37 Week Pregnancy Update - I'm in Hospital

Sorry I missed a week people. I have had a hectic few weeks. This blog comes out a little before I'm actually 37 weeks but since I missed the last one (due to internet problems at home) I decided to pop this one up in the middle. I cannot believe that in a few short weeks my little man will be here snuggling with me!! And it turns out that he may be here earlier than we anticipated... more on that to follow....

On the app, Blueberry is the size of a honeydew melon. Now that getting big, which i am definitely feeling in my ribs and hips. I am now on the homestretch. Blueberry is now considered near-term as he would be able to survive outside the womb with minimal extra medical care. He is over 2.7kg and around 45cm long roughly, so he is basically his birth size. These last few weeks he will continue cooking to get those finishing touches ready for the outside.

As I said before these past few weeks have been crazy! I had my midwife appointment on the Tuesday of my 35th week and everything was fine. Blueberrys heartbeat was normal, my blood pressure was normal, my blood sugar levels were normal (I had a few high ones here and there, but they were just me experimenting with dinners and things like that). The only thing was that i hadn't put on any weight since the fortnight before and that was something i needed to work on or they would have to check to make sure bub was growing at a proper rate. I had a blood test and everything was fine.
When I woke up the next day, my sugar level was really high. I just assumed that I probably had my supper too late the night before and it had carried over to my morning read. But then over the next few days, I continued to get high reading after high reading and I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I eventually got three consecutive high readings in a row and had to call the hospital. I then had the dietician call me and arrange to meet with me after I kept a food diary for the weekend to show her what I was eating, in the hope that she would be able to figure out where I was going wrong and we could get everything back on track. So I kept the food diary and went to see her on Monday.
We went through what I was eating after she looked at the continuous high levels I was getting and she came to the conclusion that it wasn't my diet that was leading to these high readings, as I had been following the diet really well (her words, not mine ha ha). She also told me that the average amount of weight to be put on during a pregnancy, for someone my size was 11-16kg and I had only put on just over 8kg to date, and that the fact that I was trying so hard to keep or make my levels lower was affecting the amount of carbs I was actually eating. So in other words, I wasn't eating enough and I couldn't limit what I was eating to control my sugar levels,  it had to be done another way. So she made an appointment later than day for me to see a doctor.
Hearing this was a little bit frustrating. I had been working so hard to stick to this diet, and to hear that it wasn't working for me was very disheartening. I returned later that afternoon to see the doctor, only to be told that I was being admitted to the hospital. After being monitored for about an hour, I was told that they would be starting me on insulin injections to help my body break down the sugar as my hormones were  making it hard for me to do that presently and I would be staying overnight in the hospital. I was so lucky that I had my mum there with me, and that she was able to take Sienna home with her.
The next day however, my morning sugar levels were still high, even after the injection, so i was to stay another night on their diet so they could refer to what I was eating and they were going to give me another injection before dinner (teaching me how to do the injections myself, as I would have to continue at home when I leave), and they would give me a bigger dose before I went to bed that night.
The next day, my sugar levels were higher than the previous morning, so I was stuck there for another night with higher dosages again.
Now there is nothing worse than being stuck in  hospital when you didn't know you were going to be there for this long, having absolutely nothing to do. Again, I am thankful to my family for dropping a few things off to keep me sane and hygenic.
Yesterday, for whatever the reason, at dinnertime my sugar levels dropped dramatically. Thank God!! The insulin I had been taken must have finally kicked in,  as it was the lowest its ever been the whole time I've had Gestational Diabetes.
This morning, my sugar levels are still low which means that I finally get to go home!!! I am meeting with the diabetes consultant here and then I am free!! I'll let you know what the outcome of that meeting is in my next blog, because I really want to get this up and go home :-)

I also learned that because I am on insulin, I will not be going to full term either. They will most likely induce me at 39 weeks, if I don't have him naturally beforehand, which means we will have little man here with us even earlier than expected. But his sugar levels will need to be monitored closely for the first 24 hours after he is born.

I have been having a lot of tightness in the stomach again this fortnight, which has led to painful ribs and difficulty breathing. Over the last few days though, some of the tightness has been a little painful and i have felt quite a lot of heaviness and pressure downwards. So I think blueberry is getting in the right position to come out and is starting with some practise/soft contractions.
Now I have heard that being induced isn't the most comfortable or nicest thing to go through, so I'm a little nervous about it. Can anyone out there share their experiences with induction with me? I have also been looking up natural ways of inducing baby myself. Can anyone give me tips on what worked for them?

