describe as an epiphany. One of those moments where things become clearer and you just KNOW what to do.
I have wanted - to some degree - a home birth with this baby. Part of me thinking so I could "do it right". My first (home)birth did not go to plan. My second birth went beautifully, but was an induced hospital birth. I was thinking "I'd love to try it again, to give birth and do it right. To get the birth I wanted with my first baby.". There were many "if"s though. My diagnosis last pregnancy of gestational diabetes. If I get diagnosed again, what is going to happen to these plans of a home birth? Will I want to risk a home birth? Will I accept an early induction again? Would I do anything differently? Even though I have lost weight, I do think that I will be diagnosed again. And mentally preparing myself for what I will do given the diagnosis. I am being tested for gestational diabetes in 3 weeks time, when I will be 16 weeks. I will have 12 additional weeks to make sure I am controlling it well after being diagnosed, than I had last time.
Now, I know this woman didn't have gestational diabetes, the one in the birth story, but it did just make me think, that this IS the right thing. That I trust my body to provide a safe environment for my baby, and that I will make damned well sure I do what I can to make that a reality, meaning I will control this diabetes, I will make damn sure I am as low risk as I possibly can be despite diabetes. I will trust my body to nourish my baby the perfect amount, to continue to grow my baby well, and to birth my baby when s/he is ready to be born. That if I go overdue, and they are getting anxious, I will go in for monitoring. I will seek out support with people who have been through the same situation. I will TRUST myself, and my baby. And I will lean on my caregivers for help should I need it. I will not be scaremongered. I will research my options and ask for information. If I ask them to elaborate on a risk they perceive me to be subject to, and they are vague or try and fob me off with a non-answer, I will question, and question again. I will ask what the risks are with what they PROPOSE (they will of course freely provide me with the risks of what they DON'T want me to do). I will trust my body and my baby to work together perfectly when the time comes of the baby's own choosing. I will do it.
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Not diabetic.
Well I had my glucose tolerance test on the 21st December (while someone was in labour I believe? Hahaha!). I finally got the results back this morning in the post.
I had a normal fasting glucose level of 4.4, but a raised level of 8.5 after 2 hours, which is out of the diabetic range but does suggest impaired glucose tolerance, meaning I should try and adopt a healthier diet and lifestyle (ie, cut down on sugars and exercise more, and lose weight) to try and make sure I don't get diabetes later.
I have already lost 2 stone since Christopher was born, which puts me firmly into the overweight category (which is a breath of fresh air after being in the obese category for so long!). I want to lose almost 3 stone more to get to my ideal weight, and I am planning on getting there by my birthday this year which is in July. Meaning I have 6 months to lose just under 3 stone. This should be do-able as I have lost 2 stone in under 4 months. I have already dropped 2 (4?) dress sizes, from a size 20 to a size 16, and am aiming for a size 12 at least, or a generous size 10. I am trying to get out and about more often as well, to ease up the exercise. I think I am also going to try and have a look in a low carb cookbook I got for christmas, to try and cut down on the sugars even more, and therefore reduce the amount of insulin my body needs to make.
We shall see though. For now, my goal is to try and lose weight, and to gently up my exercise. I am glad I am not diabetic, even if it is more likely I will get it due to my impaired tolerance. We shall see.
I had a normal fasting glucose level of 4.4, but a raised level of 8.5 after 2 hours, which is out of the diabetic range but does suggest impaired glucose tolerance, meaning I should try and adopt a healthier diet and lifestyle (ie, cut down on sugars and exercise more, and lose weight) to try and make sure I don't get diabetes later.
I have already lost 2 stone since Christopher was born, which puts me firmly into the overweight category (which is a breath of fresh air after being in the obese category for so long!). I want to lose almost 3 stone more to get to my ideal weight, and I am planning on getting there by my birthday this year which is in July. Meaning I have 6 months to lose just under 3 stone. This should be do-able as I have lost 2 stone in under 4 months. I have already dropped 2 (4?) dress sizes, from a size 20 to a size 16, and am aiming for a size 12 at least, or a generous size 10. I am trying to get out and about more often as well, to ease up the exercise. I think I am also going to try and have a look in a low carb cookbook I got for christmas, to try and cut down on the sugars even more, and therefore reduce the amount of insulin my body needs to make.
We shall see though. For now, my goal is to try and lose weight, and to gently up my exercise. I am glad I am not diabetic, even if it is more likely I will get it due to my impaired tolerance. We shall see.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
5 days old
I would have been 39 weeks pregnant today, but instead I have had my little Christopher here for 5 whole days :) We are slowly settling into a routine, getting our tactics sorted out for how to get a semi decent night's sleep. Robert if I remember rightly slept 5 hours at a time from when we got him home, but then he was 6 days old by the time we got him home so maybe.. just maybe! Hehe! Christopher last night slept for about 3 hours between feeds, which was better than the last two nights so fingers crossed for something similar tonight. I was awake though from 3am at least last night though with painfully engorged breasts, and so in the end I decided to get up, and hand express some. I again got 2oz, but from just the one breast that time and although it was still quite engorged I was at least able to get some sleep.
I have been using Robert as a pump when he's been awake and willing. He sometimes refuses if I offer, if the other thing on offer seems better at the time ;) This morning he nursed for a long time, emptying one breast and having a good go at the other, before Christopher woke up. He also nursed alongside Christopher during the day once, and another time when I was simply holding his baby brother he came and asked for milky. Then again this evening he nursed from both breasts so hopefully engorgement won't be as bad tonight. The first tandem feed showed that Robert was quite possessive over my breasts, he tried to pull Christopher off by his legs! But now he simply looks over from time to time, with interest, or indifference. He occasionally reaches over and holds Christopher's hand while nursing as well which is sweet :)
He seems to find Christopher very fascinating right now, and loves to sit and watch him, and although we've now told him not to touch Christopher's face, he does still now try and put his whole hand covering Christopher's face (which is slightly better than poking his eyes out I suppose, he doesn't cover it in a manner that would suffocate him). When I feed Robert on our bed with Christopher in the cot, if Christopher makes a noise, Robert will look up and smile as he watches his baby brother for a while before continuing to nurse :)
Sometimes I do see Robert in Christopher, but other times he looks completely different! I think because Christopher is sooo much smaller than Robert was at birth it is hard to see similarities, because Christopher's face is more wrinkled up.
Christopher was weighed today when the midwife came over. He has lost 7% of his birth weight which is in the acceptable limits, so now weighs a diddy 6lb 15oz. I never had a weighing with Robert at this stage, but he was weighed at 2 weeks and he was back to his birth weight exactly then. I do hope that Christopher gains back to his birth weight well by the time he's two weeks old. I guess over the next week he will be getting a fair amount of mature milk and will hopefully be less sleepy and will feed longer.
I'm starting to get some after pains now, I thought I'd skipped them as I didn't get anything really before today. That combined with I guess the drop of hormones and general "after birth" body changes has given me slight uneasy feelings, which I'm confident will pass although having remembered them with Robert it does worry me a little but I know I will be able to keep an eye on my feelings and Jonathan will be as well. The fact that I have had a much better birth experience and been able to bond straight away with Christopher, and the fact that it all isn't quite so "new" is comforting to me, and knowing that all I really have to do is take things one step at a time and everything will be ok. Those feelings did pass with Robert, and they will pass if I get them to any stage with Christopher as well.
Something which I will be starting off at is beginning to lose this weight. I might have mentioned before but I want to get down to 12 stone by this time next year, which only means me losing 39lb (I weighed in at 14 stone 11lb yesterday which I am pleased at, less than 3 stone to lose this year!) and will put me at a BMI at just into overweight rather than obese. Of course I might even lose more and be into the healthy range, but 12 stone is a goal I am happy with for now. My appetite isn't very big right now, normal sized meals leave me feeling bloated, so I might well not even be trying to lose weight properly and still managing to!
I am still nervous about my blood sugar, and whether or not my diabetes will stick around. Apparently it can take a few weeks for levels to get back to normal. This morning porridge left me with a reading of 7 which is good for diabetes but I can't remember what porridge used to do to my levels in pregnancy as I never had it very often. I'll be having another GTT in about 5 weeks time to find out if I do still have it, and I really hope I don't, obviously. Anyway will go for now, I'd quite like to sit down and relax with a nice cuppa before I think about waking up the little man. :)
I have been using Robert as a pump when he's been awake and willing. He sometimes refuses if I offer, if the other thing on offer seems better at the time ;) This morning he nursed for a long time, emptying one breast and having a good go at the other, before Christopher woke up. He also nursed alongside Christopher during the day once, and another time when I was simply holding his baby brother he came and asked for milky. Then again this evening he nursed from both breasts so hopefully engorgement won't be as bad tonight. The first tandem feed showed that Robert was quite possessive over my breasts, he tried to pull Christopher off by his legs! But now he simply looks over from time to time, with interest, or indifference. He occasionally reaches over and holds Christopher's hand while nursing as well which is sweet :)
He seems to find Christopher very fascinating right now, and loves to sit and watch him, and although we've now told him not to touch Christopher's face, he does still now try and put his whole hand covering Christopher's face (which is slightly better than poking his eyes out I suppose, he doesn't cover it in a manner that would suffocate him). When I feed Robert on our bed with Christopher in the cot, if Christopher makes a noise, Robert will look up and smile as he watches his baby brother for a while before continuing to nurse :)
Sometimes I do see Robert in Christopher, but other times he looks completely different! I think because Christopher is sooo much smaller than Robert was at birth it is hard to see similarities, because Christopher's face is more wrinkled up.
