all the news that's fit...
so we're back online, after a couple of hours on the phone while justin, my mom and i were all together in the closet where our modem and router and computery stuff is. i was on the phone interpreting the stilted english of the incredibly patient woman at linksys who helped us fix it, justin was doing all the requested tweaking of the cables and router and plugs, and my mom was holding up the laptop. man, are those lights hot in that closet. but we survived. we did have a secured network, but someone wanted in badly enough to hack past it, apparently.
because my mom is here, i haven't had any time to catch up on blogs, but i look forward to doing so tuesday.
yesterday was so nice - we went down to justin's cool youngest aunt's house, about an hour south, and justin's mom's family had a little shower for us. i was blown away - everyone has been so generous already, with hans, and here they are, doing even more. i feel so blessed. one very groovy thing we got yesterday was the diaper champ - i could turn that thing over all day. love how it works. another groovy thing was a pre-assembled scrapbook my mom gave us; all the pages already have cool papers and cut outs and the whole design layout on them - all i have to day is slide in pictures and either write on the pages or use the cool stickers that came with it. this is truly excellent because it is the only way i will ever have the time to create a scrapbook. after we got home, we unpacked all the lovely presents and put them away, and then justin and my mom and i walked to our neighborhood sushi joint for dinner and then for a tour of homes on sale in our neighborhood, which was gratifying as it suggested that the value of our own home has gone up significantly in the last two years.
friday, though, wasn't quite so fun a day. we left my mom home alone to sleep in while we went for the three hour glucose test, and then a couple of hours after we got home, my ob called with the bad news - i had gestational diabetes. it felt like a blow to the gut. i kept thinking i couldn't possibly have it, which was apparently just a fantasy. the good news, if there is any, is that i am only just over the minimum, which means i am considered borderline. but the fact is that on top of all the things about which i was worried - milo's and my increased chances of developing diabetes later, potential c-sections - the one thing i missed is that this thing increases our chance of (...drumroll please...) STILLBIRTH. that's what sucks the worst. we did get up and go get the baby gear from our friend's attic as planned and set it up, but it felt like we were doing it in mud. very slushy and sluggish and difficult to see. i don't want it to be this way.
but it is this way, so we have to deal with it. luckily, my hospital has a big perinatal diabetes specialty, so i am already in the right place. i meet with one of the clinic's nurses and a dietician on wednesday morning, after which i will begin to test and monitor my blood sugar and follow a strict diet. next monday, i meet with the gd clinician and then next wednesday with my ob. my ob is certain that i would do anything to ensure this baby's safe arrival and so is confident i will control the gd with diet. and he does have a point - it's occurred to me that following a regimented diet and tracking my blood sugar will give me something specific, concrete, controllable to do to ensure milo's safety, while up to this point i haven't had anything so definite and ongoing i could do to ward off another disaster. and a tiny little place in me is pleased that the gd bullshit will at least ensure milo will come out by 39 weeks, and any fewer days i have to worry about what's happening in utero are a gift.
must jump in the shower now - justin's weekend ends in an hour, and my mom and i are going to take him to work before doing a little holiday sale shopping, to be followed by some flower planting and some laundry doing. happy weekend to all.
because my mom is here, i haven't had any time to catch up on blogs, but i look forward to doing so tuesday.
yesterday was so nice - we went down to justin's cool youngest aunt's house, about an hour south, and justin's mom's family had a little shower for us. i was blown away - everyone has been so generous already, with hans, and here they are, doing even more. i feel so blessed. one very groovy thing we got yesterday was the diaper champ - i could turn that thing over all day. love how it works. another groovy thing was a pre-assembled scrapbook my mom gave us; all the pages already have cool papers and cut outs and the whole design layout on them - all i have to day is slide in pictures and either write on the pages or use the cool stickers that came with it. this is truly excellent because it is the only way i will ever have the time to create a scrapbook. after we got home, we unpacked all the lovely presents and put them away, and then justin and my mom and i walked to our neighborhood sushi joint for dinner and then for a tour of homes on sale in our neighborhood, which was gratifying as it suggested that the value of our own home has gone up significantly in the last two years.
