Doctor Update

It's a midweek update! It would include pictures because Brian took some last night, but he took the camera to work with him. I figured I'd just upload pics and make this post tonight, but I forgot that he's working late. So I guess the pictures will go with my usual week post instead :). They are coming!

I went to the doctor on Monday for my first 'every 2 weeks' appointment. To my great relief and utmost happiness, there was not a gown on the examining table! For those of you who don't know, that is The Sign(TM) that a pelvic exam is on the way. You do not want to have to change clothes at these appointments, it leads to things that are not fun. I am not sure when they start doing these regularly again but I think it's not until the last month. I guess we'll see.

Instead, we had our usual measure and listen to the heartbeat type of appointment. My blood pressure is good, the Pea's heartbeat sounded great, and while I am 29 weeks along, I am once again 2cm ahead of the mark with a belly that measures 31cm. The doc says this is totally fine, it just means I'm probably going to have a big baby. Um, yay? Combine this with the fact that I just found out a high school friend just had a 10lb baby girl a few days ago and I am... a little nervous. What about the tiny little 5 1/2 lb babies... like me? I want one of those, please. Thanks. I have gained 1 pound since my appointment 2 weeks ago, according to them. It fluctuates a lot lately, but I think that's about right.

The only point of possibly less good news went something like this:
Dr: Did you do your three hour already?
Me: *blank look*
Dr: Did they tell you about the three hour? Did they tell you about your one hour?
Me: *totally baffled look* Ummm...
Dr: I guess not! Well, you failed your one hour glucose test, so you have to do a fasting 3 hour one [lots of explaining].

What does this mean? It means that the high end of the normal range in the glucose resistance tests is 140 and mine was a 149. Thankfully that's pretty marginal, but it means more testing. Basically I had to fast after 8pm, go in at 8am, have a fasting blood sample drawn, drink the orange sugar stuff (only twice as concentrated) and then have more blood drawn at 1, 2, and 3 hours. If I 'fail' this test it means I have gestational diabetes.

It's one of the most common problems pregnant women have, and there is a ton of diabetes in my family so I suppose I should not be surprised. It's generally (especially with such a low 'score') manageable with diet and exercise, and checking your blood sugar at least 4 times a day. Even with treatment it tends to make really big babies - the universe is out to get me, I swear! On the positive side, doctors know this so many will schedule you to be induced a little early, and my family will definitely be able to be here if we have a date scheduled. Of course, that is all assuming I do have it, and I am hanging on and just believing that I don't.

*** WARNING! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS A LOT OF WHINING ***

So! I ate dinner Monday night and ended up dozing off and missing my planned quick snack before 8pm. I wasn't really hungry anyhow. By 10:30 and bedtime I was really hungry and wanted my usual snack, and of course the mental side of things makes it much worse. I had to get up pretty early after a night of active PeaBaby half awakeness, and I was STARVING. Let's all remember this is not usual person starving either, it is 'cranky pregnant lady I could eat a whole cow if the baby were not squishing my stomach sideways' starving. So I drive to the doctor feeling exhausted, anxious, hungry and actually a little light headed. See? Low blood sugar. Seriously. At this point I'm mostly nervous about 4 consecutive blood draws, which in my case usually means like 8 or 12 sticks and blown veins and bruising. Other than that, did I mention I'm starving? Little did I know that these 2 things were to be the least of my worries.
The phlebotomist is the same woman who did my last test, and she remembers me, which leads her to start out with a butterfly catheter/needle. Hooray! She is really good, and although I still hate the whole process she actually got every single stick on the FIRST TRY with no fishing around. She is officially my hero. She gives me the orange junk to drink, which I have to do in 5 minutes and gives me the same cautions as last time. No walking around, no going outside, drink only small sips of water and wait at least 30 minutes before drinking anything. She tells me I can use the bathroom. Um... good because otherwise my bladder would explode! And again, it will make me really sleepy, the baby might be active and if I throw up we have to cancel and do this again another day. Swell. Last time I had no problems getting the stuff down and honestly felt just fine other than when the doctor was pushing on my stomach looking for the heartbeat. This time I just have to sit around and read - no exam, so I'm thinking it'll be cake.
Ha! It was really pretty awful. I was completely nauseous from the time I started until like, 4 that afternoon. I didn't throw up but it was sheer force of will at times. I had this horrid headache that just got worse and lingered until I slept last night. Perhaps worst of all I was SO TIRED! Like, I could barely keep my eyes open and my head hurt and my stomach was upset and I was in an uncomfortable waiting room chair trying to read and not think about the next blood draw. I don't want to seem overly dramatic, but that was not a very pleasant experience to say the least. Add in the other woman doing a three hour who brought her son - probably 16-18 months old, and absolutely NOTHING for him to do. Oh, and she gave him Gatorade in a bottle, M&Ms and then later a sucker. So now we have a hyper, sugar filled, bored out of his head toddler screaming his head off to entertain himself. Lovely. I was already cranky, I admit that was part of it, but I think it's the first time since my maternal juices started flowing that I wanted to shout "Will you PLEASE shut that kid up? And in case you were wondering, toys or books or SOMETHING would have been a good idea. And Gatorade is NOT good for little guys, AND he should be out of bottles and into sippy cups by now AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE STOP FEEDING HIM SUGAR. At least until you get him out of my vicinity." So yeah, *ahem* I was cranky. :)
I survived though, and managed to eat little bits through the afternoon and slept for hours. Brian brought me dinner and then I had cereal later in the night and finally felt a bit more like myself. He says I didn't seem cranky but I think he might have been worried that I would breathe fire and fry him crispy if he accepted my apology. I feel much better today! Phew. I warned you there would be whining!
We should have results in 2-7 days per the phlebotomist, but since they didn't call me with results last time (I was told they would call if it were abnormal) I'm going to check in on Monday. All your positive non-diabetes thoughts are appreciated!