Christopher was weighed today when the midwife came over. He has lost 7% of his birth weight which is in the acceptable limits, so now weighs a diddy 6lb 15oz. I never had a weighing with Robert at this stage, but he was weighed at 2 weeks and he was back to his birth weight exactly then. I do hope that Christopher gains back to his birth weight well by the time he's two weeks old. I guess over the next week he will be getting a fair amount of mature milk and will hopefully be less sleepy and will feed longer.
I'm starting to get some after pains now, I thought I'd skipped them as I didn't get anything really before today. That combined with I guess the drop of hormones and general "after birth" body changes has given me slight uneasy feelings, which I'm confident will pass although having remembered them with Robert it does worry me a little but I know I will be able to keep an eye on my feelings and Jonathan will be as well. The fact that I have had a much better birth experience and been able to bond straight away with Christopher, and the fact that it all isn't quite so "new" is comforting to me, and knowing that all I really have to do is take things one step at a time and everything will be ok. Those feelings did pass with Robert, and they will pass if I get them to any stage with Christopher as well.
Something which I will be starting off at is beginning to lose this weight. I might have mentioned before but I want to get down to 12 stone by this time next year, which only means me losing 39lb (I weighed in at 14 stone 11lb yesterday which I am pleased at, less than 3 stone to lose this year!) and will put me at a BMI at just into overweight rather than obese. Of course I might even lose more and be into the healthy range, but 12 stone is a goal I am happy with for now. My appetite isn't very big right now, normal sized meals leave me feeling bloated, so I might well not even be trying to lose weight properly and still managing to!
I am still nervous about my blood sugar, and whether or not my diabetes will stick around. Apparently it can take a few weeks for levels to get back to normal. This morning porridge left me with a reading of 7 which is good for diabetes but I can't remember what porridge used to do to my levels in pregnancy as I never had it very often. I'll be having another GTT in about 5 weeks time to find out if I do still have it, and I really hope I don't, obviously. Anyway will go for now, I'd quite like to sit down and relax with a nice cuppa before I think about waking up the little man. :)
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Our little Squidge has arrived
As most of you know, our little Squidge arrived at 9.08pm yesterday (25th September) weighing an absolutely diddy 7lb 9oz! Little Christopher Jon is absolutely perfect and has been breastfeeding for every feed. Due to my diabetes they are checking his blood sugar levels pre feeds, and so far they have not been satisfactory, due to him being quite sleepy and not actually crying for milk yet! It has been an effort to keep him awake and for him to actually have a good long feed, although he did manage it for his last feed, where he fed well for over an hour! So fingers crossed for his next BM.
On the matter of the birth, in a nutshell I had given birth vaginally within 12 hours of being given my first and only pessary! I did also need to have my waters broken, during this process I used gas and air but other than that I didn't use any pain relief despite the contractions being a lot more intense and uncomfortable much earlier on than with Robert's labour.
All in all, my birth experience was very much a positive one, although, maybe due to the speed in which the 2nd phase progressed, I have no idea how on earth I managed to get a 10lb baby out! There was also a time I panicked because Jonathan had asked me when I last felt Squidge move and then realised I couldn't remember, so I really panicked until I was monitored. I had the worst case scenario of Squidge already being dead and there being nothing we could do... but luckily of course Squidge was alright!
I am waiting for him to wake for his feed and he either just pooed or farted, so I might change him and see if he wakes. Hopefully I can update this tomorrow from home, but I'll keep you informed! I can't wait to write his birth story!
On the matter of the birth, in a nutshell I had given birth vaginally within 12 hours of being given my first and only pessary! I did also need to have my waters broken, during this process I used gas and air but other than that I didn't use any pain relief despite the contractions being a lot more intense and uncomfortable much earlier on than with Robert's labour.
All in all, my birth experience was very much a positive one, although, maybe due to the speed in which the 2nd phase progressed, I have no idea how on earth I managed to get a 10lb baby out! There was also a time I panicked because Jonathan had asked me when I last felt Squidge move and then realised I couldn't remember, so I really panicked until I was monitored. I had the worst case scenario of Squidge already being dead and there being nothing we could do... but luckily of course Squidge was alright!
I am waiting for him to wake for his feed and he either just pooed or farted, so I might change him and see if he wakes. Hopefully I can update this tomorrow from home, but I'll keep you informed! I can't wait to write his birth story!
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
34 weeks 6 days - induction thoughts
Click back if you missed my post yesterday about Robert, or maybe click back after reading this one as it'll be something positive to end on...
Before I talk about my consultant appointment this afternoon, I wanted to write down (for remembering sake) about the dream I had last night, or should I say nightmare... I never had a dream like this with Robert, which were all about the birth, or scans, or (ahem) kinky ones... but this one I had last night was horrendous. I woke up basically on the verge of tears after I dreamed very vividly a tiger chasing and then catching, and.. well, to put it less graphically than I saw it in my dream.. eating Robert. I felt such an intense feeling of anguish and helplessness in the dream the second before I woke up, that it was all I could do not to rush into Robert's room, scoop him up out of his cot, and hold onto him for dear life. When I told Jonathan I dreamt that a tiger ate Robert, I don't think he realised just how vivid the dream was for me as he made a joke about it, when actually I was pretty distressed about it. I've heard people saying how vivid dreams can be during pregnancy but I've never experienced anything quite like that before :( I really hope that's the only vivid nightmare I have to endure...
Anyway.. consultant appointment. BP and wee fine. Baby's 4/5 palpable (or at least that's what I think the notes say, the consultant's handwriting is very difficult to read), and did a lovely few wriggles during heartbeat monitoring.
Then came the rest of it. She said to me about induction, I reiterated that if I was favourable when checked I'd agree to induction at 38 weeks. Then she answered some questions, which has left me extremely nervous (at best) about the induction. I think a closer description would be terrified.
If I'm not favourable next week (at either 35+6 or 36 weeks) then I will be left til 39+6 weeks. If I've not already had the baby by then I will most likely be booked in for an induction for the next few days then, although goodness knows if I will be able to fight it, or if I will even want to, or whether I feel like I will have to.
I do kind of feel like I am in a state of limbo at the moment, not given all the facts, or given all of one side and not of the other.. I feel a little pulled in both directions right now. The first is my overwhelming thought that I do NOT want to be induced... the second that if I am not induced I will be increasing the risk to the baby's welfare. I am absolutely terrified of another bad birth experience, I really am. Obviously I want a baby that is alive and well, but if I can possibly have a good birth experience and a baby that is alive and well, I want that (of course). But at the moment I just don't know what way to turn. I am hoping beyond hope that Squidge will take all decision making out of my hands and make his way into the world by himself early. :( I hope things will become clearer to me over the next few days, as I kind of have to make a decision by this time next week, before they possibly book an induction for me.
The only silver lining is that due to my blood test to show my sugar levels over the last month coming back at 5.4% (target 6 or under), they are happy for me to self-test and administer during labour unless my levels go over 8.0mmol.
Before I talk about my consultant appointment this afternoon, I wanted to write down (for remembering sake) about the dream I had last night, or should I say nightmare... I never had a dream like this with Robert, which were all about the birth, or scans, or (ahem) kinky ones... but this one I had last night was horrendous. I woke up basically on the verge of tears after I dreamed very vividly a tiger chasing and then catching, and.. well, to put it less graphically than I saw it in my dream.. eating Robert. I felt such an intense feeling of anguish and helplessness in the dream the second before I woke up, that it was all I could do not to rush into Robert's room, scoop him up out of his cot, and hold onto him for dear life. When I told Jonathan I dreamt that a tiger ate Robert, I don't think he realised just how vivid the dream was for me as he made a joke about it, when actually I was pretty distressed about it. I've heard people saying how vivid dreams can be during pregnancy but I've never experienced anything quite like that before :( I really hope that's the only vivid nightmare I have to endure...
Anyway.. consultant appointment. BP and wee fine. Baby's 4/5 palpable (or at least that's what I think the notes say, the consultant's handwriting is very difficult to read), and did a lovely few wriggles during heartbeat monitoring.
Then came the rest of it. She said to me about induction, I reiterated that if I was favourable when checked I'd agree to induction at 38 weeks. Then she answered some questions, which has left me extremely nervous (at best) about the induction. I think a closer description would be terrified.
