Still nerdy after all these years

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you may remember when I was pregnant with Mattias, I checked my own BG during my gestational diabetes test.

If you haven't been reading this blog for awhile... Yes I did. I'm a nerd like that.  And like I said in that post, you gotta take the perks of having a kid with type 1 where you can find them.

The result halfway through? Here ya go.  Anything above 140 at the end of the hour is a fail.

And here's the final result:

Looks like my pancreas kicked that orange goo's ASS!  Winning!

Just a little update and some more pregnancy news

Thanks to everyone for the comments and emails on our announcement video.  I have to give credit where credit is due... it was all Fred; the concept, getting the voice-over talent (yup, he's a real VO guy from Hollywood.  What can I say?  Fred knows people), and the production.  My contribution was actually being pregnant, and bitching about how I couldn't tell the difference between the latest version and the version he just showed me 5 minutes ago.

The man has a bit of a perfectionist streak.

And for those of you who want to know how we answered Elise's question, I have a pamphlet if you're looking for answers... I kid!  I kid!  I threw it over to Fred who told her that it's very complicated.  For the record, I already explained it to her a number of times when I was pregnant with Mattias.

As of tomorrow, I'll be 12 weeks, which blows my mind because it feels like I've been pregnant for.eve.er.  I think it's mostly because this pregnancy has been fraught with complications; thyroid issues, non-stop bleeding since the day I found out and my latest bit of news.

It turns out the bleeding has been caused by  polyp.  The polyp is quite big and originates in my cervix.  When it was discovered, it caused quite a stir (apparently it was quite weird looking and they couldn't even figure out what it was at first).  Can I tell you there is nothing quite so awesome as having your legs up in stirrups, while numerous medcical types peer with furrowed brows at your lady bits?  One offered to take a picture with her camera phone so she could SHOW IT TO ME. 

I shit you not.

Anyway, it has my OB and the perinatologist she consulted worried enough that they want to remove it in the next couple of weeks.  Ummmm... yikes. 

So on July 6th, at 7:00 am, I will be in an OR having the polyp removed.  At first it wasn't the surgery that had me freaking out, it was who would look after the kids/take me to the hospital?  We looked at flying in my Mom, but flights are outrageous right now.  The only option was to have Fred stay home and I take a cab to the hospital.  I won't lie... the prospect made me cry a little.

Thankfully, a sweet friend stepped up and offered.  She rocks.  Seriously, she has to get me to the hospital for 5:30 am.  And drive a post-surgerical me back home.  Have I mentioned that I do NOT do well with anesthesia?  If I ever have to move a dead body, this is the lady who will have my back.

So now you know what has been keeping me so busy and quiet lately.  Incubating a human is every bit as tiring as I remember it.  And barf-inducing. 

And then there are these two.  Who are so ridiculously cute, it's just as barf-inducing as being pregnant.

Stick a fork in me...

I'm done!

My last pre-birth picture. I'm going to meet my son in a few hours and I CAN' WAIT!

Hopefully Fred will have time to hack into my blog account to post some updates, so stay tuned. Thank you to everyone for all your prayers, thoughts and well-wishes.

Just more of me to love

Ahhh, probably the penultimate obligatory belly-shot.

To loosely quote So I Married an Ax Murderer; "Look at that thing, it's HUGE! A virtual planetoid... it has it's own weather system!"

Or at the very least, it's own zip code.

Four more days, four more days, four more days...

May you live in interesting times

Apparently, I have a flair for the dramatic when I'm pregnant. With Elise, I fell in the bathtub at 32 weeks and went into labour. I had to say in the hospital for a weekend, but they managed to stop the labour and send me home.

This time around, I caught a nasty little stomach bug that, despite my best efforts, dehydrated me severely. When I called my OB's office on Wednesday, they became concerned when they heard I hadn't been able to keep anything in me since Saturday, and told me to go to L&D (labour and delivery) to make sure everything was okay.

Upon checking in and being hooked up to various and sundry machines, they discovered my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, and I could definitely feel them getting stronger. I was also dilated to a 3, and at 70% effaced.

It took 3 shots of Terbutaline, and 3 bags of saline; but they finally stopped the contractions about 7 hours later. As an added bonus, I was also diagnosed with a UTI and reflux.

But, I'm at home, taking it easy, and little Mattias gets to cook for a little while longer. One thing I have to mention is that my husband is a complete and total ROCK STAR. He has done an amazing job of looking after both Elise and I. While working from home this morning, he wrangled Elise, managed all her diabetes care, and even cleaned the whole downstairs.

All while I slept blissfully upstairs (at least one of the drugs I'm taking knocks me out). What can I say, I married well!

27 Weeks

Someone wrote a comment the other day, asking when I was going to post an updated preggo picture of myself. Not wanting to ever deny anyone the privilege of seeing my ever-expanding belly, here you go.

You're welcome.

Panic

You'll have to excuse me... I'm having a bit of a moment right now.

As in, I'm freaking out. With a capital FREAKING and a capital OUT.

It dawned on me today that my due date is in exactly 3 months, although the actual day will be a lot sooner because of the fact I have to have a scheduled c-section.

And were are so not ready.

