Aw, Sugar Sugar
Well, I'm afraid it's official. Gestational diabetes. I had my 3-hour test yesterday and found out the results today at my midwife appointment. (For those to whom the numbers speak: Fasting - 91; 1-hour - 237 (yikes!); 2-hour - 223 (eesh); 3-hour - 137. By the way, the discrepancy between my screening 1-hour (165) and this one is accounted for by the fact that for the screening test, you only have to ingest 50 g of glucose in the nasty orange faux soda, but for the 3-hour you get 100 g. Eeaugh. Truly nasty.)
I suppose it's not the end of the world, but the whole thing does make me feel just awfully tired. I mean, really, I could absolutely have done without having to monitor my diet like a hawk and test my frigging blood sugar four times a day. Yes, that would have been just fine. It also gives a person more to worry about (bigger risks of shoulder distocia, hypercalcemia, newborn jaundice for the kid; greater risk of preeclampsia, among other things, for the mom). Plus it means I have a 50% lifetime risk of developing Type 2 diabetes now. Fuck fuck fuck. It makes me feel like crawling under the covers for a few weeks. Well, or throwing things. One or the other.
So I guess now I start with the blood sugar testing, and we figure out whether I'm going to need insulin or not. I'm fortunately not needle-phobic really at all, but taking insulin would still suck because if you're doing that, you're always at some risk for bad hypoglycemic episodes ("insulin reactions"). Especially if you, for instance, have a job where you don't get to eat on a regular schedule. Hypothetically.
Meanwhile, back at the midwife's office, the midwife I saw today was kind of concerned about my contracting, which continues to be a daily nuisance and sometimes quite distinctly uncomfortable. She did a fetal fibronectin test, which it seems can give a bit of an idea of the risk of delivering within the next two weeks. (My understanding is that a negative means you almost certainly won't, while a positive one is not necessarily a big hairy deal, but just isn't so reassuring.) I'll get the results tonight. She also did a quick internal exam, which I didn't even have to ask for, and said that as far as she could tell, the cervix was still long and closed. So, well, there's that to be thankful for.
I do seem to be developing quite a bit of affection for the small wiggly stranger lately, which is nice. There was a point where I worried it might not happen at all--or anyway not happen until the child was out of diapers or something. These days, I pat it and call it Sweetie and tell it good morning and chuckle fondly at its more extreme gymnastic maneuvers in there. I don't blame it for the miseries of late pregnancy. On the other hand, I am no longer on speaking terms with my irritable uterine wall and my slacker hip ligaments. They have absolutely exhausted my patience.
Oh, by the way, did I mention that Monday I finally had my first day without a preceptor at work? They gave me an almost insultingly light assignment, in addition to requiring me to check in a few times through the day with a designated senior nurse. But you know, it's all good. Moving forward. And it was a real blessed relief not to have anyone breathing down my neck.
We'll see what delights the rest of the week holds. A girl can hardly wait to find out.
I suppose it's not the end of the world, but the whole thing does make me feel just awfully tired. I mean, really, I could absolutely have done without having to monitor my diet like a hawk and test my frigging blood sugar four times a day. Yes, that would have been just fine. It also gives a person more to worry about (bigger risks of shoulder distocia, hypercalcemia, newborn jaundice for the kid; greater risk of preeclampsia, among other things, for the mom). Plus it means I have a 50% lifetime risk of developing Type 2 diabetes now. Fuck fuck fuck. It makes me feel like crawling under the covers for a few weeks. Well, or throwing things. One or the other.
So I guess now I start with the blood sugar testing, and we figure out whether I'm going to need insulin or not. I'm fortunately not needle-phobic really at all, but taking insulin would still suck because if you're doing that, you're always at some risk for bad hypoglycemic episodes ("insulin reactions"). Especially if you, for instance, have a job where you don't get to eat on a regular schedule. Hypothetically.
Meanwhile, back at the midwife's office, the midwife I saw today was kind of concerned about my contracting, which continues to be a daily nuisance and sometimes quite distinctly uncomfortable. She did a fetal fibronectin test, which it seems can give a bit of an idea of the risk of delivering within the next two weeks. (My understanding is that a negative means you almost certainly won't, while a positive one is not necessarily a big hairy deal, but just isn't so reassuring.) I'll get the results tonight. She also did a quick internal exam, which I didn't even have to ask for, and said that as far as she could tell, the cervix was still long and closed. So, well, there's that to be thankful for.
I do seem to be developing quite a bit of affection for the small wiggly stranger lately, which is nice. There was a point where I worried it might not happen at all--or anyway not happen until the child was out of diapers or something. These days, I pat it and call it Sweetie and tell it good morning and chuckle fondly at its more extreme gymnastic maneuvers in there. I don't blame it for the miseries of late pregnancy. On the other hand, I am no longer on speaking terms with my irritable uterine wall and my slacker hip ligaments. They have absolutely exhausted my patience.
Oh, by the way, did I mention that Monday I finally had my first day without a preceptor at work? They gave me an almost insultingly light assignment, in addition to requiring me to check in a few times through the day with a designated senior nurse. But you know, it's all good. Moving forward. And it was a real blessed relief not to have anyone breathing down my neck.
We'll see what delights the rest of the week holds. A girl can hardly wait to find out.
posted by Rosie Bonner at 5:38 PM
1 Comments:
huzzah for the no-preceptor shift! (you go, preggy girl)
and remember there is now the glyburide option now in between the diet and insuline (thank goodness -- and it usually works)
you just tell those recalcitrant hip ligaments to *behave*. so there.
you are loved,
all will be well,
xoxo,
Marina
p.s. does this dx in your practice eman that you will be seen weekly? (it occurs to me that your schedule is not so allowing of weekly visits....)
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