Why, hello there. I know, I know, I have been terrible about updating the blog. In my defense, we have been incredibly busy. We had a lovely holiday and had lots of much needed family time, from both sides of our family. That has, by far, been the toughest part of living in Georgia. We are not remotely close to any of our family, so any time we do get to spend with them is extra special. WE spent Christmas in South Carolina at the Hinman Family Compound. We had gorgeous weather for the most part. My parents came to see us for New Years/ Stella's/ my birthday which was also lots of fun. We went to a Japanese steak house to celebrate our birthdays and the kids had their socks blown off by the fire/ grilling at the table!
For the past week, I have been slammed with multiple doctors appointments. I had my one hour glucose test with my OB which I promptly failed, awesome. More on that in a minute. The next day I had a follow-up ultrasound to check on baby. I'm happy to report that baby looks great! It was a growth measurement day, which are always fun to check out baby's progress. The baby would NOT stop kicking the ultrasound wand, so the poor tech had a helluva time getting measurements. This child is destined to play soccer, I've decided. Baby is measuring right on track and weighed in at 2lbs, 12oz, which, in case you were wondering, is LARGE. The third appointment I had last week was with my oncologist. At this point, I'm seeing her about every three months to check on blood counts and to make sure I'm not having any new problems. Thankfully, all is well from cancerland! I will follow-up with her after the baby is born to schedule scans, etc.
So, I mentioned that I failed my one hour glucose screening test. This is new territory for me, as that was one issue I didn't have when pregnant with Stella and Simon. The glucose screening test determines whether further testing is needed to see if I may have gestational diabetes. Yesterday, which was my birthday, I headed back to the OB office to take the three hour glucose tolerance test. I can't think of a more delightful activity to do on one's birthday... Anyway, the three hour test is a fasting test, so I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight. Pure torture for a pregnant woman. I arrived at the office at 9am and had to have my fasting blood draw immediately. Then, I was given the delightful Glucola drink to chug. The one hour test also has you drink Glucola with 50g of sugar. The three hour test Glucola has 100g of sugar in it. GAG. The fridge in the office was broken, so I had the added bonus of chugging that sucker warm. And it was fruit punch flavored. Double gag. I'm not a fan of sweet beverages to begin with, so this was like drinking a bowl of sugar.
Once I finished the drink, I had three more blood draws, once an hour. My poor arm was over it by the end. One neat side effect from my mastectomy is that since they took lymph nodes from my right arm, I can no longer have any kind of blood draw, needle stick or blood pressure taken on that side. If I were to use my right arm, I am at great risk for lymphedema. So, my poor left arm pulls all of the weight these days. As a side note, yes I do still have my port, which I wish I could use, but unfortunately, the only people allowed to access it are specialized oncology nurses. I was nervous about how I would feel after chugging pure sugar, and I've many a horror story about the three hour test. The first fifteen minutes were a little rough, but after that my stomach settled and I felt fine. The baby was having quite the party and a few times I wondered if it was going to just jump out of my stomach. Again, this is not a quiet child, we are active both day and all night.
By the end of the test I was ravenous and working on a serious headache. I have a serious caffeine addiction, so not having my coffee in the morning was a doozie. I was happy to grab some lunch, but I was seriously wiped out. I picked the kids up from school and attempted to take a nap. Attempted would be the key word there. Stella basically refuse to nap most days, yesterday being one of them. My headache would NOT go away. I took Tylenol (useless, but all I'm allowed these days), drank coffee but nothing helped. I thought my head might just roll right off of my body. I ended up just going to bed early and thankfully it was gone when I woke up this morning. I'm assuming it was some sort of reaction to all of the sugar, but who knows.
I should have my results in a few days and then we'll come up with a plan if I do indeed have gestational diabetes. I'm really hoping I don't, but I've certainly dealt with much worse when it comes down to it. Until then, I'm off to enjoy a birthday cupcake ;)
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