Pregnancy Update- 25 weeks

This week the baby is the size of a rutabaga.  I don’t think I have ever seen one of those in person, nor eaten one.  My pregnancy app told me that my uterus is the size of a soccer ball now.  Of course I read that fact while I was at my niece and nephew’s soccer games over the weekend.  Cute…

I had my regular OB appointment last week.  My weight was down two pounds from the previous month (fyi, my scale tells me I am down 9 lbs total since pre-preg weight), my blood pressure was 108/68, and the baby was measuring just fine.  The heartbeat was good and the baby kicked the doppler as the doctor was listening to it.

I think I am officially starting to waddle.

Even my maternity shirts are starting to creep up in front.  By the time I have this baby, half my tummy will be showing.  =( 

My blood sugar has been creeping up this past week. My levels were higher than they should have been 8 different times.  I was pretty close to what I should have been for 6 of those, but 2 were up at like 150.  I can’t remember if I ever explained it or not, but I have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day.  I take it once when I wake up (my fasting rate) and then 2 hours after every meal.  My fasting rate should be 90 or less and the rate after meals should be 120 or less. 

I have to fax in my blood sugar chart to my doctor’s office weekly, so I also wrote a few paragraphs about how I was feeling and my concerns this week.  My OB’s nurse is great.  She called me a little while later and we talked it out.  She said the placenta causes extra hormones and such and so even if I wasn’t insulin resistant, my sugar counts are going to naturally be higher starting around weeks 24-28, which is why they give all preggos the gestational diabetes test during that time period.  She is happy that she doesn’t have to track me down and make me send in my charts like she does with some patients.  How do some people not take this seriously?

The nurse said that they will continue to monitor my numbers and if need be, I can be placed on medication to help.  I hope to avoid that, but I will do whatever I need to do to keep healthy for the baby.  She was happy with the time I spend walking and my amount of water intake.  I am going to have to go back to the books and revise what my breakfasts and lunches are and make sure that my carbs are correct.  It’s hard to be so restrictive, though, especially when I want to be a typical pregnant woman and sit down in front of the tv with a big bowl of

Rocky Road

ice cream.  Do you know how hard it is for me to go eat at a Mexican restaurant and not eat a single chip with salsa?  But 6 chips would equal half the carbs I can have in an entire meal….  NOT WORTH IT!!!

Not to end things on a downer, but I just wanted to go over some of the risks of uncontrolled blood sugar during pregnancy due to gestational diabetes.  I am sure a lot of people don’t realize that it can be a really big deal.  I am getting most of my information for this entry from Web MD, but I have also used lot of web resources, as well as info from my doctor.

• Diabetes in early pregnancy can lead to birth defects in baby’s major organs like brain and heart, as well as an increased risk of miscarriage
• Uncontrolled diabetes (gestational or otherwise) causes the baby to put on extra weight and be larger than normal.  This means it could be too large to enter the birth canal, or cause shoulder trauma in a normal delivery.  There is a higher rate of C sections needed for these babies.
• The baby’s blood sugar can drop right after delivery, which may just mean he needs to feed quickly after birth, or he might need a glucose IV.
• Sometimes it causes the baby to have too many red blood cells, low calcium, or have decreased heart functions.
• Baby can have respiratory distress after birth and have a higher risk of jaundice.
• Can cause higher blood pressure and a higher likelihood of UTIs during pregnancy for mom.

I know the chances of the severe things happening are slim, but so is the risk of listeria and toxoplasmosis, and I follow the rules about those things, too.  I heat all my lunch meat thoroughly and I don’t change the litter box without gloves.  I want to do everything I can to make sure I give my babies the best start possible.  That’s my job.

And one last comment about C sections.  I know they aren’t the end of the world, but I would personally prefer not to have one.  It’s not in my birth plan; however, like one of my mommy friends said today, a birth plan is more like a birth “wish list” of how you want things to go.  Unexpected things happen, so you have to plan for all scenarios.  For Rickybear, I was dead set against an induction.  I knew my OB induced two of my coworkers and that she might suggest it for me.  In the end, we decided that due to my son’s unstable heart rate, an induction was the best option for me.  Was it LONG and SUCKY?  Of course.  Did mom and baby both end up happy and healthy?  You bet.  Plus, I was assured that my OB who induced me would be responsible for me and would be the doctor who delivered the baby… and not just whoever ended up on duty when it came time to push. 

I think that’s about it for today,  Feel free to comment or message me if yall have any questions about anything I wrote about today……