How sweet to hold a newborn baby...

How sweet to hold a newborn baby
And feel the pride and joy he gives

That's the song I've been humming to soothe baby Andrew. I meant to write a couple more blogs before giving birth but plans change when you're making plans. I was 37 weeks 5 days gestation when baby Andrew came to this world via unplanned c-section with a weight of 7 lbs and 14 ounces, and length of 20 inches.  My due date was not until March 30th but I've been alerted early on that I may be induced early and won't be allowed to go past 40 weeks. But I didn't expect at all it would be around 37 weeks.  Due to elevated high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, I had to be induced much earlier. I wasn't mentally prepared and the house was not completely ready for the baby as we still had a lot of organizing to do in the baby room.

It's been an exhausting week but we know exactly what we signed up for and this is indeed the greatest blessing from God!  Just looking at him all the pain seems to disappear.  He is the cutest baby...am I allowed to brag :)

Here's how last week's events transpired. I'm going to make this post quick so excuse the typos.

Tuesday
2 pm - arrived at Mt Sinai Hospital and was monitored until 5 pm
5:30 pm - inserted the balloon catheter to open my cervix (that was a painful procedure) and was put in wrong.  We found this out later the hard way.
6:45 pm - we were told to wait downstairs while they were waiting for the room for us so we went to Swiss Chalet for dinner
8:15 pm - finished eating and I went to the washroom. While I was farting, the balloon popped out. LOL. So we went back to triage and we were put back again on a monitor while waiting for our pre-delivery room
9:15 pm - they took me off the monitor and kept us waiting until 11:45 pm when we were moved to delivery room D9
11:45 pm - they hooked the IV with the pitocin (a man-made oxytocin) to start my contractions. That was a rough night as my sleep was being interrupted every hour by nurses doing their jobs of checking my blood pressure, and sugar levels.

Wednesday
Around 12:30 AM - the doctor assessed me and realized my cervix was not even dilated yet and that's when they figured the balloon catheter had not been put in properly
They had to re-insert again the balloon catheter. Again another painful procedure.
6:30 am - the balloon catheter came out when I peed and the nurse said that's good as it means I'm dilating
10:25 am - doctor manually broke my water. Up until that point, I wasn't experiencing any pain from contractions. I was having contractions the whole night according to the nurse so she kept asking me if I need anything for pain relief.  And I said, I don't feel any pain.  So she asked me if I have high pain tolerance because I was showing consistent contractions on the monitor.  But no, I didn't feel any pain up until the doctor broke the water and all of a sudden it was sudden intense contraction pains I ended up asking for an epidural after a couple of hours.  The nurse figured I didn't feel pain before because the water had not been broken and it might have created a shield of some sort, but she was still baffled by it.  The epidural made me bed bound and everything from my waist down went numb and I was also a bit nauseous.
1:30 pm - OB doctor came and said it was dilated between 5 and 5.5 cm.  Then came back at 4:40 pm and said it was only 6 cm.  My dilation was too slow and there was no
point waiting as the baby was not descending at all so doctor recommended C-section. 
5:45 pm - signed the consent forms for C-section
6:00 pm - moved to operating room. I was very nervous about it because I've never read anything about C-section to prepare myself. While being prepped in the operating room, I almost couldn't breathe due to fear. And I was so thirsty with my throat so dry it made it so difficult to breathe.  I just tried to focus on the prize and the fact that it would soon be over.

6:47 pm - baby Andrew was pulled to freedom. The entire procedure was painless and quick.  I felt tugging and that's about it.  My husband saw the whole procedure though and thought it was real messy.  But the medical staff are amazing and they know what their doing.

Shortly after the C-section, we stayed for a couple of hours in the recovery room then got transferred to our main room at about midnight

midnight - baby had 1 dirty diaper (black tar) which was expected.

Thursday
8:10 am - my catheter was removed.  Still nauseous and in pain from the C-section. 
Nurse took temperature of both of us and taught me how to breastfeed Andrew.
Had 3 black tar dirty diapers and 1 green dirty diaper on Thursday and 1 wet diaper

Friday - just 2 dirty diaper and the pee has some reddish color to it so we got a bit concerned he's not getting enough milk. I wasn't producing milk yet at the time so he had to be fed with formula. I was frustrated that my milk was not coming yet.


