Saturday surprise

Jeff and I took Mirabella out to breakfast at Emma Krumbee's on Valentine's day (Sunday, February 14th) which reminded me that I forgot to post something very special that happened the last time we were there...

With my love of pancakes during pregnancy, our family has ventured south a few times these past couple of months so I can indulge in some of the best of them (the blueberry pancakes in particular). Our previous trip to Emma Krumbee's was the morning of Saturday, January 23rd. It was a snowy day with no plans, which we were so excited about, so we decided a little road trip for the three of us would be fun. We planned on following up breakfast with me running an errand or two and then the two of us cleaning the house. So when I was letting Jeff know my next steps for the day before the cleaning began, he said, "Great, that'll give you just enough time before your 1:00 pregnancy massage."


The night before when Jeff had asked for a back scratch, I joked that it was me, the pregnant one, who should really be the recipient of back scratches and massages right now. When I gave in to his request as I typically do since I am always, always aiming to please him (right, babe?), I'll admit I thought his response had an air of BS when he said, "I promise, you'll get a nice massage tomorrow."


So at breakfast when he mentioned my 1:00 massage, I thought it was coming from him (which was still greatly anticipated and very welcome), but I was wrong. He had made arrangements for me to have have a one hour professional pregnancy massage that day! It was the greatest surprise and not to mention, one of the best excuses for not having to clean our house that day. :) When I said the same to him, he replied with something like, "Hey, you'll be nice and loose, all ready to clean like crazy when you get home!" Funny. It didn't happen.


The massage was heavenly, but it was the thoughtfulness of the gesture that was the best part of it. That husband of mine, what a guy!

Monday, April 5th

Pending he or she decides not to come early, today at my doctor appointment our baby’s birth date was determined: Monday, April 5th! Happy birthday to you, babycakes. We cannot get over how strange it is knowing the date of arrival in advance. Mirabella was born four days before her original due date of March 5th and if all goes as planned, this baby will be born six days before his or her original due date of April 11th.

I can’t say I’m not nervous about having another c-section; the good and the bad news is that I know what to expect. I’m becoming consumed by thoughts of what the experience is going to be like. Will the surgery go the same as last time? Will I be shaking uncontrollably on the table again? Will I lose a lot of blood? When they told me to expect more pressure than I’d ever felt before when pulling the baby out last time, and then when it wasn’t nearly what I was anticipating, will it be like that again? Will it be painful? Scratch that. How painful will it be, during surgery and/or afterwards (fortunately the surgery itself wasn't painful last time, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed)? Will I be as immobile as I was after the surgery last time and how long will it take me to recover this time?

So many thoughts. So many questions! Like I said, it’s good and bad to have already been through it before. Then again, a long list of questions is what consumes all moms to be, whether first timers or those with some experience.

There are plenty of positives thoughts though too. I am looking forward to skipping out on the contractions and the 30 some hours of labor, the hunger pains (mentally and physically!) when all I could eat was ice chips for almost as long (while the smell of McDonald’s lingered into my room), the terrible thirst when no one would let me drink anything, the two hours of pushing (and the swollen, almost unrecognizable you know what!), the not sleeping for 45 hours, etc. I’m sure there'll be plenty more that I won't miss.

My doctor did warn me of the thought of going into labor early, but assured me that it would be fine if it happened. He didn't anticipate it happening too early, if it did at all. He had told Jeff and me at a previous appointment that his son's spring break was the week prior to April 5th (which he suspected then could be birth day), but I felt so much better this time when he told us they weren't planning on going out of town for it. I just really, really want my doctor to be the one doing my surgery. He's the one we trust, the one who knows us and the one who puts us at ease (and still my mind drifts off on this tangent and I have to say...he's the one who won't let me die there on that table---how's that for a morbid thought? Sorry, but I think about that.). And after all, isn't my well being more important than some fancy spring break vacation with the kids anyway? :)

I gained two pounds since my last doctor appointment, the one before the three hour GTT, roughly two weeks ago. I can handle that. Geez, maybe getting the flu in between did me some good! I'm measuring right where I'm supposed to be, at 31 weeks. Take that Mr. Man Co-worker who told me I looked like I was ready to give birth tomorrow! Nice. Just a thought for anyone reading, but you probably don't want to say something like that to a pregnant woman, especially when she still has almost two months to go. He also told me I looked fabulous, better than he'd ever seen a pregnant chick look. Did he say stunning? Elegant maybe? Breathtaking. Striking? Yeah, I think it was strikingly gorgeous to be exact. Wait, that was I made up in my head. All of it-after the looking like I was going to give birth tomorrow part-completely made up. My next appointment will be in three weeks.