If I'm not favourable next week (at either 35+6 or 36 weeks) then I will be left til 39+6 weeks. If I've not already had the baby by then I will most likely be booked in for an induction for the next few days then, although goodness knows if I will be able to fight it, or if I will even want to, or whether I feel like I will have to.
I do kind of feel like I am in a state of limbo at the moment, not given all the facts, or given all of one side and not of the other.. I feel a little pulled in both directions right now. The first is my overwhelming thought that I do NOT want to be induced... the second that if I am not induced I will be increasing the risk to the baby's welfare. I am absolutely terrified of another bad birth experience, I really am. Obviously I want a baby that is alive and well, but if I can possibly have a good birth experience and a baby that is alive and well, I want that (of course). But at the moment I just don't know what way to turn. I am hoping beyond hope that Squidge will take all decision making out of my hands and make his way into the world by himself early. :( I hope things will become clearer to me over the next few days, as I kind of have to make a decision by this time next week, before they possibly book an induction for me.
The only silver lining is that due to my blood test to show my sugar levels over the last month coming back at 5.4% (target 6 or under), they are happy for me to self-test and administer during labour unless my levels go over 8.0mmol.
Sunday, 22 August 2010
33 weeks 3 days - update, diabetes consultant.
I saw the diabetes consultant on Wednesday (at 32 weeks 6 days). Due to my diabetes, they want to induce me 2 weeks early at 38 weeks. Having had a few days to process this, I am reluctant to say yes if my cervix is not ready, but if it is ready I will most likely accept induction. They are happy to leave it to 40 weeks if I have twice-weekly monitoring but do not want my pregnancy to last any longer. I know I can refuse induction if I want to even then, but for now, I want to wait and see what happens.
I have an appointment on the 1st September again with the diabetes consultant, and as far as I am aware, I am going to get an internal on that date for them to assess my cervix. I will be 34 weeks 6 days pregnant then.
I am also expecting a growth scan date to come through the post for when I am around 36 weeks pregnant.
I am seeing Beverley (my midwife) again on the 6th September, so hopefully that won't clash with my scan.
I am thinking that I will accept induction if my cervix is getting ready. And I am actually getting quite eager about meeting my little baby, so I am going to try some home remedies to get it ready, so I am going to buy some raspberry leaf tea on Tuesday, going to try and get a birthing ball, extra walking, and so on. Not actually necessarily the labour inducing stuff, but the things that would help soften and shorten my cervix.
I will be 38 weeks pregnant on the 23rd September. I don't know if they would induce me bang on 38 weeks, but I think if I was... providing I'm ready... wow, my two children could both be born on the 23rd of the month! Robert would be exactly 22 months old if Squidge is born on 23rd September. I feel quite gobsmacked thinking that I could be giving birth a MONTH from tomorrow. When I found out I was pregnant, and due on 7th October, it never once crossed my mind that my baby could be a September baby. Robert came bang on time, but there was always the feeling that Squidge would be late.
I will be offered a sweep at 37 weeks, which would be my preferred method of induction if it works alone.
A week ago I felt a little depressed, and annoyed whenever anyone said to me "not long to go now" - for the record, I am NEVER saying that to a pregnant woman ever again unless she is in labour!!! Even if they only have 1 week to go, or a few days to go, or overdue! I now am feeling quite upbeat. I think the knowledge that if I want to I will be induced at 38 weeks has made a world of difference. It's like I know that if I get really fed up or in pain, or whatever, and I do just think "lets get the baby out" I will be able to at 38 weeks, and in fact they WANT me to. Even though at the moment I want to say no unless I am ready, if I change my mind I know my option is there, and that is just a nice comforting feeling I know from a completely selfish point of view but there we go!
Anyway so that's my situation!!
This weekend we went to Kent to see my family. I saw my brother and sister-in-law with my nephew Ewan as well which was lovely. The two boys got on better together than they did in November, but there were some sharing issues lol. Squidge and I got a lot of attention, particularly today at my Dad's party with a lot of people around. The boys got a lot of attention too, and there were so many people around it was hard to stay with Robert all the time, but there were always people around to stop anything from happening, and my step-mum's three nieces and nephews who are 13 and 14 were eager to play with both boys and keep them entertained, so I felt ok to sit and relax a bit.
Robert has had a bit of trouble with his routine this weekend with regards to nap and sleep, which resulted in a VERY grumpy and tearful little boy on Saturday night, who cried when he had to say goodbye to his Nanna, and who cried when he saw his other grandad and grandma, didn't want his teeth brushed, or his story read, or even milky, and just wanted to play with cars and threw a major tantrum and even when we put him to bed, we could hear him sobbing and calling out "car car!" He finally fell asleep but then he woke up half an hour earlier than normal the next morning, and getting him down for a nap at the normalish time (in an attempt to get his routine back on track) was a pain! But he slept then for a good amount of time, and once he was in the bath tonight before we set out for home, he was fine (although being persuaded to part from his teenage entertainers and supply of toy cars was a challenge!), and he fell asleep in the car home, and stayed sleepy after waking up when we arrived home, so he's fast asleep in his cot so here's hoping for a return to routine and a nice long sleep tonight!
Squidge is still nice and active, I get mainly wriggles and feet/elbows/hands brushing about, less kicks but when I do get a kick, they sometimes take my breath away and HURT! I love laying down and seeing Squidge wriggle about in there. I find it very comforting, and each day that passes my love and eagerness to meet Squidge grows.
There is always the feeling I think when you become pregnant with your second child, about how much you will be able to love them, how could you ever love your second child like you love your first. As the days and weeks go by, I just KNOW I will fall in love the second I see Squidge. I can't wait to call Squidge by his/her name (Boy's name STILL not decided, it probably won't be Christopher anymore but I really don't know!!!). I still have the feeling that Squidge is a girl, but tonight when I was making some tea, I don't know why but I suddenly imagined Squidge here, as a boy, and thinking "wow, a mum of 2 boys!" and that thought left a warm soft feeling inside me like I just know that even if Squidge isn't a girl like my instincts are telling me, that I will love my two boys so much, I will love BEING a mum to two boys! And strangely enough it felt at that moment "more right" if Squidge is a boy. Such an odd odd feeling but I just know that everything will be alright. My little Squidge... maybe connecting to the idea of having a boy will make it easier to find a name I like for a boy.
For now... we shall wait and see. I might only have another 4 weeks and 4 days to go of this pregnancy! It seems like such a short time now, and it really won't be long before I am beginning my next chapter, as a mum of TWO children!
I have an appointment on the 1st September again with the diabetes consultant, and as far as I am aware, I am going to get an internal on that date for them to assess my cervix. I will be 34 weeks 6 days pregnant then.
I am also expecting a growth scan date to come through the post for when I am around 36 weeks pregnant.
I am seeing Beverley (my midwife) again on the 6th September, so hopefully that won't clash with my scan.
I am thinking that I will accept induction if my cervix is getting ready. And I am actually getting quite eager about meeting my little baby, so I am going to try some home remedies to get it ready, so I am going to buy some raspberry leaf tea on Tuesday, going to try and get a birthing ball, extra walking, and so on. Not actually necessarily the labour inducing stuff, but the things that would help soften and shorten my cervix.
I will be 38 weeks pregnant on the 23rd September. I don't know if they would induce me bang on 38 weeks, but I think if I was... providing I'm ready... wow, my two children could both be born on the 23rd of the month! Robert would be exactly 22 months old if Squidge is born on 23rd September. I feel quite gobsmacked thinking that I could be giving birth a MONTH from tomorrow. When I found out I was pregnant, and due on 7th October, it never once crossed my mind that my baby could be a September baby. Robert came bang on time, but there was always the feeling that Squidge would be late.
I will be offered a sweep at 37 weeks, which would be my preferred method of induction if it works alone.
A week ago I felt a little depressed, and annoyed whenever anyone said to me "not long to go now" - for the record, I am NEVER saying that to a pregnant woman ever again unless she is in labour!!! Even if they only have 1 week to go, or a few days to go, or overdue! I now am feeling quite upbeat. I think the knowledge that if I want to I will be induced at 38 weeks has made a world of difference. It's like I know that if I get really fed up or in pain, or whatever, and I do just think "lets get the baby out" I will be able to at 38 weeks, and in fact they WANT me to. Even though at the moment I want to say no unless I am ready, if I change my mind I know my option is there, and that is just a nice comforting feeling I know from a completely selfish point of view but there we go!
Anyway so that's my situation!!
This weekend we went to Kent to see my family. I saw my brother and sister-in-law with my nephew Ewan as well which was lovely. The two boys got on better together than they did in November, but there were some sharing issues lol. Squidge and I got a lot of attention, particularly today at my Dad's party with a lot of people around. The boys got a lot of attention too, and there were so many people around it was hard to stay with Robert all the time, but there were always people around to stop anything from happening, and my step-mum's three nieces and nephews who are 13 and 14 were eager to play with both boys and keep them entertained, so I felt ok to sit and relax a bit.