You'll have to excuse the horrific bump picture this week as I blogged this from the hospital and they don't have the most accommodating mirrors for selfies, understandably.

30 Weeks Pregnancy Update Bad News =(

Only 10 weeks to go!!! I am literally down to the countdown of weeks on my two hands!!! That is absolute craziness!! I really need this pregnancy to slow down now or Blueberry will be here in no time at all. It's funny because it seems like just yesterday, but at the same time so long ago that I found out I was pregnant, and now I'm facing only about 6 weeks left of work (then it will really kick in). I feel like I need to start getting organised now. So today I have been going through some of Siennas old clothes and picking out things that could be classed as more unisex for Blueberry to wear too, and getting the bassinet ready in our room (so I don't have to worry about it later). I have been going through some clothes that my Aunty has given me for Blueberry with my mum, and you forget how small they are. The little overalls and onesies just look so tiny, and most of them are 0000 in size, when Sienna was born she was too small for 00000, so imagine how small she must have been!! Gah where does the time go??

According to my App, Blueberry just over 43cm from head to toe and weighs about 1.6kg so he is getting bigger slowly, but over the next few weeks is expected to put on about half a pound (or about 230g) a week leading up to the big day. My midwife said he is measuring well and has a strong heartbeat (I had Sienna in the room with me at my appointment while all this was being done, and she started dancing to the rhythm of Blueberrys heartbeat, it was so cute!). Blueberry kicked the midwife a few times during the measuring, which she said was good movement and the sign of a healthy baby. I got to feel his head which is downward in the correct position, thank goodness, which also indicates that he is lowering himself downward towards the birth canal, ready to be born. His back is on my right side and his feet are over on the left, which would explain why I am having so much movement on the left side, especially at night when he decides to have a little soccer game on my insides. Although I do know there is the chance that he will keep moving position throughout the rest of the pregnancy.

Other symptoms that I have been experiencing this week are mood swings (which I thought I was over with during the first trimester), I have been tearing up at silly things on TV and on Facebook constantly. Still having difficulty sleeping due to uncomfortableness and huge movement. The heat has actually been bearable for a majority of this week so I can't blame that. I am still getting very out of breath, even just talking sometimes leaves me feeling like I've just run a marathon. And, especially over the last few days, my belly has been feeling heavier than usual. I know that's because he is growing, but I feel like my belly has dropped, even just the smallest bit, because sitting and things that I had no or little problems with before, are becoming more and more uncomfortable.

In other news... I got my results back from my glucose test on Wednesday and it turns out that I have Gestational Diabetes. When I first found out I got really upset. I felt like I had let myself down. I got down on myself for a few days. I felt that it was bad enough that during pregnancy I couldn't have some of my favourite things, like soft cheese, and now I couldn't have basically ALL of my other favourite things, like sweets, chocolate, white pasta, rice and bread, all the carbs that I love so much. I went through and looked at lists of things that you are and aren't allowed to eat and it really depressed me, as everything I liked to eat was on the bad side. It was only really yesterday that I pulled myself together and realised that it isn't the end of the world, as long as I get my diet under control and keep to regular exercise then it should be fine. One of my new years resolutions was to get back to my pre-Sienna body and this could very well help me get back on track for this, even before Blueberry is born. And its only 10 weeks, then hopefully it should go away. I mean don't get me wrong, I still am upset about it, but there is nothing I can do now but deal with it.
I kind of knew that this would happen to me eventually though, as I have distant family history of diabetes and I have PCOS, which are two factors that put people at risk of getting Gestational Diabetes.
So what does having Gestational Diabetes mean? Like I said in my previous blog, it means during pregnancy your body doesn't break down sugars at a fast enough rate, as your body is not producing as much insulin due to hormone changes. But that's all I really know at the moment. I have an appointment with a specialist on Tuesday to talk me through it a bit more. I will then find out about having to est me blood and things like that. I have Google doctored myself a little but it started to stress me out so I stopped and decided to wait to see the specialist and get all the information I need for it from them, so that I can ask questions where I need and understand it a little better. I also have a friend who has been through this too (so I know there is light at the end of the tunnel), and I am planning to meet up with her soon to have a chat about things too, as I want to keep this as under control as I can.
If this is not kept under control, it increases my risk of getting type 2 diabetes later in life or increasing the risk that Blueberry could have it when he is older. It could also lead to him growing too fast in the womb and I don't particularly want to be facing giving birth to a big baby, as that could led to complications during labour and/or a C-section, which I want to steer clear of if possible.

