Week 28: Chinese Cabbage
Oh this one made me laugh..and gave me visions of stir-fry. (Can you tell I'm hungry?)
According to BabyCenter, Bean weighs around 2 1/4 pounds and is about 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. Her eyesight is developing and she may be able to see the light that filters in through the womb. (Um- crazy!) She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world. (Especially noteworthy: we're in the third trimester, people! I can hardly believe it! Seriously.)
So you know how I've had quite the uneventful pregnancy? Well, it seems we hit a little bump in the road. I recently discovered that I've developed gestational diabetes. *sigh* (I'm okay, the sigh just comes out whenever I say that.) In case you don't know what GD is (I didn't), here's some info: GD is a type of diabetes that between 2-7% of women develop during pregnancy. It's caused by hormonal changes, when the mother is unable to produce enough insulin to manage her blood glucose levels, therefore, her blood glucose levels get too high. The good news is that GD can be controlled through diet and, when managed properly, shouldn't have any adverse affects on the baby- or the mother once the baby is born.
So that's the clinical 411. Here's the low-down on what's been going on with me: A few weeks ago, I took my glucose test (you drink a very sweet liquid - which tastes like really sweet, flat orange soda - and have blood drawn an hour later), which came back abnormal. So then I had to go back to take a 3 hour glucose test. (Yeah, that was about as fun as it sounds.) The 3 hour test involved a blood test after fasting, then drinking the aforementioned liquid, then having more blood drawn 1, 2, and 3 hours on the dot thereafter. Well, two out of these four tests came back abnormal (the middle two- 1 and 2 hours after the drink). According to my OB, this shows that I have some intolerance, but she would have been more concerned if my fasting number was high- it was normal. The gist of all this is that I don't seem to have it *that* bad and I should be able to control it by changing my diet and closely monitoring my glucose levels.
To help me do this, I met with a nutritionist last week Friday, who provided me with information about foods I can and can't eat. I was very much relieved to learn that I actually have many more food options than I thought I'd have. The trick is that I have to carefully monitor my food - especially carb - intake, which means I'm now measuring everything I eat. It's essential that I still have carbs in my diet, just complex carbs, not refined sugars, and it must be balanced with protein, veggies, etc. I also now have a fancy finger-pricking machine (not the official name of this device, but it is descriptive) which I use to test my glucose levels 4 times a day. (This is also about as fun as it sounds.) I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon, but for now- ouch!
To be honest, I was really freaked out at first. Any "problem" relating to my pregnancy and Bean sounds so horrible and scary- plus, I felt guilty, like I somehow caused this, so I felt like a bad mom already. But, upon getting educated about GD, I realized that nothing I did caused this- it's just how my body is reacting to the pregnancy hormones. And the more people I tell about this, the more women I learn went through the same thing and everything turned out just fine- that's definitely reassuring! So now I'm doing as my mom would have me do, and I'm looking on the positive side. I am thankful that I don't have to just sit back take this- it's something I can actually control and do something about. I decided to take this as an opportunity to really get healthy. Really, I should have been more closely monitoring my nutrition from the beginning, right? So now I'm being forced to, and that's not a bad thing. In fact, Bean and I will probably end up being even more healthy as a result of this, which is good! Don't get me wrong- I am in some mourning over the loss of baked goods, desserts, candy, etc. in my life, but hey! It's for a good cause (the best ever!) and after all, it's only 3 months. I. CAN. do. this.
