I've been having a lot of appointments as of late due to the pre-e and gestational diabetes. At the last growth scan on Friday, it was difficult for them to get all of the measurements because the boys are getting so big. :) They estimate that Baby A is 5 lbs. 10 oz and Baby B is 4 lbs. 13 oz. The flow of blood through their cords is also slowing down which is prompting a 37w delivery. Baby A is still breech so we will most likely be having a c-section. If by some miracle Baby A flips then we will have an induction around 37w instead.
My blood sugars seem to be controlled with the diet change and meds for now. It's crazy, but now that I can't have certain things, they are ALL that I crave. Things I haven't had forever- like doughnuts. But the good news is once I am delivered my blood sugars should return to normal within a few hours and I can then have sweets again. :)
My blood pressure is still a bit high, but they aren't too concerned especially with as frequently as I'm being seen. Most weeks I have at least 3 Dr appointments which include 2 NST's and 1 BPP u/s.
I can't believe that my boys will be here so soon! I'm really going to miss feeling them move and squirm in my belly. I can't wait to see them and see what they look like and get to know their personalities out of the womb. I feel like I have a good idea of their personalities in the womb already and they are two very different little boys. :)
Hubby and I are trying to enjoy our last few weeks as a couple. It's been nice to have this last Christmas together as a couple and imagine how different our next holiday season will be. :) We were hoping to go out to eat and maybe a movie but it's so hard with my bedrest restrictions. Plus, most days I just don't feel like going out. We have been watching a lot of movies at home, which has been great.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Belly Photos 34w1d
Hubby took a couple of more belly photos for me today. I love how they turned out.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Pregnancy Photos
Hubby did some pregnancy photos on Sunday. I'm happy with how these turned out. We are hoping to do a few more photos this upcoming weekend. I've been so hesitant to have any belly pictures taken, but now as we are getting to the end of the pregnancy, I know how much I'll miss having my babies in me and I want to document it as much as I can.
Home Again
I got released from the hospital yesterday. Yeah! They ended up keeping me two days because it turns out the first Dr misinformed me and I do have gestational diabetes. 2 of the 3 values on the 2-hour fasting glucose test were 1 point over the new cut off. I was taught how to slightly change my diet and monitor blood sugar. My blood sugars were out of whack in the hospital because of the steroid shots. But, by yesterday morning they had stabilized and I was allowed to go home.
My instructions now that I am home are to follow the GD diet, monitor blood sugar 6 times a day and take an oral diabetic med 3 times a day. My preeclampsia is very mild, which is great news. We are hoping that it will not progress quickly so that we can keep the babies in a couple of more weeks. I've been placed on a stricter "modified" bedrest than before. Basically, they want me resting with my feet up all the time, but I'm allowed to get up to grab food, use the bathroom, shower and go to Dr appointments. My appointments have doubled. I now will have 2x a week NST & BPP ultrasounds with MFM and will see the diabetic RN once a week as well. I also have weekly appointments with my OB moving forward. One of the MFM Dr's that checked in with me yesterday told me it would be good to bring my hospital bag to each appointment- because at any one of them coming up I could be told we are going to deliver.
The whole breech/vertex trying to flip babies is stressing me out. I'm going to try the acupuncture/moxa, chiro thing and then leave it in the Lord's hands. I would love to experience a vaginal delivery for many reasons, but my stressing out about it isn't helping anyone. If it works and we have two head down babies- great, if not- then I'm trying to reconcile myself to a c-section.
I'm doing much better emotionally now that I am home again. It was so stressful and scary to be in the hospital and not have "control" over what was happening. I'm glad that they did find out about these two new diagnoses' so that we can take proactive steps. I'm hoping that the next time I'm hospitalized it's at least two weeks from now and it's to deliver the boys. It looks like we will get to that 2-week mark at this point as the boys don't seem to have been affected by any of this. All of the NST's in the hospital and u/s's show that they are doing fine. It's a huge relief to know that they aren't being negatively impacted.
