Due date is looming and I am definitely ready to meet little Chin (little sick of being asked if it's happened yet or not =P). Most women pray for the day they go into labor to get rid of the pregnancy annoyances such as late night bathroom breaks, waddling, insomnia etc. For me, it's the battle with PUPPPS which has put me at a tilt with this whole final stage of being preggo. My body shows the battle scars on my arms, legs and of course my tummy. My whole body is officially a victim of this terrible condition. I have struggled mentally to resist the urge to scratch and have succumbed to a satisfying but guilty (followed by soreness and more scars) few minutes scratch which on a ST basis feels so good but leaves me feeling terrible that I couldn't control myself yet again. It is the worse feeling and has left me a few nights in tears of anguish that this is not going away until the baby comes. I'm pretty sick of dealing with it and after failing every few nights with a scratch fest followed by anguish, it leaves my spirit feeling drained and despaired. I have gotten to the point where I am constantly itchy somewhere on my body but I can ignore it as long as my hands don't find its way to it. My Acupuncturist suggested to watch my diet in the next while even though much of this condition is caused by hormone changes but what you eat can also be a factor and I think I'll pick up some calamine lotion today and just be a splotchy preggo. I really don't care too much about how I look right now anyways.
On the bright side, the baby is still very active inside and we are getting this time to get some more things organized around the house and enjoy our last moments before parenthood. Rob was hoping the baby would come before his team meeting tonight hehe but looks like baby wants to take her sweet time =) At least October has seen some decent autumn weather lately so it's a lovely time to go on walks. I love autumn; brisk cold, colored leaves, and it reminds me of being a child again going trick-or-treating on halloween. Now it will be even better because the baby is coming soon!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Now I am truly nervous!
Week 38! My last day at work was yesterday. I'm glad the baby held off from any emergency early labor at work, just too much drama for a work setting =P I'm sure our VP Operations was nervous that an impending birth could be possible at the office considering I only have two weeks left! Last week, my co-workers threw a surprise baby shower for baby Chin complete with musical BINGO and yummy cake made completely out of little cupcakes. I received my first ever diaper cake. It was so cute!
When I wrote my last post about being anxious, I never thought that I would be hit with even more nervousness weeks later. It is probably a combination of a few things; doctor observing the baby dropping, increased pressure in the pubic bone area and increased frequency to pee, meeting with our Doula to discuss labor and delivery and finishing up at work.
There are still a few more things that need to be done but overall, we are ready if the baby should decide to come right NOW but it's more the mental nervousness that is bugging me. Up until now, I have avoided thinking of the laboring part (ignorance is bliss?!?) I have not overwhelmed myself with reading others' birth stories for the reason that I know each person has an unique story to tell and it would only make me more anxious wondering what mine would be. After meeting with our Doula today and going over some labor logistics, I felt so overwhelmed with the thought that my pregnancy 'condition' will soon be changing. In fact, our lives will forever be changed (many have made that comment and it doesn't make it any more comforting). Rob was right when he said it was good for me to work right up to now, 2 weeks before the due date so I wouldn't have so much time to think and get anxious about the impending birth. Now we just wait... There are things I can do in the meantime to 'prepare' the cervix for the most optimal birth and I guess I can focus on these things so I have less time to wonder when it will actually come.
In the past week, my ugly stretch marks have taken on an even uglier side, they began to itch. The full medical term for it is Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy, or PUPPP and is inmensely irritating. I try not to stratch but there's such a large area under my navel that it's so hard to control and once I start, I can't stop and then it spreads!! Cold cream and anything cold from the freezer helps with the itch but it seems to be very bad at nights. So right now, as I type, i'm trying hard to focus on blogging and not itching my tummy =(
Other than that, Rob and I went to listen to Dr. Harvey Karp share about how to calm a baby and minimize tandrums in toddlers on Monday night at the VPL Main Branch. He did his magic with the babies in the room and had the parents try his techniques right there right then. It was an eye-opener and he was a good speaker. We saw this funny commercial about a toddler throwing a tandrum at a grocery store: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_0bhT98g9Y
Dr. Harvey Karp wrote The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block. Visit his website for more information.
Stay tuned for more updates on the baby's arrival.
