I started this post a over two months ago (
May) but then decided it sounded too whiny so I never finished it. However, I think I do want to document it even if its not exactly pleasant. So this is what I had written:
I haven't posted much about this pregnancy mostly because I haven't felt too great and I've been holding out hope that if I waited
just a little bit longer then maybe I'd have something more positive to say. Not that I can really complain since to our knowledge the baby seems healthy. But I have felt rundown, sick, and exhausted for most of this pregnancy. Food aversions are too numerous to count but up until very recently they have included every meat. I've been eating beans for my protein and occasionally I can stomach eggs. Instead of sharp cheese I've switched to mild cheddar which some days doesn't seem too offensive. I'm starting to be able to eat beef again though! Mostly I've been surviving on carbs, fruit, beans, and peanut butter. Water consumption depends on the day or the week and up until recently I have had trouble drinking it without feeling nauseated. I'm sick of watered down power-aid and flavored waters though. Adding lemon to my water worked for a few days but thankfully in the last few weeks I've been able to drink water again as long as its really cold. I'm so thirsty and thankful that I can drink it without feeling miserable! I'm pretty sure this is where my craving for watermelon has come from. I craved avocados and tomatoes in the first trimester but then was repulsed by them towards the end of the first trimester and now I've been craving watermelon. Mostly I just haven't wanted food much this pregnancy but eat small meals as I start feeling bad.
Braxton Hicks contractions started at 17 weeks this time but with rest and lots of water they go away. I have had to cut my neighborhood walks down to half though because otherwise the Braxton Hicks get too uncomfortable. I was advised that it meant I needed a shorter work out and more water probably because of the heat.
Fast forward from
May to
June.....
Now I am 27 and a half weeks pregnant. I drink plain ice water all the time without problem and only have trouble with meat and vegetables about half of the time. Its weird. I can make a meal and eat it just fine for a day or two and then another day have it make me feel so sick that I have to lie down. Then a few days later the same offending food items will be fine again. It must have something to do with the hormones ramping up.
Due to a past dvt causing me to be classed as "high risk pregnancy" I have been on Lovenox (blood thinner) shots since I was 3.5 weeks pregnant. To date, I have given myself over 160 shots. I've gotten good at it but it still never stops being painful. In the beginning it was easier but now that my belly is getting big its getting harder to find spots on my stomach to "pinch-an-inch" and it hurts more. Oh well, nothing hurts as much as the complications that could arise if I didn't take it and something bad happened. It's worth it.
I struggle with remembering to take my calcium vitamins. I need extra because of the Lovenox. I really should take these perfectly and am frustrated that I forget. Must have something to do with eating while chasing my toddler because I usually remember when its been 2 hours since I've eaten and too late for the vitamin. I am good at taking the prenatal. Must be because I take it at dinner when half of the time Ethan is already asleep. I have to start taking iron supplements since a blood test revealed that I'm anemic. I'm sure my food aversions play a large role in this...
I usually reserve my neighborhood walks until Garrett is home in the evening so that we can walk together. Most of the time we still only go around the neighborhood once because its usually all I can handle. Now that summer is in full swing I'm getting the Braxton Hicks contractions at the end of our walks again even though they are shorter and I'm drinking more water. Coming in and resting and drinking more water gets rid of them much faster than before though so the doctor isn't worried. I have been advised to start exercising indoors though if possible.
I feel the baby move all the time now. Ethan wasn't as active or at least not from what I could tell since I had trouble feeling his kicks because of his position and his placenta's position. This time around both baby and placenta are positioned to where I can feel a lot more movement.
The biggest change in the last month is that I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 27 weeks. I was completely shocked when they told me I failed the 1 hour test and even more shocked when I had learned that I failed the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. It wasn't even a borderline fail either. In hindsight it answers some questions though. I had started feeling very fatigued again and it got to the point where I had trouble standing the entire length of time it would take to unload the dishwasher. Cleaning the house took me all day. I didn't suspect anything though because I knew I was nearing the end of the second trimester and I assumed the extra fatigue was due to how hot our house is during the summer and from keeping up with Ethan and eating erratically around his schedule. I also just assumed I was getting out of shape or that it was because the second pregnancy is rumored to be more tiring on your body and that the 3rd trimester fatigue sets in sooner. The GD diagnoses also explains why the baby's growth started getting off target too. At my last ultrasound at 24 weeks he was measuring an average of a week ahead with his body being 2 weeks bigger than his head. Not too big of a difference but suddenly different from the other ultrasounds so I was told that we would watch it and see if he went back on track by my next appointment at 28 weeks. Now I know that the trunk getting bigger than the head is a classic example of uncontrolled diabetes and usually GD sets in around 24 weeks of gestation.