So regardless to say, all those other questions I had planned for the midwife completely left my head when I was told this news.... I got my certificate for work though and I asked about tearing and the effect it will have on this pregnancy and she said that hopefully Sienna has paved the way for this one and everything will be more stretched that it was previously so it shouldn't be any trouble, but she has highlighted the fact that there was previous tearing on my record, so the midwifes can take that into consideration when I am in labour this time. She also said that the most important thing for me was to have good communication with my midwife (which is what I was planning on having already), so I know exactly when to push etc. to minimise any further injury. The funny thing is though, that when you are in as much pain as you are in pregnancy, you may think you are being nice and cooperative with the midwives, when in reality you might not be... I am so sorry to the midwives when I was having Sienna, I really for the life of me cannot remember what I was like at that time, I'm sure both Josh or my Dad would be more that willing to remind me, as they were both there in the delivery room with me... hopefully I wasn't too bad. In a few weeks time I'm going to take a trip down memory lane with you and do a blog about my birth story with Sienna. Well, as much as I can remember any way. I might have to collaborate with Josh for that one and he can fill in all my blanks ha ha

Anyhow, here is my weekly bump pic.... let me know if you think it has dropped at all (probably hasn't, and its just my imagination). Sorry if its hard to see in the dress I'm wearing, it was just too warm to be wearing anything else...

Hello Third Trimester!! 28 Week Pregnancy Update!!

So we are into the third trimester, and I don't know if it's all just in my mind, but man can I feel it!! My body has become so achy, heavy and uncomfortable and I am having shortness of breath. But I'm not sure if it's just that my mind now knows where I'm at in this pregnancy and is making me feel the symptoms more and I'm just a whinger or if it has all come on quite quickly.

Blueberry is just over 40cm long and weighs about 1.2kg! So that's a bit of a jump from last week. I am into the stage now too, where blueberry is going to overtake and restrict my own needs because he is getting so big. He is going to be soaking up all of my nutrients from what I'm eating and is going to stop me from doing a lot of the things I would normally be doing, physically, throughout the day. Which, unfortunately, leaves poor mama bear a bit more hungry and tired than she would usually be. So Josh is in for a fantastic time!!

So... this week I undertook the wonderful thing that is the Glucose Test. I was lucky enough to have my dad come to sit and chat with me for the 3 hours that I had to sit there. For those who don't know, the glucose test is a blood test you need to take between 26-28 weeks of pregnancy and it tests you to see if you have gestational diabetes. If you do then you need to be put on a special eating plan because during pregnancy your body doesn't break down sugars at a fast enough rate, as your body is not producing as much insulin due to hormone changes, and if left untreated it can mean a higher risk of type 2 diabetes later on in life.

I arrived at the hospital at 8.00am after fasting since 10.00pm the previous evening and had blood taken. I then had to sit and wait for to doctors to check the blood work and tell me if my blood sugar levels were at a good point for me to be able to do the test. When it was clear that my blood was at an appropriate level the nurse brought me out the dreaded little bottle of sickly sweet syrupy drink to take and when I had finished that I had to wait an hour before my blood could be taken again. Then had another hours wait till the last lot of blood could be drawn.
The first time I had this test done with Sienna, the drink made me feel really nauseous, but this time it wasn't actually too bad. I don't know if that means something different of just that my body knew what was coming so I could kind of brace myself for it. The needles we not too bad. I have small bruises on my arms where the blood was taken, but I have very sensitive skin so that was no surprise. I find out my results when I see my midwife at my next appointment which is Wednesday fortnight. So hopefully everything went well.

I have a lot of people surprised when I tell them that I still have three months to go. Which makes me feel big... I'm feeling a lot of movement. Like a lot. It's not just waves of movement like it has been either, it's like a jab which leaves me with a lump sticking out of my belly until I gently move it back.
Sleeping is a nightmare. Not only can I not get comfortable but I am soooo hot!! I know it's the middle of summer but I swear I feel 110 times hotter than usual. I wake up super hot, then stress that Sienna is too hot in her bed. I'm just a super stress head.

It's crazy to believe that there is only 12 weeks until I am full term!! It's coming up so quickly!! We have the cutest little book that we read with Sienna called "There's A House Inside My Mummy" and she is taking it all in, not sure she quite understands but she looks at the pictures in the book for the mummy and her big tummy and will look at mine and touch it. Then again you can't really miss it at the moment... here is my weekly bump shot for you all to check out how big I'm getting....