Overdue Update

So I have sorely neglected this blog...but I don't think many read this anyway. I am updating and hope to keep updating so that I can read back and remind myself of everything, as time is flying incredible fast and life seems a blur at times! My son is almost a year old! Where has all the time gone, i have no idea. All I do know is that it has been one fun ride. Even through the few sleepless nights and the teething, sickness, and even when I didn't know what I was really doing and winging it, it has been a blast and I thank God for every mili-second of motherhood. It was all I ever wanted and struggled for 5 years, and it was worth it all!!!

My son is 10 months, almost 11 months, and is my reason for being! The emotions are hard to decribe when I look into his cute chubby face...brings tears to my eyes often. I stare at him, at pictures of him and I am still in awe that he is all mine, that he came from me. He has many nicknames but one of my favorite is Sphaghetti. He is far from being a spaghetti noodle, but it is such a cute nickname! He is a big boy, he weighed 24lbs at his 9 month check in January. He hasn't gained to much weight i think since then, but i would guess that he now weighs about 25lbs. He finally crawls - "Army style" but has good leg strength. He is most happiest in his jumper. His personality is starting to come through, and he will be alot like his father! He loves to 'terrorize' the family dog at his grandparents (my in-laws) on sunny days. They take him out into the backyard in his walker and he loves to mess with the dog. Poor dog, I like animals, but I don't feel to sorry for this dog, as he owes me a few! lol My son loves to bump and drag the dog's food dish, and shows no fear of the dog when he barks at my son...in fact, i think Spaghetti laughs! My hubby used to terrorize the animals on his grandmother's little farm in Guatemala when he was a baby too...so like father like son!

I was very blessed and baby has slept through the night with no night feedings since he was 3 months. At 2 months he was going 8-9 hours and only feeding once. So by 3 months he was going 10-12 hour stretches! He always had a healthy appetite so he took in all of his formula intake during the day, so he didn't need to wake up to eat in the middle of the night. Once we got passed his acid reflux at 3.5 months, he was the happiest of babies. I was lucky enough to stay home with him until 4 months before i had to go back out to work force, so I did my best to get him on a schedule/routine so that it would be smooth transistion. FOr the most part it was. Luckly for us, my in-laws were able to watch him while we worked so it was a little adjustment for them for about a month. But once they got a routine that worked it was great. Right before I went back to work, I was having problem getting my son to Nap...all of a sudden he was refusing to nap. I had just started to get him on a routine and getting him to nap, when I went back to work and my progress went out the window. It took a little longer for my mother in law to get him on a napping schedule, but eventually it worked out. Most days he takes 2 good naps and he is in bed by 8 almost every night. If he had a bad day of little napping, he is in bed by 7:30. and while he may cry out once or twice, he settles himself back down on his own, unless, he can't find his pacifier...or he is sick.

He has been teething in the last couple of weeks. His first 2 teeth came in October and nothing else since then, until last month. His first top tooth came out and after coming in half way, his second top tooth also started to pop through, followed by 3 other teeth...AT THE SAME TIME! Poor little guy! In his 10 months of life so far, 1 bout of stomach viras, 1 double ear infection (both in January), 2 bad colds, and a few occasions were he had a runny nose, but overall has been pretty healthy. It does seem like he has had some sort of cold since December, but it has been a cold and wet winter! The hubby and I have had our fair share of sickness too... we also had the stomach virus and have had some sort of cold off and on for the last 2 months.

All in all it has been an amazing and awesome ride, being a mom! My Spaghetti is the best baby and so well worth the fight and wait for him to come to us. He will make a great big brother...soon we hope!

We will once again saddle up and attempt to concieve another baby in a few months. We hope for one more to complete our family. I am blessed and I pray to get lucky the 2nd time around!

