Since my last post I have had my hemoglobin checked (twice) amongst a couple other levels, "taken" the infamous glucose "tolerance" test, and
After my appointment, I waited patiently in the waiting room to have my blood drawn. I kept waiting to feel some sort of sugar-high, because that would have been awesome, even if for only a minute or two. Nope, I skipped the sugar-high part of it and went straight to crash mode. I remember thinking to myself "I feel funny. Uh oh". I went to have my blood drawn and left the clinic to head to work. I pass my house after leaving the clinic when heading to work and this time I looked back a few times, seriously contemplating taking the ditch and going home to sleep the rest of the day. I resisted temptation and arrived at work in a complete fog. The drive was one of those "how did I wind up here?" types of drives. My results were ready by the time I got to work and opening them made me nervous, like I was seriously passing a test, which I guess I really was. The normal range was something like 60-139.........mine....130. WOOP WOOP! Now, there is no doubt my blood sugar is definitely elevated more than usual, but I passed and that's all that matters.
I am at a weight gain of 9 lbs. total so far, but that will quickly change, if it hasn't already in the last 72 hours. I tend to give in to my cravings more and more (sweets, unfortunately). I don't have a lot of room in my stomach anymore, and some days I'm absolutely miserable with how full I am after eating even the smallest portions. It is definitely hard to breathe already, and not just due to exhaustion. I haven't slept comfortably in quite a while, but I'm thankful for the hours that I DO sleep, because I know that will get worse as I get bigger. At night I'm finding that my hips really hurt from sleeping on my side, my acid reflux is back with a vengeance (at night mostly) and if I even attempt to lay on my back for a bit (naughty, I know, you're not supposed to lay on your back), I can't breathe and have to stuff about 3 out of my 7 pillows under me to sleep sitting up. I am losing the ability to bend over, I now roll whenever I need to get up off the couch or out of bed and it takes some serious effort, I can't believe I've turned into a real pregnant lady. My left leg/ankle swells a lot some days (most days now), even after elevating it all day at work. It seems to resolve for the most part by the time I wake up in the morning. If I haven't mentioned it already, the blood vessels in my left ankle burst a few months ago, so I have a lovely cankle with burst veins to sport, not pretty :) I'm still forcing myself to drink about 96 oz. of water every day. It's still as hard as it was in the beginning (I don't like water and I'm not a water drinker), but I know it's good for us. I enjoy feeling the babies kick and jab as they both have their own "typical" moves, but are still somewhat small enough where it isn't painful (it tickles when their feet reach under my ribs). Baby A gets the hiccups a lot, so I wonder what it will be like when Baby B gets them and they are both causing my belly to jump and jiggle uncontrollably. Kaleb had the hiccups in-utero a lot of the time and that was consistent after birth, too. I remember not appreciating that feeling because it was very distracting, but now that I know it's helping the babies prepare to breathe, I can definitely appreciate it. Each week that passes without complications, I breathe a little easier (well, not physically :).
I will fully admit that I have been very naive this entire pregnancy with thoughts and the assumption that I'd be working full-time, like normal, all the way up to the day I deliver, just as I did with my son. As time goes on, as I get bigger, as I lose motivation and focus at work, as the stairs become something I avoid like the plague, I am realizing that this may not be the case this time. I am still hoping to continue to be able to work as much and for as long as possible, but I will have to learn to let go if and when my OB tells me it's time to take a step back. The thought of strict bed rest makes me very anxious, so it would be great if I could avoid that and, worst case scenario, only have to go on modified bed rest towards the end. Terry has been awesome with stepping it up and taking on some of the tasks, even the very minor ones, to help me out around the house. I didn't even have to ask. How awesome and sweet is that? He's been great this entire journey, although he still avoids touching my stomach. When we went to my cousin's wedding last weekend (picture below), family members were not shy to touch my stomach and I was totally fine with it. I told one of them "he won't touch it" and he retorted "they're not mine!". Ah, so THAT'S it :)
Now that I'm very visibly and unmistakeably pregnant (I think I look "due" to the general public who would assume I'm carrying just one baby), I have ladies approaching me often to ask when I'm due and then they go on to talk about their own pregnancies/children. Most of them are older ladies who go on to talk about how they have 9 children and I stand there and listen to their story. I often wonder what their expression would be if I told them that I'm carrying twins for another couple and that I have just 1 child of my own and that 1 is sometimes 1 too many for me. But, for now I keep it to myself, smile, accept the congratulations, pray that I can walk away before my son begins with his "my mom is carrying twins for two daddies" speech that he so often gives, and move on. If I know that I will see someone again, I DO tell them that I am a gestational carrier, so as not to confuse them when I see them again, am no longer pregnant, and do not have 2 babies in tote. One of those people that I plan to see again, quite often, is the lady at Super America where I go to get my coffee on the weekends :)
T&Y are getting more and more excited for their babies' arrival (me, too!) and really starting to prepare for what they will need when they travel. They are wondering what the weather will be like and I am quick to respond with "you can not plan on what Minnesota weather will be like from one day to the next, it's impossible". I hope it's nice enough for them to enjoy the outdoors as they really want to go canoeing or at least explore. I send them weekly belly pictures so they can see just how much we've grown and they really seem to enjoy that. We still Skype message back and forth every day to check in and see how things are going.
Ever since I started bleeding around 6 weeks, my gym membership has been on-hold and not active. My OB told me I could go back to the gym (and obviously work out within reason) after my first appointment with him. I haven't gone back to the gym to report this for two reasons, 1.) I didn't want to risk it that early on and 2.) I'm lazy and wanted a reason NOT to have to work out. Well, every month since May I've been watching my account to see when my membership would be re-activated, knowing that it would be soon and apparently today is the day.........and I'm so not excited. This means I have to put it to good use. Treadmill, here I come. At least I will wind up at the same place I started and not have to worry about waddling all the way home if I push myself too hard like I would on our bike path :)
Terry and I at my cousin's wedding last weekend.......
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