My instructions now that I am home are to follow the GD diet, monitor blood sugar 6 times a day and take an oral diabetic med 3 times a day. My preeclampsia is very mild, which is great news. We are hoping that it will not progress quickly so that we can keep the babies in a couple of more weeks. I've been placed on a stricter "modified" bedrest than before. Basically, they want me resting with my feet up all the time, but I'm allowed to get up to grab food, use the bathroom, shower and go to Dr appointments. My appointments have doubled. I now will have 2x a week NST & BPP ultrasounds with MFM and will see the diabetic RN once a week as well. I also have weekly appointments with my OB moving forward. One of the MFM Dr's that checked in with me yesterday told me it would be good to bring my hospital bag to each appointment- because at any one of them coming up I could be told we are going to deliver.
The whole breech/vertex trying to flip babies is stressing me out. I'm going to try the acupuncture/moxa, chiro thing and then leave it in the Lord's hands. I would love to experience a vaginal delivery for many reasons, but my stressing out about it isn't helping anyone. If it works and we have two head down babies- great, if not- then I'm trying to reconcile myself to a c-section.
I'm doing much better emotionally now that I am home again. It was so stressful and scary to be in the hospital and not have "control" over what was happening. I'm glad that they did find out about these two new diagnoses' so that we can take proactive steps. I'm hoping that the next time I'm hospitalized it's at least two weeks from now and it's to deliver the boys. It looks like we will get to that 2-week mark at this point as the boys don't seem to have been affected by any of this. All of the NST's in the hospital and u/s's show that they are doing fine. It's a huge relief to know that they aren't being negatively impacted.
Monday, December 6, 2010
33w2d Update
Today I had a busy day scheduled of tests and appointments. I was doing a repeat glucose test. This time it was a fasting 2-hour test. My OB explained to me (at my last appointment last Thursday) that the guidelines for the test had recently changed from the 1-hour non-fasting test or the 3-hour fasting test to a 2-hour fasting test. My blood pressure was also a bit elevated at my last OB appointment, so she ordered another 24-hour urine collection test to check for spilled protein. She suggested I do it on Sunday and just bring it to my glucose test on Monday morning. I did as she suggested and brought it to the glucose test. The test itself was boring. I did get a bit shaky towards the end, but that was it. After the test I ate a peanut butter sandwich that I had brought with me and a bunch of almonds. I felt much better after the food/protein.
I then headed over to MFM for my weekly NST and a cervix check u/s. My blood pressure was high in the NST room- 139/82. They suggested I lay there and relax during the test and then we would re-check. The boys did great for the NST this time. They then re-checked my blood pressure, and it went up again to – 145/91. At this point they ordered a urine test to check for protein, and I explained that I had JUST dropped off the 24-hour jug but went ahead with their test as well. (No protein was found in this test) I then had the cervix check, and it is shorter, but not concerning at this point. The boys looked great on u/s- had the right fluid levels, heartbeats and all the other good stuff they check for. They kept asking me the classic preeclampsia questions and the only one I could say I did have was a headache. I’ve had a headache since Saturday afternoon. It’s been pretty bad, but my blood pressure at home hasn’t reflected a rise, so I wasn’t that concerned. The u/s tech left, and I waited for a Dr to go over results and send me on my way. But then the tech came back and told me that the Dr (not my regular one- she was out) wanted a bio-physical profile u/s to double check on the boys because of my headache/high blood pressure. So… I had that done. The boys both passed with flying colors. The Dr then came in and told me she was concerned about me (not the boys) and wanted to admit me to the hospital for a couple of days for observations, but that she would check in with my primary OB and get back to me. WHAT?!? I mean, I know my blood pressure was a bit high, but it has been MUCH higher than this. She didn’t get a hold of my regular OB (off duty) but spoke with her partner and they agreed to admit me for the purpose of monitoring the babies, monitoring my blood pressure and administering steroid shots to help the boys’ lungs mature.
So, for now I am in the hospital. My test results came back, and my glucose test had 2 values that were in the normal range and one that was out of the normal range, but the Dr wasn’t concerned. My 24-hour test was *barely* over the limit. They want it under 300 and it was at 340. My blood pressure has been much lower in the hospital. At admission it was 132/80 and at the most recent check tonight it was 123/74. I’m hoping after my second steroid shot tomorrow, I will be discharged. Also, my regular OB will be back tomorrow so I can go over all the results with her and figure out her plan.