2 months of Parenthood Experience

The little guy is now 2 months and 1 week old! I can't believe how big he is getting and so fast! He seems to be bigger everyday that goes by...every morning that i pick him up from his bassinet he looks bigger than the day before! My hubby and I are enjoying it so very much! We are turning the corner and my little guy is outgrowing his digestive issues. From 3 weeks to about 8 weeks it was rough! What we all thought was all colic related issues, turned out to be acid reflux. I never knew how hard it would be to hear your child cry in pain and feel soooo helpless! I really believe the hardest part of being a mother is feeling so helpless! There were nights where i cried alongside my son. A few times my hubby would come home from work to find us both in tears! I have often felt bad for my godchildren, nephews, and nieces when they cry in pain, but it doesn't compare when it is your own child! It isn't easy taking care of a child, but in my opinion the great feeling of helplessness is the toughest! That is what made me cry. I am his mother, I am supposed to be able to make it all better!

It was a little easier once we had an official diagnosis of acid reflux...at least now i knew that there could be some relief that could be offered. When I realized my son might have acid reflux and not just colic, I searched the world wide web to learn a little more about it, since he wasn't displaying the usual symptoms of reflux I was familiar with..like the projectile vomiting or weight issues. THat is when I found out that my little one was what is known as a Silent Refluxer... no spit up/vomiting... but worse. He was swallowing his spit up/vomit back down, so the poor little guy was getting burned with it coming up and going back down! So i took him on a Saturday to an after hours pediatrician service his pediatrician's off ice works with. The pediatrician on call agreed that all the symptoms he had were due to Reflux. My poor little guy was also starting to choke more and more during feedings, crying through his feedings and would wake up at 4 am withering in pain. I was glad that the pediatrian agreed that it couldn't just be colic related. I tried EVERYTHING for colic...all of my mom and mother-in-laws home remedies for colic just was not working AT ALL! So the pediatrian prescribed some medication to help. I really did not like the thought of putting my 5 week old on medication...but if it offered him any kind of relief, I certainly would give him medication. I did my research and therefore i knew what he was getting and how it could help ease his pain and discomfort of his constant heartburn! The first medication for his reflux did not help, I noticed it made it worse. So after a week and he was only getting worse, and by worse i mean he was more stomach acid was coming up and he was swallowing it back down and he would cry and cry after each time.

After a follow up with his pediatrician, she consulted a GI specialist and was told i could give my son upto 1/2 teaspoon of over the counter anti-acid medication when he was extremely fussy and his pediatrician also suggested a change in formula to one that was thickened by a rice starch. In my research I knew that sometimes thickening the baby's formula would help with acid reflux..for a really bad case in a baby, rice cereal is used before the recommened 3 month mark. Well we had to play around a little with his medication since the typical medication wasnt helping. THe formula helped a great deal but wasn't enough. Around 7 weeks i noticed that he was getting better, but stil in some discomfort. He had his 2 month check up and we switched to a different medication since the OTC anti-acid i was now mixing into his bottle wouldn't offer relief longer than an hour. I had taken him off the prescribed medication, and although I felt he was turning the corner and outgrowing his reflux issues, 4-5 weeks still seemed too much to let my little guy still suffer! I am happy with the new medication as he is in less pain.

He is going 3 hours in between feedings and he is a happier baby in between feedings most of the day and almost everyday now. We are now able to include play time into his daily routine and we are enjoying it a lot! He is exploring the world around him and so I am taking him out more and more... i was intimidated in taking him out by myself, but i'm slowly getting over that. Fortunately, my son has always been a good sleeper and he started sleeping through the nice since he was 8 weeks old. He started sleeping 5-6 hour stretches before waking up for a bottle and by that point he was 11lbs and had been told and i had also read that babies at 11lbs+ could last through the night without eating..so i tested it out. Instead of his usual 4 oz, i would only give him 1-2 oz and he would fall right back to sleep. While I wasn't going to force my child NOT to eat in the middle of the night, I didn't like to feed him because i was so deathly afraid he would spit up and choke on his spit up. A few times, after putting him down after feeding and burping and keeping him upright for almost 30 minutes after a mid-night feeding, he vomitted as i laid him down. Other times, it would aggravate his reflux that he was in pain after burping that he would be up for over an hour. Fortunately, he takes in enough formula during the day since then that he now doesn't wake up to eat once I put him to bed. I know i am very lucky that my 2 month old sleeps all night! He eats his last bottle between 9 and 9:30 and he is in bed by 10-10:15 and doesn't wake up to eat until 6 or 7 the next morning!