Robert has had a bit of trouble with his routine this weekend with regards to nap and sleep, which resulted in a VERY grumpy and tearful little boy on Saturday night, who cried when he had to say goodbye to his Nanna, and who cried when he saw his other grandad and grandma, didn't want his teeth brushed, or his story read, or even milky, and just wanted to play with cars and threw a major tantrum and even when we put him to bed, we could hear him sobbing and calling out "car car!" He finally fell asleep but then he woke up half an hour earlier than normal the next morning, and getting him down for a nap at the normalish time (in an attempt to get his routine back on track) was a pain! But he slept then for a good amount of time, and once he was in the bath tonight before we set out for home, he was fine (although being persuaded to part from his teenage entertainers and supply of toy cars was a challenge!), and he fell asleep in the car home, and stayed sleepy after waking up when we arrived home, so he's fast asleep in his cot so here's hoping for a return to routine and a nice long sleep tonight!
Squidge is still nice and active, I get mainly wriggles and feet/elbows/hands brushing about, less kicks but when I do get a kick, they sometimes take my breath away and HURT! I love laying down and seeing Squidge wriggle about in there. I find it very comforting, and each day that passes my love and eagerness to meet Squidge grows.
There is always the feeling I think when you become pregnant with your second child, about how much you will be able to love them, how could you ever love your second child like you love your first. As the days and weeks go by, I just KNOW I will fall in love the second I see Squidge. I can't wait to call Squidge by his/her name (Boy's name STILL not decided, it probably won't be Christopher anymore but I really don't know!!!). I still have the feeling that Squidge is a girl, but tonight when I was making some tea, I don't know why but I suddenly imagined Squidge here, as a boy, and thinking "wow, a mum of 2 boys!" and that thought left a warm soft feeling inside me like I just know that even if Squidge isn't a girl like my instincts are telling me, that I will love my two boys so much, I will love BEING a mum to two boys! And strangely enough it felt at that moment "more right" if Squidge is a boy. Such an odd odd feeling but I just know that everything will be alright. My little Squidge... maybe connecting to the idea of having a boy will make it easier to find a name I like for a boy.
For now... we shall wait and see. I might only have another 4 weeks and 4 days to go of this pregnancy! It seems like such a short time now, and it really won't be long before I am beginning my next chapter, as a mum of TWO children!
Friday, 13 August 2010
32 weeks 1 day - no illusions
I had my midwife appointment on Monday, the day after my last proper post. As well as all the usual checks (coming out fine as usual) we talked about my upcoming consultant appointment on the 18th with the diabetes consultant.
I decided on Monday morning I think to do a little research into how labour is different for diabetic women, and therefore what the diabetes consultant may say to me. I am under no illusions that I will have a hospital birth strongly recommended (lol) to me, but also I have read about other things.
Some background (just to hopefully make things a little easier to understand). Blood sugar levels can be affected not only by what you eat, but also how much exercise you do, as the more exercise, the more your body burns the easily accessible sugar for fuel. Given that labour is an intense form of exercise, blood glucose levels should be monitored carefully throughout labour to ensure that not only do they get too high, but also that they don't get too low, as that can cause faintness, dizziness, and other problems.
For this reason most diabetic women are put on a drip throughout labour to monitor their sugar levels and to administer insulin/glucose as necessary. Of course if you go on the drip you need to be in hospital.
However it is possible to do without the drip, by making sure that blood sugar levels are tested regularly throughout labour and measures taken to even it out. Fast acting insulin in the case of too high sugar levels, or a glass of orange juice to quickly raise sugar levels.
Having not seen the consultant yet, my initial thoughts are that I want to avoid the drip... I have read that it can in some cases give the incorrect doses out and unnecessarily raise glucose levels too much meaning that your baby when it's born does in fact have elevated blood sugar levels which can lead to a crash when the cord is cut. I have been thinking a lot about things, and as if you have been reading my blog for a while will probably appreciate that this decision hasn't come lightly, but I am thinking that I will more likely than not have a hospital birth this time. With the extra risks that come to the baby from me having diabetes, the chance of needing special care is higher than if I didn't. While I do think that it must be lovely having a home birth where everything goes right, and you get to curl up in your own bed afterwards, have a bath in your own home, be in comfortable and familiar surroundings, eat whatever you want as your next meal after the baby's born... the thought of that being reality is so far away for me. I thought I'd get it with Robert, and I didn't. The fact that I am diabetic this time and the higher likelihood for treatment and complications is making me doubt that home is the right place this time round. For me, I think that if anything did mean that my baby needs special care, it will be less traumatic if I was already in hospital, than what happened with Robert.
Over the weekend I will be compiling a list of questions to ask the consultant. I am confident that this one will be a lot more useful than the previous one with the general consultant I saw a few weeks back. I will also be jotting down ideas for my birth plan as I'm fairly certain that it will be handy to get my wishes straight in my own head, but this may well be something to think about after my appointment on Wednesday.
Something else I will be doing with regards to the birth, is pre-expressing milk for the baby. I have read that with diabetic mothers, if the baby does not feed well after the birth, they are pushed into giving the baby formula, something I do also want to avoid this time round. I probably won't be expressing any until at least 35 weeks, and I probably will wait til 37 weeks to be sure the milk is as appropriate as possible. I don't know how well that will go, I had a great deal of trouble expressing milk for Robert when he was born, I managed barely 2ml of changing milk let alone colostrum, so I'm hoping that pre-expressing will go ok.
I do wonder if I will be offered an early induction. I suspect this will only be the case if I am scanned and baby is measuring big, and maybe not even then as I have given birth to a 10lb baby so we will see. But I am wondering if I would accept an early induction. That's a bridge to cross when/if I come to it I guess.
Anyway, I took a new belly photo yesterday. Here it is, along with comparison with Robert's same gestation picture!
Squidge
Robert
I decided on Monday morning I think to do a little research into how labour is different for diabetic women, and therefore what the diabetes consultant may say to me. I am under no illusions that I will have a hospital birth strongly recommended (lol) to me, but also I have read about other things.
Some background (just to hopefully make things a little easier to understand). Blood sugar levels can be affected not only by what you eat, but also how much exercise you do, as the more exercise, the more your body burns the easily accessible sugar for fuel. Given that labour is an intense form of exercise, blood glucose levels should be monitored carefully throughout labour to ensure that not only do they get too high, but also that they don't get too low, as that can cause faintness, dizziness, and other problems.
For this reason most diabetic women are put on a drip throughout labour to monitor their sugar levels and to administer insulin/glucose as necessary. Of course if you go on the drip you need to be in hospital.
However it is possible to do without the drip, by making sure that blood sugar levels are tested regularly throughout labour and measures taken to even it out. Fast acting insulin in the case of too high sugar levels, or a glass of orange juice to quickly raise sugar levels.
Having not seen the consultant yet, my initial thoughts are that I want to avoid the drip... I have read that it can in some cases give the incorrect doses out and unnecessarily raise glucose levels too much meaning that your baby when it's born does in fact have elevated blood sugar levels which can lead to a crash when the cord is cut. I have been thinking a lot about things, and as if you have been reading my blog for a while will probably appreciate that this decision hasn't come lightly, but I am thinking that I will more likely than not have a hospital birth this time. With the extra risks that come to the baby from me having diabetes, the chance of needing special care is higher than if I didn't. While I do think that it must be lovely having a home birth where everything goes right, and you get to curl up in your own bed afterwards, have a bath in your own home, be in comfortable and familiar surroundings, eat whatever you want as your next meal after the baby's born... the thought of that being reality is so far away for me. I thought I'd get it with Robert, and I didn't. The fact that I am diabetic this time and the higher likelihood for treatment and complications is making me doubt that home is the right place this time round. For me, I think that if anything did mean that my baby needs special care, it will be less traumatic if I was already in hospital, than what happened with Robert.
Over the weekend I will be compiling a list of questions to ask the consultant. I am confident that this one will be a lot more useful than the previous one with the general consultant I saw a few weeks back. I will also be jotting down ideas for my birth plan as I'm fairly certain that it will be handy to get my wishes straight in my own head, but this may well be something to think about after my appointment on Wednesday.
Something else I will be doing with regards to the birth, is pre-expressing milk for the baby. I have read that with diabetic mothers, if the baby does not feed well after the birth, they are pushed into giving the baby formula, something I do also want to avoid this time round. I probably won't be expressing any until at least 35 weeks, and I probably will wait til 37 weeks to be sure the milk is as appropriate as possible. I don't know how well that will go, I had a great deal of trouble expressing milk for Robert when he was born, I managed barely 2ml of changing milk let alone colostrum, so I'm hoping that pre-expressing will go ok.
I do wonder if I will be offered an early induction. I suspect this will only be the case if I am scanned and baby is measuring big, and maybe not even then as I have given birth to a 10lb baby so we will see. But I am wondering if I would accept an early induction. That's a bridge to cross when/if I come to it I guess.