Luckily, we have great insurance that will cover all of this hospitalization. If it didn’t, I would be a bit upset and stressed. As it is, I’m trying to roll with everything and stay calm. So far – so good. The biggest relief is that none of this seems to be affecting the boys. Hang on babies… just 2 more weeks and we’ll be at 35 weeks, and you’ll have a much higher likelihood of coming home with us with no NICU time.
I then headed over to MFM for my weekly NST and a cervix check u/s. My blood pressure was high in the NST room- 139/82. They suggested I lay there and relax during the test and then we would re-check. The boys did great for the NST this time. They then re-checked my blood pressure, and it went up again to – 145/91. At this point they ordered a urine test to check for protein, and I explained that I had JUST dropped off the 24-hour jug but went ahead with their test as well. (No protein was found in this test) I then had the cervix check, and it is shorter, but not concerning at this point. The boys looked great on u/s- had the right fluid levels, heartbeats and all the other good stuff they check for. They kept asking me the classic preeclampsia questions and the only one I could say I did have was a headache. I’ve had a headache since Saturday afternoon. It’s been pretty bad, but my blood pressure at home hasn’t reflected a rise, so I wasn’t that concerned. The u/s tech left, and I waited for a Dr to go over results and send me on my way. But then the tech came back and told me that the Dr (not my regular one- she was out) wanted a bio-physical profile u/s to double check on the boys because of my headache/high blood pressure. So… I had that done. The boys both passed with flying colors. The Dr then came in and told me she was concerned about me (not the boys) and wanted to admit me to the hospital for a couple of days for observations, but that she would check in with my primary OB and get back to me. WHAT?!? I mean, I know my blood pressure was a bit high, but it has been MUCH higher than this. She didn’t get a hold of my regular OB (off duty) but spoke with her partner and they agreed to admit me for the purpose of monitoring the babies, monitoring my blood pressure and administering steroid shots to help the boys’ lungs mature.
So, for now I am in the hospital. My test results came back, and my glucose test had 2 values that were in the normal range and one that was out of the normal range, but the Dr wasn’t concerned. My 24-hour test was *barely* over the limit. They want it under 300 and it was at 340. My blood pressure has been much lower in the hospital. At admission it was 132/80 and at the most recent check tonight it was 123/74. I’m hoping after my second steroid shot tomorrow, I will be discharged. Also, my regular OB will be back tomorrow so I can go over all the results with her and figure out her plan.
Luckily, we have great insurance that will cover all of this hospitalization. If it didn’t, I would be a bit upset and stressed. As it is, I’m trying to roll with everything and stay calm. So far – so good. The biggest relief is that none of this seems to be affecting the boys. Hang on babies… just 2 more weeks and we’ll be at 35 weeks, and you’ll have a much higher likelihood of coming home with us with no NICU time.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
1st NST
I had my 1st Non-Stress Test today. It was interesting. They found the boys' heartbeats and placed the monitors. Then every couple of minutes they had to come back and readjust because the boys were moving so much. After 1/2 and hour they hadn't seen the proper number of accelerations of heart rates for either baby. So, they consulted with Dr Paek. She ordered a u/s. Luckily, they had a u/s room available. I went there and an intern did my u/s. Through all of this my blood pressure was elevated- so they kept monitoring it until it dropped back to normal. Also, I lost 3 1/2 lbs. from last week, which they were a bit concerned about.
After an hour of trying to get all the measurements another u/s tech came in and found 3 of the 4 right away. She continued looking for the last measurement while the intern took the u/s report to Dr Paek. Dr Paek came in and isn't concerned at all. The boys look fine on u/s, and I come back in a week for another NST and a cervix check u/s.
I have an appointment with my primary OB tomorrow. I'm hoping to go over a few labor items that came up with our doula last week. I'm also hoping to find out if there is any way to relieve all the pain I've been having. I have a feeling there isn't, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
After an hour of trying to get all the measurements another u/s tech came in and found 3 of the 4 right away. She continued looking for the last measurement while the intern took the u/s report to Dr Paek. Dr Paek came in and isn't concerned at all. The boys look fine on u/s, and I come back in a week for another NST and a cervix check u/s.
I have an appointment with my primary OB tomorrow. I'm hoping to go over a few labor items that came up with our doula last week. I'm also hoping to find out if there is any way to relieve all the pain I've been having. I have a feeling there isn't, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
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