Despite this GD hiccup, I still feel good and I am still in bliss with being pregnant. Pregnancy, I'm learning, can be quite stressful at times, but overall it's the most amazing thing ever. And we never lose sight of just how lucky we are, even with these bumps in the road. Thankfully, this seems to be just one of those annoying little bumps you can drive right over and keep on going, as opposed to those great big potholes that'll give you a flat tire. :)
Totally unrelated, here's a picture of our sweet doogles, to wish you all a good week. :)
Dakota and his bear (aka favoritest toy in all the world)
And speaking of dogs, we're sending lots of loving thoughts and virtual belly rubs to our dog niece, Mandy, who isn't doing so well. xo
According to BabyCenter, Bean weighs around 2 1/4 pounds and is about 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. Her eyesight is developing and she may be able to see the light that filters in through the womb. (Um- crazy!) She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world. (Especially noteworthy: we're in the third trimester, people! I can hardly believe it! Seriously.)So you know how I've had quite the uneventful pregnancy? Well, it seems we hit a little bump in the road. I recently discovered that I've developed gestational diabetes. *sigh* (I'm okay, the sigh just comes out whenever I say that.) In case you don't know what GD is (I didn't), here's some info: GD is a type of diabetes that between 2-7% of women develop during pregnancy. It's caused by hormonal changes, when the mother is unable to produce enough insulin to manage her blood glucose levels, therefore, her blood glucose levels get too high. The good news is that GD can be controlled through diet and, when managed properly, shouldn't have any adverse affects on the baby- or the mother once the baby is born.
So that's the clinical 411. Here's the low-down on what's been going on with me: A few weeks ago, I took my glucose test (you drink a very sweet liquid - which tastes like really sweet, flat orange soda - and have blood drawn an hour later), which came back abnormal. So then I had to go back to take a 3 hour glucose test. (Yeah, that was about as fun as it sounds.) The 3 hour test involved a blood test after fasting, then drinking the aforementioned liquid, then having more blood drawn 1, 2, and 3 hours on the dot thereafter. Well, two out of these four tests came back abnormal (the middle two- 1 and 2 hours after the drink). According to my OB, this shows that I have some intolerance, but she would have been more concerned if my fasting number was high- it was normal. The gist of all this is that I don't seem to have it *that* bad and I should be able to control it by changing my diet and closely monitoring my glucose levels.To help me do this, I met with a nutritionist last week Friday, who provided me with information about foods I can and can't eat. I was very much relieved to learn that I actually have many more food options than I thought I'd have. The trick is that I have to carefully monitor my food - especially carb - intake, which means I'm now measuring everything I eat. It's essential that I still have carbs in my diet, just complex carbs, not refined sugars, and it must be balanced with protein, veggies, etc. I also now have a fancy finger-pricking machine (not the official name of this device, but it is descriptive) which I use to test my glucose levels 4 times a day. (This is also about as fun as it sounds.) I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon, but for now- ouch!
To be honest, I was really freaked out at first. Any "problem" relating to my pregnancy and Bean sounds so horrible and scary- plus, I felt guilty, like I somehow caused this, so I felt like a bad mom already. But, upon getting educated about GD, I realized that nothing I did caused this- it's just how my body is reacting to the pregnancy hormones. And the more people I tell about this, the more women I learn went through the same thing and everything turned out just fine- that's definitely reassuring! So now I'm doing as my mom would have me do, and I'm looking on the positive side. I am thankful that I don't have to just sit back take this- it's something I can actually control and do something about. I decided to take this as an opportunity to really get healthy. Really, I should have been more closely monitoring my nutrition from the beginning, right? So now I'm being forced to, and that's not a bad thing. In fact, Bean and I will probably end up being even more healthy as a result of this, which is good! Don't get me wrong- I am in some mourning over the loss of baked goods, desserts, candy, etc. in my life, but hey! It's for a good cause (the best ever!) and after all, it's only 3 months. I. CAN. do. this.
Despite this GD hiccup, I still feel good and I am still in bliss with being pregnant. Pregnancy, I'm learning, can be quite stressful at times, but overall it's the most amazing thing ever. And we never lose sight of just how lucky we are, even with these bumps in the road. Thankfully, this seems to be just one of those annoying little bumps you can drive right over and keep on going, as opposed to those great big potholes that'll give you a flat tire. :)
Totally unrelated, here's a picture of our sweet doogles, to wish you all a good week. :)
Dakota and his bear (aka favoritest toy in all the world)And speaking of dogs, we're sending lots of loving thoughts and virtual belly rubs to our dog niece, Mandy, who isn't doing so well. xo
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