When I wrote my last post about being anxious, I never thought that I would be hit with even more nervousness weeks later. It is probably a combination of a few things; doctor observing the baby dropping, increased pressure in the pubic bone area and increased frequency to pee, meeting with our Doula to discuss labor and delivery and finishing up at work.There are still a few more things that need to be done but overall, we are ready if the baby should decide to come right NOW but it's more the mental nervousness that is bugging me. Up until now, I have avoided thinking of the laboring part (ignorance is bliss?!?) I have not overwhelmed myself with reading others' birth stories for the reason that I know each person has an unique story to tell and it would only make me more anxious wondering what mine would be. After meeting with our Doula today and going over some labor logistics, I felt so overwhelmed with the thought that my pregnancy 'condition' will soon be changing. In fact, our lives will forever be changed (many have made that comment and it doesn't make it any more comforting). Rob was right when he said it was good for me to work right up to now, 2 weeks before the due date so I wouldn't have so much time to think and get anxious about the impending birth. Now we just wait... There are things I can do in the meantime to 'prepare' the cervix for the most optimal birth and I guess I can focus on these things so I have less time to wonder when it will actually come.
In the past week, my ugly stretch marks have taken on an even uglier side, they began to itch. The full medical term for it is Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy, or PUPPP and is inmensely irritating. I try not to stratch but there's such a large area under my navel that it's so hard to control and once I start, I can't stop and then it spreads!! Cold cream and anything cold from the freezer helps with the itch but it seems to be very bad at nights. So right now, as I type, i'm trying hard to focus on blogging and not itching my tummy =(
Other than that, Rob and I went to listen to Dr. Harvey Karp share about how to calm a baby and minimize tandrums in toddlers on Monday night at the VPL Main Branch. He did his magic with the babies in the room and had the parents try his techniques right there right then. It was an eye-opener and he was a good speaker. We saw this funny commercial about a toddler throwing a tandrum at a grocery store: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_0bhT98g9Y
Dr. Harvey Karp wrote The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block. Visit his website for more information.
Stay tuned for more updates on the baby's arrival.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Ticking Baby Bomb
The anxiety is starting to infiltrate my brain.
Awoke Saturday morning to another horrible leg cramp in my right calf muscle. This time, Rob tried to massage, assist and calm me down. It worked but took awhile and I was quibbling like a little girl in pain. Again I wonder, could anything be worse (ie. contractions) than the leg cramp pain?
Spent Sunday afternoon out baby shopping on a beautiful warm day by myself and realized, what would happen if I went into labor right NOW? What would I do? I guess someone from the baby boutiques would know to send me to SPH and Rob would meet me there but my bag isn’t packed!
The baby received tons of clothes from the weekend baby shower. So much one baby can receive; so many new clothes to grow out of in a few months time and I just have to accept the reality that I too will have outfits that have never been worn with tags on them. I have enough trouble figuring out what to wear for myself and soon will have the job of figuring out little cute outfits for my baby to wear. And then I’ll want to buy more clothes so her cute top will have a matching bottom…and before I know it, I would have accumulated LOTS of baby clothes.
And then the ultimate anxiety: being a parent. I expect my life to change. I expect my relationship with Rob to change. I know this is a road of no turning back; once a parent, forever a parent. I also know that it will be a life stage far more challenging and rewarding than even in commitment in marriage. Don’t get me wrong, marriage isn’t a joyful walk in the park but when you add other human beings to the mix of family, it gets complicated especially when the parents (inlaws) decide to intervene.
I’ve realized I don’t really know what Braxton Hicks (BH)or real contractions feel like. I have had tightening in my tummy which I thought was BH but it seems to last for a long time. Then yesterday, we were at Walmart picking up some more baby stuff when I felt this pressure in my pubic bone area that came and went, fairly quickly for a minute or so which I’ve never experienced. It freaked me out and I freaked Rob out but it went away so was that BH or just baby head-butting and moving? No clue…No wonder the soon-to-be parents get more and more anxious as the day approaches for the baby bomb to go off. The fun is no one really knows when it will detonate.
Hang in there Tres! Take this time and enjoy the fact you have the freedom and two free hands. Before you know it, one or both hands will be doing something baby-related.Friday, September 26, 2008
By golly it’s already Week 36 and she’s head down!
Three weeks has passed since I first spoke about G.D. A quick update on that…looks like I am a borderline case so have to still test my glucose levels 3-4 times daily but after this week, the hormones that cause the G.D. should be more stabilized which mean I won’t have to keep up with the testing for the rest of the pregnancy. Hooray!
Thursday, September 04, 2008
G.D.