Fast forward from
June to
July...
I've been on the gestational diabetes diet for about 4 weeks. The range of acceptable glucose readings I can have are a little more strict than regular diabetes and a lot more foods were crossed off the acceptable food list because of how gestational diabetes differs from type 2 so the handouts I got from the nutritionist only had about 1/4 of what they normally have on them. I eat a pretty strict variety-less diet. It's getting pretty old but up until now it was working great so I can't complain. When it works I feel a lot more like myself.
After a week of the morning sickness returning and losing 6 lbs from throwing up we adjusted my diet to remove most animal proteins in favor of proteins from any source I can keep down. We also cut my meal plan from 3 meals + 3 snacks to 9 snack sized meals. It's a little hard to fit in all 9 meals sometimes though. The nutritionist wasn't very happy that I was losing weight or couldn't eat animal protein (not sure why this was such a big deal to her) but the doctor said it was okay since the baby is still gaining. My weight seems to have stabilized now and I'm no longer gaining or losing at the moment. I have a net gain of 8 lbs with this pregnancy. At the end of June this baby was measuring around 3.5 lbs and he's projected to be a big baby.
This baby has gotten very active at night. It's already hard to sleep at night because I can't breathe and I'm achy but each time I wake up (I usually wake at least 4x a night) he wakes up too and gets so active that it looks like an earthquake is going on in my stomach. This still amazes me. I didn't notice anything like this with Ethan!
At about 29 weeks I started getting contractions. Mostly painful Braxton Hicks contractions every time I move, bend down, walk, or do chores, but at one point they turned into regular contractions every 10-12 minutes that escalated into every 5 minutes before eventually slowing down again. That was at church with me sitting (and walking because I was uncomfortable) and I'm not sure what brought them on. I'm drinking 60-80 ounces of water a day so I'm not dehydrated. After that episode I was put on "light duty" for the rest of the week until my Friday doctors appointment but the doctor isn't worried about pre-term labor since it didn't happen again and I don't have a history of it so I'm allowed to get back to exercising since its so good for the diabetes and blood in my legs. I'm thankful. Not being allowed to exercise was making my legs pretty uncomfortable.
Part of why the doctor thinks I'm having so many painful Braxton Hicks is because I have a lot of amniotic fluid and she thinks my uterus is irritated. Also its the second baby. I'm having a lot of back pain this pregnancy too but I definitely think that's because its the second baby and I'm chasing and taking care of a toddler. And this baby is measuring two weeks ahead which I'm sure doesn't help. That coupled with the arrival of sciatic nerve pain and I'm feeling pretty uncomfortable. And did I mention that this hot Texas heat makes me queasy if I'm outside in it for too long?
As I mentioned earlier, up until now my glucose readings have been fantastic. Then all of a sudden the last three days I've had high fasting numbers. I'm feeling pretty frustrated. When I'm awake it's managed. When I'm sleeping I can't do a whole lot about my numbers. I've already changed my night time snack to later to try to help. This doesn't help my reflux and it's no longer helping my fasting numbers so I'm at a bit of a loss. At more than 3 bad numbers in a week I'm supposed to call the doctor to start meds. It's the weekend though and I'm just now at 3 bad numbers so I'm hoping I'll get a good reading tomorrow morning and be able to keep controlling it with diet for a little while longer. I realize part of it is out of my control since the diabetes is caused by the hormones from the placenta and the closer I get to delivery the more hormones and more insulin resistant I'll become. Still I was given hope that I could do this without meds and I really want to see that happen.
Baby is still breech but he's got another two weeks before the doctor is concerned about it. Right now she's insisting on an induction at 39 weeks (as long as he's no longer breech). Not what I had originally wanted but its too far off to worry about it yet. 8 more weeks to go!
If you are still reading this, I'm sorry for all the whining. Now on to something more pleasant.... next up, ultrasound pictures!
