Let the fetal monitoring begin!

Starting at about 32 weeks, my doctor recommended I come in for fetal monitoring to make sure that Cletus and his or her placenta were doing well. This is no small commitment. Between the drive, the 20+ minutes hooked up to the machine and the drive back, we're talking an hour and a half twice a week plus all the other normal appointments (which are now weekly or more than weekly).

At first, I resisted the frequency of this monitoring thinking that if I kept up with my kick counts and made sure Cletus was active I couldn't possibly need to come in for fetal heart rate monitoring every Monday AND Thursday.

But, after going a few times, I realized that the process was just so reassuring that it was worth it. When the uterine real estate market heats up, Cletus' fetal movements changed somewhat dramatically, so it's nice to have a professional me everything is okay.

Monitoring also helped me learn what contractions feel like. One of the sensors tracks baby's heart rate while the other tracks any compression of the uterus. I've been contracting for weeks now! Cervix please take note.

There is also nothing as soothing as lying in a dark room surrounded by the heart beats of fetuses. It's more nap-inducing than the ocean.

Keeping an open mind

With diabetes, you can never positively tell what's going to happen. A banana and coffee for breakfast might get you to 140 mg/dL one day and 248 the next. You just gotta roll with it and be prepared.

Pregnancy also requires the ability to remain flexible. When your kid measures up at the 60th and 66th percentile of his or her peers during the first and second trimester, then jumps up to a shocking 84th percentile at week 32, delivery time frames and strategies, as well as blood sugar and diet controls might need to be adjusted quickly.

And so it went with me and Cletus the Fetus. Although (s)he remains in beautiful proportion, Cletus left her peers in the dust when it came to growth this last trimester. Five pounds 11 ounces with two months to go. My friends have delivered term babies smaller. So, instead of looking at an induction at 39 weeks, we've upped the schedule to 38. April 11th, let the cervix be ripe!

This is a little bit frustrating, obviously. My HbA1c was 5.6 the first trimester, 5.5 the second, and 5.4 so far this third. My control is awesome. My weight gain is awesome. My kid is just big. What can ya do?

Third trimester bolus blues

Oh insulin, we've grown to be on such familiar terms lately. I now take almost twice as much of you as I did before Cletus the Fetus and his or her placenta came into my life. The pharmacy thinks I'm crazy every time I call needing more of you... as if I could be selling you for profit or an addict. Every two weeks my doctor and I keep turning up the dials on my insulin pump. You are a great, great friend, and I thank you for all of your support during this time. You've kept my Hb A1c under 6 for my entire pregnancy. Again, Kudos. But, dear insulin, I am counting the days 'til we can go back to just being friendly, without the same degree of intimacy we have now. Post delivery, I'm gonna quit you... alright, not entirely. But you get my drift. It's just a matter of weeks now.

The pregnant, diabetic head cold

There are few experiences that can make you feel less in control of your health then when a diabetic person gets sick. Before pregnancy, I never really had the traditional 'sick day' effect, when blood sugars spiral out of control, in one direction or the other, as your body both succumbs to then fights off an infection.

However, in the last three weeks I've had two mind blowing head colds, both of which sent my blood sugars to the moon as they were taking hold regardless of how much insulin I threw at them, then made my levels plummet a day of two later. It's a drag!

Usually when I feel this badly, I stock up on Nyquil and the like, treat my symptoms aggressively and try to sleep it off. But there are so MANY medications that are not approved for pregnancy, it's kind of hard to find anything at all to take. So, for the duration of these sicknesses I've experimented with some other remedies including the wildly effective salt water gargle for sore throat, neti pot for nasal congestion and post-nasal drip and chicken noodle soup for grouchiness (personal recommendation: buy in bulk).

With each virus, my blood sugars stabilized within a day or two without my needing to go to the hospital. My doctor recommended I check for ketones, a sign that blood sugars are so high your body is going into ketoacidosis and you need help fast. And, as always, sick days require more blood sugar tests than other days. I know, I know. You're a pregnant diabetic woman, you're already finger sticking eight or more times a day. Well, hopefully there are only a few weeks left!