Anyway, I took a new belly photo yesterday. Here it is, along with comparison with Robert's same gestation picture!
Squidge
Robert
Sunday, 8 August 2010
31 weeks 3 days - HORMONES! Arghh!
Well yesterday saw another BLIP in the old hormones level. I had a horrendous night's sleep which didn't help, due to newly acquired suspected thrush! First time having it, boy this baby doesn't like to give me an easy time of it! Now, despite the heartburn, swollen ankles, SPD, I am thinking what an EASY time I had of it with Robert!!! Well last night's sleep wasn't all to do with thrush, part of it was due to Jonathan. I was already awake-ish when he came to bed, due to suspected thrush, then he woke me up more... then he fell asleep and started SNORING arghhhh! Then Squidge decided that was a good time to wake up and start playing football and gymnastics with my insides. So I had sleep from 8pm (went to bed early as I was sooo tired with no nap!!) til 11pm, then I was awake from 11pm til 3.30am-ish. I was NOT impressed when I looked at the time!! Went downstairs to get away from the freight train next to me, and despite loud ticking clock I managed to get to sleep, until I was woken up at 5am when Robert started crying. Went back upstairs, climbed into bed next to the quieter train (due to also being woken up by little mister), and promptly fell asleep until proper waking up time at 7ish.
So yes, not a brilliant night's sleep, but probably better than some I have tolerated in the past!! But having been tired before hand anyway I really could have done with the 8pm-7am unbroken sleep that I was aiming for!!! So yesterday I was a bag of tiredness, itchiness, painfulness, and generally fed up to my hind teethedness, and at one point was curled up on the bed with J and R downstairs, crying into a nightie with such emotional pain that it made me draw my knees up as high as Squidge would allow. Jonathan came up after a while as I was going into the bathroom for some tissue, and seemed horrified and worried to see me in such a state.
While I was on the bed I did feel like just BAWLING as loud as I could but didn't want to because of Robert downstairs. I only remember one other time feeling that intensely, strangely enough it wasn't around Robert's birth, the tears came easier and quieter somehow then. It was when my ex-boyfriend broke up with me over the phone, in the middle of my teenage depression, while I was in school. Everyone was in lessons, I skipped my double maths lesson and just walked around the school field bawling my head off, not caring about how loud I was because there was no-one else around.
But anyway, yesterday. I went and hugged Jonathan as best I could with banister in the way and bump, and he did the sweetest thing he knew what to do. "Do you want a cup of tea?" I think I might have laughed at that point, he knows me too well to know that sometimes there are no words he can say, no real comfort he can bestow on me at that moment in time, sometimes all I need is to get back to normality and know that he cares, and that's his way of showing it. So he told me to come downstairs, and that he'd make me a cup of tea. I still felt like any moment fresh tears would erupt but the "bawly" moment had passed. Robert was getting on with playing with his cars on the carpet (MUST get him a road mat!!).
The afternoon went well, and I got a decent amount of sleep last night, so despite itchiness, fed-up-ness regarding all over the place blood sugar readings etc, I felt less tired and a lot less grumpy!
Something that seems stronger in a good way lately is the ferociousness of my love towards Robert. I look at him so often during the day, just look at his sweet face, and my heart fills up with love and I just think to myself "I LOVE this boy so much!" He is really no trouble at all, he is such a good sweet boy, who is showing more thoughtfulness and cheekiness and lovely scrumminess each day! Today I almost burst into happy tears when we got ready to go out (to toys r us, to buy him a sandpit!) and we told him we were going out, so he stood up, grabbed his big yellow monster truck (first thought: he was going to ignore us and carry on playing!) and went and put it in his car box! Then went and found some more cars, and put those in his box! We hadn't asked him to put his toys away but he just did it, went around and found all the cars on the floor, and put them away! (he missed one on his table which we took with us for him to play with in the car) I was so proud I can barely describe it!
When my dad called earlier this evening, Robert was still up, so after talking to him, I asked him if he wanted to talk to Robert, and well he can be shy on the phone! If asked to say hello or goodbye he simply waves and doesn't say anything! So I suggested to my dad that he ask him some animal noises. Robert can't resist making animal noises when someone asks him! So that way they get to hear him on the phone and he gets to hear them. Another good way to get him to talk on the phone is ask him to repeat words he knows. Car is a good one "Gar!!", as is zebra and tractor (pronounced breh-bra and braah-bra respectively! Very similar sounding! Both with very elongated R sounds in both parts!) Tiger is "Gie-gah!", banana is "nya-na". Another funny one is garlic, which he pronounced "Gar-yar" or occasionally "gar-lar" (he's seen me sat peeling garlic before which is how he's picked that up!)
He does do his best bless him and it's so sweet hearing his little words with his limited sound abilities. I'm pretty sure he's getting the hang of a very select few 2 word "sentences". One, mostly by habit, we ask him to repeat it, as he has a big blue car upstairs that he plays with in the morning, being "woo gar" (blue car), and the other which seemed to come entirely spontaneously today was "dada car" (daddy's car)
Something that melts my heart is the way now if he is still awake when Jonathan gets home, he hears the door open and close, stops what he is doing, looks at me with a questioning look, and says "dada?" at which point I can't help but laugh and say "yes, daddy's here, he's coming up the stairs!" and if he's in the bath he will sit and stare at the door until Jonathan pokes his head around, at which point he grins and says "Dada!", or if he is on the bed with me reading, or in the middle of pre-bed milky, he will climb off, run to the stair gate, and yell "DADA!" as he watches Jonathan comes upstairs. :) It must really make Jonathan's day coming home to that :) Robert loves his daddy so much! Apparently yesterday while I was catching up on sleep Jonathan took Robert out, and during their trip out apparently Robert seemed to miss me and ask "mama?" which is so sweet :) But then he says "mamam" for satsuma as well so maybe he was hungry and wanting some fruit haha!
I love my little boy so much :)
So yes, not a brilliant night's sleep, but probably better than some I have tolerated in the past!! But having been tired before hand anyway I really could have done with the 8pm-7am unbroken sleep that I was aiming for!!! So yesterday I was a bag of tiredness, itchiness, painfulness, and generally fed up to my hind teethedness, and at one point was curled up on the bed with J and R downstairs, crying into a nightie with such emotional pain that it made me draw my knees up as high as Squidge would allow. Jonathan came up after a while as I was going into the bathroom for some tissue, and seemed horrified and worried to see me in such a state.
While I was on the bed I did feel like just BAWLING as loud as I could but didn't want to because of Robert downstairs. I only remember one other time feeling that intensely, strangely enough it wasn't around Robert's birth, the tears came easier and quieter somehow then. It was when my ex-boyfriend broke up with me over the phone, in the middle of my teenage depression, while I was in school. Everyone was in lessons, I skipped my double maths lesson and just walked around the school field bawling my head off, not caring about how loud I was because there was no-one else around.
But anyway, yesterday. I went and hugged Jonathan as best I could with banister in the way and bump, and he did the sweetest thing he knew what to do. "Do you want a cup of tea?" I think I might have laughed at that point, he knows me too well to know that sometimes there are no words he can say, no real comfort he can bestow on me at that moment in time, sometimes all I need is to get back to normality and know that he cares, and that's his way of showing it. So he told me to come downstairs, and that he'd make me a cup of tea. I still felt like any moment fresh tears would erupt but the "bawly" moment had passed. Robert was getting on with playing with his cars on the carpet (MUST get him a road mat!!).
The afternoon went well, and I got a decent amount of sleep last night, so despite itchiness, fed-up-ness regarding all over the place blood sugar readings etc, I felt less tired and a lot less grumpy!
Something that seems stronger in a good way lately is the ferociousness of my love towards Robert. I look at him so often during the day, just look at his sweet face, and my heart fills up with love and I just think to myself "I LOVE this boy so much!" He is really no trouble at all, he is such a good sweet boy, who is showing more thoughtfulness and cheekiness and lovely scrumminess each day! Today I almost burst into happy tears when we got ready to go out (to toys r us, to buy him a sandpit!) and we told him we were going out, so he stood up, grabbed his big yellow monster truck (first thought: he was going to ignore us and carry on playing!) and went and put it in his car box! Then went and found some more cars, and put those in his box! We hadn't asked him to put his toys away but he just did it, went around and found all the cars on the floor, and put them away! (he missed one on his table which we took with us for him to play with in the car) I was so proud I can barely describe it!
When my dad called earlier this evening, Robert was still up, so after talking to him, I asked him if he wanted to talk to Robert, and well he can be shy on the phone! If asked to say hello or goodbye he simply waves and doesn't say anything! So I suggested to my dad that he ask him some animal noises. Robert can't resist making animal noises when someone asks him! So that way they get to hear him on the phone and he gets to hear them. Another good way to get him to talk on the phone is ask him to repeat words he knows. Car is a good one "Gar!!", as is zebra and tractor (pronounced breh-bra and braah-bra respectively! Very similar sounding! Both with very elongated R sounds in both parts!) Tiger is "Gie-gah!", banana is "nya-na". Another funny one is garlic, which he pronounced "Gar-yar" or occasionally "gar-lar" (he's seen me sat peeling garlic before which is how he's picked that up!)