He is still a little fussy and he has great days and bad days, but i am so happy that the worst days are behind us now. I have never experienced the pain of watching my child in so much pain! It really did break my heart. The frustration and pain i felt feeling so helpless is really indescribable! To me that was truly the hardest part of being a parent. Forget the lack of sleep, or the initial pains of breastfeeding, or even childbirth, it didn't compare to the feelings of great helplessness while cradling my crying son in my arms all those days, evenings and rare mid-nights. I would trade it for nothing in the world... for when he smiles, coos and his eyes light up when i talk to him, everything else doesn't matter anymore!

The First Month...

I started this blog 2 weeks ago to account for the first 2 weeks of being a mom, and here we are at almost 6 weeks.. I still wanted to post what it has been like. It hasn't been as tough as i thought it would be, but it certainly has had its challenging...a lot to learn even though i have had experiences with babies and newborns to some extent, it is a whole new ballgame it is your own. The First Month has actually gone pretty quickly and over all we are blessed to have a really good baby. Luckly for us he was never confused between day and night. He was awake most of the day and slept at night. I did attempt to breastfeed and did so for the first 2 weeks. The first week i did it exclusively then I had to supplement with formula because he was loosing too much weight. Now breastfeeding was a whole issue in itself...
I really did want to breastfeed, but i found it to be so very challenging. It was hard, not that I ever thought i would be easy, but i never imagine it would be so emotionally stressful. Me and the hubby took a breastfeeding class so i was informed on how it would take 5-10 days for the milk to come in and i was just about there when i needed to supplement with formula. My little baby, that I will refer too as Spaghetti (daddy's nickname for him) was not getting enough fluids that although he tested negative for jaundice, he did get a touch of it after we got home. Nothing that was cause for concern but enough that i had to supplement. Even with supplementing a little and breastfeeding, to just breastfeed it was tough. I found myself getting depressed. It was too daunting a task to just breastfeed. I found myself breastfeeding then as soon as i was done, it seemed like i was done feeding i had maybe 15 to 20 minutes to myself before i was starting the routine again for feeding. I nearly had a breakdown 12 days into it that wasn't enjoying my newborn son. After much thought and getting some input from my loving and supportive hubby, i decided not to breastfeed, it was too much for me and after such a long road to having my child, i found it more important to enjoy my child and bottle feed.
There have been some issues since we switched to bottle feeding... he developed some colic, but that also seems to actually be reflux. A part of me blames myself for choosing not to breastfeed, but then i think about it and get over it. The important thing is that he gets the medication he needs to help with reflux and at least there is something to help with that instead of having nothing to help with colic. Despite a few, and really i mean a few, bad evenings/nights. Once he goes down for the night he sleeps 3 to 4 hours, and for that i know we are very lucky. The first 2 weeks he slept with us, but we transitioned him into his cradle and did pretty good. Even with a few rough moments, i wouldn't change my life for anything. The first few days i do admit that i felt i would not get this whole motherhood deal and thought it would be good to be at work becaue at least there ihad more control (I can be slightly controlling..lol) but after the first 2 weeks i really started to think the opposite. I couldn't imagine going back to work...and now i really try not to think about it, and even though i plan to go back to work part time, it will be tough.
It has been a learing experience for both dh and i. I love seeing my hubby with his son. My hubby wasn't much for kids before, but to watch him turn to mush in the presence of Spaghetty is very heartwarming and often brings tears to my eyes. I am not sure if my hubby has gotten a smile from our son when he talks to him, but i have, and it melts everything else away. I still look at his little face and I'm in awe and can not believe that he is all mine! My hubby and I still can not believe that after our long journey to parenthood, we now have this precious, precious child. We feel so incredibly blessed! It is still a bit surreal to me that I am a mother. I sometimes get from family that they can not believe it either. We have been praying for this for a long time so it does feel surreal. We are still learning and somedays feels like we are stumbling forward with some evening feeling like we are falling a few steps back, but that is parenthood. There are no manuals on how to deal with certain situations, all we can do is be patient, and enjoy the ride.

