As usual I managed to work myself into a tizzy just days before the actual appointment. I've learned, even moreso since becoming pregnant again, that I am very much a 'prepare for the worst' personality. I tend to forget the 'hope for the best' and simply prepare for the worst, probably in an attempt to not be blindsided if bad occurs.
Since yesterday's appointment included my glucose test I was in rare form the last few days, driving my poor husband crazy with my mood swings and worrying. I have had hypoglycemic tendencies since I was a teen and am very aware of how sugar effects me. I've known for years that if I get up and have a powdered donut for breakfast, half an hour later my sugars will bottom out and I will feel horrible. If I want a donut, I have to eat something high in protein first, like eggs.
Now that we eat much healthier than I did as a teen, oh the things I used to put in this body, I don't have to worry as much about my sugars. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I realized somewhere near the end of my pregnancy that unlike before I was pregnant, I could actually eat things like donuts. Of course, upon discovering this I started a horrible habit of stopping at Dunkin' Donuts nearly every day to 'be a good girl' and have a raisin bagel with egg and cheese on it, followed of course by my reward for behaving: a large glazed twist!
Which probably explains the bulk of my weight gain arriving the last six weeks or so. :-)
With these boys, I have found the opposite to be true. I have to limit my sugars, or at least my super sugars. If I want a donut, even after an egg and cheese bagel, I have to settle for a simple cake donut because anything resembling a glazed donut or apple fritter will put me over the edge and I feel the effects.
Because of this, I was actually very worried about my glucose test. I know diabetes runs in my family, and my mother had gestational diabetes with my brother leading to a very specific diet AND insulin injections daily for her. She did have a few factors that I don't, but she also wasn't carrying two little imps.
I approached it rationally when I was pregnant with my daughter, eating a high protein lunch and then chasing it with the nasty orange glucose drink. I passed with flying colors.
This time I was so stressed out that I ate a good protein breakfast but didn't manage to eat anything more before I took the actual test at nearly noon because the morning got away from me and I was stressing about it. I got the red glucose test this time, which oddly reminded me of the hawaiin punch 'juice' boxes I drank on a couple occasions as a child. Thank goodness I kept it in the fridge, because even cold it was kinda nasty.
I thought for sure I would feel my sugars going crazy by the time we got to the doctor, but other than being about 20 minutes late we did just fine. We went right in to see the doctor, he checked me out and everything was fine. No signs of preterm labor, good blood pressure. I mention this because along with my worries/preparations about my appointment I was waiting to hear that I was dilating and my blood pressure was high due to pre-eclampsia. There is definitely such a thing as too informed and I'm there.
After I was all checked out and we had heard both heartbeats, the doctor said "see you in two weeks" and a nurse came in to draw blood for my glucose test. And then it was over. All that stress and everything was fine. I am such a worry wort.
We popped downstairs to a cafe in the building for a quick bite and then it was off to the ultrasound down the street.
We got checked in and realized we were about 20 minutes late for this one too. We went in pretty quickly and within minutes there were our boys, up on the big screen. I have a girlfriend who found out she was having a girl at her 20 week appointment and starting planning for such. Three days before her baby shower, she went in for another routine ultrasound and the technician said "Oops. Looks like you're having a boy!"
So of course the first things I asked was, "Are they still boys?"
She was very patient and the first thing she did was find that view for us. Yep! They are definitely little boys! LOL
You may recall the wonderful picture we got of them touching toes through the membrane between them and how sweet that was. You may also remember the fact that the entire time she was trying to get pictures of Baby B, his brother Baby A was kicking him in the head.
Well, turns out my boys give as good as they get!
The first picture she took was of Baby A, with Baby B's food resting on his chest. King of the Mountain I guess. About ten minutes later she got another such picture, this time Baby B had his foot resting on top of Baby A's head. Definitely boys!
We watched them play as she measured all their little parts, I couldn't believe how big their little legs looked! Of course, I know they were blown up on the screen, but considering you used to be able to see the whole baby at once and now it was like an octopus in there with limbs everywhere it was truly amazing!
After they were all measured she told us that they were each weighing in at 2 lbs 8 ounces. I was thrilled! My sister was born premature, 6 weeks or so, and only weighed 2 lbs 12 ounces at birth. I just wanted to hear that these boys were already at least 2 lbs with ten-ish weeks to go. Yeah boys, good job!
Lucky for us, all the machines in this facility have been upgraded to 3D. So once all the formalities and measuring were done, she switched wands, re-gelled my belly and we got to see our little boys faces for the first time.
It was so fabulous to see my wonder reflected on my husband's face as we saw our little boys for the first time. Baby A was cooperating more so we got a couple good pictures of his face. His brother we only got one before he grouchily rolled over. Of course the look on his face is priceless! Right before she snapped the picture his brother (Baby A giving some back!) kicked him in the face, so he was scowling as he slept when she took the picture!
It was truly amazing to see in the wonderful shot we got of Baby A's face that he looks just like his sister! He has her nose, mouth and chin. It was just breathtaking to see them already! If they didn't feel quite real before, they definitely do now.
Baby B
Baby A 
So far, no news on my glucose, but I figure no news is good news for now. In the meantime I left a message with the Dr. office and am waiting for a reply. Fingers crossed.
*Edit: Finally heard back! Yeah! Passed my glucose test fine. But I'm slightly anemic. So time to add another iron supplement and increase my iron rich foods. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt a lentil soup in my crock pot that includes all kinds of iron rich foods. Fingers crossed that it's yummy!
9 weeks to go until they are no longer considered premature at birth! Almost there!
Oh, and as of yesterday Baby A (who is closest to the exit, and would thus be born first) is breech. The ultrasound Dr. said that they still have room to move around, but at our next ultrasound in four weeks if he is still breech, we will most likely be scrapping the VBAC and planning for a c-section.
No comments:
Post a Comment