If 4% of all pregnancies end up with gestational diabetes, why can't you find any books on it at the book store? Bizarre, no?
I first off wanted to thank everyone for being so supportive. It really does make me feel a good bit better. I'm having a better day today. I finally called the specialist that I'm supposed to go see because I still hadn't heard from them by Thursday and it was really stressing me out. I called them about mid-day on Thursday to see what the status was and I found out that apparently there had been a miscommunication. They don't call to schedule appointments anymore. Instead, somewhere between my house and the specialist was a letter in the mail. I have to go to a 'class' on gestational diabetes on Monday at 1:30 in the afternoon. Not exactly convenient, but I'll take it if its the earliest I can get. I asked the woman on the phone exactly what she meant by a 'class'. I was under the impression that I was going to a doctors appointment. Well apparently it is a class/apt. There are going to be other women there and all, but it's still technically an appointment. It's weird. Even the woman on the phone said it is weird. I dunno. We'll see. I'm just looking forward to getting some questions answered and getting some rules for my diet. I'm ready to get this straightened out now. The time to be upset about all of this is over. Time to move on and do what has to be done. It's what's best for both me and Ashley Marie. So be it.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
it's been a rough week or so...
and I'm sorry I haven't posted. But it really has been rough. So I went in and had my glucose screen done. No problem, easy as pie, nothing that I should have been worrying about. that is, until I got a call from my doctor the next morning...
I failed.
Yep. I got a big fat F. So, then the nurse tells me over the phone that now I have to take the three hour glucose screen. No problem, right? Hmmm. yeah, except that I had to go on a special diet for friday, Saturday, and Sunday. AND I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight on Sunday (including water). GREAT!! So then I go to the doctors office to pick up my lab sheet for monday and a copy of the diet for the weekend. It was as follows...
Breakfast:
1 egg
1 slice toast
1 Tablespoon jelly
4 oz. citrus juice
8 oz. skim milk
1/2 cup cooked cereal or 3/4 cup cold cereal
Lunch:
meat, poultry, or fish (as desired)
1/2 cup potatoes
1/2 cup vegetables
1 serving fruit
4 oz. skim milk
1 slice frosted cake or pie
Dinner:
meat, poultry, or fish (as desired)
1/2 cup potatoes
1/2 cup vegetables (cooked or as a salad)
8 oz. skim milk
1 slice frosted cake or pie
Thats it. No Snacks, no nothing. For a normal person, this might have just been a little aggrivating and inconvenient. But for me, and 7 months pregnant, this was miserable!!! I was hungry for 3 days straight. And I have one thing to say about the veggies...
It is absolutely amazing that 1/2 cup of broccoli is A LOT of broccoli, but 1/2 cup of potatoes is NOTHING!!
SO....I did really well all weekend and didn't even cheat a single time. I was so proud of myself!
I got up Monday and went to work to take care of a few things for about an hour and I got to the lab only 1/2 an hour after they opened. And I waited. For an hour. After having had nothing to eat or drink since about 930 the night before when I went to bed. By the time they called my name, my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth I was so dry! Well, they drew my fasting blood and bruised me pretty good casue she couldn't find a vein since I was so dry. Then they gave me the drink...
Hmmm. yeah. No one ever tells you that the drink is even sweeter the second time! It was twice as sweet! So sweet in fact, it wasn't really totally liquid. It was kinda like orange flavored corn syrup. I got about 1/2 of it down before I started feeling like I was fixing to pass out. Fortunately, thanks to growing up with a nurse for a mom and a sister who has been known to get lightheaded from time to time, I knew how to deal with it. I put my head between my knees until it passed and then tried to finish the stupid drink before 5 minutes was up. (yes, they time you while you drink it. Did I not mention that? 5 min to down 10 oz. of orange corn syrup) I finished drinking it and gave the bottle back to the lab tech as proof and then one hour, two hours, and 3 hours after that my blood was redrawn to recheck my blood sugar. 4 needle sticks in 3 hours, 4 vials of blood drawn and nothing to eat or drink but the gross orange goo. I finished it all with no problem and spent the rest of the day hanging out with Mom. Then today I get a phone call at work...My lab results are back....
I Failed. Again.
