{"id":1235,"date":"2018-02-08T12:15:12","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T12:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/?p=1235"},"modified":"2018-02-08T14:33:58","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T14:33:58","slug":"the-third-trimester-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/08\/the-third-trimester-so-far\/","title":{"rendered":"the third trimester so far…"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Hello third trimester, and goodbye toes,” is the saying.\u00a0 For me, it’s more like “welcome back mood swings” instead. I mean don’t get me wrong, the toes are LONG gone, but “all the feels” doesn’t even begin to cover it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

12 weeks… (5.5 \u00a0as I’m actually writing this) until we meet our rainbow baby.\u00a0 One who we have “fought and prayed for.”\u00a0 Will it really be as amazing as we hoped it would be?\u00a0 Will the struggle of TTC and the heartache of infertility help us to push past the sleepless nights and periods of baby girl’s crying?\u00a0 Or will we feel like “normal” parents who are sent home from the hospital with a baby and have a moment where\u00a0they wonder, “what have we done?” “How can WE be responsible for this little life?”\u00a0 “Will we ever feel “normal” again?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our friends and family have been incredibly generous with gifts.\u00a0 As more and more baby items arrive on our doorstep, I can’t help but simultaneously feel excitement and unease.\u00a0 The anxious moments that plague my NICU nurse brain every\u00a0now and then has made it hard to get the nursery set up just yet.\u00a0 I’m 34 weeks as I write this-\u00a06 weeks into the third trimester, and so much has happened!<\/p>\n

Christmas was lovely, quiet and white.\u00a0 We opened any baby gifts that came around that time on Christmas evening and read baby girl a few of her new books.\u00a0 On January 12th we traveled to Chicago for two baby showers.\u00a0 The drive at 30 weeks was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be and we arrived safely to a cold, snowy Chicago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

January 13th was our bar shower at George Street Pub in Chicago with approximately 50 good friends.\u00a0 It could ONLY have been more fun if I was able to have a hoppy beer.\u00a0 You could literally feel the love in that bar and it felt amazing.\u00a0 The next day we were showered again\u00a0by Tony’s family at his sister-in-law’s house.\u00a0 A huge pink candy bar was the highlight, as well as having our nephews help us open our gifts.\u00a0 It was a wonderful time as well.\u00a0 We drove home the next day, our car full of gifts and our hearts full of joy.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Baby girl looked great on her “size” ultrasound at 30 weeks.\u00a0\u00a0It took flipping on my side and a lot of pushing with the ultrasound wand, but we got another profile shot of her.\u00a0 I learned that she continues to measure right on track for my due date of March 20th, right at the 50th percentile.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And then I met with my doctor next and was informed that I “failed” the 1 hour glucose screening pretty significantly.\u00a0 Back in my TTC days I was started on Metformin for some insulin resistance noted on my fasting wellness lab work.\u00a0 I have continued to take it during this pregnancy as I saw no real reason to stop anything that was working for me.\u00a0 Prior to my 1 hour glucose test, I fasted as well.\u00a0 I was told that I COULD eat, but I literally woke up that morning, chugged the sugary grossness and headed into my OB’s office to have my blood drawn at exactly 1 hour after drinking.\u00a0 That morning I couldn’t find my keys ANYWHERE.\u00a0\u00a0 After tearing the house apart, I ended up taking a Lyft to my appointment and felt a surge of stress as I had my blood drawn.<\/p>\n

Normal was a blood sugar under 140.\u00a0 Mine was 174- with Metformin on board and with a completely empty stomach.\u00a0 I took in the information and scheduled my 3 hour glucose challenge with the lab tech.\u00a0 It was nearly impossible to work around traveling out of town for two of our baby showers and my night shift schedule, but we found a day nearly 2 weeks later. And then I got home, and BAWLED my eyes out.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt guilt, uncertainty and images of a giant, “fluffy” diabetic rainbow baby began to fill my brain.<\/p>\n

But as sleep often does for me, I felt differently the next morning as I woke up. Maybe this was a gift- a blessing that I might know more about what foods fuel my body and which ones cause it harm. \u00a0I’ve tried to eat healthy during this pregnancy (first trimester aside) and with everything I had been taught, that meant low low low low carb, high protein and high fats.<\/p>\n

