Gestational Diabetes...Or Not?

Since I had gestational diabetes with Miss A, this time my doctor had me test during the 24th week.

I was hoping that maybe somehow this time it would be different. But not surprisingly, I failed again. Normally I'm a pretty good test-taker, but this is one that seems to have me beat.

Overall, my numbers were a bit better than they were with Miss A. Then again, I also tested 2 weeks earlier, and I realize that pregnant women's insulin resistance increases as pregnancy progresses, so who knows if my numbers still would have been better if I hadn't taken it earlier this time around.

I went straight for the 3-hour test, so that I wouldn't have to drink the stuff for the 1-hour, fail, and then drink it again for the 3-hour.

My fasting level was 97. In men and non-pregnant women, it's supposed to be 99 or less, but in pregnant women, they want to see it at 95 or less. So I was just slightly off. My 1-hour was the one that was most out of range - I think it was 214, and it's supposed to be 180-something. Then the 2-hour level is supposed to be 155 or less, and I was at 177. I don't know what the 3-hour level is supposed to be, but whatever it is, mine was in the normal range at 86.

I met with the nurse practitioner at my doctor's office on Friday afternoon to review what I need to do to test at home. I decided to eat the way I normally do this weekend so that I could see just how far off my numbers are when I'm eating like I typically do, rather than guzzling the equivalent of 2.5 cans of Coke in 5 minutes.

So far, it turns out that when I'm eating like I normally do, my levels are just fine.

My fasting has been at 91 both days, and most of the tests I've done 1 hour after the start of eating have been below the 2-hour limit. (The glucose level is supposed to be 140 or less after 1 hour and 120 or less after 2 hours. Most of mine have been less than 120 after just 1 hour.)

As I said, I know insulin resistance increases throughout pregnancy, so I will continue to monitor for the duration. With Little Miss, minor tweaks in my diet - making sure I was including an adequate amount of protein at each meal, mostly - was all that was necessary to keep my levels within range. Hopefully that will continue to hold true this time around.

Other than that, we're continuing to do great, aside from me being annoyed by the fact that I'm now (as of yesterday) 25 weeks and still don't look very big.

When I went to the lab to take the test, I was wearing my regular jeans and a regular shirt. The tech who was checking people in looked at me and said "You're pregnant??" even though it was all over my lab orders. (I also had lab orders for a couple of other things at the same time, and all of them referenced my pregnant state.)

And then my mom felt compelled to share this little gem the other morning. It's her version of a compliment: "You're doing really well. If someone didn't know you were pregnant, they'd just think you were fat, not pregnant." R choked on his smoothie.

I'm still trying to figure out how looking fat is better than looking pregnant...

Viability

Yesterday was 24 weeks, which is technically the edge of viability.

From what I've read, Kiddo has a 50/50 chance of survival at this point, and every day during the 24th-25th weeks increases those odds by 3-4% per day, then 2-3% per day during the 26th and 27th weeks.

In my usual fashion of not counting my kiddos before they hatch, I am still holding my breath a bit and cheering for every extra added chance of survival that each day brings. But overall, I'm more calm this time around, as evidenced in part by my lack of constant "dear God, please let this end well" posts.

We had the fetal echocardiogram last week to get a better look at Kiddo's heart, since Miss A was born with a couple of cardiac issues and R has Brugada Syndrome. Everything looked as expected, so barring the perinatologist's ultrasound tech suddenly seeing something obvious and unexpected between now and birth, we don't have to visit the cardiologist for this Kiddo again until 2 weeks after birth. At that point, they will do an EKG to see if any abnormal rhythm pattern indicative of Brugada's is appearing. My guess is that it won't, and that will be just the first of many EKGs to come for Kiddo, as it has been for Miss A. She gets her next EKG in a few weeks.

Next up - This week will be the gestational diabetes test. Since I had it with Miss A, I asked to just do the 3-hour version of the test and save myself the trouble of having to chug down the stuff you have to drink for it twice.

I hope all of you are having a lovely spring!