I've failed tests before back when I was in school, but I dont think any of them upset me quite as badly as this one did. That stung a good bit. So now...I have gestational diabetes. I am now being referred to a specialist at the diabetic center in the hospital. They are apparently going to put me on a special diet and I have to monitor my blood sugar. I know theres nothing I could have done to prevent it, but I still feel like it is somehow my fault. I think I'm just kinda freaked out that that combined with my thyroid now makes me a high risk pregnancy. Not really happy about that. I'll do my best to keep ya'll posted but my laptop is misbehaving really badly (hence no pictures) so I'm having to use Mark's computer when I can kick him off of it for long enough.
I failed.
Yep. I got a big fat F. So, then the nurse tells me over the phone that now I have to take the three hour glucose screen. No problem, right? Hmmm. yeah, except that I had to go on a special diet for friday, Saturday, and Sunday. AND I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight on Sunday (including water). GREAT!! So then I go to the doctors office to pick up my lab sheet for monday and a copy of the diet for the weekend. It was as follows...
Breakfast:
1 egg
1 slice toast
1 Tablespoon jelly
4 oz. citrus juice
8 oz. skim milk
1/2 cup cooked cereal or 3/4 cup cold cereal
Lunch:
meat, poultry, or fish (as desired)
1/2 cup potatoes
1/2 cup vegetables
1 serving fruit
4 oz. skim milk
1 slice frosted cake or pie
Dinner:
meat, poultry, or fish (as desired)
1/2 cup potatoes
1/2 cup vegetables (cooked or as a salad)
8 oz. skim milk
1 slice frosted cake or pie
Thats it. No Snacks, no nothing. For a normal person, this might have just been a little aggrivating and inconvenient. But for me, and 7 months pregnant, this was miserable!!! I was hungry for 3 days straight. And I have one thing to say about the veggies...
It is absolutely amazing that 1/2 cup of broccoli is A LOT of broccoli, but 1/2 cup of potatoes is NOTHING!!
SO....I did really well all weekend and didn't even cheat a single time. I was so proud of myself!
I got up Monday and went to work to take care of a few things for about an hour and I got to the lab only 1/2 an hour after they opened. And I waited. For an hour. After having had nothing to eat or drink since about 930 the night before when I went to bed. By the time they called my name, my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth I was so dry! Well, they drew my fasting blood and bruised me pretty good casue she couldn't find a vein since I was so dry. Then they gave me the drink...
Hmmm. yeah. No one ever tells you that the drink is even sweeter the second time! It was twice as sweet! So sweet in fact, it wasn't really totally liquid. It was kinda like orange flavored corn syrup. I got about 1/2 of it down before I started feeling like I was fixing to pass out. Fortunately, thanks to growing up with a nurse for a mom and a sister who has been known to get lightheaded from time to time, I knew how to deal with it. I put my head between my knees until it passed and then tried to finish the stupid drink before 5 minutes was up. (yes, they time you while you drink it. Did I not mention that? 5 min to down 10 oz. of orange corn syrup) I finished drinking it and gave the bottle back to the lab tech as proof and then one hour, two hours, and 3 hours after that my blood was redrawn to recheck my blood sugar. 4 needle sticks in 3 hours, 4 vials of blood drawn and nothing to eat or drink but the gross orange goo. I finished it all with no problem and spent the rest of the day hanging out with Mom. Then today I get a phone call at work...My lab results are back....
I Failed. Again.
I've failed tests before back when I was in school, but I dont think any of them upset me quite as badly as this one did. That stung a good bit. So now...I have gestational diabetes. I am now being referred to a specialist at the diabetic center in the hospital. They are apparently going to put me on a special diet and I have to monitor my blood sugar. I know theres nothing I could have done to prevent it, but I still feel like it is somehow my fault. I think I'm just kinda freaked out that that combined with my thyroid now makes me a high risk pregnancy. Not really happy about that. I'll do my best to keep ya'll posted but my laptop is misbehaving really badly (hence no pictures) so I'm having to use Mark's computer when I can kick him off of it for long enough.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
completely and totally one of those days
Ugh!!!!!
