Gestational Diabetes

D'oh.
So it turns out I have it. Darnit - just in time for Easter! So that means plenty of fruit, rice, pasta, nuts. Much less chocolate, sugar, salt.. actually it's really just a healthy diet in general. Which is probably something I should have started years ago anyway. First up I went for the initial blood test which came back at 7.8 which is right on the cutoff. So I went back for the second test where you have a high carb diet for 3 days, then fast for 12 hours. They give you a sugar drink & then take your blood every hour for 3 hours. Now I get to go into the hospital on Thursday & pick up a blood testing kit & have a briefing. Hopefully I won't have to give myself any injections. I'll have to prick my finger & test my blood every day though. Poor little Rex; this increases their chances of being an actual diabetic later on.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that Rex gets hiccups all the time??
60.5kg.

Week 31

Had a contraction on the weekend, it's pretty cool that I can recognise them now. I don't feel anything, but my tummy goes all hard like a cricket ball for about 15 to 20 seconds. Then it goes back to normal. I would never have known if the midwife hadn't pointed it out at our last checkup.

We also went to see SuckerPunch which I think could possibly become a cult classic amongst teenaged gamer boys. It looks amazing but has a pretty weak story (saying that though, it starts off really well). It's also a shame that half the fight scenes seems to be shot with a really shaky camera. So they mustn't be choreographed too well.

The best bit of the weekend was a day trip to Sydney. I was really tired & so was Moda but we got to meet our new little niece. She's gorgeous, has lots of hair and didn't cry once. She just slept & had two feeds while we were there. I held her for a little while but then Rex kicked her through my belly and I felt a bit guilty so I gave her back. It didn't seem to wake her up though. Had a 3 hour blood test this morning for gestational diabetes. I found out why it's so nasty for the baby if you get gestational diabetes, because the placenta stops the insulin going to the baby so the baby's little pancreas has to work over time to get its blood sugar levels OK, and that kicks its system out of whack before it's even born. So yes you get a bigger fatter baby for the birth, but much worse than that is their pancreas might never work properly as a result. So that's why they need to find out & treat it, & that's why it goes away after the birth (because it's really more of a placenta-not-working-properly type thing). Interesting.

Bet I don't have it, but will let you know what the results were when I get them.
Also, Rex gets the hiccups all the time now! Got them right now in fact..

Almost week 30

Yay! All better. I only have a teeny cough now, and feel sooo much better thank goodness. I have a midwife appt this arvo, excited to hear Rex's heartbeat again. Funny how you only get 2 ultrasounds. Since the last one is at week 20 it feels like ages before you get to see the bub again. Last night I lay down on my left side & had a huge lump on my right side, I think it was the baby's head! I got up into the cat pose to try & let gravity swing it down back into place. Poor little bugger, it's running out of room in there. So I'll get the midwife to check it out & see that it's lying the way it's supposed to.
Had a hankering for veggies last night so made a lovely roast veggie & ham soup but I also put soup mix in it (barley & lentils & stuff). So it's really really thick. That's probably the bext thing about winter; the soups.
My sister in law is just about to pop, she's due on Saturday. Can't wait to meet her new little girl!

Week 29

Gross gross gross. Haven't been so sick since I quit smoking. I took last Friday off work because I had a sore throat and thought a day off would fix me up. I was even worse by Sunday, had a completely stuffed head & even though my nose was blocked it wouldn't stop running. it got chapped because I was wiping it so much - I couldn't blow it. My eyes were leaking too, just too much pressure in my head. So I took Monday off & went to the doctor. He told me that as long as I could still feel movements the baby was fine. Apparently all my antibodies go to protect Rex & leave me with no defenses. So he prescribed panadol and 3 more days bed rest & if I didn't get better he'd start thinking about antibiotics. Yeek. So I chucked up the first panadol & decided it must not agree with the bub so I'd have to brave it on my own. Have spent pretty close to 6 days in bed, thankfully my head is all better but now I have a disgusting cough. Hopefully that won't last long. Moral to the story: Don't get a cold while you're preggers!

On the upside, Rex has had the hiccups twice this week. Cute! : D

I thought it was a pulse in a weird new spot until I figured out what it must be. It was just too regular for normal kicks. Poor little blighter.

Back to 58.5

Week 27

I've just hit the 3rd trimester (yay!) & I've had some contractions already! They started last weekend but I really only noticed them on the weekend after my midwife pointed them out. I haven't had any since then so I guess things are settling down a bit. My new little niece is due in a month too, so it's all happening.

Also, we've been renovating the house again... I hope it's all ready for when Rex appears! I'm actually really excited about setting the room up with the cot and everything. Moda found a change table at Aldi for $50 so hopefully there are some left! They're apparently not on them for very long anyway and that's so cheap! I also bought a cheap maternity top from KMart that looked really pretty on the hanger. Silly me, I didn't try it on. The b**bs bit is just too big for me, even with the extra weight I haven't really changed cup size yet. I just fill out my b's a bit better than I used to! So I gave it to another preggo girlfriend & hopefully she has more luck than me. Bring on the voluptuousness!!

Week 25 and a half

So my belly is enormous and my belly button is almost flat. I've been having lots of wild, colourful dreams and some nights I sleep well, other nights not so much. I had a few kicks in the bladder over the weekend but thankfully that seems to have just been a temporary phase. It's just an uncomfortable sensation - a little shock that makes you want to pee right away, whether or not you need to. Other than feeling huge (and getting a number of comments that I'm looking quite big at the momen) I'm feeling fine. I'm probably eating a bit too much junk.. I bought fruit on the way home for some healthier snacking but it's all looking quite sad and expensive. Probably because of cyclones and floods and things. We're very busy at the moment, what with part-time school, full time work, house renovations and yoga once a week. Tomorrow is a glucose test (to see if I have gestational diabetes) and then a midwife appointment. I'm really looking forward to mid-May because school will be finishing up for the semester and I'll be going on maternity leave too. Moda is still nesting far more than I am. Cute!
:)

Week 24

Where is the time going?? Moda's pregnancy app that he's set up on his phone says there's only 114 days to go :)
So, what's happened lately. We spent a fantastic last weekend in Tassie for a friend's birthday & I had a very emotional time, two bouts of embarrassing crying and couldn't stay in the controversial mutilation exhibit of the new Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart. If you're not preggers I'd totally recommend that place - it was amazing. If you are, I'd avoid the bottom floor and certain parts of the top floor... And the life-sized patchwork woman titled "birth". It's all amazing work, but I really felt quite traumatised and drained at the end of it. I've had some trouble sleeping this week, Rex has been up doing aerobics at weird hours. I think I'll have to start having nana naps in the afternoons to catch up on sleep. I've always been a light sleeper & that doesn't seem to be doing me any favours right now. Gorged myself on pasta and chocolate last night, so I suppose that could possibly have had something to do with it. I want to eat smaller meals more frequently but everything tastes So Good at the moment. Oh yeah! Also, (I'm a bit distracted at the moment thoughts going every which way) I find I'm tearing up at love songs on the radio. I know not everyone considers "You make my dreams come true" by Hall and Oates a love song, but I think it's one of the most romantic songs of all time.