After 5 Long Years.....

A birth story! I still can't believe it myself. After a long, emotional, frustrating, fertility challenged journey I am a mother to a beautiful baby boy. I stare at him during the day and still can't believe he is all mine, he belongs to me and my loving husband. Here is the birthstory, sorry for the delay.

My baby boy was born on April 22, 2009 at 7:03pm weighing 7lbs 4oz and 19 inches long. The induction began the night before but there were some eventful events that led up to my induction.

The week before, at my OB check up the Thursday before my OB told me that she felt comfortable letting me go another week before induction. All along we had planned for no later than 38.5 weeks, but since i was doing so well, she felt okay with letting me get to 39 weeks. My hubby and i were a bit bummed we had planned for the 20th or 21st of April. I was tired and so ready to have the baby by then but we said the longer the better we can wait it out another week. Well Baby boy must have been upset too because at my routine NST that afternoon, his heart rate dropped way too low and lingered there for a tiny bit. It wasn't that long but long enough for my OB to send me to labor and delivery at the hospital for further monitoring. I ended up spending 30 hours there in observation where the baby did great and had no more drops in his heart rate. I went back the day after being discharged, Saturday 4/18, for another NST where he did just great again. I had a routin NST on MOnday and also a growth scan. They did the growth scan first and he was still head down and had an estimate weight of 8lbs. During the NST his heart rate dropped again, not as low as before, but i was sent to labor and delivery again. I was there for about 3 hours and sent home. The nurse asked me when i was supposed to get induced and i told her that the plan was for that Thursday, 4/23, but she said i wasn't on their schedule and should check with my OB.

I wasn't sure what the procedure was going to be since my OB didn't give me any details at my last visit, and with the nurse saying i should be on their schedule, it prompted me to call my OBs office the next day, 4/22, to get more information as to what we needed to do and how to prepare for Thursday's induction. My OB's nurse called me mid-afternoon on the 21st and i asked her what was the plan for thursday, how should my husband and i prepare. She places me on hold and checks with my OB. When the nurse gets back on the phone she tells me that my OB says i can go in that evening to begin induction! THat caught me off guard and after calling my husband to check to be sure he had no evening appointments, we agreed to go in that night and not put it off a few more days.

So we checked into labor and delivery on April 21st at 8pm. After getting settled and strapped in for monitoring induction began. Around 10 pm the nurse inserted a medication pouch called Cervadil (not sure of the spelling) in my cervix to help soften it and begin dialation. I was barely 1 centimeter dialated and soft before inserting medication. The orders were to leave it in for 8 hours, could be left in for as long as 12 hours, and so we managed to get some sleep overnight. Not too much as i was excited and anxious. Medication was removed by 6 am the next morning and it helped a little. Cervix was softer but was not quite 2 centimeters dialated that morning. Pitocin was started at 6:30 and OB called in orders to have the in-house OB break my water. So that was done at around 7 -7:30 that morning. It was painful experience and when that was done contractions started coming. They weren't too bad, and with my hubby's help was able to get through them. I had planned on going as natural as possible and was afraid of getting an epidural. But I was going to ask for it if i really needed it...by 11 am i was needing it!

