Baby Update/Pregnancy Rant

             So...some of you may have noticed I haven't really done many baby updates. Some of you may not even know I'm pregnant! It's not that I haven't enjoyed this pregnancy (well, “enjoyed” may not be the right word), but for awhile there I either A) didn't have anything exciting to report or B) I did have something to report, but was too pissed off and irritated about it to talk about. Now that I'm 38 weeks pregnant and (hopefully) ready to pop any day now, I think I've cooled off enough to talk about it.

             The main reason I haven't been doing any baby updates is because, according to their glucola tests, I was labeled as having gestational diabetes. I was already worried enough about preparing for a VBAC. Like I needed anything else to stress me out. Every time I even thought about anything related to supposedly having gestational diabetes I could feel my blood pressure rising, so, I decided not to write about it until I could do so without being too snarky. ;)

             You're probably wondering why I say “supposedly have GD”, right? Short answer: I don't trust doctors much to begin with and I think their test sucks and there isn't really a problem. I can't help but think, “Of course my blood sugar is high. You just gave me some fake, chemical sugar and made me sit around for an hour on top of already sitting in the car for over an hour on the way to the doctor's!” Just saying. Plus my original one hour test number was not that much higher than “what is normal”.

             I won't get into all of the shenanigans that ensued, but fast forward a month, give or take, and we (John and I) notice that it's not so much what I eat that affects my blood sugar readings as it is whether I have been doing anything on my feet. Literally anything. Just washing dishes and, say, cleaning the toilets, seemed to help keep my numbers in the “doctor acceptable” range. (For the record, whenever my readings were high, it was usually less than 10 points over and from eating or drinking things that I knew would probably make it high anyways.)

             Things are better now, for the most part. I've been a good enough girl that I got my doctors to let me go down to two readings a day, which was my goal once I found out I was going to have to check my blood sugar daily and realized I wasn't going to be able to convince them to let me not do it period. (One can dream, right?) I had the group strep B test a couple of weeks ago and tested positive, so, while it's not a big deal, I'm having to come to terms with the fact that I will definitely have to be hooked up to an IV constantly while in labor, which I was also hoping to avoid. :/

             Bottom line, though, baby's heartbeat has been great and she's been measuring exactly where she should be according to the unnecessary (imo) ultrasounds (due to the GD) and that's all that really matters. Fluid levels are fine too despite my belly measuring way bigger than it should be for awhile now. I have two theories on that, but I'll keep those to myself. ;)

             As far as the whole gestational diabetes/wanting to have a VBAC combination, the doctors are “letting me” wait to go into labor on my own for longer now since my glucose readings have been good. Yay! Since they can't/don't induce VBAC patients, the previous c-section is also actually working in my favor because otherwise they would want to induce me earlier because of the GD. It is literally the first time I have ever been glad I had a c-section with Myka! 

 38 Weeks! I think I look pretty damn good considering. ;)

 

             So, for purely selfish reasons of wanting to avoid another c-section as much as possible, I'm really hoping this baby decides to come out on her own sometime soon. I really have no problem waiting for her, but I can't help but think of that ticking clock in the back of my mind. (I hate being rushed for anything. :P) I am 38 weeks as of 12/29, so she shouldn't have any problems if she decides to come now. I've been somewhat keeping up with my prenatal yoga (mostly because it makes me less sore!) and using my exercise ball diligently to hopefully finish effacing my cervix to get this party started! I've started drinking my raspberry leaf tea again too in hopes that will help with that also. Baby Starfish's head has been pretty low for a few weeks now (can you see her head bulging in the pictures?), so I'd like to take that as a good sign.

             Well, I think that about wraps it up. Sorry this turned out so long. In case you couldn't tell, I've had a lot of things on my mind. ;) Have any of you had less than perfect pregnancies or tried for a VBAC? I'd love to hear your stories!

Update: Good news and bad news: Good news is, I talked to my doctor about the IV and needing antibiotics and he said they will actually use a heparin lock and only hook me up when needed. Yay! Bad news is, I thought they forgot or changed their mind about me having another growth scan at 38 weeks since they didn't schedule me for one at my 38 week appointment last week. As it turns out, the ultrasound tech was just on vacation so I have to have one tomorrow. :/ I was really hoping this stubborn kid would get out before then!