Ana got the hiccups last night. It wasn’t the first time she has had them, but the first time I actually recognized them for what they were. I was lying in bed desperately trying to fall asleep between the alternating snores of Simeon and Ellie (they like to do this to me ALL THE TIME), so I tried to focus on my belly movements as I drifted off to sleep. Then I noticed how incredibly rhythmic the movements were. I was starting to wonder if my daughter was keeping time in there, as it was almost as constant as the ticking of a second hand on a clock. Then it suddenly dawned on me that where I was feeling the tiny bumps was right about where I was guessing her head was and it wasn’t kicking (or punching) at all, but the hiccups! It was so cute I had to roll over and wake Simeon up to share my realization. I know it is totally minor, and not a very big deal, but the little things, even as small a hiccups, just make this whole thing so real and so worth it. We can’t wait to meet you, baby girl!

“I wish all my gestational diabetes patients were just like you” was the first thing the new doctor said when he walked into the exam room, instantly making me feel at ease. Then he backed this up by explaining how my glucose levels were really very good, for a GD patient, but that they were just being overly cautious in having me start taking medication. The doctor is prescribing glyburide, an oral diabetes medication that does not cross the placenta. It is not insulin like I had assumed. He is even starting me on the very lowest dose they offer because he doesn’t think it will take much to keep my scores in the optimal range. Yeah me! So I just take the tiny pill once a day with breakfast. Easy as that. Then if my scores still aren’t where they should be, I can either up the dose or take an additional pill. But he really doesn’t think it will come to that.

So after chatting with the doctor for a bit about the medication, going into more depth about the risks of GD and what will happen after I have the baby, he said he wanted to check on the baby and have me take a Non Stress Test. Basically they just hook up a fetal heart rate monitor across my stomach and listen to the heartbeat for about 20 minutes. They are checking to make sure the heartbeat is within the normal ranges, with frequent fluctuations, and hopefully a couple big baby movements causing the heartbeat to fluctuate 15 or more beats per minute. Wanting to totally out do her mother, my daughter passed this test with flying colors…in about five minutes. So then I just had to lay there for another 15 minutes watching the numbers jump around and feeling her kicking away inside me.

So everything is going great. I still have my appts set for next Friday, along with the ultrasound, and we will be able to monitor how the medication is working. While things may seem scary or overly complicated at times, rest assured that I am taking care of business and doing all that I can to make sure I have a happy and healthy little baby to show for all this in just a few short weeks.

I had my 34 week doctor’s appt first thing this morning and have this to report back:

Urine: Fine: slight protein (only because I hadn’t had very much water to drink yet since it was so early in the morning), no sugar (yea!)
Weight: lost 3 lb since last appt (bringing me to 3 lbs total gain)
Blood Pressure: Nice and low
Baby’s Heartbeat: Normal, in the 160s
Measuring: right where I am suppose to be!

I was floored by the fact that I continue to lose weight, but my doctor assures me that as long as the baby is still growing, things are perfect. We just attribute the weight loss to the healthier diet and added exercise, so it is not an area of concern. Go figure. I was under the impression that people gain weight during pregnancy.

Another interesting bit of information for ya: my due date has moved again. My doctor mentioned my due date in passing and said it was set for December 19th. I said the last time someone told me the date, they said it was December 14th. She laughed at this and said not to listen to anyone else but her. So we are now due on the 19th. This doesn’t bother me, other than the fact that I could now possibly be pregnant until December 26th (since they will only let me go over my due date by a week). So no longer a guarantee that we will not have a Christmas baby. *sigh*

Then my appt took a turn for the worse less-positive. My doctor wanted to look over my glucose log book to see how my blood sugar has been and needless to say, she was not as impressed as last week. I am still on my super-strict diet, but for some reason my body is not always responding to the lower carb/sugar. I can eat the same breakfast two days in a row and have a 2-hour glucose level of 85 one day and 138 the next (I am suppose to keep it between 60-120). Since my activity level isn’t really changing (especially first thing in the morning!) we can either attribute it to stress (sounds about right, what with all the changes in my life) or just the hormonal imbalances screwing with my insulin levels. Either of these factors are not things I can control, so my doctor thinks it would be best for me and the baby to go on insulin.

At this point, I just want to do what is best for the baby, and if that means taking medication, then so be it. My doctor thinks it will be easier for me to take a new pill form of insulin, rather than the shot, which was just fine by me! However, she isn’t very familiar with this new drug, so she is having me meet with another doctor in the office (appt set for tomorrow morning) who regularly prescribes this specific medication. That way if I have any questions or concerns, he will be able to address them. Then I will meet with her as scheduled next week and she can check to see how the meds are working. Also at that time we are having an ultrasound to check on the growth of the baby. So it is going to be a pretty eventful week…medically speaking anyway.

As most of you know, Simeon and I attended our childbirth preparation class over the weekend. We initially signed up for the four-week class (two hour class, one night a week) but because Simeon has been trying to get all of his traveling out of the way before the baby comes, he would have missed half of the classes. So I called the hospital to see if we could attend the “Weekend Childbirth Seminar” (6:30-9:30pm on Friday evening and 9:00am-4:00pm on Saturday) instead. It cost about $30 more, but I figured since the main reason we were taking the class was to better prepare Simeon, it was worth the extra money for him to be able to attend the entire thing.

I had heard a lot of women never make it through the entire class because they end up going into labor within the four week period. I thought for sure this wouldn’t be the case with the weekend class, but sure enough, Saturday morning we lost two couples in our group because they were in labor. Go figure. I guess if you are destined to miss the class it will happen no matter what.

Simeon and I actually had a great time in the class. I admit there were a few things I had never heard before and I actually learned a thing or two. Simeon came out very well informed and with a new outlook on a few different things. I was very happy that they didn’t scare the crap out of him by showing any horrific bloody labors with screaming women and fainting husbands or something that would further scare him about the whole process. We did watch a couple birth videos, but they were all very tasteful and not really any more graphic than TLC’s A Baby Story (which I totally admit to having a TiVo Season Pass to record all the episodes during the day and Simeon has watched more than a couple of them with me). In fact, I swear the video they showed us in 8th grade health class was more graphic…but then again I think they were trying to terrify us about sex back then anyway.

Overall the class was very helpful. Sure we touched on basic anatomy and fetal development, which was all review for us, but they also went into great depth about medical intervention, relaxation techniques, and my personal favorite, massage. In fact, there were large portions of the class where I got to lay on my blanket, curled up with a pillow and they actually taught Simeon how to give me a massage. Sure I was focusing on my breathing and pretending to be in pain at the time, but it was still pretty darn nice.

This video just about sums it all up.

Thank God my wonderful friend, Megan, gave me a gift certificate for a pedicure at Dosha that I have been saving for just the right time….and I am thinking that time has come.