He does do his best bless him and it's so sweet hearing his little words with his limited sound abilities. I'm pretty sure he's getting the hang of a very select few 2 word "sentences". One, mostly by habit, we ask him to repeat it, as he has a big blue car upstairs that he plays with in the morning, being "woo gar" (blue car), and the other which seemed to come entirely spontaneously today was "dada car" (daddy's car)
Something that melts my heart is the way now if he is still awake when Jonathan gets home, he hears the door open and close, stops what he is doing, looks at me with a questioning look, and says "dada?" at which point I can't help but laugh and say "yes, daddy's here, he's coming up the stairs!" and if he's in the bath he will sit and stare at the door until Jonathan pokes his head around, at which point he grins and says "Dada!", or if he is on the bed with me reading, or in the middle of pre-bed milky, he will climb off, run to the stair gate, and yell "DADA!" as he watches Jonathan comes upstairs. :) It must really make Jonathan's day coming home to that :) Robert loves his daddy so much! Apparently yesterday while I was catching up on sleep Jonathan took Robert out, and during their trip out apparently Robert seemed to miss me and ask "mama?" which is so sweet :) But then he says "mamam" for satsuma as well so maybe he was hungry and wanting some fruit haha!
I love my little boy so much :)
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
30 weeks 5 days - blip
Well, it seems that day I posted about last was a blip. I haven't felt even remotely as bad since I woke up the next morning, so I guess it was the whole situation with that person (still not resolved, but I couldn't care less anymore - I'm letting her be as immature and petty as she wants, I've made it more than obvious I am here to talk to so if she wants to grow up she knows where I am), and the antibiotics. I think if I will be off them by tomorrow lunchtime. So hopefully that'll clear up the infection. I'll ask Beverley to send off my urine sample when I see her next week just to make sure.
Squidge has been doing fewer somersaults and big body movements lately. Which I'm thinking is one of two reasons - another growth spurt, or just getting too big to make such movements anymore. I am no longer feeling that sicky knot in the pit of my stomach when I think forward to October, but in fact looking forward to it as I should be, and seeing photos of squishy newborns snuggled up on their mothers chests just make me melt into a big puddle of goo and makes me so eager to have the same again!
Robert is still breastfeeding. I thought he would have self weaned by now, but he picked back up with a vengeance about a week after his minimal interest, and this morning he was snuggled up to me on the bed for at least 20 minutes (on and off, he likes to see if the other one tastes any different!!), and the sight of him so content and peaceful, snuggling up to mummy like that makes my heart melt. :) He never breastfeeds to sleep anymore, the nighttime milky is simply cuddle time, wind down time and routine I suppose. And he'll pull off and sign "bed" when he's ready to go to sleep :) I really should try and get photos of him signing, it is quite sweet. The words he signs (and makes no attempt to say) are more, milk, drink, sleep, finished.
Anyway, I should probably post here about the diabetes. I am injecting insulin once daily for breakfast, and getting used to it slowly. I have to squirt out some before each injection like you see in the hospital dramas etc, and the stuff stinks :( Then I have to remember to prick my finger an hour after meals as well. With my tiredness lately it makes the lunchtime blood sugar reading tricky as I have to time Robert's nap and me eating so that he goes down for a nap an hour after I've had lunch so I can do my blood sugar level then go and have a nap with him immediately.
My morning levels are still high despite the insulin, so having been introduced to a diabetes forum dedicated to low-carbing I think this might be the way to go. I was planning on doing so anyway after the baby was born to try and lose the weight I need to to get to a healthy weight, but since finding out I've got diabetes, and the fact that my morning sugar levels are hard to control, I think I will ease into low carbing (which basically removes bread, potatoes and pasta/rice from my diet along with unnecessary sugars, I'm not going extreme low carbing and removing all forms of sugar/carbs from my diet, so I am keeping all fruit and veg in). I am going to start with breakfast, try and start eating low carb breakfasts to sort out my levels, and ease into low carbs with other meals by cutting down on bread/potatoes etc. So this weekly shop will include a big box of eggs, meats, vegetables and salads. :) Hopefully I'll feel less lethargic and maybe after the baby's born if I can get everything under check I will lose lots of weight, so be physically able to be more energetic to deal with two small children. I am feeling very positive to be able to lose weight once the baby is born, I don't know how much I weigh at the moment... hmm let me see.. 215lbs clothed... which is... 15 stone 5lb! Not bad at all actually!!! Seeing as I was 14 stone when I got pregnant! And I was 15 stone 11 lb at 21 weeks with Robert!!! Assuming I put on another stone before the baby's born (which is a generous over-estimate, here's hoping I only get to 16 stone!)... which once the baby's born I may well be back down to 15 stone with baby weight, waters/placenta.... which will leave me just 3 stone to lose to get to my 12 stone 1 year post partum goal! And then another year to get to my ideal goal of 10 stone.
Well, what a great positiveness to end this post on. :)
Squidge has been doing fewer somersaults and big body movements lately. Which I'm thinking is one of two reasons - another growth spurt, or just getting too big to make such movements anymore. I am no longer feeling that sicky knot in the pit of my stomach when I think forward to October, but in fact looking forward to it as I should be, and seeing photos of squishy newborns snuggled up on their mothers chests just make me melt into a big puddle of goo and makes me so eager to have the same again!
Robert is still breastfeeding. I thought he would have self weaned by now, but he picked back up with a vengeance about a week after his minimal interest, and this morning he was snuggled up to me on the bed for at least 20 minutes (on and off, he likes to see if the other one tastes any different!!), and the sight of him so content and peaceful, snuggling up to mummy like that makes my heart melt. :) He never breastfeeds to sleep anymore, the nighttime milky is simply cuddle time, wind down time and routine I suppose. And he'll pull off and sign "bed" when he's ready to go to sleep :) I really should try and get photos of him signing, it is quite sweet. The words he signs (and makes no attempt to say) are more, milk, drink, sleep, finished.
Anyway, I should probably post here about the diabetes. I am injecting insulin once daily for breakfast, and getting used to it slowly. I have to squirt out some before each injection like you see in the hospital dramas etc, and the stuff stinks :( Then I have to remember to prick my finger an hour after meals as well. With my tiredness lately it makes the lunchtime blood sugar reading tricky as I have to time Robert's nap and me eating so that he goes down for a nap an hour after I've had lunch so I can do my blood sugar level then go and have a nap with him immediately.
My morning levels are still high despite the insulin, so having been introduced to a diabetes forum dedicated to low-carbing I think this might be the way to go. I was planning on doing so anyway after the baby was born to try and lose the weight I need to to get to a healthy weight, but since finding out I've got diabetes, and the fact that my morning sugar levels are hard to control, I think I will ease into low carbing (which basically removes bread, potatoes and pasta/rice from my diet along with unnecessary sugars, I'm not going extreme low carbing and removing all forms of sugar/carbs from my diet, so I am keeping all fruit and veg in). I am going to start with breakfast, try and start eating low carb breakfasts to sort out my levels, and ease into low carbs with other meals by cutting down on bread/potatoes etc. So this weekly shop will include a big box of eggs, meats, vegetables and salads. :) Hopefully I'll feel less lethargic and maybe after the baby's born if I can get everything under check I will lose lots of weight, so be physically able to be more energetic to deal with two small children. I am feeling very positive to be able to lose weight once the baby is born, I don't know how much I weigh at the moment... hmm let me see.. 215lbs clothed... which is... 15 stone 5lb! Not bad at all actually!!! Seeing as I was 14 stone when I got pregnant! And I was 15 stone 11 lb at 21 weeks with Robert!!! Assuming I put on another stone before the baby's born (which is a generous over-estimate, here's hoping I only get to 16 stone!)... which once the baby's born I may well be back down to 15 stone with baby weight, waters/placenta.... which will leave me just 3 stone to lose to get to my 12 stone 1 year post partum goal! And then another year to get to my ideal goal of 10 stone.
Well, what a great positiveness to end this post on. :)
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
29 weeks 6 days
Well I'm now on insulin for my diabetes, hurrah. Although I am tempted to see what happens at breakfast tomorrow and then maybe start Friday morning on it. I've also had to have my 28 week bloods done again this morning, because they couldn't find the results from when they supposedly did them at the same time as my GTT.
I can't believe how different Squidge's pregnancy is than his/her brother's. Not only because of the diabetes but also how my heartburn is less than with Robert's (so far), I've had a few niggles with it, and had to take gaviscon a couple of times, but by August 2008 it was bad enough that I had to get a prescription and from then on was taking it regularly, bearing in mind it's almost August now and I'm 7 weeks furthur on than I was with Robert at that time of the year. Maybe it will get worse, who knows?
