GD is what all the pregnancy message board posters call gestational diabetes for short. I will not be calling it that - I think that kind of internet shorthand is annoying because I always find myself having to Google the acronyms to find out what on earth they mean. Also, I don't have have gestational diabetes - hooray!!! - so I can afford to type it out one more time and never think about it again!
I did find out yesterday that I failed my 1 hour glucose test. My blood glucose level was 145, and it needed to be less than 140 to pass. So today Lee and I sat in the laboratory waiting room with 2 other expectant mom and dad pairs taking the 3 hour glucose test. It was a glucose testing party. The 3 hour test involves testing your fasting blood sugar level, drinking twice as much glucose drink as the 1 hour test, then testing your blood sugar level 3 more times 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours after drinking the glucose. That's 4 blood draws in all. Fortunately, I have no problems with needles, and phlebotomists love my big, dark veins. I felt and still feel awful from the sugar high this morning, but Lee took me out to lunch and then we ran some errands after the test. On our way home we stopped back by the OB clinic to get my results. You have to pass 2 out of 3 of the post-drink blood draws. I passed all 3 by very comfortable margins :-)
And that brings us to the end of 2nd trimester testing (big sigh of relief)! My next appointment will be right before we move at the very beginning of my 3rd trimester.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Vaca - and Full-Length Mirrors
Our get-away to the mountains was wonderful and exactly what we needed!
We stopped at Dachau on the way there. We'd been meaning to do that. While it is educational and a part of human history that I think is important to understand and remember, I don't think we can be blamed too much for not exactly being excited about this visit. We're glad we went though, as we learned some things we hadn't known and there's just nothing like seeing a place with your own eyes to help you understand.
The next day we walked from our hotel to the tourist area of Garmisch and mostly we just wandered with no agenda. We picked up a poster we'd seen on our first visit to Garmisch but failed to buy. It's a map of the Alps with South at the top of the map and North at the bottom - a unique perspective. We sat at an outdoor table and enjoyed lunch and apple strudel. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel and took naps and read, feeling no guilt as it was raining outside.
In the morning we got up early in an attempt to get a view from the top of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, before it was completely socked in by clouds. We had no luck, though the cable car ride was thrilling :-) And again we spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading. I had my first maternity massage, which was wonderful. We even stayed in for dinner. It was just so nice to have no place to be, no looming deadlines, and no schedule - a perfect short vacation!
While we were gone I did come to realize that most of our household goods, including our only full-length mirror, have been packed up and on their way to our new home for over a month now. So really, other than brief reflections in store windows, it's been five weeks since I've had a chance to see myself in a full-length mirror - I guess I've just been judging how I look by how others react to seeing me. I think it was between 20 and 22 weeks when my belly seemed to become the first thing friends noticed about me. Well, our hotel room had several large mirrors, and I got a good look at myself. I actually stood in front of the mirror for a while - shocked. When did my belly get so big?! When did I get to be 25 weeks pregnant?! This is some crazy stuff! These are all good things, of course, but seeing that belly definitely caught me off-guard :-)
Today we're spending one more day relaxing at home. Tomorrow begins our final week of living in our wonderful German house.
Happy Father's Day, all!
We stopped at Dachau on the way there. We'd been meaning to do that. While it is educational and a part of human history that I think is important to understand and remember, I don't think we can be blamed too much for not exactly being excited about this visit. We're glad we went though, as we learned some things we hadn't known and there's just nothing like seeing a place with your own eyes to help you understand.
The next day we walked from our hotel to the tourist area of Garmisch and mostly we just wandered with no agenda. We picked up a poster we'd seen on our first visit to Garmisch but failed to buy. It's a map of the Alps with South at the top of the map and North at the bottom - a unique perspective. We sat at an outdoor table and enjoyed lunch and apple strudel. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel and took naps and read, feeling no guilt as it was raining outside.
In the morning we got up early in an attempt to get a view from the top of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, before it was completely socked in by clouds. We had no luck, though the cable car ride was thrilling :-) And again we spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading. I had my first maternity massage, which was wonderful. We even stayed in for dinner. It was just so nice to have no place to be, no looming deadlines, and no schedule - a perfect short vacation!
While we were gone I did come to realize that most of our household goods, including our only full-length mirror, have been packed up and on their way to our new home for over a month now. So really, other than brief reflections in store windows, it's been five weeks since I've had a chance to see myself in a full-length mirror - I guess I've just been judging how I look by how others react to seeing me. I think it was between 20 and 22 weeks when my belly seemed to become the first thing friends noticed about me. Well, our hotel room had several large mirrors, and I got a good look at myself. I actually stood in front of the mirror for a while - shocked. When did my belly get so big?! When did I get to be 25 weeks pregnant?! This is some crazy stuff! These are all good things, of course, but seeing that belly definitely caught me off-guard :-)
Today we're spending one more day relaxing at home. Tomorrow begins our final week of living in our wonderful German house.
Happy Father's Day, all!
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
So Much Testing!
It seems like the 2nd trimester is full of testing. This is supposed to be the fun, feel-good trimester, but I'm feeling a little bogged down in the testing and other things that they can discover that can go wrong.
