How far along? 30 weeks as of Saturday.
Total weight gain: 5 pounds but technically 13 pounds from the lowest weight I went down to in the beginning
Sleep: Getting up so early for teaching helps me sleep better than I would be otherwise because I am always so exhausted that I don't have a hard time falling asleep. However, sleeping isn't always pleasant because laying on either side kills my hip.
Movement: This baby is for sure active. It is constantly shoving its butt and feet into my right ribs. I won't necessarily feel the baby move, but then all of a sudden I will feel the pressure and uncomfortableness of it's way into my rib. It happens multiple times a day, only on my right side, and I can always count on it happening while I'm teaching in the mornings.
Food cravings: Megan's raspberry rolls and anything and everything I can't currently eat..
Gender: We didn't find out! The beginning of this pregnancy was so different in the beginning than at least my last two pregnancies but really all of them, So we want to guess boy. However, it's probably a girl haha.It's definitely been a fun change to not know on our last pregnancy.
Symptoms: HIP PAIN. always always always my right hip. I hate the relaxin hormone for all of the dang hip pain it gives me. sciatic pain. harder time breathing.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Looking forward to: eating allllllll the food when this is over.
The second trimester came in with a bang, and by that I mean the hip pain hit the as soon as the second trimester started at 14 weeks. Some days/weeks have been worse than others, but I think I have found ways to manage it for now. Unfortunately, that involved cutting back on my workouts because my hip can't take all of the lunges and squats I was doing.
As soon as I hit 20 weeks heartburn stepped up its game and hasn't let up since.
24 weeks: felt the baby's hiccups for the first time.
23-25 weeks I painted all of the ceilings in the bedrooms and the bedrooms themselves, and I don't think that was the smartest move for my hip. I recovered after the kids ceilings, but I think our master bedroom did me in for good. All of the up and down on the stool was just a lot for my hip.
At 25 weeks I really started to feel it. Just all of it. Feet in ribs, increased hip pain, harder time bending over, uncomfortableness when the kids are sitting/climbing on me.
the baby measured in the 24th percentile, so size wise it's doing great!
Let's hope it's nose isn't as big in real life as it looks in the 3D ultrasounds haha
Gestational Diabetes
I failed my 1 hour glucose test by 4 points... Just like with Avery. And then for the first time I failed the 3 hour test. I have gestational diabetes. That really sucks to say, and in a lot of ways doesn't feel real. There was nothing I did to cause this, and there was nothing I could have done to prevent it from happening. It's all the placenta's fault. But honestly, I still find it hard to not blame myself. The first thing I felt was overwhelmed, and I still feel overwhelmed by it most of the time. Where do you even start? How do I do this? Why does pricking your finger suck so much? haha. I left the office with very little guidance until my appointment with the nutritionist a week later, but slowly I'm figuring it out.
It's been almost two weeks since I was diagnosed, and the thing I feel most now is stress. Stress of trying to get/keep my fasting numbers where they need to be. Because of COVID they are doing as few as possible in office appointments as possible which means less ultrasounds, less measurements, and less guidance than a person with gestational diabetes would normally get at my doctor's office. While I know the baby and I are still getting great care, it is still added stress having less care than normal. One thing that I have found doesn't help is all of the "yo u're doing it for the baby." "it's all for the baby" "the only thing that matters is keeping the baby healthy." Yes, I am aware of the fact that everything I am doing is to bring a healthy baby into the world, but hearing that a ton of times right when your world and way of life has been completely changed doesn't really help. Quite possibly the biggest stressor is that if I get to a point of needing to be on insulin, then I have to switch doctors because it will mean I can no longer see my midwife. My midwife has delivered all three of my babies, and I have seen her this whole pregnancy, so I REALLY don't want that to have to switch doctors.
So far, gestational diabetes hasn't been too bad. Everything but my fasting number have been easy to control. Fasting numbers are hormone driven instead of food driven, so there's not a ton I can personally do about them. It's been an adjustment to eat on a schedule and having to eat 3 real snacks a day, and I don't think I will ever get used to pricking my finger 4 times a day. I should hear from the nutritionist again tomorrow, so hopefully she'll give me some more guidance on my fasting numbers and not bad news like needing medication to control them..
One thing I've learned is that I for sure have not given gestational diabetes woman enough credit. These women are tough and certainly have to deal with and endure more than your average pregnant person. And I'm certainly not talking about myself here.
This pregnancy has really flown by. I didn't even notice we were less than 100 days away from the due date until we were at 84 days. I just looked for the first time since then and were only 67 days away from the due date. How is that possible?! There's a really good chance I'll be induced a little early because of having gestationational diabetes, so it could be less than 67 days before we meet this baby. Crazy!
Another note..
Being pregnant during this covid craziness is weird. That's the best word I can come up with because I don't want to use the word scary. It's all just weird. To not be able to bring the kids to my appointments is weird. To walk into the building and have my temperature immediately checked and instructed to use hand sanitizer is weird. To see few chairs spaced far apart in the waiting room and no magazines is weird. I no longer run the errands that involve going into a store because I'm higher risk than Taylor, and I can't/won't take the kids into any stores right now. It's weird to have all of this extra uncertainty as I'm getting closer to the end of this pregnancy. It's weird to not have a clue what life is going to look like after this baby is born. Will we still be quarantined at home? Will the kids be allowed to visit the new baby in the hospital? Will this all be over by the time this baby is born? I can only hope.