friday, though, wasn't quite so fun a day. we left my mom home alone to sleep in while we went for the three hour glucose test, and then a couple of hours after we got home, my ob called with the bad news - i had gestational diabetes. it felt like a blow to the gut. i kept thinking i couldn't possibly have it, which was apparently just a fantasy. the good news, if there is any, is that i am only just over the minimum, which means i am considered borderline. but the fact is that on top of all the things about which i was worried - milo's and my increased chances of developing diabetes later, potential c-sections - the one thing i missed is that this thing increases our chance of (...drumroll please...) STILLBIRTH. that's what sucks the worst. we did get up and go get the baby gear from our friend's attic as planned and set it up, but it felt like we were doing it in mud. very slushy and sluggish and difficult to see. i don't want it to be this way.
but it is this way, so we have to deal with it. luckily, my hospital has a big perinatal diabetes specialty, so i am already in the right place. i meet with one of the clinic's nurses and a dietician on wednesday morning, after which i will begin to test and monitor my blood sugar and follow a strict diet. next monday, i meet with the gd clinician and then next wednesday with my ob. my ob is certain that i would do anything to ensure this baby's safe arrival and so is confident i will control the gd with diet. and he does have a point - it's occurred to me that following a regimented diet and tracking my blood sugar will give me something specific, concrete, controllable to do to ensure milo's safety, while up to this point i haven't had anything so definite and ongoing i could do to ward off another disaster. and a tiny little place in me is pleased that the gd bullshit will at least ensure milo will come out by 39 weeks, and any fewer days i have to worry about what's happening in utero are a gift.
must jump in the shower now - justin's weekend ends in an hour, and my mom and i are going to take him to work before doing a little holiday sale shopping, to be followed by some flower planting and some laundry doing. happy weekend to all.
posted by laura at 12:15 PM
9 Comments:
Let me just say this...had gestational diabetes with Sam...he's fine. Didn't have it with Alex...he's not so fine. Didn't have it...yet...with Travis....again, not so fine. So, I don't think they really "know" much about much as far as these things go. In fact, I doubt they really "know" much about anything anymore...it's all guesswork. But that's just my very frustrated and angry opinion. :o)
oh laura, just what you need to add to the fun. i can understand, though, the good part about knowing there is something you can do about it. i'm glad you're in the right place and getting all the monitoring you need.
I didn't have gestational diabetes, but I am a diabetic. The important thing is tight control. If you can do that, then you should be fine. I was able to keep mine bg at normal levels (I used insulin, too, though).
I had precelampsia that last month or so, which my doc said was common in diabetics, but I don't know about gestational diabetes. They monitored me very closely (L&D/Doc visits every other day) and bedrest. They ended up taking her about a month early by c-section.
At least you know they will monitoring you closely and that is what counts. I didn't even mind that they had to take her early, because she made it safely into the world and that was all that mattered to me.
So, keep your chin up, take good care of yourself and do not EVER hesitate to go in for monitoring when in doubt! They'll understand.
Oh Laura, that sucks! But you have already found a way to make it bearable with the diet control and such.
I can only offer to be a cheerleader from the sidelines encouraging you to keep on plodding through.
I'm so sorry to hear about the GD. This probably won't help, but there I've seen tons of episodes of "A Baby Story" where the moms have GD and treat it like a walk in the park, and their babies are fine. Don't you wish you could be as blissfully ignorant as all that? I have to admit, I've tried to adopt that attitude with this pregnancy at times, just to try on a different personality and see how it fits. It feels ridiculous, but given the miracle I feel happens every week that Natalie hasn't developed a fatal heart condition, I feel like I owe it to her sometimes to (try to) forget what I know and (try to) be as hopeful as possible. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. All you need to do is get through these next weeks. Perhaps the daily monitoring will give you something else to focus on and make the time go by faster? (Sorry for the essay!)
I'm sorry. That really sucks. :( Like you needed something else to worry about, right?
I'm so sorry about the GD. BUT... I am confident that you and your doctors are armed with all the information and right choices to get that baby safely into this world.
I'm sorry....that does suck. I am glad they are monitoring you closely though.
I had GD with my son (they finally found it at 30 weeks when I almost passed out on the hospital tour...ugh!), and while it ticked me off to no end, I was able to handle it with diet. I won't say that it was easy-I had to give up the only two cravings that I had-it was manageable, and in the end, helped keep the weight gain healthy, but in control. I know that you don't need the extra worry, but if you remember that your monitor is your best friend, you can do it. I don't know if your dietician offered, but what mine did was have me keep a food diary and keep track of all of the exchanges. She reviewed it for me, and realy helped me to be able to keep variety but keep my numbers in line too. Sorry for the novel!
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