When I met with my dietician the following week, my mind was BLOWN. Everything that I learned with my last OB about how and when to eat to combat insulin resistance is apparently not good enough during pregnancy. \u00a0She wanted me to “carb load” as I saw it. WHAT? I thought carbs = sugar = “no-no” for pregnancy, especially one with gestational diabetes. \u00a0It literally blew my mind. I also haven’t been eating often enough throughout the day. \u00a0She told me to eat 3 meals per day with 3 snacks, including eating something right before bed. (Another healthy eating no-no, am I right?)<\/p>\n

Still, I tried to keep an open mind. And then I did some research. \u00a0Carbohydrates ARE the body’s preferred energy source. And during pregnancy, carbs are important. \u00a0So for 5 days now, I’ve added quinoa or black beans to my salads. I stopped feeling guilty about my occasional skinny pop indulgences. \u00a0I cut my 3 eggs in the morning down to 2 eggs and added… wait for it… a slice of bread! (This is weird.) And each time I poke my finger I hold my breath and I’m surprised that they are in range. \u00a0My fasting morning blood sugar remains to be on the higher side of normal. \u00a0Why? My guess is cortisol. \u00a0I have a noticeable surge in brain “worrying\/thinking about the day’s to- do list” when I wake up.\u00a0 Because of it I usually can’t go back to sleep or “snooze” through an alarm ever.<\/p>\n

The following week I met with an endocrinologist who reviewed my blood sugars and praised me overall.\u00a0\u00a0 She did recommend that due to my night shift schedule that I increase my Metformin to twice\/day or every 12 hours or so to combat the constant change in my eating and sleeping schedule.\u00a0 I haven’t seen a HUGE difference, but my blood sugars might be even slightly better now.\u00a0 Overall, I can’t complain.\u00a0\u00a0 4 finger pricks per day is not awful.\u00a0 And eating wise, I can’t fit a lot in my stomach at one time anymore, so the smaller frequent meals are helping a lot with the discomfort of not being able to breathe after a meal.<\/p>\n

Baby girl continues to be very active.\u00a0 My OB’s gestational diabetes protocol is to monitor me very closely with WEEKLY biophysical profiles (ultrasounds with tasks that the baby must complete) and non-stress tests (30 minutes of monitoring baby’s heart rate with me at rest and making sure that her heart rate accelerates on its own when she moves.)\u00a0\u00a0 So I have seen baby girl at 30 weeks, 32 weeks and 33 weeks so far.\u00a0\u00a0 It is THRILLING.\u00a0 At my 30 week ultrasound she was measuring exactly in the 50th percentile and not showing any signs of my high blood sugars affecting her growth.\u00a0\u00a0We will do weekly ultrasounds until delivery, and every 4th week she will be measured to make sure that she isn’t getting too big.\u00a0\u00a0 If she starts to measure on the big side, we will plan for an induction around 39 weeks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At our 33 week ultrasound we got to see her little face in 3D! I about lost it, just seeing her sweet little face made me long for her due date.\u00a0 I absolutely cannot wait to meet this baby girl!<\/p>\n

We had our childbirth prep class this past weekend, and I surprisingly learned a lot.\u00a0 It’s been 7 years since nursing school labor and delivery education and it was really good to refresh the stages of labor, when to come to the hospital etc.\u00a0\u00a0We talked a lot about birth plans.\u00a0 My birth plan?\u00a0 Whatever is necessary to get baby girl out safely- unless that something is a vacuum.\u00a0 No vacuum period.\u00a0 I think Tony really enjoyed learning about the process, and although he plans to be\u00a0a “north sider” (staying up by my head and not looking at the scary\/awesome miracle of baby girl being born) he learned many things that he CAN do for me during that time.\u00a0 When I thought I was experiencing Braxton-Hicks a few days ago, he asked me if I needed to “lay down on my left side and drink 2 glasses of water?”\u00a0 Someone was paying attention in class!<\/p>\n

34 weeks brings another BPP ultrasound (this one was another size one!) and non-stress test.\u00a0 It also brings my mom and sister from Texas into town for a visit for our last baby shower! The theme? Rainbows.\u00a0 I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