But also, Squidge is constantly on the move, constantly squirming, waving arms/legs/head around. Beverley said Squidge was breech when I saw her on Monday. Although she seemed a little uncertain. Sometimes I think she's right and others I don't, I think Squidge must be having fun doing somersaults all the time in there! When she checked the position prior to checking the heartbeat, she must have woke Squidge up, who then went crazy! She had just asked me about Squidge's movements, and I said they were fine, then "ah, there we go!" and sure enough Squidge was wriggling, squirming, kicking around so much while Beverley was trying to get the heartbeat I was actually wondering if she'd manage to check it ok!! Robert was never like that, he was pretty chilled out during antenatal checks, occasionally gave a boot to the doppler, but then that was it!
The last two times she's actually felt Squidge move herself, so much so she put in my notes "FM - Good" (fetal movement) whereas before, and with Robert it was simply "FM" or "FMF" (fetal movement felt).
Does make me wonder if I'm going to have my hands full with Squidge, s/he is always on the move it seems. Of course having plenty of sleep times, but awake times - boy, I sure do know about it!!! Part of me is wondering if that's where all my energy is going - to Squidge!!! As s/he seems to have tonnes of it and I'm just SO. TIRED. all the time lately. Every day I wake up and wish I could have more sleep. Every day I have to nap with Robert. And then I'm itching to go to bed at barely 9pm every night, sometimes even at 8, 8.30. But then another thing it could be is the diabetes. Or maybe I'm anaemic this time, I guess I'll find out at my next midwife appointment on the 9th August. It would just be my luck I suppose to be anaemic as well, and have to take iron tablets.
Anyway, 30 weeks tomorrow. I can hardly believe it. 10 weeks from now I am due to be cuddling a second tiny baby which seems just crazy. And still a little surreal to be honest. I remember feeling the same with Robert, finding it difficult to imagine the reality that I am actually growing a BABY and that it won't really be long until it's here, with us, as a part of our family. I do actually also wonder if activity in the womb has a bearing on when they're likely to be born, will the fact that Squidge is ultra active mean s/he is born at an earlier gestation than Robert? Probably not I'm sure there are plenty of people who can disprove this with their babies.
Anyway I shall leave you with a few recent photos of my gorgeous boy (who's getting more and more grown up by the day!)
Robert's "grin" face :)
Peeking out of a bird hide at a country park, he was looking at some ducks on the lake.
Eating his dinner. We put out a fork every meal or a spoon depending on the meal, and we encourage him to use it but we don't put pressure on him, I'm sure he'll use it all the time when he's ready!
Playing with the goats at a local kiddie farm, they are allowed to go in the pens as long as they don't chase the goats!
Picking strawberries at Grandma's house, he loved this!
Sitting at his table, he loves to sit here and colour, or read books, or eat his snack and lunch. I've started to give him his sandwich at his table, and it's going pretty well although he often has a lot of half eaten bits of sandwich on the plate at the end! I ask him to sit back down if he's eating and only let him wander off if he's finished (which he now signs to me by the way!)
Enjoying the see-saw :)
Bath time fun :) This is his "mischeivous" look he gets, at this point he was sliding himself up and down the bath mat while holding on to the railings!
Caterpillar! Fascinated by it, he also found one today, but then after he put it down, he stepped on it and killed it :(
Coming to touch the baby ;) He doesn't really understand it I don't think, I guess it is a pretty tough concept for him to get.
And lastly, this photo: Goodness knows what provoked this expression, I have a feeling it was just one of those amazing captures from just a variety of expressions if you know what I mean!
I can't believe how different Squidge's pregnancy is than his/her brother's. Not only because of the diabetes but also how my heartburn is less than with Robert's (so far), I've had a few niggles with it, and had to take gaviscon a couple of times, but by August 2008 it was bad enough that I had to get a prescription and from then on was taking it regularly, bearing in mind it's almost August now and I'm 7 weeks furthur on than I was with Robert at that time of the year. Maybe it will get worse, who knows?
But also, Squidge is constantly on the move, constantly squirming, waving arms/legs/head around. Beverley said Squidge was breech when I saw her on Monday. Although she seemed a little uncertain. Sometimes I think she's right and others I don't, I think Squidge must be having fun doing somersaults all the time in there! When she checked the position prior to checking the heartbeat, she must have woke Squidge up, who then went crazy! She had just asked me about Squidge's movements, and I said they were fine, then "ah, there we go!" and sure enough Squidge was wriggling, squirming, kicking around so much while Beverley was trying to get the heartbeat I was actually wondering if she'd manage to check it ok!! Robert was never like that, he was pretty chilled out during antenatal checks, occasionally gave a boot to the doppler, but then that was it!
The last two times she's actually felt Squidge move herself, so much so she put in my notes "FM - Good" (fetal movement) whereas before, and with Robert it was simply "FM" or "FMF" (fetal movement felt).
Does make me wonder if I'm going to have my hands full with Squidge, s/he is always on the move it seems. Of course having plenty of sleep times, but awake times - boy, I sure do know about it!!! Part of me is wondering if that's where all my energy is going - to Squidge!!! As s/he seems to have tonnes of it and I'm just SO. TIRED. all the time lately. Every day I wake up and wish I could have more sleep. Every day I have to nap with Robert. And then I'm itching to go to bed at barely 9pm every night, sometimes even at 8, 8.30. But then another thing it could be is the diabetes. Or maybe I'm anaemic this time, I guess I'll find out at my next midwife appointment on the 9th August. It would just be my luck I suppose to be anaemic as well, and have to take iron tablets.
Anyway, 30 weeks tomorrow. I can hardly believe it. 10 weeks from now I am due to be cuddling a second tiny baby which seems just crazy. And still a little surreal to be honest. I remember feeling the same with Robert, finding it difficult to imagine the reality that I am actually growing a BABY and that it won't really be long until it's here, with us, as a part of our family. I do actually also wonder if activity in the womb has a bearing on when they're likely to be born, will the fact that Squidge is ultra active mean s/he is born at an earlier gestation than Robert? Probably not I'm sure there are plenty of people who can disprove this with their babies.
Anyway I shall leave you with a few recent photos of my gorgeous boy (who's getting more and more grown up by the day!)
Robert's "grin" face :)
Peeking out of a bird hide at a country park, he was looking at some ducks on the lake.
Eating his dinner. We put out a fork every meal or a spoon depending on the meal, and we encourage him to use it but we don't put pressure on him, I'm sure he'll use it all the time when he's ready!
Playing with the goats at a local kiddie farm, they are allowed to go in the pens as long as they don't chase the goats!
Picking strawberries at Grandma's house, he loved this!
Sitting at his table, he loves to sit here and colour, or read books, or eat his snack and lunch. I've started to give him his sandwich at his table, and it's going pretty well although he often has a lot of half eaten bits of sandwich on the plate at the end! I ask him to sit back down if he's eating and only let him wander off if he's finished (which he now signs to me by the way!)
Enjoying the see-saw :)
Bath time fun :) This is his "mischeivous" look he gets, at this point he was sliding himself up and down the bath mat while holding on to the railings!
Caterpillar! Fascinated by it, he also found one today, but then after he put it down, he stepped on it and killed it :(
Coming to touch the baby ;) He doesn't really understand it I don't think, I guess it is a pretty tough concept for him to get.
And lastly, this photo: Goodness knows what provoked this expression, I have a feeling it was just one of those amazing captures from just a variety of expressions if you know what I mean!
Thursday, 22 July 2010
29 weeks! Appointment updates and belly picture
Hello! Well I am now 29 weeks! I can't believe I'm 1 week away from 30 weeks! Then I'll be in my 30s all the way until baby is born (give or take a few weeks haha!)
Squidge is so so so active, I'm thinking as time goes on that s/he MUST be more active than Robert was. I'm sooo looking forward to meeting him/her and finding out whether it is a him or a her!
Facebookers will know that my appointments this week were either end of the spectrum. The consultant appointment on Monday was a waste of time, pure and simple. We waited in the waiting room for an hour and a half past our appointment time, to be told that he'd prefer me to have the baby in hospital (but he wouldn't "lock me up in here" if I decided not to), that I probably wouldn't have any growth scans, and that I needed to see the diabetic consultant. His reasoning for him preferring me to have a hospital birth was purely and simply because Robert was big and his delivery was tough. Well, without knowing if Squidge is going to be big for certain what use is that??? I am very much hoping that my diabetes consultant appointment gives me more acceptable answers that are relating to SQUIDGE'S birth, and not Robert's.
Yesterday I had my appointment with the diabetic nurse and the dietician. Which was very informative and has put my mind at rest regarding a lot of things. I have been given a finger prick kit and taught how to use it, and been told that as long as my blood sugar levels are below 7.8 that's fine, and to wait an hour after each meal before testing. My breakfast of toast with jam brought my sugar levels to 7.2 after an hour (and 10 minutes) so that's good :) Will try again tomorrow and see if maybe any less jam does the same. Or maybe try my usual cereal and see what happens with that. The next two days are really about experimenting, seeing how high my usual meals and eating habits send my sugar levels, and then the weekend will be about adjusting that.
