So I've been dealing fine with the Gestational Diabetes. I stab my finger and check my blood four times every day. My glucose levels after my meals are good, but my fasting glucose (overnight) doesn't go down, and sometimes goes up (caused by my body releasing glucose from cells). Because the fasting glucose won't go down enough, I've been started on a very small dose of a medication called Glyburide, which I take half a pill of once each morning.
The main health risks of Gestational Diabetes are Macrosomia, having a baby that is very large, sometimes too large to be delivered naturally. Another common risk is having a hypoglycemic baby, since the baby is receiving blood with a high glucose level through his umbilical cord, his own pancreas is creating more insulin than he will need once he is born, and no longer receiving my blood. So after birth he'll be monitored for hypoglycemia. The most worrisome risk is that of hypoxia and death. Gestational Diabetes babies have a higher risk of dying before or shortly after birth. Because of that I am now seeing doctors several times a week.
1x week I go to my Doctor's Office to see my OB
1x week I go to the hospital for an ultrasound, to check amniotic fluid and the baby's size
2x week I go to the Birth Center for non-stress tests, to make sure the baby's heart rate varies with his movement
7x week I record the baby's movements in an hour to make sure the movement isn't decreasing
At my non-stress tests the nurses are always worried about the strength and frequency of my contractions. I assure them that is normal for me, I have contractions from 6 months on, and I dilate very slowly, as in 1-2 cm/week. So even when I'm dilated to 3cm by week 36, I'm not having the baby for several more weeks. Apparently that's very unusual, and I can vouch for it being very uncomfortable and inconvenient. When I go to the hospital in pain, dilated to 6 cm, I want to stay there, dash it all!!! Not get sent home for another week, to come back when I'm an 8.
Oh well!
At an ultrasound two weeks ago, the baby's head and femur length were measuring bigger than normal. So even before the gestational diabetes gets a chance to plump him up, he was going to be a big baby.
March 24, 2014
March 7, 2014
More Disney Pictures
Some fun pictures from Josh and Darcy's camera:
Brielle spent a lot of time with Josh and Darcy's family, to stay near her cousins. So only Brielle is in most of these.
Brielle stood in line with Darcy, Mary, Aubrey and Evan for something like 3 hours to meet Anna and Elsa. You could only meet them at Epcot, in Norway.
Dressed up pretty...
Hyrum and Evan relaxing with iPad games
Josh's kids and my kids
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