By that time the contractions were getting stronger and it was getting harder to breathe through them. MY husband was a great coach and up to that point he helped get through the contractions. But they were getting stronger, and i knew they were nothing compared to what was yet to come. Especially since i was not progressing really and I just knew it was going to be too hard. I broke down and asked for an epidural! It was blissful after that! Epidural was placed around noon and it felt great! LOL It allowed me to get some rest. My parents had gotten there early that morning and spent most of the time in the waiting room since my hubby really didn't want company. I actually had to talk my mom out of coming hte night before. LOL Moms always worry. I was progressing pretty slowly and by mid afternoon was barely 4 centimeters. We were worried that the baby maybe too big to go through my pelvis. Fortunately my OB was tied up with surgical procedures that day and wouldn't be able to check on me until late afternoon. At that point i was dealing with shakes and chills. Since my water was broken that morning and I stil hadn't delivered, i did develop a slight infection and had a fever. It was pretty bad for about an hour but then when it got to the point where my body was ready, all of it went away.

By 4pm I started to progess a lot faster. i went from 4 centimeters to almost an 8 in about 1.5 hours, which would explain why I was having the shakes. When the nurse checked me at 5:30 she said i would be 10 centimeters by 7 and probably will be pushing around 7:30 or 8pm...giving my OB time to get there. The nurse came in to check me at 6:45pm and she said i was 10 and to prepare to push. There was a scramble to get the grandmothers there! LOL Hubby agreed to having them there and that was it. Well it happened to quickly, that my friend that was visiting was also present for the birth. The birth happened pretty quickly.

I started pushing around 6:50 or a little after. My OB arrived a few minutes later and i barely remember my mom and mother-in-law being ushered in and told to stay in the corner by my hubby. I remember from the episodes i watched of a Baby Story to push using my bottom and not my upper body or face. It helped because i pushed for 10 minutes and my son was born! My husband counted 5 sets of pushing was all i did. The OB was amazed, she expected me to be a little longer...as i did too! I was very thankful it went fast! I did tear a little bit but it just didn't matter when my son was placed on my chest! After the long journey, I was here, we were here, we were parents! He was perfect and is perfect! I couldn't believe it, and still can't. The rest of the evening is a blur.
He was cleaned up, some blood work was drawn on both of us. Since i had developed the infection and had gestational diabetes, we were checked out a lot more. Family were there visiting and congratulating us, and they lingered for about 30 to 45 minutes and then they left us alone. It was precious time with my new family. We were finally a family of 3!

Hope this continues to help all my Fertility challenged sisters to keep the faith...it can and it will happen for you too! Took us 5 years and it was a bumpy road, but we are here. A family of 3. I will try to post this week how these last 2 weeks have been. Fortunately not too much sleep deprivation....i know it could be worse! Keep faith my friends and thinking and praying for you all!

It is official....We are having a.......

So I had my level II ultrasound yesterday morning and what an experience it was. My eyes were teary the entire time... and i think i had a silly grin the whole time. The whole time I was laying there while the first ultrasound tech did her thing, was pray. I prayed for thanks that God brought me to this point. A point where, in my darkest days, seemed impossible and would never happen.  I prayed that all was well with my baby that i was seeing on the t.v. screen in front of me. The tech wouldn't say too much (she was also training) and occasional made positive comments like how amazing it all was, and how much the baby was moving...i couldn't tell the baby was moving, actually i thought the baby seemed too still, but occasionally i would catch the baby move their hands and or legs.  I was relieved when the tech focused on the heart and i heard the heart beating. A big reassurance!

Then the second tech came in, the experienced one, and she went over some of the same measurements the first tech did and warned me that they would spend a lot of time on the heart and it was standard procedure. It did not mean anything was wrong at all... which i thanked her for letting me know. I would have certainly worried my own little heart out. But all looked great. The baby was not very cooperative and was in a position that wouldn't allow the tech to get the pictures she needed for the Dr. She would poke at the baby and baby would swat back with their little hands..it was very darling and so magical.  The baby is actually positioned under my belly button, and seemed very comfortable there. It would explain why my belly button area has been hurting and feeling some stretching pain lately.... it's been the baby the whole time! Well, the tech went to see if we would be able to determine gender, and she said the baby had their legs closed. Of course the baby would... the baby was being a bit difficult to work with... just behaving stubbornly!! LOL

Somehow the experienced tech was able to get beneath the baby and get the "Money Shot". We got to see from beneath that we are having a.....................

