Well, it has been quite the week! In one week alone I had 4 doctor’s appointments and 2 baby showers! It was a little exhausting, but lots of fun. Let’s start with the week of doctors.
First appointment of the week was with my OB on Monday. She was a bit rushed as she had an impending delivery downstairs, but it was still a good appointment. She measured my belly and said that I was measuring at 38 ½ weeks which was 2 ½ weeks ahead! I was a little worried that meant that Zoey was getting really big but I’ll get to that appointment in a bit. She looked over my glucose levels and suggested that I try stopping the glyburide for a while to see if I could manage the levels on my own. I tried it out and ended up with several high readings so I decided to start taking them again and voila, problem solved. Lesson learned, take my pills.
I had an NST on Tuesday morning. It went well as per routine and the amniotic fluid levels look normal.
Next up with the dermatologist on Wednesday. Since stopping the prednisone a few weeks ago, the PUPPPS rash has been back and certainly causing me lots of itching. The dermatologist took a look and agreed that it’s still the same problem and gave me another prescription for steroid cream to use on the itchy areas when I need it. So far I’ve done pretty well with it and have refrained from scratching enough that it actually feels like it’s getting better! I can’t tell you how much of a relief that is. He also mentioned that he thinks that the previous rash being on my arms and legs and feet was likely Prurigo gestationis on top of the PUPPPS on my abdomen and thighs.
I did a little research on it and found that it’s likely a form of eczema flare up and the description says that it’s worse on the limbs and at night which is exactly what I felt. I remembered that when I was a kid I used to have a real problem with eczema flare ups, especially when I would eat eggs and orange juice. And guess what I’ve been eating for breakfast every morning? Yup, eggs and orange juice. I’m still not willing to change foods because that’s about the only thing I can eat lots of on the diabetes diet, but if the rash comes back on my limbs I’m sure I’ll try anything.
My last appointment of the week was at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Dept on Friday. First they did an ultrasound to determine how big Zoey is. They measured her head, abdomen and femur and then put all the measurements together to estimate her weight. The computer said that she likely weighs 5 pounds, 12 ounces. Yay! She’s just the right size (they said measuring right on schedule) and not too big which is always a concern with Gestational Diabetes. If she gains a half pound per week until she’s born, she’ll be about 7 ½ lbs at birth which is right about where Jon and I both were.
The doctor also told us something that I found interesting and really cool too. He said that Zoey is likely to be left-handed. I had no idea that handedness developed as a fetus but apparently it does! The doc (who is this really cool guy who’s been an OB since like the 70’s and has seen it all) said that he sees very few women who carry with the baby oriented to the mother’s right side, most are with the baby oriented toward the mother’s left side. He said that the orientation leaves one had more free to move around and develop and the baby usually seems to prefer that free hand and that’s the hand that they prefer after birth. Way cool! There are more lefties that have IQ’s over 140 than righties so I’m anticipating my daughter to be a genius!
After the ultrasound, I got to switch rooms to get another NST. It was normal as usual but Zoey was moving around a lot so it was hard for them to get a baseline heart rate. The nurse was a little ridiculous though and left us looked up to the monitors for over 40 minutes! I was a little annoyed but not nearly as much as Jon was. He didn’t have a snack with him and the hungry monster came out. At least it was the last apt of the week. This week I’m back to my normal 3 – OB and 2 NSTs. This week we start with the exams to see if I’m dilating!
So on top of all this fun-ness I got some real fun this week. My coworkers threw me a Baby Shower/Open House on Wednesday afternoon. It was a blast! I got tons of awesome presents, clothes, diapers, toys, books, blankets, bath items, you name it! I have some wonderfully awesome coworkers and I appreciate the gifts so much!
Then on Saturday my mom and my sisters threw me a baby shower for family and some family friends. It was so much fun! We played a lot of fun games and everyone was having a really good time. We also measured my belly as part of a game (they guessed how big my belly was by cutting a ribbon to length) and I unfortunately found out that my belly is 46 ¼ inches around right now. I was hoping to avoid knowing how big I actually was, but oh well. I got tons and tons of great stuff for Zoey from my family. My parents got us a travel system that is awesome. The cats think that it is theirs to play in right now and enjoy being pushed around the living room. We also got clothes galore! She is going to be one very well dressed baby. We got lots and lots of other things for her too like blankets (many adorable homemade blankies!), burp cloths, books, pacifiers, a baby monitor, thermometer, toys and many more things that I just can’t think of right now. With all of that, I think that we’re just about ready to have a baby!
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