The second trimester highs and lows

Our soybean has grown into a mini me & nick at 22 weeks. And it's a boy!!!

I think at this point the little guy is approximately the size of a subway sandwich, and a little over a pound or so. He was definitely a shy guy, and didn't want to show his face to us. The tech tried several times to get us a good profile or face image, but the little man was determined not to let us see. So we went home with just this image of him. Which was fine with us, we wanted to wait until the big day to see his little mug anyway. However, he wasn't afraid to show his junk to the world, legs were wide open to let us know that he was a BOY :) My mom tells me that his soul runs deep already because by hiding his face he's telling us, "hey mom & dad! I'm not finished developing yet! So no peeking until I pop out!"

After the back and forth about getting approved for Medicaid during my first trimester, the second one was full of new obstacles. It started off with a UTI, which meant I got to spend 7 days on antibiotics. Anyone who knows me, knows that I can not swallow pills. It was a very very long week. At my next midwives appt. I was nervous that I might have another UTI, but instead they found that I was spilling sugar in my urine. Which at the moment I thought it was because of my lunch right before the appointment. You know, chick-fil-a sandwich with a soda and ice cream cone. So, they scheduled me for an hour glucose test at my next appointment.

Sigh....I fail my glucose test miserably. Thus, for the rest of my second trimester, I face some of my biggest fears and hope for the best. At 20 weeks, I'm diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. (for most pregnancies this test isn't done until the 26-28th week) I get put on the low carb diet, and for me, they put me on the most minimal one I could be on while I was pregnant. Wondering what that is?

Breakfast: 2 carb choices

Mid morning snack: 1-2 carb choices

Lunch: 2-3 carb choices

Mid afternoon snack: 2 carb choices

Dinner: 2-3 carb choices

Before bed snack: 2 carb choices

Example of a 1 carb choice is one slice of bread or 1/2 banana or 1/3 cups of rice or 3 oreo cookies

My eating habits were going to change dramatically. No longer was I the blissful pregnant woman encouraged to eat for two and indulge on cravings and food whims. Grocery shopping was a more thoughtful process, looking at labels, spending more time in the produce section, and brown was good white is bad. Since almost all liquids contain some sort of carbs in them, I'm basically only drinking water. Milk surprisingly has become a treat to drink, I try to fit it in my day when I can. However, managing my carb choices is tricky, I have to make sure that I fit in fruits, dairy, veggies, and grains into my diet everyday. Unfortunately, just being on a low carb diet and mild exercise wasn't enough to control my Gestational diabetes. My blood glucose wasn't getting any lower than 200 on a daily basis. What's the normal range? You want your blood glucose to be no lower than 60 and no higher than 120. Yup, I was no where close.

Panic sets in for the nurses, diabetes educators, and for us! At this point, I'm bumped into the "high risk pregnancy" category. They skip the oral medication for me and send me straight to insulin shots. The thought of using needles gave me chills and panic attacks. I was freaked out about giving myself one shot a day, no less than actually having to do 4 shots a day! (which for a 3 week period ended up being 5 shots a day) In the tummy at that! Imagine a 1/2" needle into your own pregnant stomach, uggggh! To top things off, I had to say good bye to the midwife practice, and begin seeing a whole new set of doctors.

All of this started a wave of doctors visits, lab tests, insurance issues, nurse calls, and a lot of time just managing the Gestational diabetes. It's basically become a full time job just to make sure that I'm testing my blood 4 times a day, and doing my insulin 4 times a day, and eating my 6 meals. Somehow, life fits in there too.

Near the end of my second trimester, I get to add another doctor to my roster. Now, I'm also seeing a specialist to co-manage my pregnancy with the new OB doctors. We have a fetal echo done around the 26th week of pregnancy. With gestational diabetes, we run the risk of our little man being under developed or way over developed. Thankfully, with my diligence in trying everything I can to manage my health issues, the little guy seemed to be right on track! He was the correct size, weight, and all signs so far point to an average healthy baby. Although, the biggest hurdles will come in my third trimester, where monitoring the little man will increase three fold because that's when he'll grow the most. I hope I'll be able to keep him full term and avoid a c-section! So far I've only gained 7 lbs, but the next phase is going to be a whopper!