And when we got home on Friday evening, I just felt so thankful for this wonderful blessing. I'm not complaining at all.  This is the greatest gift ever.  I'm now producing milk (still in small amounts) but I keep pumping every couple of hours and that helps.

Fast forward to today, I just love the cuddling and snuggles.  It's amazing no matter how sore my body is, I somehow find the strength to breastfeed and take care of Andrew.  He has a good appetite.  It's me that has to adjust to breastfeeding. 

30 weeks blah…

Well, unfortunately I’ve been put on Insulin since Wednesday where I started with 3 times a day poking my tummy. One right before lunch, dinner and before bedtime.  And today, after the nurse reviewed my blood sugar journal, it’s been increased to 4 times a day because my blood sugar is still high even when I’m eating right.  In addition, I have to poke myself each morning before breakfast.  There were a couple of times where my blood sugar was on a normal range but the nurse said I wasn’t eating enough carbs that time and it is also not good for the baby.  I didn’t even gain the expected weight in the past week.  When I eat right my blood sugar shoots up so Insulin shots are needed.  It’s not painful at all.  The IVF subcutaneous and intramuscular needles I had to endure during the IVF cycle was more brutal.  The only thing is I have to keep track of when I have to test my blood sugar, eat meals and snacks (and what I eat) and when to administer Insulin.  I log everything I eat (I mean everything) to make sure my carb intake is right.

Below is this week's blood sugar journal:

Week of Jan 15, 2018
Day	Breakfast			Lunch		Dinner		Bedtime
	Before meal	Insulin	After meal	Insulin	After meal	Insulin	After meal	Insulin
Mon Jan 15	7:57 AM		11:56 AM		4:20 PM		9:06 PM
	5.4		5.3		6.7		11.3
Tues Jan 16	7:56 AM		10:10 AM		3:18 PM		7:37 PM
	5.9		5.7		6.3		10.3
Wed Jan 17	7:53 AM		10:53 AM		4:30 PM	6h	9:36 PM	4n
	5.4		5.6		9.5		6.4
Thu Jan 18	8:18 AM		11:28 AM	4h	3:27 PM	6h	8:54 PM	4n
	4.7		9		8.2		8.4
Fri Jan 19	8:14 AM		10:40 AM	6h	3:03 PM	8h
	4.4		8.3		9.5
Sat Jan 20
Sun Jan 21

 

More symptoms I’m experiencing are leg cramps, constipation, lower backache and difficulty sleeping due to hip and lower back pain. I easily get tired and easily run out of breath when shopping.

The baby is moving a lot and it is a joy to feel the movements.  And despite the aches here and there, it’s great to know I’m three quarters in. And I thank God everyday for this miracle!

29 weeks and dealing with GD.

Exactly 29 weeks today and on my 3rd trimester.  Second trimester was the easiest and I had no issues.

The past couple of days, my endocrinologist had me on strict low-carb diet due to Gestational Diabetes. I’m keeping track of everything I eat and submit my food journal and blood sugar results every week to the nutritionist and nurse. Food must be eaten in small portions every 2 hours. It’s the carb intake that I really have to watch.  Each meal I can only have a slice of whole wheat bread or 1/3 cup of rice.  But I can have unlimited berries or certain vegetables.  It's hard as I'm always hungry. I learned a lot about nutrition from the diabetes class my doctor sent me a couple of weeks ago.
 
I'm also self-monitoring my blood sugar 4 times a day. I’m 3 days in and still flinch every time. But this is nothing compared to the needles I had to poke myself while doing IVF.  
 
And tonight I ate a lot of slimy okras – not my favourite but I have to.

Next week I have to learn how to take insulin shots. Here’s the photo of the gadget I was given to keep track of my blood sugar.

The gadget that measures the blood sugar. The one that looks like a pen on the right is the needle.



Test strip absorbs the blood.



This is today's reading 2 hours after dinner and I only ate lots of okras, 1/3 cup rice and yogurt.  Yet it's still high.

The target is 6.6 mmol/L or less if taken 2 hours after each meal. And the above picture shows I'm 7.7 and it's still high!

The joys and sacrifices of being pregnant but it's all worth it in the end.

 

Happy New Year, Exciting 3rd Trimester – The Great Unknown

About 11 more weeks to go before I meet my precious baby! I’m still in awe I’ve gone this far despite all the difficulties we’ve faced trying conceive.

