I think the last time I did a proper pregnancy update was when we found out Baby Z’s gender in May when I was 20 weeks along. I’m now in the third trimester, almost 30 weeks now. What a blessing that God has brought us this far.
29 Weeks
Baby girl is doing great! She measured right on track at my last midwife appointment and had a steady heart rate in the 140s. She moves a lot and Jimmy and I can usually feel and see what we think is her feet/head/legs/etc.! I kind of feel like she’s laying sideways (transverse) a lot of the time, but she has some time to get into the head down position if she actually is transverse.
She gave me a scare on the Fourth of July and wasn’t very active at all that day. I was about to call the midwife when finally, late at night, she moved in her “normal” way. The worry and anxiety of parenthood starts way before baby is out of the womb, and it has taught me a lot about how God is truly the One in control.
She has been so spoiled by friends and family with clothes, a crib, and other sweet gifts. She also has a name! I’m not sure if we will share it or not. This is actually something we’re conflicted on: what we will/won’t share about our daughter. Any parents out there have advice or guidelines that you follow? Is it just intuitive?
Malcolm likes to nestle on top of her clothes!
At my 28 week appointment, I took my one hour glucose test and had a routine blood draw along with it. The glucose test was pretty awful. The drink was gross, but the worst part was how terrible I felt afterwards.
First, I thought I was going to throw up. That was followed by a headache and then feeling crazy tired. I took a long nap and was nauseous the whole day. A few days later, I got a call that I failed the glucose test and my blood work revealed I have anemia. Eek!
The midwife told me that if my levels of hemoglobin drop any more, I’ll need to give birth in the hospital (we’re planning a birth center birth, Lord Willing). Where my hemoglobin levels are now, I can deliver at the birth center, but have to have a hep-lock IV in during labor due to the risk of extra bleeding.
I am working on getting those levels up over the next few weeks and have another blood draw later this month to check on everything. The anemia diagnosis totally explains why I have been out of breath walking up hills during dog walks and feeling extra tired.
The glucose test results were interesting. My levels were supposed to be less than 135 and I was at 153. I was asked to take the three hour glucose test but asked if there was an alternative since I had felt so sick after the one hour test and know that the three hour test is even more intense.
The alternative? Be diagnosed with and treated for gestational diabetes. It was a tough few days of figuring out what we would choose. I knew the three hour glucose test would be awful. What if I failed it and had to be treated for gestational diabetes anyways?
Choosing to accept the gestational diabetes diagnosis would require some extra monitoring and possible intervention, which was a lot to think about as well. The monitoring meant checking my blood sugar levels four times a day, meeting with a high risk doctor, having some extra ultrasounds to check on baby’s size, and a possible induction if she grew too large too soon.
We prayed and talked and decided to accept the gestational diabetes diagnosis without going through the three hour glucose test. We felt peace about the extra monitoring and possible interventions. High risk doctors and hospitals are there to help us, and we’re thankful for that.
So, that’s how I found myself diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I had to take a class to learn to control my blood sugar with diet and exercise and now take my blood sugar four times a day. The plan is to meet with a high risk doctor after a week of testing my blood sugar levels and decide on a plan of care based off of the results.
I have had a few high readings, which is nerve-wracking. I don’t want to take insulin or medication unless it’s 100% necessary. Taking oral medication would also risk me out of delivering at the birth center. I know if we have to deliver in the hospital and need a higher level of care with insulin or medication because diet and exercise isn’t cutting it, then that’s just part of God’s plan and we’ll do anything to make sure our baby girl is healthy.
I’ve learned the high levels generally correlate with eating too many carbohydrates during a meal, so I’ve had to learn to cut down on carbohydrates and up my other nutrient intake so I’m not too hungry. It’s definitely a learning experience and such a tricky balance with eating the right things to have good blood sugar levels. I don’t know how people who have diabetes do it day in and day out.
I’m definitely taking comfort in the fact that gestational diabetes is a condition that only occurs during pregnancy (so if I need medication or have to continue monitoring my blood sugar levels, it’s only for a few more months) and that so far, our daughter has been healthy and doing great!
My next appointment with the maternal fetal medicine doctor is this week, so we’re praying for insight and good health as we move forward! I know God is going to be with us every step of the way and has everything in His capable hands.
Other baby-related things: we created our registry, have our baby shower coming up this month, and have started working on the nursery! I’ll share more about the nursery in another post since this one is pretty long already. Thank you to everyone for your prayers, love, and support as we journey through this exciting time! It means so much to us 🙂
Living My Full Life 
Everything will be okay! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏!
Dad
🙂
Amen! Love you! ❤
I like the update, Allie. I hope that things will go okay with the anemia and the gestational diabetes and that hopefully all of that will go away post-pregnancy. As far as the name goes, one of my friends has a blog and she just shares the initial (Baby B). Obviously you’ll share with real life people and I get that but I understand wanting to keep some things private on your blog. Best wishes with the rest of pregnancy!
Where did you guys register?
Thank you, Amy! It has definitely been an intense time of learning since I didn’t know much about gestational diabetes or anemia before this, but it’s not too bad! One day at a time, haha.
