Genetic testing

Well, I loved my new OB. She seemed very nice and spent a good amount of time with us, answering our numerous questions. We got another ultrasound, we're at 11 weeks, just 4 weeks since our last ultrasound, and what a change! You could see the shadows of the eyes, nose, and mouth, plus the little monster was swinging its arms around, wiping its face, and I'm pretty sure it mooned us. Must be a girl.
Then we got the whole talk on all the tests we could have done, should have done, genetic counseling, etc. Yikes! Too much information, seriously. I mean, I'm already pregnant, so I suppose sometime in early July we'll find everything out. Plus, you can test for everything, but no test is completely accurate, with many false positives. I'm not sure, but I don't think I want to know. Isn't ignorance bliss?

High risk

On Monday I will go see my high risk OB for the first time. It's funny being "high risk." I don't feel high risk. I feel like a pretty normal person, albeit pregnant. And I'm having a pretty good pregnancy so far, better than most people I know. I don't look high risk. So if I tell someone, they look at me a little funny. But I am looking forward to meeting her (happy she's a she). She called me personally to set up an appointment and took me even though she isn't taking any new patients. Makes me feel special. Maybe I'll even get a new picture. I better get something, it'll take me two hours to get into the city to see her!

Hardly perfect...

So yesterday I woke up, had my usual breakfast, went to work. Blood sugars were great. Then it came to lunch, and I ended up just snacking. Why? Because nothing that I had brought for lunch appealed to me anymore. Then I went to the grocery store. Usually, a huge mistake when you're hungry, even without an appetite. But I had a detailed list that I did not stray from. By then I was even hungrier, so I snacked on the way home, with the appropriate insulin (or so I thought). Then I started making dinner and homemade granola bars (from Diabetic Living magazine--I highly recommend). Evidently, I did more snacking because my dinner blood sugar was too high. How dumb am I? I obviously knew that would happen, somewhere deep inside. Of course, I fixed it right away and my blood sugars have been great since. I'm wondering how often that happens to other diabetic moms-to-be. I had these expectations of being perfect, with so much at stake, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I still have my weak moments and I still make mistakes. Hopefully I can just learn to limit them greatly!

8 weeks

8 weeks along. Baby is size of pinto bean. Why is my stomach so huge? Last night I decided I had a true belly, albeit maybe not a legitimate one. Good thing it's winter so I can hide the bump from anyone I don't want to know I'm pregnant yet. That can't last long though. And thank goodness my mom and sister shipped me out a bunch of hand me down maternity clothes. Yay!

Thanksgiving

So, Thanksgiving for a diabetic pregnant girl. Sounds like it could be pretty awful, huh? No way can you overindulge without quadruple the guilt of a normal girl at Thanksgiving, no pie (especially pumpkin), no wine. The only thing that's good for you is turkey, and how many pregnant women are just dying for poultry in their first 3 months?
But, I must say, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thanks to my handy dandy insulin pump, I could eat what I wanted, when I wanted (to a point) and all was great. The best part being that we got to share our big news with the fam in person, which I highly recommend. You can't tell your mom over the phone, just wouldn't be the same.

Seven weeks ago...

I stopped taking that oh-so-important little pill after extensive talks with my doctor and numerous blood tests. We were given the green light. Of course, we didn't really think we'd get pregnant immediately (though we thought it'd be funny--we only just got married the month before). So we went on a weekend trip to a wedding, having a great time, when I started feeling like I had the worst PMS ever, plus a little spike in blood sugars that usually accompanies this time. I'd been on the pill for 5 years; I didn't even really know how I was supposed to feel, so I wrote it off and resigned myself to feeling miserable. Days after we got home, I began to feel suspicious, so I peed on the stick. Lo and beyold, it was positive. I still didn't believe it. I mean, I had THREE bridal showers. Who the heck would want to throw me a baby shower now?! My husband and I were hopeful, but still incredulous. So, I waited a few days, and yep, still positive. Then I went to my doctor where he did an early ultrasound...definitely pregnant. Incredible! While we're incredibly excited, now I think back and get scared. What about when my blood sugars went up a few weeks ago? What about when they went up yesterday because I miscalculated how many carbs are in a piece of cornbread? What about how they're going to go up because I'm so stressed that they might go up?? lol Yikes! So I tell myself to relax. As long as I'm doing my best to be careful, everything will be just fine. No one is perfect. But we're not just talking about larger babies as a consequence (which doesn't sound particularly fun either), we're talking major problems. I start reading about the critical development stages and how high blood sugars can effect spinal and neurological development. That's great, I understand, but that's not actually helpful. They never say how high, or how being high over time is more of an issue. Yes, I can ask my doctor next time I see him, but I can't find the answers as they come to me on my trustee computer or local bookstore. Sometimes all you can do is vent it out and wait and see.