I hate days where it just seems like nothing was meant to go your way. First thing this morning i got snapped at and then laughed at by people at the doctors office. I needed to know if I could eat before my appointment because everything I've read says that they do your glucose screening when you haven't eaten in a few hours. Well, apparently the doctors office is not open at 8:30 a.m. and if you call then, it goes to the doctor on call. She snapped at me and told me I needed to wait and ask the people in the office...when they open...after 9:15. Well EXCUSE ME. I wasn't aware that the rest of the world doesn't start their day until after 9 a.m. So I waited and called back around 10:30 (I didn't want to risk getting the cranky lady again) and the receptionist says, "Um...yeah, I mean, you can eat. I wouldn't eat like a whole box of doughnuts or anything, but you know..." And yes, she was laughing as she said it, like it was a ridiculous question. So after all of that, I stayed at work for a few hours where I also picked up my paycheck, since I won't be there tomorrow because of jury duty. Well the bank refused to cash it until after 2 o'clock because it was dated for tomorrow. That completely threw me off because I had a few things I needed to go shopping for and I wanted to get it all done before my doctors apt. at 3:30. So, instead, I went and grabbed a Chick-fil-A sandwich and headed to Target to finish our baby registry. I was there until about 1 o'clock and still needed to kill some time so I went and picked up a really neat book at Borders called How to Baby proof your Marriage. I just started reading it at the doctors office, but I would already recommend it to anyone who is even thinking about having kids. I then went and cashed my check and went back to target to try and find a specific pair of maternity pant, but they were not there. So, I headed to Motherhood Maternity in the mall to try and find a pair and the sales lady really irritated me! She kept trying to sell me all of these totally ridiculous things, and all I wanted was one stupid pair of pants! Well, I did get a pair of pants, and a gray knit dress off of the clearance rack, but by the time I left the store, it was 3:15. So I went on to my doctors office. I signed in, and I waited. the waiting really didn't bother me because even though I waited for about an hour to see the doctor, it was still much less waiting time than at my last doctor. I went back, got weighed, had my blood pressure taken, and went on back to the exam room. Less than 5 minutes later, the doc and his assistant came in and we did the usual Doppler heartbeat thingy and all is well there. He measured my belly and I got a new Rx for my thyroid medicine and that was about it. No exam . Not that I'm complaining, really, just odd. Then he hands me a piece of paper and tells me to go get my glucose screening done. I'm like...go? Go where? Aren't you supposed to be doing that? Well, I remembered talking to my sister a while back (she goes to the same doctor) and remembered that she had to go to a lab to have her blood work done. I left the doctors office and went right to the lab, since it is really close to the doctor's office (almost across the street). I went in the lab and the woman behind the glass asks me what I'm there for so I hand her the paper from the doctor. She says to me, "You can't get this done today because it is right at 5 o'clock. This test takes an hour so you have to come back tomorrow". I am SO IRRITATED!!!! I went out in the parking lot and called Mark and sat there, in my car, talking on my cell phone and crying. I know I'm hormonal, and I was really hungry, and cranky, but this was just the last straw! I have been really stressed about this test because everyone keeps telling me how terrible it is and how pretty much everyone throws up the syrup they make you drink. That was why I didn't eat anything else after the chicken sandwich. I figured maybe I was less likely to get sick if I had less in my stomach. So now, I have to take more time off of work next week. That is 2 days last week I missed, as well as 2 days of work I am missing this week. I don't really mind missing the work, but we're trying to save money because my maternity leave isn't going to be paid. That and I really feel like this missed work is going to make me look bad, you know? Things are so frustrating when they don't go the way I want them to!!!! I'm going to bed now. Enough of this bad day.
