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June 17, 2005
36w4d, 24 Days To Go
The midwife came over today for a check-up. This was also the visit with the gyno exam/papsmear and the internal exam, as well as discussing the glucose results and such.
I'm on a restricted 2200 calorie diet for the GD, and mostly the big thing seems to be cutting out sugar according to the sheet she gave me. Nothing too major, though having a sweet tooth means that that's certainly no fun, but for the next few weeks it's doable.
My bloodpressure was fine, as usual, and she did the papsmear, std and strep b swabs, as well as an internal exam. The cervix is softening up a little bit, and there's a fingertip of dilation (0.5cm or so). She can feel the baby's head in the pelvis, but it's still high... I already knew the baby hadn't "dropped" yet. So all of this basically points to "not yet", which isn't surprising or disappointing. In fact, I don't mind it staying put like it should, there's still enough to do around here after all, and it can happily continue to bake away for a while.
Wednesday we have our second ultrasound, to check for macrosomia, "big baby", which isn't likely. I'm still measuring a little behind on the fundal height, and measuring ahead of that would be a sure indicator of a big baby which is one of the side effects (often) of GD. Based on palpation so far, she's guessing a 6-7lb baby if I go to my due date, so nothing big there either.
And I have a prescription for more bloodwork, for a fasting sample and a 2-hours-later-after-breakfast sample, so that they can get a good idea of how my insulin is working. Apparantly much more accurate and definitive than chugging glucose solutions.
Some of the baby sites say that I might feel the kidlet moving less because it's running out of space. Hah! hardly. It's more noticeable than anything else, and it's certainly not a passive little camper at times. Sometimes the space thing can be an issue... like when it's trying to shove its butt up under my ribcage, that's not particularly comfortable. Hiccups is the worst though, it's like you have something spasming in your underbelly, and you can't make it stop. That's the only thing that's really distracting enough to keep me awake and annoy me.
It's still territorial as ever, and likes to kick at PreZ's head, or my book, or whatever it is I might have leaning on my belly sometimes. Sometimes I'm left wondering what bodypart it's actually using to do that stuff with, knowing what position it's in and realising that there are no feet or arms corresponding with where the movements are coming from. It's quite bizarre. At this rate it's guaranteed a career with Cirque du Soleil.
My hold on an innie navel is becoming ever more tenuous. It's still somewhat of a dent, but fairly flat. I have no idea if it'll stay put the remaining few weeks or finally pop out anyway. I recently switched out the navel jewelry to a barbell that was 1/4 inch longer than the other one because that was getting a little tight, so hopefully that will tide it over until the end. No signs of migration or other issues, so I'm happy with that. The belly stretchmark count remains at zero for now, but it ain't over 'til it's over, afterall, so we'll see. I'm taking vitamin E caplets in addition to the usual moisturising in that vain attempt to thwart them.
My body is extra crunchy nowadays. Throughout I've been cracking more and more joints and stuff, but it's been getting even worse lately. Last week I could crack several different bones in my pelvic region just turning over in bed. And I could crack them again not that long after too. Stretching ligaments are certainly interesting. The pubic bone aching is back again at times though, which is less fun, but also a result of ligament stretching.
Other than that, there's the occasional unpleasant achiness caused by the kidlet's head on my cervix, but it's not too bad just yet. I'm sure once it drops that discomfort will increase, along with the peeing frequency. Then things will really be fun.
And, onwards we go.
Posted on 11:25 PM to: Pregnancy