I cannot wait to meet this baby of ours! Are you a boy? Will we have to get all new clothes, and eventually, a whole new genre of toys? Are you a girl? Will you look like Mirabella? Will Mirabella's clothes get a second wind? Are you healthy? How much will you weigh? Will you have hair, be a good eater, have jaudice and what color will your eyes be? No matter what the answers are to any of my questions above, one thing is for certain...we will love you so much, little baby! We already do.

Our baby at 31 weeks

At 31 weeks, the baby is about 16 inches long and weighs around 3 pounds.

So sweet...and salty!

Last Thursday (Thursday, January 28th), my brother teased me with the lure of a surprise he was going to bring me at work the following day. Well, I wasn’t able to make it into work that day because after finally being able to eat some yummy food again after passing my glucose test, at 3:00am that Friday I came down with the flu! My surprise would have to wait. Mirabella had the nastiness that Wednesday, so after a day or so of pondering its strike, it decided to take over my bod too. After not even being able to keep water down that day (I will spare you the details), I was finally able to eat exactly three bites of a banana, a couple tiny bits of plain white toast and some Jell-o later that evening. Boy, would I have killed for those Bran Flakes! By Saturday I added some peanut butter to my toast and got some noodle soup down until I worked my way up to the ultimate meal on Sunday night: a sandwich! Unfortunately the bug touched Jeff too, so our family was basically quarantined all weekend.

In the ultimate irony, I talked to a nurse at my clinic when I was at my sickest on Friday and among other things, she advised me to have no dairy for 72 hours. If I had had the strength, I would have kicked myself for not heading straight to Dairy Queen from my clinic after I passed that GTT on Thursday.

(Hmm, DQ…I don’t think I’ve actually had a Blizzard my entire pregnancy. Note to self.)

So today my brother called and asked if it was a good day to stop by my office. Of course! I love a good surprise, and he assured me it was a good one, so I was eagerly awaiting it. I watched for him and as he approached my office door, I saw some heavenly goodness in his had. It was a malt! Seeing it brought a big smile to my face, but when I found out it was not just any old malt (which would have been perfectly welcomed), but a salted caramel one, my heart skipped a beat a little! How sweet! And oh my gosh, was it delicious. I inhaled the thing, devouring every last scrumptious sip! He knew I had been craving that salty/sweet taste, so he made it his mission to find it for me and crossing several cities to get there, he found it in malt form at Burger Jones . What a perfect gift, not only for passing the glucose test (as he said was his primary reason for the surprise), but it was just what I needed now that I am finally able to eat regular food again (regular pregnancy food = junk food and ice cream…after supplementing with vitamins and some proper nutrition, of course!). Such a lovely gesture...thanks so much, Jason!

The only downfall is that now I can’t get that thing off of my mind.

Doctor appointment: Diabetic screening/glucose tolerance test (GTT)

I passed my second glucose test, the three hour GTT! I was so nervous about it. After the first test this week, I didn’t eat anything that would be considered a sweet, not even one bite of my usual suspects. I didn’t even want to have a Lifesaver. I had a sandwich for lunch that day and soup and salad that night. The next day I had a piece of peanut butter toast and milk for breakfast and a bagel sandwich for lunch. Then I came to find out that carbohydrates were the real culprit in increasing your blood glucose level, so what I had thought was being good actually wasn’t. Not only am I addicted to sweets right now, even not pregnant, my diet is jam packed with carbs!

I was on a quest to find some foods that were good for me to be eating to manage my carb and sugar intake. I wanted to control all the things I could control to pass this test. Whether or not it actually helped any on test day, I’m not sure, but I felt better about doing it. I went to the grocery store on Tuesday night on a mission and picked up some random things I had learned were within healthy boundaries (or better) for a diabetic diet. I got into my car and tore violently into the high protein/low carb/low sugar granola I had found. My actions confirmed what I already knew: I was having withdrawal from all things sweet, going a little insane. I could not get that granola into my mouth fast enough. It took all of my power to try and stick to the serving size, a measly 1/4 cup. All of my power. For dinner that night, Bran Flakes. I had an apple and Bran Flakes the next morning for breakfast and the same cereal again for lunch until my special treat of lentil soup for dinner. My snacks consisted of puffed corn cereal, almonds, sugar free Jell-o and the aforementioned granola.

Granted, I know if I had some guidance, hopefully the diet wouldn’t be this strict, but still, limit my carb intake? Analyze the amount of sugar going into my body? Dieting while pregnant? “A lifestyle change, not a diet,” you say? Phooey. I’ll have plenty of time once this baby comes to try and figure out how to shed these extra pounds. I’m screwed. Check out some of the labels on things you are eating and you will be amazed at just how many grams of carbohydrates and sugar they contain. Maybe that’s why I have an affinity for all the non-labeled stuff!

