Bjay's (Diabetic Mommy's)
Pregnancy and Birth Story

Part 5

Let the Appointments Begin

At 10 weeks my control much better and was improving. It was at this 10-week mark that the whirlwind of appointments, labs, and tests began. I had two genetic counseling appointments and two OB appointments just in the last couple weeks of October.

Of special note, the genetic testing and frequent warnings we received, made us feel like something was guaranteed to be wrong with the baby. (Not the fault of the health care professionals, just because nobody else we knew experienced that - and we felt we weren't being told something) We had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact we were going to have a special child with challenges and expected it. We took all the tests that were offered, but we did not take the amniocentesis. Aside from me being a huge funky chicken, we didn't want to take that small risk of miscarriage. We thought if there was something wrong with him, then so be it. We would handle those problems when they happened.

On my birthday in November we got our second sonogram picture. This time you could make out body parts, like his head and arms. I was 14 weeks along and my HbA1c had come down to 6.7 and soon after was around 5.6.

I myself was filling out. I was uncomfortable and was having a hard time walking due to ligament pain under my belly. I was also finding it harder to sleep. I was getting used to my insulin regimen and was getting good at packing everything up and going off to appointments or errands. I was also experiencing quite a few lows and was trying to prepare for them. I noticed they weren't a problem as long as I ate a small meal or snack every two hours and made an effort to stop at pre-determined points to ask myself how I was feeling and try to determine if I had a metallic taste in my mouth or had a cool sweat which might indicate a hypoglycemic episode coming on. I would do a self-check every time I got in and out of the car or went to the bathroom (which was all the time!). I also did fingerpricks as often as possible. In addition, we ordered a medical alert chain and put a card in my wallet. Here is a picture of us at this time, around the middle of December 2000. Everytime I see this picture, I remember how uncomfortable and swollen I was.

At the end of December, at 21 weeks we got another sonogram. They said there was a 99% chance he would be a boy and everything looked normal. He was one ounce shy from a pound. The arrow below is pointing to his "boyness," the image below that is his foot, and the bottom is his profile. He's on his back.

On January 19, 2001, at 24 weeks we got to listen to the baby's heart tones through Doppler. He was moving a lot and the midwife said she could tell he was playing with the umbilical chord. A couple weeks later we started childbirth prep classes, once a week for three weeks.

I liked these classes and found them helpful, but they caused me to feel like a failure and disappointed when I actually finished going through labor. In these classes they stressed having a natural birth and we practiced breathing exercises, positions, exercises, etc. I still appreciated them because they made the pending labor and delivery seem more real and exciting. I practiced these exercises often, reviewed my workbooks, wrote them in my birth plan, and fully expected to have the freedom to perform them during labor.

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Index:

Part 1 - We Decide to Have a Baby
Part 2 - Meeting Dr. Wrong and Getting Pregnant
Part 3 - Finally Finding the Right Team Members
Part 4 - Going to the Hospital to Stabilize Glucose Levels
Part 5 - Let the Appointments Begin
Part 6 - Stomach Flu - Go Back 2 Spaces, Go Back to the Hospital
Part 7 - More Frequent Fetal Surveillance Begins
Part 8 - Go Back to the Hospital - To Have the Baby!
Part 9 - The Baby Comes!
Part 10 - Since the Birth

Diabetes and
Pregnancy:
What to
Expect
Recommended books

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