Week: 34

Weight: +2

rreSo I took my Gestational Diabetes test and I failed big time! I have a family history of diabetes on both sides and I just had a nagging feeling that I wouldn’t pass the test since I was feeling hypoglycemic symptoms occasionally. Still, I had hoped that since I wasnt’ gaining a lot of weight and the baby seemed to be on target with growth, that I didn’t have the disease. I still stalled on taking the test, delaying it by a week or two.

Nevertheless, fail I did and big time! Usually when you fail the first one-hour test you have to take a three-hour one. There are plenty of women who fail the first test but go on to successfully pass the second one. But if you fail big time like I did, they dont’ bother with the second test. You just get to go for Diabetic counseling with a nurse and dietitian who monitors your diet and glucose levels. If it can’t be controlled I might have to go on insulin. For now, we’re trying diet control solely.

The meeting with the dietitian and nurse at the Diabetic Center werent’ so bad. I have a problem with waiting wayy too long to eat in general, mostly 5-6 hours, which is an eternity for pregnant women, so my sugars were dipping really low and then skyrocketing and crashing when I finally did manage to eat something, (sometimes sugary coffee and muffins).  I liked the proposed menu overall of wholesome, nutrient-rich food that were a great mix of complex carbohydrates and protein. The only foods that were off-limits to me were white sugar and items containing white sugar (cookies, cakes, desserts, etc.) and fruit juice.  The fruit juice was a bummer more than the sugar. There’s plenty of things I can have with Splenda, but man oh man, was I going to miss my orange juice, apple juice, etc. Also, the menu suggested not having any fruit at all in the morning hours when blood sugar is naturally high in your body.  The whole diagnosis was really a bummer at first and it made me angry to limit and change my diet, but now I’ve come to accept it and just try my best to follow it to the best of my ability to avoid going on insulin.

Starting this diet Christmas week was not the most brilliant of plans, but that’s when I had to start it! Despite some white rice, some delicious bites of pysom, and a cheater’s gulp of Sprite here and there on Christmas Day, I thought I did pretty well. We also had a series of potlucks at our house over the weekend where I did partake in some sugar cookies, punch, etc. I wasnt’ surprised when my sugar results for those evenings were borderline-high. But nothing was crazy, so I wasn’t worried.

When I called in my numbers to the nurse Monday morning, she wasn’t thrilled. She claimed I had too many ‘borderline’ numbers and that the doctor doesn’t wait past a week of high glucose levels to prescribe insulin. I had to beg and plead my case that it was the holidays and my first week at this new menu plan and that I needed a do-over week. She agreed and said she would note it on her recommendations to my doctor. I have an appt tomorrow with my OBGYN, let’s see what he says! I also have a fetal growth u/s scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully Baby Andrew is not a little fatty as a result of his mommy’s Christmas indulgences!

I think it might be psychosomatic, but suddenly I’m ravenous for food all the time now. I want to eat every 2-3 hours and I cannot wait after main meals for my snack. I need to have my snack right away. I’m going to have to find ‘free’ snacks like celery sticks, etc to munch on until the 2-hour wait  till snack time comes, and I can devour my apple and peanut butter or graham crackers and milk. I think it could also be that I’m just hungrier since I’m in my 8th month of pregnancy! Women’s appetites are known to increase at the end and then drop towards the last week or two when they have no ‘room’ left to eat since the baby takes up most the space in your mid-section at that point.

I’ve noticed I’ve been waddling a lot lately, almost leading with my belly. I’m kinda content with how big my belly is now and I’m really scared I’m just going to explode towards the last couple of weeks. I only have six more weeks to go till my due date! Technically, the doctor told me I could go into labor in another month! AHHH! It’s all so close. I have trouble getting off the couch and bed now and I definitely need someone to help me up at times or I find I have to roll myself up somehow. It’s all so nuts!

I had some seriously uncomfortable Braxton-Hicks contractions on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I was almost slightly panicked that maybe it was real-life contractions and I was going into pre-term labor. But they never became extremely painful and there was no pattern to the contractions.  I guess I should just expect more tightening in the weeks to come as my body “practices” for labor.

My sister came over last weekend and we were stuck indoors mostly because of the bad Northeastern snowstorm.  With all the spare time, she helped Saji put together the baby’s crib and two bookshelves! Additionally, Saji was on a roll and put together our second pack n’ play and stroller, and one of his friends came over Christmas Eve and put together my glider! I finally got the rug I ordered for Andrew’s room from Pottery Barn Kids and I was really happy with the plushness and thickness of it! We still have a shelf to install in the room and the window valances, but besides that everything is pretty much set to go! We’ve bought everything we needed and I think the only thing I have left to buy is my breast pump. I’ve been shopping around at some hospital supply stores and saw that the pump I wanted was almost a hundred dollars cheaper there! I think I will definitely be buying it from there vs. Babies R Us or another baby store.

We have an infant care/breastfeeding class left to take next weekend. It’s an all day Saturday class and hopefully it’ll be informative and interesting enough so time doesn’t drag. I feel really clueless about breastfeeding despite all the literature I’ve read on it. I feel like it’s just one of those things that you will get the hang of when you’re doing it.  I’m also nervous about infant care and how to manage feeding/sleeping schedules of a newborn. I know all new parents are nervous and overwhelmed by this, and every single baby is different. It’ll all just be a trial and error process! My mother has five weeks of vacation scheduled for when Andrew is born.  In the beginning of my pregnancy, I was totally against my mother staying more than two weeks with me because I thought she would drive me crazy. But now as I near my due date and I’m turning into a huge chicken, I almost wish she could stay with me till Andrew’s three months old!

I also changed my mind about having my mother in the Labor & Delivery room. I wanted the experience to be shared between just me and Saji, but now I find having the idea of my mother there comforting, especially since she has a background in the medical field and especially L&D. My mother was a certified midwife in the Indian army for several years and delivered several babies. Of course, I know she’ll still totally be annoying and irk me, but hopefully my nerves and fears will cancel out the getting annoyed!

Aside from all that, I’ve been incredibly restless lately. I think I’ve seen more movies this month than I have combined all of last year! There’s been a lot of going out to dinner and get togethers with friends, mostly because I know in a few short weeks, I’ll be confined with an infant to my house. I already feel somewhat limited because I can’t travel in the car for more than 45 minutes without feeling super uncomfortable. My doctor told me to cut out the long car trips, so that means no more trips to NY. It was weird not seeing my parents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I dont’ think that’s ever happened really! They did come visit me a few weekends before but it still wasn’t the same. I’ve also had to decline a few invitations to parties and showers because the drive would be too much. That’s been incredibly frustrating for me because I want to socialize!

I really felt like such a slacker this year because I didn’t decorate for Christmas. No tree, no ornaments, no stockings, no Christmas lights, no baking Christmas cookies, not even a lousy wreath! I’m an all or nothing person and I just felt to overwhelmed this year with preparing for the baby to really invest time in preparing properly for the holidays. I tell myself it’ll be nice next year with Andrew and I’ll go all out for his first Christmas!

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