Anyway, I’ll get off of the food subject. Wait, back on it for a minute. I was trying to figure out what to bring to pass the time during my appointment and I ended up with one of my new cookbooks I had received for Christmas. This was a mistake since I hadn’t eaten anything since 7:30 the night prior and my mouth was watering the entire time my eyes locked on all the yummy pictures. I don’t know what I would have done had I failed and not been able to indulge in all the things I had just read about.

There were four phases of the test (four readings of my blood glucose level) I had to pass today. I could only fail one; if there were more, I would be considered a gestational diabetic. The first finger prick was for my fasting glucose level and I passed. The level needed to be less than 95 and mine was 82. (I found out that for my test on Monday, the level needed to be less than 140 and mine was 150.) I drank my morning cocktail, the glucose drink (I opted for fruit punch this time since it didn’t fail me when I was pregnant with Mirabella), and waited the hour until the second finger prick and analysis of my blood glucose level. The level for that phase needed to be less than 180; I passed with 145. I wondered why the woman taking my blood offered me the use of a recliner and was asking if my baby was doing somersaults because of the sugar high. They weren’t as concerned during my previous test on Monday. Then she explained that the drink for Monday’s test contained 50 grams of glucose and today’s was double at 100. No wonder I was looped up. I didn’t need the recliner, but the bambino was having a gay ol’ time bouncing off the walls of my stomach.

I was just getting through the heavenly cinnamon roll recipe when my timer was about to go off for the third phase of testing. I headed to the lab and my doctor happened to walk by while I was in the chair. He asked how I was doing and I told him that I’d be doing better if I wasn’t there. Then he gave me the good news that if I passed this phase, I wouldn’t have to do the last and could go home. I don’t know what level I needed to be under or what level I was at, but I was where I needed to be and was set free…one sixty minute timer and one finger prick early! As my doctor walked away from our conversation saying he’d see me in a couple weeks I couldn’t resist my parting words, “Does this mean I can have ice cream tonight?”

“And in the morning too!” he replied. Now that's a good doctor.

Doctor appointment: Diabetic screening/glucose test

I failed my first glucose test. Dang! I thought I was going to cry I was so shocked. I was given the orange glucose drink (basically sugar water) at my last appointment and have been staring at it in our fridge until this morning came. Within a few minutes it was gone (it has to be within five) and an hour later I was at my clinic being tested. The woman who pricked my finger said that my hemoglobin looked good, so I suppose I assumed my glucose would too. Jeff and I waited for the nurse practitioner to come into the room to tell us the result, figuring it’d be a short and sweet conversation. She greeted us and then said, “Well, your test didn’t come back so good.” It was definitely not what we were expecting to hear and I wasn’t prepared for feeling so bummed out about it. “I guess I shouldn’t have had that chocolate cake last night,” I said to her, but was relieved when she told me it actually has less to do with my diet than it does with my hormones. Whew! However, if it turns out I fail the next test, my diet will have to change. Oh, and I gained two pounds since my previous appointment.

I haven’t had any sweets since my appointment this morning and I have been losing my mind a little. It’s not that I can’t technically right now, but I thought I’d give it a try. I have realized I just may do better if I was a crack addict giving up crack. How can a person, a pregnant woman nonetheless, give up sweets? On a typical day I can’t get cookies and cake and candy and ice cream and anything ooey and gooey and chocolaty off my mind, but now that I am trying to restrain myself, and even just as my own little test, oh my gosh! I can hardly stand it. I’m sick to my stomach and shaking a little thinking about sweets and worse, about possibly having to give them up!

I’ll go in for a second screening, a three hour glucose tolerance test (GTT), on Thursday (Thursday, January 28th) to see if I have gestational diabetes. I’ll have my finger pricked when I arrive at the clinic and then I’ll drink the glucose drink. I’ll carry a timer (I’m picturing Flava Flav--->) and wait there for an hour, have my finger pricked, wait another hour, have my finger pricked, wait another hour and have my finger pricked again. And I don’t even get a sucker? All kidding aside, of course our baby’s health is my main concern and I’m more than willing to do whatever it takes to bring him or her here healthy. Mostly, I’m afraid of the prospect of what gestational diabetes could mean for both our baby and me later on. About 50% of pregnant women who have it will develop type 2 diabetes after pregnancy and children are at higher risk for the disease as well. I’ll be given the results the day of the test, so hopefully my next post will be good news…

Photos: 28 weeks