BOY!!!!

That is right, we are having a Jr. due May 1st!! He measured right on target to where i'm at and was weighing approximately 11 ounces!!! Simply amazing.  He was all ready displaying daddy's characteristics!!! When the tech finished and went to get the dr., there was a few minutes where i was sitting up and when the dr. came in to review the ultrasound pictures and take a look for herself, my son had gone to sleep!!! The dr. attempted to get the few pictures of the his heart that he wouldn't allow before and it took forever to get him to wake up, and the dr. could not get him to wake up. She would poke (rather hard too) at him with the ultrasound 'wand' and still he would not cooperate. I had to shift and lay on my side and that seemed to get him to move. And this was after being lowered a few times on the table laying on my back. He also seems to be camera shy like his father. My hubby doesn't like taking pictures and when the tech tried (on several attempts) to get a good profile shot of my son, he would immediately lift his hands to cover his face or drape it over his forehead . the tech was able to snap a couple profile pictures...it was very funny!!!  i don't know how to post pictures up here, but i promise that i will learn!!! I will have some more free time beginning in January and I will not rest until i learn how.....i'm sure it is quite simply too!!!

Overall, the scan took about an hour and a half.  It was all just amazing that we have the technology to see a child inside the womb and see their little hands and feet, cute little toes, and their spine, heart and other vital organs. Simply A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!! I feel ever so grateful to God that this is possible. I'm looking forward to the following 20 weeks or so (i am exactly 20 weeks today!!) And will continue to find amazement in the whole process as my body changes, and just simply to believe that after our very long, painful, emotional and frustrating journey we are almost there.... becoming the family my husband and I had dreamt and planned on.  God is Great and God is good!! Thanks be to God!

Updating..... and ALMOST 20 weeks!!!

Where does time go??? I can not believe how quickly time goes by and there has been so much going on it is no wonder that it is passing me by.  I do apologize for no updates since 13 weeks!!!! Here I am a couple of days away from being 20 weeks, the half way mark!! Time is certainly moving faster, yet seems to creep by!! I have my "BIG" ultrasound tomorrow.  I haven't seen my baby since i was just over 10 weeks.... i can imagine how big he or SHE is!! but then again i can't imagine!!! I of course pray for a healthy baby, but would love to have  a little girl.... hubby of course hopes for a boy.... in the end it doesn't matter, as long as the baby is healthy. I'm very nervous and pray for a great ultra sound. Unfortunately, being fertility challenged, I have heard and read too many stories of pregnancies gone wrong.... i lived it within my own family with my sister just last year! While i think and pray for our little angel that grew wings before being born, i do focus on my niece that is here with us.  It will be okay! I keep telling myself that at least!!

RE: Gestational Diabetes: 

I have a pretty good handle on it and is  under control. My diabetes nurse and dietician are always very pleased with my sugar levels.  I have managed to eat what i'm supposed to, while able to indulge on occasion on the foods that aren't so good for me or GD.  I am proud of the self control i manage to keep when out and about and trying to eat right when the options are so limited. For example, we had a birthday dinner for a family friend last friday night, and it was at a Mexican food restaurant. Now for those of you who don't know, Mexican food isn't the most GD friendly food (I am mexican and boy do i miss out on some of mami and papi's homemade food) I ate about 1/4 cup or less of rice and beans, only had one chicken enchilada and one beef flauta and loaded up on the green salad that was thankfully available. It was buffet style so all you can eat. Now i ate, and like usual, i wasn't full, and simply content....which isn't very fun!! But i fought the urge to eat another enchilada or load up on beans and rice (which were sooo very yummy) but my resistance paid off. My blood sugar level an hour level was 122 (levels an hour after meals should be less than 120) and a point or 2 over is nothing anyone ever gets concerned. i thought for sure my level would be in the high 130's or even 140's.  I rewarded myself with sharing a piece of birthday cake with my hubby.... believe had my levels been higher i would not indulge.  I handle the sweets and treats as rewards, if i'm doing really well with my sugar levels then i will give in and have  an extra slice of pizza, or i will have the big mac for dinner friday night.  I've only gained 6 pounds this pregnancy and this great, no one wants me to gain more than 10 to 15 pounds all together.  