OH. I forgot to mention the nesting.\u00a0 FULL force.\u00a0 The baby’s room is coming together and we are starting to feel SOMEWHAT ready! Once we had our two January showers, I found myself in a frenzy of “putting the gifts away…” i.e. setting up her room. The piece in the picture above has been in Tony’s family for years. It was serving as my dresser which I had painted a charcoal gray nearly 5 years ago.\u00a0 This Tiffany Blue color makes me so happy!\u00a0 The diaper storage cart was a Target find, inspired by Pinterest, and it was a steal for $29! We plan to use the dresser as a changing station once we get our diaper changing pad.\u00a0 Under 6 weeks to go! I can hardly believe it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Hello third trimester, and goodbye toes,” is the saying.\u00a0 For me, it’s more like “welcome back mood swings” instead. I mean don’t get me wrong, the toes are LONG gone, but “all the feels” doesn’t even begin to cover it. 12 weeks… (5.5 \u00a0as I’m actually writing this) until we meet our rainbow baby.\u00a0 One who we have “fought and prayed for.”\u00a0 Will it really be as amazing as we hoped it would be?\u00a0 Will the struggle of TTC and the heartache of infertility help us to push past the sleepless nights and periods of baby girl’s crying?\u00a0 Or will we feel like “normal” parents who are sent home from the hospital with a baby and have a moment where\u00a0they wonder, “what have we done?” “How can WE be responsible for this little life?”\u00a0 “Will we ever feel “normal” again?”   Our friends and family have been incredibly generous with gifts.\u00a0 As more and more baby items arrive on our doorstep, I can’t help but simultaneously feel excitement and unease.\u00a0 The anxious moments that plague my NICU nurse brain every\u00a0now and then has made it hard to get the nursery set up just yet.\u00a0 I’m 34 weeks as I write this-\u00a06 weeks into the third trimester, and so much has happened! Christmas was lovely, quiet and white.\u00a0 We opened any baby gifts that came around that time on Christmas evening and read baby girl a few of her new books.\u00a0 On January 12th we traveled to Chicago for two baby showers.\u00a0 The drive at 30 weeks was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be and we arrived safely to a cold, snowy Chicago. January 13th was our bar shower at George Street Pub in Chicago with approximately 50 good friends.\u00a0 It could ONLY have been more fun if I was able to have a hoppy beer.\u00a0 You could literally feel the love in that bar and it felt amazing.\u00a0 The next day we were showered again\u00a0by Tony’s family at his sister-in-law’s house.\u00a0 A huge pink candy bar was the highlight, as well as having our nephews help us open our gifts.\u00a0 It was a wonderful time as well.\u00a0 We drove home the next day, our car full of gifts and our hearts full of joy. Baby girl looked great on her “size” ultrasound at 30 weeks.\u00a0\u00a0It took flipping on my side and a lot of pushing with the ultrasound wand, but we got another profile shot of her.\u00a0 I learned that she continues to measure right on track for my due date of March 20th, right at the 50th percentile. And then I met with my doctor next and was informed that I “failed” the 1 hour glucose screening pretty significantly.\u00a0 Back in my TTC days I was started on Metformin for some insulin resistance noted on my fasting wellness lab work.\u00a0 I have continued to take it during this pregnancy as I saw no real reason to stop anything that was working for me.\u00a0 Prior to my 1 hour glucose test, I fasted as well.\u00a0 I was told that I COULD eat, but I literally woke up that morning, chugged the sugary grossness and headed into my OB’s office to have my blood drawn at exactly 1 hour after drinking.\u00a0 That morning I couldn’t find my keys ANYWHERE.\u00a0\u00a0 After tearing the house apart, I ended up taking a Lyft to my appointment and felt a surge of stress as I had my blood drawn. Normal was a blood sugar under 140.\u00a0 Mine was 174- with Metformin on board and with a completely empty stomach.\u00a0 I took in the information and scheduled my 3 hour glucose challenge with the lab tech.\u00a0 It was nearly impossible to work around traveling out of town for two of our baby showers and my night shift schedule, but we found a day nearly 2 weeks later. And then I got home, and BAWLED my eyes out.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt guilt, uncertainty and images of a giant, “fluffy” diabetic rainbow baby began to fill my brain. But as sleep often does for me, I felt differently the next morning as I woke up. Maybe this was a gift- a blessing that I might know more about what foods fuel my body and which ones cause it harm. \u00a0I’ve tried to eat healthy during this pregnancy (first trimester aside) and with everything I had been taught, that meant low low low low carb, high protein and high fats. When I met with my dietician the following week, my mind was BLOWN. Everything that I learned with my last OB about how and when to eat to combat insulin resistance is apparently not good enough during pregnancy. \u00a0She wanted me to “carb load” as I saw