Yesterday I took my 1 hour glucose test. I heard all kinds of horrible things about the glucose drink and it being nauseatingly sweet. Overblown. It was fine. It tasted like sprite, and since I'd been eating light, it actually made me feel better for about 30 minutes while I rode the sugar high. Then gradually I started to feel unsettled and ended the day with a slight headache/sugar hangover. Apparently if I passed, the hospital here won't tell me that until my next appointment 3 weeks from now. I called and requested a phone consult, so I should hear either way by next week :)
Fortunately, we're heading to the hills tomorrow to get away from it all! A retreat in the Alps is just what we need!
Yesterday I took my 1 hour glucose test. I heard all kinds of horrible things about the glucose drink and it being nauseatingly sweet. Overblown. It was fine. It tasted like sprite, and since I'd been eating light, it actually made me feel better for about 30 minutes while I rode the sugar high. Then gradually I started to feel unsettled and ended the day with a slight headache/sugar hangover. Apparently if I passed, the hospital here won't tell me that until my next appointment 3 weeks from now. I called and requested a phone consult, so I should hear either way by next week :)
Fortunately, we're heading to the hills tomorrow to get away from it all! A retreat in the Alps is just what we need!
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
A Little Scare
We had a mostly good appointment yesterday. The really good news: the 20 week ultrasound showed that our girl's anatomy looks really good and she is growing normally. Her heart rate was strong and healthy as well. Our midwife also confirmed via ultrasound that we are in fact having a girl :-) My fundal height (the height of my uterus) is a very healthy 24.5 cm - I don't understand how on earth it's going to reach full height inside my little torso, but lots of petite ladies have babies, so there certainly must be a way.
On the not so good side of things, my blood pressure was a little higher than it should have been, so I had to go in today and have it tested again. The risk was potential preeclampsia. Fortunately, today, though I was quite anxious, my blood pressure measured low enough to relieve the worry of preeclampsia for now and additional tests were not needed. Hooray!
Next week we get to tackle glucose testing!
On the not so good side of things, my blood pressure was a little higher than it should have been, so I had to go in today and have it tested again. The risk was potential preeclampsia. Fortunately, today, though I was quite anxious, my blood pressure measured low enough to relieve the worry of preeclampsia for now and additional tests were not needed. Hooray!
Next week we get to tackle glucose testing!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Vacation!
I've fallen a little behind on the blog the past couple of weeks. Partly that's because we went on an amazing vacation to the Lofoten Islands in Norway and I was trying to "disconnect", and partly because there's not been a whole lot to write about. Everything seems to be progressing well. We never received any calls about major issues discovered at our 20 week ultrasound, so we'll review the results as planned at our scheduled appointment in a week.
Feeling the baby move has been pretty much a daily thing since about week 18 - I'm 22 weeks now. Lee still doesn't get to regularly feel her, but it's fun to see his whole face light up when he does. According to some developmental blurb we read, the baby can now perceive light from outside the uterus. Of course, being the scientifically minded people we are, we immediately set about testing her response to outside light. Lee shined a flashlight at a specific point on my abdomen, and she kicked at it, or hit at it, or something - I felt her move right where the light was anyway. It was so cool to actually be interacting with our kid!
I'm generally feeling well. It's seems like I revisit my morning sickness days about once every other week, but I recover quickly and can move on with my day. The craziest thing I've felt lately is the days when I get so hungry I could clean out our whole fridge and not be satisfied. I feel really, really hungry, like I'm starving every 2 to 3 hours for a day or so. The hunger is not an everyday thing, maybe just once a week. I can't remember feeling anything like it ever in my life. Guess that happens when you're growing another person.
I got my first Stitch Fix this week. They started offering maternity sizes in March, so I decided to give it a try. I loved it! I would have kept everything, but the size on one item was just slightly off. I think the key was a Pinterest board of styles I like that I linked to my style profile. If you're a woman who hasn't considered it, I definitely recommend giving it a try. If you use my referral link I get referral credit. https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/5140704 This will be my only push for that :-)
We'll update more and share some of our big ultrasound results next week after our appointment!
Here's a picture from the Hurtigruten portion of our trip. You can see my belly even though I'm trying my best to cover it up with a down jacket :-)
Feeling the baby move has been pretty much a daily thing since about week 18 - I'm 22 weeks now. Lee still doesn't get to regularly feel her, but it's fun to see his whole face light up when he does. According to some developmental blurb we read, the baby can now perceive light from outside the uterus. Of course, being the scientifically minded people we are, we immediately set about testing her response to outside light. Lee shined a flashlight at a specific point on my abdomen, and she kicked at it, or hit at it, or something - I felt her move right where the light was anyway. It was so cool to actually be interacting with our kid!
I'm generally feeling well. It's seems like I revisit my morning sickness days about once every other week, but I recover quickly and can move on with my day. The craziest thing I've felt lately is the days when I get so hungry I could clean out our whole fridge and not be satisfied. I feel really, really hungry, like I'm starving every 2 to 3 hours for a day or so. The hunger is not an everyday thing, maybe just once a week. I can't remember feeling anything like it ever in my life. Guess that happens when you're growing another person.
I got my first Stitch Fix this week. They started offering maternity sizes in March, so I decided to give it a try. I loved it! I would have kept everything, but the size on one item was just slightly off. I think the key was a Pinterest board of styles I like that I linked to my style profile. If you're a woman who hasn't considered it, I definitely recommend giving it a try. If you use my referral link I get referral credit. https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/5140704 This will be my only push for that :-)
We'll update more and share some of our big ultrasound results next week after our appointment!
Here's a picture from the Hurtigruten portion of our trip. You can see my belly even though I'm trying my best to cover it up with a down jacket :-)
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