I had my latest Dr. Appt yesterday afternoon. I am now 25 weeks along. At this point in the pregnancy (24-28weeks) they test for Gestational Diabetes which basically means that some women can develop diabetes while they're pregnant even if they were not diabetic before pregnancy. The way they tested me for this was by having me consume a Glucose drink called Glucola.
This was a 10oz drink that was slightly carbonated (when refrigerated it tasted almost exactly like orange soda) containing 50g of glucose. I had to drink the whole thing in 10 minutes. For me, this was like an overdose of sugar, after a few minutes I started feeling sorta "wigged out". Nothing really happened, no headaches or anything like that but I did feel pretty icky. My body is certainly not used to that! An hour after drinking the drink I had to be at the Dr office so they could draw my blood. They'll do whatever testing they do on the blood to determine if I have Gestational Diabetes or not. So if I don't get a call to come in for a second test, then the news is good. My mom says, "no news is good news!"
Other then the test, we heard the baby's heartbeat, which was 143. Doc says this is normal and sounds great! We chatted for a little on the signs of pre-term labor, so in case I see any of those signs I'll know to get ahold of him. Basically if i feel contractions that fall into a pattern, give them a call. Other then that we talked about what the hospital offers as far as classes or tours go. I'm going to take a tour of the maternity ward at the hospital, just to check it out, get a small feel for what I'll be in for in only a few more months.
Oh! They weighed me of course... I've gained 15lbs! Doc says this is totally fine and he's not concerned at all. But holy moly! That's surprising to me because I've never gained that much so quickly ever. The kind of plays into some of the slight body image issues I've run into throughout this pregnancy. Its nothing to be concerned about, but it's hard to look at my body and see these changes occurring so quickly and so dramatically. It makes me feel yucky and "fat" sometimes, especially with no Hubby around to tell me I'm gorgeous no matter what. It's very stupid to think this way, but occasionally those thoughts seep in and it's hard to let them go. I think I'm more worried about after the baby comes out...will I ever look like me again!? It's a little scary when your body's been the same way for so long!
I did get a call today from the nurse. She said that they found a slight iron deficiency in my blood and I'm boarding on anemic or better to say i have a mild case of anemia. This is basically when the levels of hemoglobin are low in your blood as well as the red blood cell count. It can be caused by having low iron intake or low folic acid intake, among other things. It is common in pregnant women mostly because of the increase need for iron as the amount of blood in your body increases. It can increase to about 50% more then normal during pregnancy. This extra blood demands extra iron to produce extra hemoglobin. So long story short, I'll continue to take my prenatal vitamins as well as an iron tablet. The nurse also recommended eating more iron rich foods. All should hopefully be okay after this :-)
At this point it's nothing to be overly concerned about, but I can't help but to feel just a little worried. This is the first thing that's happened so far that could potentially be cause for concern. I guess its a little exciting even, since I feel like this pregnancy has so far been kinda boring... nothings really happened. I always thought lots of crazy stuff happened. However, I'm learning that more "problems" can occur during the end of the second trimester, into the third trimester. I think everything will be fine though.
Hey Laura,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the increased nervousness, even when nothing in particular is wrong. It sounds like you are top of everything so hang in there and take comfort in knowing what you are experiencing is totally normal. Of course it's new for you, which is a big deal, but I always felt good knowing that at least someone else had experienced what I was experiencing, even if it was foreign to me. As far as body after baby goes, just know that there is really no way to know how your body will respond. I have never had an easy time in my life losing weight, but after I had my kids I lost weight really easily. I finally put some more weight on again after I was done breastfeeding! Obviously not everyone is like that, but it just showed me that even if you know your body, pregnancy can throw you for a loop. You never know what to expect. Just keep leaning on Jesus to show you your beauty. Believe me, there is nothing more gorgeous than a new mom with her baby!
Only 15 pounds, that's great!! You're over halfway through you're pregnancy, so say you gain another 15 that's perfect! You will definitely look like your old self again, I promise! Just lotion that belly daily (ok, I was lotioning 3x a day at the end...) to keep stretch marks away! I heard that "it takes 9 months to put it on, so it takes 9 months to get it off" this was completely true for me. So don't throw away your small jeans! :)
ReplyDeleteI had to take extra iron, too. It's really common, my doctor did it as a precaution. And she had me take it with a Vitamin C to help absorb it. Ok, this could be TMI but make sure and get a lot of fiber because iron can, um, back things up.
Now lets see some pictures of your cute belly!!!