Welcome to week 33
This week came with new challenges for my pregnancy. Two weeks ago, I was told I had borderline gestational diabetes and would have to undergo measures to control my glucose levels to keep dear baby healthy through the rest of the pregnancy period. You may be wondering why a few posts ago, I actually wrote about how relieved I was not to have it and now I have it. Well, turns out my doctor's receptionist neglected to tell me to do the 3 hour testing and then my results came back as borderline G.D.
Why me? Well, I should have expected it since both my parents have type II diabetes so it's in the genes. Perhaps it also didn't help that I have had a sweet tooth throughout my pregnancy. What happens is during pregnancy, your hormone levels are so out of wack that there's not enough insulin produced to deal with the glucose. The major impact to the baby is they get to be big babies which makes labor more difficult but I also found out that since the baby is so used to the high glucose levels during gestation that they get Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), in other words, a cranky baby that needs sugar in their system right after birth.
So I met with the Diabetes Specialist last week and met with a dietitian and nurse this Tuesday to go over a strict carbohydrate meal plan and have to test my glucose levels 6x/day. I came out of the meeting feeling pretty overwhelmed; knowing I would have to count my carbs. each meal and have to prick myself on a regular basis. I have never had to diet nor count calories in my lifetime so I wondered how much I would have to modify my lifestyle/habits to accommodate for this and for how long? Well, I'm at day 2 and it's not too bad so far. I am learning lots about the different types of foods and how they break down in the body (it's nice my coworker is also the Fitness Manager!) My glucose levels seem OK so far. I have been eating more frequent, smaller meals/snacks throughout the day and walking after every meal so it's been a healthy change. I actually feel better, having control of the portions I eat. I still consume ice cream and dark chocolate but just have to keep it to very tiny portions. It' s not as bad as I thought. However, I would love it if I didn't have to keep moderating my glucose levels for the rest of the pregnancy. I will find out next Tuesday when I meet with the doctor again.
Interesting fact: The glucose levels that I have to strive for are stricter than what someone with type II diabetes would have to follow. The glucose levels before a meal for someone with type II diabetes should be between 4.0 - 7.0 while for a pregnant women with G.D., it needs to be less than 5.0
Tomorrow is our second meeting with Baby Chin. We have another U/S planned and looking forward to seeing and finding out how the baby is developing and to confirm once again if it's a girl!
Yay for Friday!
Rae
This week came with new challenges for my pregnancy. Two weeks ago, I was told I had borderline gestational diabetes and would have to undergo measures to control my glucose levels to keep dear baby healthy through the rest of the pregnancy period. You may be wondering why a few posts ago, I actually wrote about how relieved I was not to have it and now I have it. Well, turns out my doctor's receptionist neglected to tell me to do the 3 hour testing and then my results came back as borderline G.D.
Why me? Well, I should have expected it since both my parents have type II diabetes so it's in the genes. Perhaps it also didn't help that I have had a sweet tooth throughout my pregnancy. What happens is during pregnancy, your hormone levels are so out of wack that there's not enough insulin produced to deal with the glucose. The major impact to the baby is they get to be big babies which makes labor more difficult but I also found out that since the baby is so used to the high glucose levels during gestation that they get Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), in other words, a cranky baby that needs sugar in their system right after birth.
So I met with the Diabetes Specialist last week and met with a dietitian and nurse this Tuesday to go over a strict carbohydrate meal plan and have to test my glucose levels 6x/day. I came out of the meeting feeling pretty overwhelmed; knowing I would have to count my carbs. each meal and have to prick myself on a regular basis. I have never had to diet nor count calories in my lifetime so I wondered how much I would have to modify my lifestyle/habits to accommodate for this and for how long? Well, I'm at day 2 and it's not too bad so far. I am learning lots about the different types of foods and how they break down in the body (it's nice my coworker is also the Fitness Manager!) My glucose levels seem OK so far. I have been eating more frequent, smaller meals/snacks throughout the day and walking after every meal so it's been a healthy change. I actually feel better, having control of the portions I eat. I still consume ice cream and dark chocolate but just have to keep it to very tiny portions. It' s not as bad as I thought. However, I would love it if I didn't have to keep moderating my glucose levels for the rest of the pregnancy. I will find out next Tuesday when I meet with the doctor again.
Interesting fact: The glucose levels that I have to strive for are stricter than what someone with type II diabetes would have to follow. The glucose levels before a meal for someone with type II diabetes should be between 4.0 - 7.0 while for a pregnant women with G.D., it needs to be less than 5.0
Tomorrow is our second meeting with Baby Chin. We have another U/S planned and looking forward to seeing and finding out how the baby is developing and to confirm once again if it's a girl!
Yay for Friday!
Rae
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