RE: Pregnancy in general: 

Feeling well. Shortly entering the 2nd trimester i've had a bout of headaches. Most of the time they are sinus related and other times i can't seem to figure out what triggers them. They sometimes come out of nowhere, other times i wake up with one. I am prone to migraines, and i feel fortunate that i don't have migraines, and they are just small dull headaches. Tylenol sometimes helps, other times it doesn't. I have taken benadryl (okayed by OB and recommended by her too) and it has helped, but most of the time i try to just tough it out. I go a few days where i'm free of headaches and i'm thankful for those days!! I frequent the bathroom, and seem to have a routine at night...which i see it as preparation for baby. I use the restroom before bed, then usually between 12:30 and 1 am, i make a trip, and then again at 3:30-4 am... most nights these trips are without fail, on a rare occasion i get up only once or not at all, and other rare nights i get up 3 times. I usually hate waking up between 4:30 and 5 am, since most of the time i find myself awake for a long while after getting up. I am usually falling back to sleep when it is time to get up for work!!!

I have started to feel some movement too!! I was about 17 weeks when i felt 4 quick taps, nothing since. I usually feel some flutters or what i assume are flutters. Most of the time i feel it with a little bit of discomfort.... so i'm not always sure it is the baby or just some more stretching.  I also have sciatic nerve pain and some days and nights it is no problem, other days and nights it is quite painful. Usually after a very active day, my right leg and hip would hurt really bad. I have had it pretty much since the beginning..it started gradual. Just some numbness in my right thigh if i laid or sat in one position for too long. By 10 weeks i was noticing the numbness when i also stood for longer than 5 minutes, by 13 weeks it would also occur if i walked for longer than 15-20 minutes and my hip would start to hurt. I did have an ultra sound to be sure to rule out a blood clot. No blood clot and so nurse practitioner said it was sciatic nerve pain. Since i have had back problems in the past, and possible a slipped disk, it had to be it.  I do stretching and in walking more often (i have to walk more anyway to help with GD) it has helped.  There are days where it is too much. The very worst pain and discomfort is when it hurts and have a burning sensation run through my thigh and my hip joints hurt and nothing helps alleviate the pain. If it every gets to bad, nurse said she would refer me to physical therapy.  I sure hope it doesn't get to that.

Other than that all is going well. I am always nervous of course and think i will always be nervous in some way until i delivery a healthy baby.....and then again, after birth i'm nervous about a whole set of new problems!!! LOL

Well i sure hope to be able to update with ultrasound results after my appointment... if not tomorrow, then certainly by Friday!!! 

I also wanted to send out a hello to all my Fertility Challenged sisters.  I know the wait is agonizingly long and very frustrating. Please know that i pray for you all all the time and know that your turn is soon coming too!!! The wait is unbearable and so frustrating and most of soooo painful, but it will happen!!! I continue to pray for you all and know soon you will share your experience of impending motherhood.

XOXO

13 Weeks Pregnant!!! ..... and Diabetic

It is official.... I'm a diabetic!!! i was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes...boooooooo!!!  My OB wanted to test me early due to my family history, my PCOS, and my weight. My fluffy self was predisposed to it.  So it was confirmed a few days ago.  I will meet with a dietician/nutritionist once a week through out my pregnancy. It won't be soo bad, and it will be okay. I had a a laugh when my OB's nurse called me with my results. I was honestly shocked!!! I really wasn't expecting it.... I guess my body is doing a poor shop of processing my body's insulin.... Did i mentioned i was caught by surprised??