The past 2^nd trimester was a breeze. But right at the beginning of my 3^rd trimester, I’ve been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I failed both the 1 hr Glucose Challenge Test and 2 hr Glucose Tolerance Test.  I attended a Diabetes Education class today (with 10 other ladies) and I learned how to self-monitor our blood sugar 4 times a day. A dietician also discussed nutrition and meal planning. It’s the carbohydrates we have to really watch.  It’s been a very educational class that lasted around 2.5 hours. I have to keep write everything I eat in a day and email the food journal to the dietician and nurse on Sunday.  This adds additional work to keep track but the baby’s health is far more important than anything else.

After the class I also met with the endocrinologist who told me my sugar levels were high so she is sending me to insulin class next Wednesday. Then I had my regular appointment with my OB who told me I will have to be induced if I go beyond my due date.  As usual my blood pressure is textbook perfect at 120/65 and has been consistent throughout my pregnancy.   Also heard the heart beat of the baby on the Doppler and sounded like galloping horses.  Due to my GD, my OB wants to do ultrasounds every 2 weeks which I think is a blessing I get to see my baby more often 😊

2nd Trimester is the best!

I’m 23 weeks and 4 days today. I’ve been feeling movement inside my tummy since week 20.  And at some point, I can even feel the movement from the outside when I put my hands on my belly. It’s becoming so real that there’s a human being growing inside me. I thank God everyday for this miracle. There won’t be any ultrasounds until around week 36 so that is a bummer. My next appointment will be on the 20^th to discuss the result of the Glucose Challenge Test which will be on the 13^th. So far 2^nd trimester is the easiest. I experience lower back pain once in a while. Luckily pre-natal yoga helps.

We’ve already sold most of our laying hens to prepare for the baby’s arrival end of March. Only 14 hens left to sell. All 15 roosters have been processed.

I can’t wait for the New Year to begin my 3^rd trimester.

Almost halfway!

It’s been a while since I blogged on my pregnancy.  I had the anatomical scan yesterday and here’s a couple pics.  It’s a detailed ultrasound where they check for various measurements.  I was 19 weeks and 3 days when the ultrasound was taken.  At first, the sonographer told me I will have to come back to do another ultrasound on the same day I see the doctor because she couldn’t get the picture of the kidney due to the baby’s position.  Luckily towards the end when she called my husband to see the baby’s ultrasound on the screen, the baby turned sideways as if mooning us. LOL.  She quickly captured that photo and told me she got the picture of the kidney so I don’t need to come back.  She also mentioned the baby is very active and moving a lot.

I don’t know the results yet because the sonographer is not allowed to disclose results.  I have to wait for my OB appointment in a couple of weeks to discuss the results.  I can’t wait.  Hope everything’s fine. I thank God everyday for this miracle IVF baby that grows inside me.

Welcoming the 2nd Trimester!

Today, I’m 2 days shy of 14 weeks in the pregnancy land. We had an appointment with OB and praise God, the results of the Harmony test (also called NIPT) and other bloodwork are normal. That was my greatest fear due to our advanced age where the chance for chromosomal abnormalities increases. You would not believe how stressed out I’ve been in the past few weeks anticipating all these tests. And I think I've been pampered while I was still under the care of the fertility clinic before where I had weekly ultrasound until week 10. After I graduated from that place, the regular OB only does it once every 4 weeks.

I do feel stupid worrying for nothing. I can start relaxing now that I’m finishing the first trimester. But as my husband said, I’ll probably find something else to worry about.

My blood pressure remains stable (120 over 70) despite the fact I’ve been having anxiety attacks.

And my OB also checked the heartbeat via fetal doppler and we heard it! He said it was fast enough and not to worry. I bought my own fetal doppler and been trying to listen to the heartbeat since week 12 and it was very difficult to hear anything. That just added anxiety. He said not to use it again because it’s not as sensitive as the ones they use in the clinic.

We also found out the gender but I’ll keep it a secret for now okay? I’ll reveal it at week 20.

As far as pregnancy symptoms, nausea comes and goes especially in the afternoon. And headaches and moodiness still hangs around.

I’m really over the moon with the results today and I know this is indeed a miracle! I’m so looking forward the second trimester. I've heard it is the easiest trimester.

My next OB appointment is in 4 weeks.