Bump Update 27.5 Weeks

Well, it's now Nov 17th, which means that we are under 3 MONTHS away from our due date!! Crazy. I have a feeling that things are going to go super fast now with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all between now and our expected arrival.

I’ve been telling people that I am actually starting to “feel pregnant” now. That may sound funny, but after the trials of the first trimester, the second trimester was a breeze! I felt good and had a normal appetite and energy level. There were some aches and pains (headaches and sciatic pain) early on, but they have all gone away. Overall, I just felt like myself with a slightly bigger belly.

Now that I am entering the third trimester, I am beginning to feel more like I would expect a pregnant woman to feel. I am starting to get tired much more easily and I am slowing down. I am not able to walk as fast or do the same kinds of activities that I could before. Walking up a flight of stairs makes me out of breath. I am also not able to bend over at the waist to pick things up or tie my shoes. My belly gets in the way! It is also harder for me to get and stay comfortable. I am waking up a lot at night because of using the bathroom. Overall, though, I am currently feeling pretty good. I can see that things could deteriorate quickly though! I have been told by many people that the 3^rd trimester is God’s way of preparing you for labor. That after three months of discomfort and all kinds of aches and pains, you are willing to go through just about anything to get the baby out. Haha.

Despite having to slow down, this time in the pregnancy has been a joy! The kicks and movement of little baby girl are now my constant companion. I love feeling her all the time! She is definitely very active. I think she will indeed take after her father in this regard. We can also now see her kicks on the outside of my stomach. Sometimes at night we will sit on the couch and watch my stomach bounce and “pop”. It reminds me of the game “Trouble” where you had to push the bubble and the dice jumped inside. That is what my stomach is doing.

At my most recent doctor visit I had to go through the glucose screening for gestational diabetes. I had to drink a sugary beverage that they gave me about an hour before my appointment. After an hour, they drew some blood to see how my body was breaking down the sugar I had taken.

Unfortunately, the results came back high, so I had to schedule a second, 3 hour screening. I got scheduled for my 3 hour glucose test quickly and did it last Friday morning. I had to start fasting Thursday night so that my blood sugar count would be low at the start of the test. When I arrived for my appointment, they took one vial of blood to check my base glucose level. Then I had to drink a bottle of really sugary liquid as fast as I could. On an empty stomach, this made me feel a little nauseous. It really got the baby moving though! Then I had to stick around for the next 3 hours for them to draw another vial of blood each hour. It was a long morning and I was exhausted afterward. My arm was pretty sore after being pricked 4 times. There were two possible outcomes: 1) everything looks normal. Great! We don't have to do anything else. 2) My blood glucose levels are high.

This indicates that my body is not breaking down sugars the way it should and it is likely I have gestational diabetes. This would mean I will probably need to meet with a nutritionist to talk about ways to manage my blood glucose level. While this wouldn't be ideal (especially with the holidays approaching!), it seemed like it would not be the end of the world. It would not affect the baby too much. One possible side effect could be that the baby has a slightly higher birth weight. This could mean a more complicated delivery. So we were praying that things would come back normal!

We got the results of the test back yesterday and it turned out that all is well! My doctor said my numbers were "beautiful". So we are very happy and relieved. I immediately celebrated by eating a mini snickers bar. :)

Chris has been a great husband through everything. I've been pretty tired since I got back from Massachusetts. Tired + pregnant = weepy! I think I have probably cried at least once every day since last Thursday. Although I don't think he always knows what to do with me during these break downs, Chris has been sensitive and understanding. I even came home to a beautiful bouquet of roses on Friday. This, of course, made me cry. haha. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to give an update. Sorry it got so long! We really appreciate your prayers and support. Thanks for being a part of our pregnancy journey!