I was surprised because when I went to take my first test,which was the 1 hr glucose tolerance test. Now i had heard many of pregnant moms experiences and it didn't sound like fun.  You show up to your lab, let them know you are there for the test (something i didn't do and sat for 40 minutes waiting for them to call, while i could have had it started when i got there). They give you this orange cold drink. Now the taste wasn't THAT bad. i don't like orange drinks unless is orange juice...this was far from orange juice. It was like drinking some sort of orange flavored medicine... I had to finish it in 5 minutes and i did, it wasn't to bad...it was sweet, but not horribly bad.  So once it is finished the lab notes the time and i had to return in exactly one hour to draw my blood.  WEll i did go back in an hour, i got those results back and i had just BARELY failed. The normal cut-off range is 140, I came in at 143!! Since i failed i had to repeat the test but it would be a 3 hour test. this happened to my sister and she passed her 3 hour test, it also happened to another friend and she also passed her 3 hour test. Most pregnant moms who barely fail their 1-hr test go on to take and pass their 3 hour test. SO i assumed i would repeat THAT cycle.

Uh-uh! Didn't happen. I drank the drink and my blood was drawn and hour, then 2 hours, then 3 hours from the time i finished the Orange drink.  The purpose is to see how your body makes and processes your body's insulin.  If it doesn't process it properly due to pregnancy hormones blocking insulin, your body's glucose isn't made and processed enough to convert into energy.  Un treated, GD will affect my baby.  So since i failed my 3 hour test (2 of the 3 blood draws came back with levels elevated), i have to now watch even more what I eat. I was trying to be careful before to avoid putting on more weight than my Dr.s wanted me to put on.  It will be okay, i'm positive of it. I wasn't too upset getting the results, but getting some information from the Diabetes Center that I will be working with throughout my pregnancy. That is when it became real to me, i guess.

I got some forms i need to fill out before my first meeting with the dieticians, and they also provided me some information of what I should avoid, what is good and not good to eat or drink while having GD. I was shocked to find out I am to AVOID mild at breakfast! It is okay the rest of the day, just not breakfast...who knew?!?! I was a bit sad about that, since that is when i would drink my milk for the day! They also provided a 7 day sample menu and it really isn't that bad. i can still a lot of yummy foods, just smaller portions and eating more through out the day. This is where I find i have some issues. Being always on the fluffy side, I have always eaten less... but obviously it wasn't the right way, or the right portions, or even the right foods, since i have maintained my weight all these years, but not lost weight like i have tried.  So i have to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks throughout the day. It is small portions, but it still feels like a lot of food.  I just have to work on being okay with eating throughout the day.

Today is the first day that I'm following the new diet suggestions. Not bad, even if i did make myself eat an actual breakfast... No more breakfast on the run. My usual breakfast was either toast with peanut butter or an whole wheat english muffin with a little jelly and 1 or 2 cups of milk.  NOw i will get up earlier and fix my self an egg or two, eat it with some cooked veggies, very little cheese with some salsa, or in a breakfast burrito style on a whole wheat flour tortilla, or with whole wheat waffle w/ sugar free syrup, or with instant oatmeal ( i have never really cared for oatmeal... i guess i better try again) all very yummy options. I'm just not used to eating breakfast like this except weekends.... but that isn't until 9 or 10 am..... eating at 7 am, that will take some getting used to.

All in all, it is a good thing  in the long run. It will help improve my eating habits as well as my husband's.  He should take better care anyway, he has diabetes in his family too. Well, at least it could be worse.... I could have not found out yet and gone another 7 weeks possibly harming my baby.  Now i can give my baby a better chance at starting a healthy life inside the womb.  all in all, all is going well. I'm 13 weeks today and therefore have one more week before graduating to the 2nd trimester... and i will breath a huge sigh of relief. As soon as i learn how to post pictures, i will.