We are not ready in the usual ways; we still need a tonne of various baby accoutrements, there are rooms to rearrange, logistics to figure out... a name for the baby. But that's not what has me in the midst of a panic attack.

What really is scaring me is that we have no plan dealing with what to do with Elise when it's time for this little guys arrival.

The original plan was for my Mom to come and help out. That looks like it might not happen, and unfortunately there is no plan B.

Fred's Mom has offered, and I love her to death, but she has never stayed with us for more than a few days. She has never tested a BG, counted a carb, checked for ketones, or given a shot. It just won't work to have her come is a few days early and receive a crash course on diabetes. It's not fair to her, or to Elise.

Laura and Jessica have offered to help, and again... I love those girls, but they have their own burdens to bear. Plus, they both live about 30 to 45 minutes away from the hospital, and that's just too far away for my peace of mind.

Do I sound like I'm being high maintenance? I've struggled with that, but I think it all boils down to this; Elise has never been away from me for more than about 4 hours. And the first time we're going to be doing this is at a time when I'm going through something very stressful (surgery, birthing a baby etc.). I don't think I need an added stress at that point.

I think what kicked all this panic off was the rough night we had on Friday. It actually started when she woke up from her nap at 42. From there she was 70 at bedtime, and through the night we struggled to keep her above 60. We checked her almost every hour, and no matter how many extra carbs we gave her, she kept falling low. It was a nightmare, and who can handle that but the ones who have been dealing with it for almost two years now?

I hate this disease and how it rules our lives. How I can't even look forward in anticipation to the birth of my son, instead fearing and dreading the day because of how diabetes may interfere.

Okay, so I'm a nerd

I am now 26 weeks pregnant and today was the oh-so-lovely (she said, sarcastically) 1 hour Gestational Diabetes test. Is there a better way to start your morning off by drinking a ginormous bottle of orange goo? And fizzy orange goo, at that. Bleah.

Anyway, about 30 minutes after I drank said goo, it was time for Elise's snack time BG check. Elise is pretty much rocking the checks by herself lately, so I let her handle it. Then it hit me... I could also check MY BG. So I asked Elise if she wanted to check my BG too, and of course she said yes!

So about 35 minutes post-goo, I came in at 157 (they want you below 140). And visions of restricted diet and finger pokes started dancing in my head. But I knew I had almost another 30 minutes for my pancreas to do its thing, so I pushed those thoughts aside.

Elise, by the way, was 140 (exact same number as at wake up... cool!). Darn, she beat me.

After the hour was up and they did the blood draw, Elise and I went to the car. And because I am such a nerd, I decided to do another check. The verdict? 129. Whew.

And yes, I realize I am a nerd for checking my BG and not waiting for the "official" results... but what can I say, you gotta take the perks of having a T1 kid where you can get them.

Miscellaneous Stuff

First off, thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last post. I am so glad to finally know the gender so my planning can begin in earnest... and let's not forget the arguing over names!

The doc said everything is looking great, he is growing and measuring right on target. The only two things of concern were my thyroid gland is still not in range (TSH should be between 1 - 5, and mine came back at 22.32), and my placenta is really low. She's not overly concerned about the second thing right now, but says she'll need to keep her eye on it.

Poor Elise got her MMR shot today, and I think it finally caught up with her tonight. We had some moderately high (mid 200s) numbers right after, but then she went low-ish (71) while in bed tonight. She's been crying in her sleep off and on too, so it looks like we're in for a long night.

I'm glad we were able to get her the shot (had to delay because of the strep throat) because my Mom says there's a measles outbreak in some Vancouver schools right now... YIKES! We're only about a month away from our trip up there, so I'm hoping it's all cleared up by then.

As for the World Diabetes Day shirts, we have enough people saying they're in to do an order (printer has a 12 shirt minimum), so I should have some more info on that soon. I am so excited to be able to do this again, I can't even tell you! I loved getting all those pictures of people wearing the shirts in my email last year, and I'm looking forward to seeing more!

And that's all I have to report from my corner of the world... time for bed! Good night, and good numbers!

It's a...

We loved having a baby so much the first time

We thought we'd give it another whirl
So we're overjoyed to announce
That in September, we're having a baby...

BOY!!!

Hey, wanna see my belly?

Here I am at 16 weeks, and this little baby is definitely making her/himself known! Now that you've been blinded by the grotesque whiteness that is my never-sees-the-sun stomach, what do you think is cooking up in there... boy or girl?

I won't find out for another 4 weeks, but I'm curious as to what everyone thinks.

Notes on my last post

First off, thank you for all your sweet comments. Do you know HOW HARD it has been keeping this from you guys? Now you know reason #1 for me being MIA lately.

Reason #2 has been because I have been pretty sick. The pregnancy, combined with my thyroid stuff (which had - and still has - us concerned about complications), has really been kicking my butt. So far I've lost about 7 pounds this trimester, which is no small feat considering the fact that my thyroid levels are so low right now. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be letting up.

I also have very little energy to do anything extra these days. EVERYTHING takes so much effort. Thankfully I have an AMAZING husband who has been going the extra mile to help out.

We are very excited about this little one... thanks for being excited with us!