Anyway, so that's that :)
I had a good birthday weekend, I saw my mum and she was thrilled to spend so much time with Robert (and delighted in his new speaking, and his running around on tip toes!). For my birthday present she took me to matalan and helped me pick out some new tops I could wear as maternity (they weren't specifically maternity clothing yet again, but they look great with my bump!)
I got this one in this pink and in a green...
I got this one which will be great for BF after the baby is born too!
I got this one in green and white stripes..
And I got another one which I can't actually find on the website :( It's quite a long one with a nice funky blue pattern on it, I do actually wonder if it's a dress but I would never wear it as such ;)
Anyway here is my 28 week belly shot (which I took last week!)
And for comparison, Robert's 28 week belly shot
That's about it for now really! Thank you for your comments on the last few entries, I love reading them!
Squidge is so so so active, I'm thinking as time goes on that s/he MUST be more active than Robert was. I'm sooo looking forward to meeting him/her and finding out whether it is a him or a her!
Facebookers will know that my appointments this week were either end of the spectrum. The consultant appointment on Monday was a waste of time, pure and simple. We waited in the waiting room for an hour and a half past our appointment time, to be told that he'd prefer me to have the baby in hospital (but he wouldn't "lock me up in here" if I decided not to), that I probably wouldn't have any growth scans, and that I needed to see the diabetic consultant. His reasoning for him preferring me to have a hospital birth was purely and simply because Robert was big and his delivery was tough. Well, without knowing if Squidge is going to be big for certain what use is that??? I am very much hoping that my diabetes consultant appointment gives me more acceptable answers that are relating to SQUIDGE'S birth, and not Robert's.
Yesterday I had my appointment with the diabetic nurse and the dietician. Which was very informative and has put my mind at rest regarding a lot of things. I have been given a finger prick kit and taught how to use it, and been told that as long as my blood sugar levels are below 7.8 that's fine, and to wait an hour after each meal before testing. My breakfast of toast with jam brought my sugar levels to 7.2 after an hour (and 10 minutes) so that's good :) Will try again tomorrow and see if maybe any less jam does the same. Or maybe try my usual cereal and see what happens with that. The next two days are really about experimenting, seeing how high my usual meals and eating habits send my sugar levels, and then the weekend will be about adjusting that.
Anyway, so that's that :)
I had a good birthday weekend, I saw my mum and she was thrilled to spend so much time with Robert (and delighted in his new speaking, and his running around on tip toes!). For my birthday present she took me to matalan and helped me pick out some new tops I could wear as maternity (they weren't specifically maternity clothing yet again, but they look great with my bump!)
I got this one in this pink and in a green...
I got this one which will be great for BF after the baby is born too!
I got this one in green and white stripes..
And I got another one which I can't actually find on the website :( It's quite a long one with a nice funky blue pattern on it, I do actually wonder if it's a dress but I would never wear it as such ;)
Anyway here is my 28 week belly shot (which I took last week!)
And for comparison, Robert's 28 week belly shot
That's about it for now really! Thank you for your comments on the last few entries, I love reading them!
Thursday, 15 July 2010
28 weeks - mw appointment, diabetes.
As most of you will probably know from facebook, my results came back from the glucose tolerance test as me having "elavated blood sugar levels", which implies that I do indeed have gestational diabetes. I was in complete shock when she told me, I was completely expecting her to say it was fine. So now she has referred me to a diabetes nurse on Wednesday, as well as the consultant on Monday, and will probably get referred to a specialist consultant as well. What a nightmare!
I have no idea what to expect on Monday, what is going to be asked/discussed. I feel a little left out in the wind right now, not knowing what's going on. I feel fine in myself, apart from the odd spate of tiredness which I put down to pregnancy in general. What I'm finding weird is the sheer volume of appointments with various people I have had and been given to attend. Had my MW app at 24+4, then my blood test this monday gone at 27+4, MW at 27+6, got my consultant app on 28+4, diabetic nurse app 28+6, then MW again 29+4. Will likely have more cons apps, diabetic nurse apps, diabetes consultant apps and growth scans along with normal (and extra!!!) MW apps. I feel completely overwhelmed if truth be told.
This combined with needing to get over Robert's birth. I surprisingly had a normal BP after she told me I had diabetes, but I bet if she was to take it now having had time to digest it and everything else, it'd be sky high. And surprise surprise - no glucose in urine. She said she's going to speak to Louise for me regarding a debrief since I've not heard back from the community midwife unit yet.
I am confused following a phone call with my dad (supposed type 2 diabetic who says he never has any problem with it anymore and everyone who sees him regarding his diabetes always says "why are you here?") about the glucose levels she put in my notes, and just how low they've put the threshold for diabetes, as my sugar levels showed up as 8.9 after 2 hours from drinking that drink, 5.1 before hand. So I dunno. I am confused, and overwhelmed, and despite the extra scans I will get to see Squidge again, I am suddenly wishing for the normal pregnancy I appeared to have with Robert.
I am also somewhat selfishly wondering about what sort of diet changes I will have to make. I like my treats, maybe they are becoming more of a regularity than treat these days as the thought that I won't be able to have them anymore is scary. I already eat plenty of fruit and veg, I've made the switch from white to wholegrain bread (Hovis seed sensations, I'm not sure if it counts as wholemeal, but it's surely better than white?). I am worried though that maybe I will carry on having diabetes after Squidge is here. I wonder if I have to cut out all sugar completely. Can I have yoghurts? Can I have jam on my toast in the morning?
And then yesterday I made the mistake of telling Sarah while other people around. Off sparked a discussion amongst everyone in the room on gestational diabetes, how I would now HAVE to have a hospital birth, whether I like it or not, etc. Sigh. I just want to crawl under a rock and stay there for the rest of this pregnancy.
Then there's the guilt factor coming in - could my eating habits have made this happen? If I'd been more careful, and treated my treats as such, would I be happily telling people my blood test came back clear? If maybe I wasn't obese in the first place, if I'd made more of an effort to lose the weight before would I be here now?
Well it's 28 weeks today, so it is time for a new belly picture, which I've not got round to taking yet. I'll take it later today. I hope everyone's ok.
I have no idea what to expect on Monday, what is going to be asked/discussed. I feel a little left out in the wind right now, not knowing what's going on. I feel fine in myself, apart from the odd spate of tiredness which I put down to pregnancy in general. What I'm finding weird is the sheer volume of appointments with various people I have had and been given to attend. Had my MW app at 24+4, then my blood test this monday gone at 27+4, MW at 27+6, got my consultant app on 28+4, diabetic nurse app 28+6, then MW again 29+4. Will likely have more cons apps, diabetic nurse apps, diabetes consultant apps and growth scans along with normal (and extra!!!) MW apps. I feel completely overwhelmed if truth be told.
This combined with needing to get over Robert's birth. I surprisingly had a normal BP after she told me I had diabetes, but I bet if she was to take it now having had time to digest it and everything else, it'd be sky high. And surprise surprise - no glucose in urine. She said she's going to speak to Louise for me regarding a debrief since I've not heard back from the community midwife unit yet.
I am confused following a phone call with my dad (supposed type 2 diabetic who says he never has any problem with it anymore and everyone who sees him regarding his diabetes always says "why are you here?") about the glucose levels she put in my notes, and just how low they've put the threshold for diabetes, as my sugar levels showed up as 8.9 after 2 hours from drinking that drink, 5.1 before hand. So I dunno. I am confused, and overwhelmed, and despite the extra scans I will get to see Squidge again, I am suddenly wishing for the normal pregnancy I appeared to have with Robert.
I am also somewhat selfishly wondering about what sort of diet changes I will have to make. I like my treats, maybe they are becoming more of a regularity than treat these days as the thought that I won't be able to have them anymore is scary. I already eat plenty of fruit and veg, I've made the switch from white to wholegrain bread (Hovis seed sensations, I'm not sure if it counts as wholemeal, but it's surely better than white?). I am worried though that maybe I will carry on having diabetes after Squidge is here. I wonder if I have to cut out all sugar completely. Can I have yoghurts? Can I have jam on my toast in the morning?
And then yesterday I made the mistake of telling Sarah while other people around. Off sparked a discussion amongst everyone in the room on gestational diabetes, how I would now HAVE to have a hospital birth, whether I like it or not, etc. Sigh. I just want to crawl under a rock and stay there for the rest of this pregnancy.
Then there's the guilt factor coming in - could my eating habits have made this happen? If I'd been more careful, and treated my treats as such, would I be happily telling people my blood test came back clear? If maybe I wasn't obese in the first place, if I'd made more of an effort to lose the weight before would I be here now?
Well it's 28 weeks today, so it is time for a new belly picture, which I've not got round to taking yet. I'll take it later today. I hope everyone's ok.
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