We spent a week with sickness going through the house. Beau had strep and an ear infection. Scrappy caught a bad cold and had a sore throat. Hubs ended up with an awful head cold, bad enough that it kept him home from work for a day. In the middle of all that, we still went to a benefit for our friend who has terminal cancer. We didn't stay long, but we did make it there. After everyone else had gotten over being sick, I got hit with a head cold. My balance is horrid as it is just from the pregnancy. Add the vertigo that comes with severely clogged sinuses does not help. And the additional dizziness, which we thought was from low blood sugar from what the doctors said.
My weekends have been super busy with the kids and with hubs working Saturdays and church and Sunday school on Sundays. It's been so busy that I even gave away the 10 gallons of tomatoes that I had picked a week ago with the intention of making spaghetti sauce. I still have 3 bags and a box of apples sitting on the table out back that I haven't had time to do yet. From my dizzy spells, I've decided it's something I can't do if hubs isn't here. Maybe this weekend I'll have a chance to do at least some of them. On Sunday that is, since he's going in to work on Saturday. My car has decided it doesn't wanna work right - almost sounds like the spark plugs are misfiring or maybe something with the fuel injectors, but it shakes and jerks so awful when it's idling. He's going to see if he can figure out what's wrong with it.
An update on baby: My last appointment, on Tuesday, baby weighed in at about 3 pounds 4 ounces. My previous appointment baby was about 2 pounds, so he/she is growing really well!! We still see echogenic bowel, but we weren't too surprised by that. The blood pocket is still there too. When I went to TOPS yesterday, I finally gained 2 pounds. Doc said I SHOULD be gaining about 1/2-1 pound per week and baby should be gaining 1/4-1/2 pound per week.
Shortly after we got home, the doctor's office called. It's never a good thing when the call after you leave.... I had my blood tests and glucose screening done, so they were calling with the results. My hemoglobin is about 12.4, which is great since I'm normally borderline anemic. My thyroid levels were good too, so that means the higher dose of levothyroxin is working just as it should be doing.
Then the bad news - I failed my glucose test. Dr Rose has said that 140 and under is considered to be 'normal', 141-189 is 'inconclusive' and warrants a retest which is a 3 hour fasting test, and 190+ is considered having gestational diabetes. Well, I tested in at 191. Yay, another complication. For the next week, I'm supposed to log all the food I eat. They sent a few prescriptions over for me to get filled. One was for lancets, one for a glucose monitor, and one for test strips. I go back to Rochester next Thursday to meet with the dietitian and diabetic counselor. They are going to show me how to check my blood sugars and when I'm supposed to do it. From the sounds of it, they don't think I'll need medication and I should be able to control it just by what I eat. We'll see what happens. Hubs is taking the afternoon off to go with me.
The nurse I spoke with on the phone gave me a 'heads up' on a few other concerns. When a mom has gestational diabetes, the baby usually has a higher birth weight. Babies born at term are closer to 10 pounds, which she said can cause complications in itself. There is a chance of shoulder dysplasia and an increased risk of C-section. Baby also runs risks from his/her blood sugar dropping after birth and will have to be more closely monitored after birth. It sounds like I will be going in for weekly appointments after my appointment on Thursday so they can monitor the baby with non-stress tests and to watch the baby's weight and the amount of fluid. I guess this really isn't such a bad thing since we're getting closer to when the doc figures the baby will come. As of right now I'm almost 29 weeks.
My wonderfully amazing husband talked to his boss after I called to tell him about my upcoming appointment. He asked if I wanted him to go with me, and after some discussion, he told me it was best if I don't travel that far alone (it's over an hour drive to see our doctors, but they ARE specialists and some of the best in the country!) He told his boss that my appointments are going to be weekly. One of the great things about him working for a small shop is that his boss is much more flexible than most. His boss has a child with medical issues also, so he's pretty understanding about all this. He said it's fine, but that hubs is going to have to make up some, if not all, of the time somehow. So that means he'll probably be working Saturdays, or possibly just staying a couple hours late most nights. I'm ok with that, especially since he's really doing it for me. Isn't that just the sweetest thing?? I know I sing his praises quite often, but from my past relationship experiences, most of those 'men' wouldn't have been so supportive.
Speaking of my wonderful husband, I got some 'alone time' out with him on Saturday (after he cleaned up the branch we lost during Thursday's wind storm!)
We had a sitter come for a few hours while we went out for a few hours. It was his birthday, and there was a big 'We Love You' party for our friend with cancer. I was the designated driver, obviously. We went for him to have a few adult beverages and to visit with friends, then out for supper. We had just asked for a 'to-go' container when the sitter called - Scraps was vomiting :( She sat with Beau while we took him into Urgent Care since he was already on antibiotics but was still running a fever.
These past almost 2 weeks, I have be very tired besides dealing with the dizzy spells. Hopefully after Thursday we can get all of this under control. But my house is falling apart. My kitchen is a disaster. I don't have the energy to get caught up with it. I've fallen way behind on laundry. I can barely stay awake enough to do my homework. I've been doing all my errands right away in the morning after dropping Beau off at school, and by the time I get home I'm completely wiped.
One of my current classes, stress management and wellness, has given me some tools to use to help combat stress. I've actually been practicing some of the meditation methods and found them useful. Some are more difficult to do with small children around, but I make due. I'll be sure to post the ones that are working best :) I'm actually thinking of using some of the meditation methods for labor when baby comes! Yes, I'm planning to do this delivery all natural again, so we'll see what happens!
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