it. WHAT? I thought carbs = sugar = “no-no” for pregnancy, especially one with gestational diabetes. \u00a0It literally blew my mind. I also haven’t been eating often enough throughout the day. \u00a0She told me to eat 3 meals per day with 3 snacks, including eating something right before bed. (Another healthy eating no-no, am I right?) Still, I tried to keep an open mind. And then I did some research. \u00a0Carbohydrates ARE the body’s preferred energy source. And during pregnancy, carbs are important. \u00a0So for 5 days now, I’ve added quinoa or black beans to my salads. I stopped feeling guilty about my occasional skinny pop indulgences. \u00a0I cut my 3 eggs in the morning down to 2 eggs and added… wait for it… a slice of bread! (This is weird.) And each time I poke my finger I hold my breath and I’m surprised that they are in range. \u00a0My fasting morning blood sugar remains to be on the higher side of normal. \u00a0Why? My guess is cortisol. \u00a0I have a noticeable surge in brain “worrying\/thinking about the day’s to- do list” when I wake up.\u00a0 Because of it I usually can’t go back to sleep or “snooze” through an alarm ever. The following week I met with an endocrinologist who reviewed my blood sugars and praised me overall.\u00a0\u00a0 She did recommend that due to my night shift schedule that I increase my Metformin to twice\/day or every 12 hours or so to combat the constant change in my eating and sleeping schedule.\u00a0 I haven’t seen a HUGE difference, but my blood sugars might be even slightly better now.\u00a0 Overall, I can’t complain.\u00a0\u00a0 4 finger pricks per day is not awful.\u00a0 And eating wise, I can’t fit a lot in my stomach at one time anymore, so the smaller frequent meals are helping a lot with the discomfort of not being able to breathe after a meal. Baby girl continues to be very active.\u00a0 My OB’s gestational diabetes protocol is to monitor me very closely with WEEKLY biophysical profiles (ultrasounds with tasks that the baby must complete) and non-stress tests (30 minutes of monitoring baby’s heart rate with me at rest and making sure that her heart rate accelerates on its own when she moves.)\u00a0\u00a0 So I have seen baby girl at 30 weeks, 32 weeks and 33 weeks so far.\u00a0\u00a0 It is THRILLING.\u00a0 At my 30 week ultrasound she was measuring exactly in the 50th percentile and not showing any signs of my high blood sugars affecting her growth.\u00a0\u00a0We will do weekly ultrasounds until delivery, and every 4th week she will be measured to make sure that she isn’t getting too big.\u00a0\u00a0 If she starts to measure on the big side, we will plan for an induction around 39 weeks. At our 33 week ultrasound we got to see her little face in 3D! I about lost it, just seeing her sweet little face made me long for her due date.\u00a0 I absolutely cannot wait to meet this baby girl! We had our childbirth prep class this past weekend, and I surprisingly learned a lot.\u00a0 It’s been 7 years since nursing school labor and delivery education and it was really good to refresh the stages of labor, when to come to the hospital etc.\u00a0\u00a0We talked a lot about birth plans.\u00a0 My birth plan?\u00a0 Whatever is necessary to get baby girl out safely- unless that something is a vacuum.\u00a0 No vacuum period.\u00a0 I think Tony really enjoyed learning about the process, and although he plans to be\u00a0a “north sider” (staying up by my head and not looking at the scary\/awesome miracle of baby girl being born) he learned many things that he CAN do for me during that time.\u00a0 When I thought I was experiencing Braxton-Hicks a few days ago, he asked me if I needed to “lay down on my left side and drink 2 glasses of water?”\u00a0 Someone was paying attention in class! 34 weeks brings another BPP ultrasound (this one was another size one!) and non-stress test.\u00a0 It also brings my mom and sister from Texas into town for a visit for our last baby shower! The theme? Rainbows.\u00a0 I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with! OH. I forgot to mention the nesting.\u00a0 FULL force.\u00a0 The baby’s room is coming together and we are starting to feel SOMEWHAT ready! Once we had our two January showers, I found myself in a frenzy of “putting the gifts away…” i.e. setting up her room. The piece in the picture above has been in Tony’s family for years. It was serving as my dresser which I had painted a charcoal gray nearly 5 years ago.\u00a0 This Tiffany Blue color makes me so happy!\u00a0 The diaper storage cart was a Target find, inspired by Pinterest, and it was a steal for $29! We plan to use the dresser as a changing station once we get our diaper changing pad.\u00a0 Under 6 weeks to go! I can hardly believe it!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journey-to-parenthood"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_9343.jpg?fit=4032%2C3024&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8oEBX-jV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1235"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1271,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235\/revisions\/1271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}