This fourth pregnancy started out like all the rest…filled with copious amounts of morning sickness and some seriously awesome weight gain. Then three weeks ago tomorrow I started coming down with what I thought was a common cold…only what I didn’t realize was that it would last forever at least three weeks (and counting). In that length of time I have been to countless doctors and nurse practitioners, who of course all agree: this is just a virus, it will pass.
That’s cool. But I’m still waiting. And not waiting patiently. I am on my second week of having zero physical activity as I literally can’t even walk from the parking lot to my barre studio (lame, I know). And because I needed to spice up our sleepy (ha) schedule, I decided to fall on my abdomen last Wednesday and then was rushed to L&D for observation…with all three children in tow. It was here that more bloodwork revealed that my anemia (which I consistently have throughout every pregnancy) has gotten quite a bit worse – YAY! That and I officially have an “irritable uterus” – sounds vague and weird.
I *thought* it would be too weird to go through 4 pregnancies with zero complications, and so at every turn I waited for the shoe to drop. Even through this unknown illness, the fall, and the anemia, I knew that I could still be WAY worse off. Then came the glucose tolerance test. Bahahaha. Despite three prior pregnancies with glucose levels not even close to the cutoff, zero family history of both type 1 and 2 diabetes, and a BMI below 30, I officially have gestational diabetes. Laughable, I know.
My first official appointment with the endocrinologist/nurse/nutritionist GD team at Vandy is this Friday morning and supposedly takes THREE HOURS. I’m also looking at weekly appointments with them from here on out…plus the monitoring…plus the low carb diet (which sadly our entire family is now subjected to). I’m trying to be thankful for all of the other possible pregnancy complications that (so far) we don’t have, but it is difficult not throwing a pity party for one knowing that this diagnosis will affect our Thanksgiving plans (no travel) and potentially the birth of our child (increased pre-eclampsia risk if the diabetes can’t be controlled plus an increased risk of c/s given that now there will most assuredly be an induction that may fail if they are concerned about size of the baby).
I’m trying to trust in the Lord’s plan as it is ALWAYS better than my own.
Stay tuned for more riveting pregnancy tales…
