The blog that became my life story

*See the last paragraph for the point!*

I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself to write long blog entries- which is why none have gotten done in the last month; I’ve been a little busy. But I still want to chronicle this amazing time in my life!

I’m having good days and bad days. I guess I haven’t blogged since the Glucola screening, but the results were great! You should be less than a 140 and mine was 105. I gained 4-5 ounces from Oct-Nov and about the same from Nov-Dec. Overall I’m still under my pre-pregnancy weight which means even though baby is gaining I have been losing. I’m really thankful that Cody and I seem to be on track and healthy. I haven’t had any swelling and have been able to wear my wedding rings throughout the pregnancy, although I opted not to wear them for the majority of the six months that I was puking. I’ve only thrown up twice in the last month or so, so that has been nice.

Boy am I hungry! I think a large role in my weight loss (besides the six months of said puking) has been the necessity for me to eat small meals 4-5 times a day. I would feel so gross if I ate a large meal or if I tried to skip breakfast. I was getting weak and lightheaded when I tried to go four hours without eating so I had to change up my routine. I eat a little something about 8:30AM, usually fruit, and then a bowl of cereal about 11-11:30 and am not hungry for lunch until about 1:30 or 2PM. I have another small snack in the afternoon and then dinner between 6:30-7:30.

I had a really bad day last week and had to stay home from work. I woke up feeling extremely weak; my arms felt like spaghetti noodles that weighed 100lbs. I couldn’t lift my arms, it took effort to walk and I knew there was no way I could get dressed and drive in to work and/or take Emma to school. David was off and agreed I needed to take it easy. It makes him very jumpy when I’m not feeling well. I called the nurse and of course my Dr. was off that day. The nurse and I decided that I should rest and eat and hydrate and in the meantime she would speak to one of the other OB’s about what was going on and then call me back. About 1 or 2 in the afternoon she did call me and asked how I was feeling. By this time I had eaten a few times and felt noticeably better, not great, definitely not 100% but better. She said if I there hadn’t been any improvement, the Dr. wanted me to come in. I felt similar to how I felt when I was so sick earlier in the pregnancy and had to go in for IV fluids. David said I wasn’t pale though. Who knows, joys of pregnancy. David was off that day and I was thankful to have him there.

I’m going to the Dr. every two weeks now. My next appointment is on Dec 23^rd and then one in two weeks and then I’ll be going weekly. I doubt we get very many of those weekly appointments. David is saying January 24^th and my guess is January 29^th. The “official” due date February 8^th but I’ve never thought that was right.

I stopped taking BC pills in September of 2008 because at the time we thought we would start “trying” after the first of the year and I knew it would take my body a few months to come down from the hormones. As it turns out we decided to wait to start trying until later in the year, eventually we decided on October 2009 because nine months after that time I knew Emma would be in Kindergarten and we wouldn’t have two in daycare at the same time.

During this time that I was not taking BC pills I began having all sorts of hormone-related issues. I gained weight, my periods were irregular (which was a first) etc. etc. And so began my adventures with the Endocrinologist. LOTS of blood work, labs over the course of a few months and everything pointed to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)- all except showing signs of pre-diabetes, that part was great news! My Dr. knew that we wanted to be able to get pregnant sometime in the next year so I began taking Metformin. I didn’t quite agree with the diagnosis, but knew something just wasn’t right. My glucose tests (Diabetes and PCOS generally go together it seems) were all normal, as they are now. I’m looking up info. as I’m writing this and some of the complications of pregnancy that PCOS patients endure, are not happening to me. Good!

Anyway, I began the Metformin in March/April and became pregnant sometime in late April or early May. My Dr. was concerned that we'd have trouble getting pregnant and that it would take a considerable amount of time if PCOS was the issue. But, SURPRISE!

I'm hardly ever late or irregular but when I am, I spare no time in taking a test. I told David I was going to take one but it was hard to read. I saw the shadows of both images. At this point David thought it was negative but I immediately decided that I would wait a couple more days and then try the digitals tests. Sure enough, two positive tests. Remembering that the pregnancy hormones are stronger in your urine in the morning, I took both of them while getting ready for work. I didn’t say anything to Emma and went about my day as usual, but in a general daze. We were pregnant.

Since my pregnancy, labor and everything since has been so healthy and natural with Emma, I have long worried about a second pregnancy. It seems like everyone has at least one miscarriage and I was scared out of my mind (for months). On my lunch break on the day I got the positive results, I ran over to Babies R Us and got a Houston Astro’s onesie and a new copy of What to Expect While You’re Expecting. For years I’ve known exactly how I wanted to surprise David with the news! No phone call etc. He got home from work and I was lying on the couch. I told him to go see what was on the kitchen table- where I had the two tests and onesie. He just said something like “REALLY?!” Then he came back to the couch and knelt next to me (he was in his uniform- so handsome), “You’re pregnant?” I said yes and we hugged. I was still in shock myself. I think we just sat there for a few minutes and then I began to tell him that I’d made a Dr’s appointment etc.

The whole point to all this background information was to point out that because of the possibility of PCOS or other issues, the Dr. had me keeping a strict record of my cycle, intercourse etc. Since I know these things I don’t see how the due date that the OB office came up with is possible. And that is why I’ve felt so strongly about the end of January. Also, Emma came two weeks early and I feel like I know my body best, but only time will tell!