I hate days where it just seems like nothing was meant to go your way. First thing this morning i got snapped at and then laughed at by people at the doctors office. I needed to know if I could eat before my appointment because everything I've read says that they do your glucose screening when you haven't eaten in a few hours. Well, apparently the doctors office is not open at 8:30 a.m. and if you call then, it goes to the doctor on call. She snapped at me and told me I needed to wait and ask the people in the office...when they open...after 9:15. Well EXCUSE ME. I wasn't aware that the rest of the world doesn't start their day until after 9 a.m. So I waited and called back around 10:30 (I didn't want to risk getting the cranky lady again) and the receptionist says, "Um...yeah, I mean, you can eat. I wouldn't eat like a whole box of doughnuts or anything, but you know..." And yes, she was laughing as she said it, like it was a ridiculous question. So after all of that, I stayed at work for a few hours where I also picked up my paycheck, since I won't be there tomorrow because of jury duty. Well the bank refused to cash it until after 2 o'clock because it was dated for tomorrow. That completely threw me off because I had a few things I needed to go shopping for and I wanted to get it all done before my doctors apt. at 3:30. So, instead, I went and grabbed a Chick-fil-A sandwich and headed to Target to finish our baby registry. I was there until about 1 o'clock and still needed to kill some time so I went and picked up a really neat book at Borders called How to Baby proof your Marriage. I just started reading it at the doctors office, but I would already recommend it to anyone who is even thinking about having kids. I then went and cashed my check and went back to target to try and find a specific pair of maternity pant, but they were not there. So, I headed to Motherhood Maternity in the mall to try and find a pair and the sales lady really irritated me! She kept trying to sell me all of these totally ridiculous things, and all I wanted was one stupid pair of pants! Well, I did get a pair of pants, and a gray knit dress off of the clearance rack, but by the time I left the store, it was 3:15. So I went on to my doctors office. I signed in, and I waited. the waiting really didn't bother me because even though I waited for about an hour to see the doctor, it was still much less waiting time than at my last doctor. I went back, got weighed, had my blood pressure taken, and went on back to the exam room. Less than 5 minutes later, the doc and his assistant came in and we did the usual Doppler heartbeat thingy and all is well there. He measured my belly and I got a new Rx for my thyroid medicine and that was about it. No exam . Not that I'm complaining, really, just odd. Then he hands me a piece of paper and tells me to go get my glucose screening done. I'm like...go? Go where? Aren't you supposed to be doing that? Well, I remembered talking to my sister a while back (she goes to the same doctor) and remembered that she had to go to a lab to have her blood work done. I left the doctors office and went right to the lab, since it is really close to the doctor's office (almost across the street). I went in the lab and the woman behind the glass asks me what I'm there for so I hand her the paper from the doctor. She says to me, "You can't get this done today because it is right at 5 o'clock. This test takes an hour so you have to come back tomorrow". I am SO IRRITATED!!!! I went out in the parking lot and called Mark and sat there, in my car, talking on my cell phone and crying. I know I'm hormonal, and I was really hungry, and cranky, but this was just the last straw! I have been really stressed about this test because everyone keeps telling me how terrible it is and how pretty much everyone throws up the syrup they make you drink. That was why I didn't eat anything else after the chicken sandwich. I figured maybe I was less likely to get sick if I had less in my stomach. So now, I have to take more time off of work next week. That is 2 days last week I missed, as well as 2 days of work I am missing this week. I don't really mind missing the work, but we're trying to save money because my maternity leave isn't going to be paid. That and I really feel like this missed work is going to make me look bad, you know? Things are so frustrating when they don't go the way I want them to!!!! I'm going to bed now. Enough of this bad day.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
latest update...
All is doing well here at the Woodard house. I am totally exhausted though. It was really bizarre this past weekend. Friday, Saturday, and most of Saturday I didn't look as pregnant as I have. I also wasn't peeing as much and I wasn't really hungry for anything AT ALL! It was really bizarre! Then, after church on Sunday, I was sitting on the sofa working on some stuff and I got up to pee, and all of a sudden, I looked HUGE! I knew Ashley Marie had been moving round a good bit since I was sitting still, but I didn't realize she had moved that much! Apparently she shifted and is now on my bladder, which is kinda crummy. However, she has freed up room for my stomach and yummy things like Waffle House omelets and French Onion soup from TGIFridays! Other news for the week...I am serving jury duty, I broke a tooth on a now & later, and the surprising news...I cut almost all of my hair off. I donated it to Locks of Love last Tuesday. My fabulous hairdresser, Lisa cut off 14 or 15 inches. I love it! It is so much easier to take care of and it has so much more body now! I need to take some good pictures of it, but I'm usually in too much of a rush in the morning, and with the heat here lately, it's looked kinda rough by the time I get home at night. In any event...Here is week 25, pre-haircut...
and Week 26, after haircut. See how much is gone?
Mark thinks this one is particularly funny...
"Look...You can't even make it through a photoshoot without having to go pee!"
I have another doctors appointment tomorrow and hopefully all is well. They are doing my glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes. I am kinda scared about the test. I'm not really worried about the results of the test, it's more the test itself that i'm worried about. I've heard bad things about it. I'll let you know how it goes.
and Week 26, after haircut. See how much is gone?
Mark thinks this one is particularly funny..."Look...You can't even make it through a photoshoot without having to go pee!"
I have another doctors appointment tomorrow and hopefully all is well. They are doing my glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes. I am kinda scared about the test. I'm not really worried about the results of the test, it's more the test itself that i'm worried about. I've heard bad things about it. I'll let you know how it goes.
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