Hello 2nd Trimester!!!

I am so excited that today I am officially in my second trimester!! 14 weeks and counting and I am honestly beginning to get excited about this pregnancy.  Not that I wasn't excited before, but my excitement has always been equally tempered by my nervousness that something could go wrong.  As things are progressing I am feeling more and more comfortable and looking forward to enjoying pregnancy.  It also helps that my queasiness is almost completely gone and I am beginning to have some energy again.

Currently I have lost 15 pounds since we started the in vitro process in January and I am starting to get a little bit of a belly. It's not much, but enough that Steve has commented on it and a few other friends and family members.  Although I am also getting lots of comments that I am looking skinny. I think that's because my boobs are so much bigger and with the weight loss it's an optical illusion.  I look forward to having more of a defined pregnancy belly.

A lot has been going on with the pregnancy in the past couple of weeks.  At my 11 week appointment my OB decided that because of my history with PCOS (which gave me a higher than normal blood sugar level normally) that she wanted to do the 1 hour glucose test asap.  I guess this is pretty standard practice in early pregnancy for women with PCOS.  I failed the 1 hour test so last week I went back for the 3 hour glucose test.  I did both tests at the local hospital and those techs were amazing. For the 3 hour test I had to get a fasting blood draw, once it was processed they had me drink the glucose drink (fruit punch flavored thank goodness and not cola). Then I got blood draws at 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours.  And this is where the techs there were so amazing. They have a bed that you can lay down between blood draws and they kept encouraging me to take advantage of it.  After the 1 hour test I did lay down and wow ... that made things so much better.  While I couldn't really nap, it was nice to be in a cool, darker area that was not the overcrowded waiting room.  In the end though, I failed the 3 hour test as well.  I officially have Gestational Diabetes.

Yesterday morning I had an appointment with the endocrinologist.  He said my levels were elevated, but they were not out of this world.  He thinks at this point we can control the diabetes with diet and exercise. The plan is for me to monitor my blood sugar first thing in the morning (fasting levels) and then again 1 hour after starting my breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He gave me a monitor and then sent me for diabetes counseling and education.  I went to another office where this wonderful nurse evaluated my current eating habits and then determined a meal plan that revolves around counting my carbs.  Because I am pregnant she did not want to limit my total caloric intake and only wants me to monitor my protein in making sure that I am getting enough servings in a day.  She was great and really helped me understand how to count carbs and how important it is to spread them evenly out through the day.  If anyone else is gestational or even just diabetic, I highly recommend the Calorie King for information about sugars and carbs and calories.  They have a great app for IPhone that I downloaded.  The best part about the app is that you can find your favorite restaurants and get a "food label" for the items on their menu. 

This morning I met with the OB coordinator and went over all of my test results and family history. She gave me a big bag of goodies to go home with. (There was a lot of cool stuff in that bag - magazines, a list of the classes offered by the hospital, formula samples, etc). Unfortunately I have to go back in 2 weeks because my blood pressure was a little high so she was concerned and wants me to see the physician next time. After that appointment I will get to schedule my anatomy ultrasound and will hopefully know the sex of this baby in the next 6 weeks.  Honestly, I don't care what this baby is.  I have zero preference and am basically only finding out so that planning the nursery and the baby shower will be easier for all involved. But .. it's still kind of exciting that we will know soon.

Oh .. and almost forgot.  I think I felt movement this morning. I'm not 100% sure that's what is was but here is what happened.  This morning I was laying in bed and had a muscle spasm in my shoulder.  The muscle spasm was one of those that pinches and jumps.  While this is happening I feel a funny feeling in my belly, just above and at my pelvic bone.  But it would happen and be gone just as quick.  It was like a muscle spasm, but not the kind I was having it my shoulder, it was more like a vibration, it was annoying, but not painful and very light.  And every time I would think I felt something, it would be gone. This happened a few times over the next couple of hours, but I just dismissed it.  Then right before I got in the shower I felt it again and realized that it was located exactly where I have been finding the baby's heartbeat.  I can only think that this is movement that I am feeling.  I haven't felt it since and I realize that it's a little early so I haven't gotten excited about it yet, but it would definitely be cool if that's what I was feeling.

Well .. that's all that's happening on the baby front.  There are some other things going on in my life and I hope to blog about them soon.  And I promise I am trying to get better about blogging as this is kind of the only place I am keeping a record of what's happening with this pregnancy and I really don't want to forget stuff. Till next time ... hugs!