Pregnancy Blues
Well, I think I'm going to whine a bit in this post, so I apologize before I begin.
I'm not really a stranger to the challenges of pregnancy. After all, I'm 28 weeks now into my 8th pregnancy (4 miscarriages + my 3 babies). It actually makes me a seasoned pro in my what-to-expect forum! And since this pregnancy was definitely planned, I feel a little guilty every time I complain because it's not like I didn't know what I was getting into, and I did choose this after all.
It started Tuesday with a call to my cell phone from my OB nurse. I knew it was bad news because any other time the OB office needs me they are content to call my house phone and leave a message. My nurse informed me that my glucose tolerance test results were back and my sugar levels were so high they weren't going to bother making me take the follow-up 3 hour test. So blow #1: I am officially now labeled a gestational diabetic. Good-bye my sweet dreams of sneaking into the kids' Halloween candy. Good-bye to having a glass of OJ when I feel like it. Good-bye to pumpkin pie and the 3 birthday cakes I should have gotten to enjoy between now and Christmas. Not to mention Christmas itself. If I was going to have to go on a sugar-free lifestyle, why not on one those pregnancies I've had where I'm due before all the sugary holidays????
Wednesday I was seriously depressed. To be honest, I threw myself a world-class pity party. Thursday they had scheduled me for a class at the hospital to teach me how to use my brand new glucometer to stick myself fifty times a day, and I was dreading it more than anything else. So the Lord decided to teach me a lesson I guess, by both giving me a way to escape the class and showing me that things could be way worse.
About 1am Thursday morning I started having contractions. These were no wimpy Braxton-Hicks ones either. I couldn't sleep at all. By about 2 they were coming so close together that we had to load up our sleepy kids and make the trip to the hospital. We dropped the kids off at mom's and spent the rest of the night in triage, getting shots to try and stop my contractions. Finally, about 6am they let me go home. We headed back to my parents' house, only to have to turn around and head back to the hospital a couple of hours later. More shots and a super-painful steroid shot in the rear end. So much fun! Finally they sent us home again, with a prescription to pick up for pills to help keep the contractions from coming back. And wouldn't you know it? By later the evening the contractions were back, and they were so bad I can only compare it to labor shortly before transition. I was a howling, weeping, hysterical mess!
So yet again, we made the 45 minute trip back to the hospital. Several hours and more shots later, they let me go home again. This time they gave me a tranquilizer to take first, and it made all the difference in the world. I actually slept through the night (except when Terence woke me up every 4 hours to take my pill.) Still, now I have to be on strict bedrest. I'm only allowed to get up to use the bathroom. (I'm technically breaking it by getting on the computer right now, but I figure sitting in a chair with my feet up isn't too bad.)
What on earth am I going to do? I'm not due until JANUARY! Even the bedrest I had with B only lasted 4 weeks, and then I had no kids in school that had to be chauffeured. Maybe if I'm lucky this will all go away and I'll be able to get up again. Otherwise how will I ever get to see the Twilight movie? (Aren't I the shallow one?)
This is a long post, but I figured I'd get it all out while I could. Plus, for those of you whose blogs I normally comment on, I'll try to get to it if I can, but if not please don't hold it against me! (Yes, I'm talking to you, Abby!)
I'm not really a stranger to the challenges of pregnancy. After all, I'm 28 weeks now into my 8th pregnancy (4 miscarriages + my 3 babies). It actually makes me a seasoned pro in my what-to-expect forum! And since this pregnancy was definitely planned, I feel a little guilty every time I complain because it's not like I didn't know what I was getting into, and I did choose this after all.
It started Tuesday with a call to my cell phone from my OB nurse. I knew it was bad news because any other time the OB office needs me they are content to call my house phone and leave a message. My nurse informed me that my glucose tolerance test results were back and my sugar levels were so high they weren't going to bother making me take the follow-up 3 hour test. So blow #1: I am officially now labeled a gestational diabetic. Good-bye my sweet dreams of sneaking into the kids' Halloween candy. Good-bye to having a glass of OJ when I feel like it. Good-bye to pumpkin pie and the 3 birthday cakes I should have gotten to enjoy between now and Christmas. Not to mention Christmas itself. If I was going to have to go on a sugar-free lifestyle, why not on one those pregnancies I've had where I'm due before all the sugary holidays????
Wednesday I was seriously depressed. To be honest, I threw myself a world-class pity party. Thursday they had scheduled me for a class at the hospital to teach me how to use my brand new glucometer to stick myself fifty times a day, and I was dreading it more than anything else. So the Lord decided to teach me a lesson I guess, by both giving me a way to escape the class and showing me that things could be way worse.
About 1am Thursday morning I started having contractions. These were no wimpy Braxton-Hicks ones either. I couldn't sleep at all. By about 2 they were coming so close together that we had to load up our sleepy kids and make the trip to the hospital. We dropped the kids off at mom's and spent the rest of the night in triage, getting shots to try and stop my contractions. Finally, about 6am they let me go home. We headed back to my parents' house, only to have to turn around and head back to the hospital a couple of hours later. More shots and a super-painful steroid shot in the rear end. So much fun! Finally they sent us home again, with a prescription to pick up for pills to help keep the contractions from coming back. And wouldn't you know it? By later the evening the contractions were back, and they were so bad I can only compare it to labor shortly before transition. I was a howling, weeping, hysterical mess!
So yet again, we made the 45 minute trip back to the hospital. Several hours and more shots later, they let me go home again. This time they gave me a tranquilizer to take first, and it made all the difference in the world. I actually slept through the night (except when Terence woke me up every 4 hours to take my pill.) Still, now I have to be on strict bedrest. I'm only allowed to get up to use the bathroom. (I'm technically breaking it by getting on the computer right now, but I figure sitting in a chair with my feet up isn't too bad.)
What on earth am I going to do? I'm not due until JANUARY! Even the bedrest I had with B only lasted 4 weeks, and then I had no kids in school that had to be chauffeured. Maybe if I'm lucky this will all go away and I'll be able to get up again. Otherwise how will I ever get to see the Twilight movie? (Aren't I the shallow one?)
This is a long post, but I figured I'd get it all out while I could. Plus, for those of you whose blogs I normally comment on, I'll try to get to it if I can, but if not please don't hold it against me! (Yes, I'm talking to you, Abby!)
Comments
Love ya, Pete