I like your friend’s idea of sharing the initial! That’s a smart way to be able to talk about the baby and not reveal too much! Thank you for the best wishes, too 🙂
We registered at Amazon, Target, and Walmart! We put most of our stuff on Amazon (because you just can’t beat the reviews… we were like “okay, let’s pick out a carseat/stroller/etc.” and chose the one with the best ratings on Amazon LOL) and then put a few other things on Target and Walmart (like clothes and the diaper bag) because we knew not everyone who was coming to our baby shower shops off of/understands Amazon haha.
Options are always good- plus you’re right about Target and Walmart. A lot of people will want to go there and pick out something for you physically, not just order online. I kinda understand that. Plus they know you can use gift cards for those places.
If you wanted to be really discrete, you could just keep up Baby Z :).
So true! We were just talking about sharing/not sharing her name last night and I mentioned what you said about saying Baby Z or her initial and Jimmy thought that was a cool idea!
I feel like your bump got so much bigger since your last update! And I mean that in the nicest way possible haha it’s so cute.
I have a few friends with Type I diabetes which is different than gestational obviously but hopefully my little bit of knowledge can help. I’m not sure exactly how gestational diabetes works but they just count their carbs and then inject insulin to regulate their blood sugar since they can’t do it on their own. Gestational may be similar in that way so watching your carbs should help! Just my thoughts since I know diabetes can be tough in the beginning. Not a doctor haha but wanted to share my tiny bit of knowledge with you 🙂
I totally agree! The bump is getting big and I just love it! Thanks for the compliment 🙂
Thanks for the tips!! I have definitely learned that it’s carbs that are spiking my blood sugar! So far, I haven’t had to use insulin, but man do I miss carbs! It has been such a learning curve, but so worth it to keep baby girl healthy and happy!
OMG your bump. Girl. So cute.
I think my mom had gestational diabetes with most or all (four) of us. I know it sucks now, but we all turned out fine (I think…. haha) and my mom never had diabetes after.
I’ve always been pretty comfortable sharing public info about Bryn, but I think it’s different for everyone and you will just naturally gravitate towards what’s best for your family when she is born! 🙂
So excited for you!
Aww, thank you so much!! I am loving the bump!
Thank you for the reassurance with the gestational diabetes! It’s seriously so good to know that you were a GD baby and turned out just fine 🙂
Also, thanks for the tip with sharing stuff about baby girl once she’s here! Hopefully it will just be intuitive and we will know whats best!
Oh my goodness! So many things in this post! I’m so sorry to hear about the scare you had on the 4th, but I am SO glad that she was just fine! But girl, the gestational diabetes is a lot to keep up with. You are going to do so great with tracking everything and as you continue to learn how to keep your blood sugar balanced, things will only get better. And girl, anemia is no fun. I hope the iron supplements treat you well!
As for what to share, you know we’re on kind of the extreme side of things. 😉 We decided to wait until she was born to share her name and then we decided to keep photos and information about her off the internet. But I don’t think that’s for everyone, it’s just what works best for us. My best advice on that is to go with your gut and know that you can change your mind later. If you share a lot in the beginning and then one day decide that maybe you would rather not share so much then you can just stop. Or if you decide not to share much at first, but then decide later that you want to share more, that’s okay just fine. I think things like that can be fluid. You guys will do great! 🙂
I remember something similar happened with you guys around the 28 week mark, so I went back and read your post and even though you guys ended up going to the hospital (I think?) for monitoring, I was just so relieved everything was fine. I can’t tell you how much your experiences and you sharing them has helped me!
Did you have anemia, too? I keep forgetting I have it lately since the blood sugar stuff has like taken over, haha. If you did have anemia, was there anything you did? Whew, it’s a lot!
I have loved your advice with all things baby, and especially with your perspective on what you do and don’t share about baby girl! You’re so right that if we made a decision, it’s not some permanent thing where we can/can’t share more/less in the future! So glad about that, haha! Thank you 🙂
That’s so cool, can’t wait till she is born.
Thank you, Josiah! I can’t wait for you to meet her!!
Oh my goodness, girlfriend! I am SO Sorry about the rollercoaster you’ve been on lately. Glad to know it is all getting figured out though- hopefully smooth sailing from here. I’m sure it’s a lot to cope with- but like you said the GD is only temporary and you are almost there 🙂 I know someone who had a VERY similar situation in their pregnancy and momma and baby are perfectly healthy now and no issues post pregnancy. Sending big hugs and I’ll be praying. This blip will be nothing when you are holding your precious little girl in your arms!
Aww, thank you so much, Mackenzie!! It has definitely been a rollercoaster, but worth it for baby girl! I am so glad you know someone who has been through a similar situation and has come out on the other side a-okay! That means so much! You’re so right with the GD… I keep reminding myself I only have to do finger pricks for like nine more weeks! That’s not so bad!
Thank you so, so much for your prayers! ❤
<3<3 Always!
Aw Allie I’m so sorry to hear about the anemia/gestational diabetes! But you and Jimmy seem so calm and rational about making the right decision for your health. I hope these things clear up and your pregnancy journey doesn’t have any more roadbumps ❤
Aww, thank you so much, P!! That means so much ❤
So much going on! I’m sorry you have had to deal with some anemia and gestational diabetes. It’ll pass! You are taking great care of yourself and that baby girl. Keep up the amazing work!
Yes, lots going on! It felt like it came out of nowhere, too haha! But you’re right–it will pass!! Thank you 🙂