21 Weeks and Learning about GD

Officially 21 weeks yesterday! Every week when we take the belly pic I always think to myself "there's no way my belly will look bigger than last week's pic". Then I compare the two pics and see I have grown! It's so crazy! I have noticed that when I need to sit up from laying down, it's like I have no abdominal muscles! It will be very interesting getting back into shape eventually...

Last week after I wrote the blog, I got a message from the Diabetes and Pregnancy Clinic informing me I have a class to attend and until then "eat healthy". I thought to myself "Ok.....". Still not really any information. I did end up calling a nurse so I could find out my actual number after the one hour glucose challenge, which was 146. My dad said "Oh that's not too bad". I did some reading about gestational diabetes this past week and it scared me silly! Limiting my carbs- even the good carbs!? I could care less if I had to only give up sweets like cake, cookies, and candy, but to limit how much bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes? AND FRUIT AND CEREAL!? I was feeling pretty defeated but knew I'd wait until the class to see if I really was in a lot of trouble. My main concern was, how will I get enough calories to support a quad pregnancy while limiting carbs?

The "class" was actually a one-on-one info session with a nurse certified to educate in diabetes. The other women were together but I think I was separate because my case is a little unique. Plus they let me lay in bed the whole time since I am on bed-rest. First, she showed me how to use the blood glucose monitor. Yes, I get to stick myself with a needle... Actually that doesn't bother me at all, and I think it's really interesting keeping track of blood glucose levels. I'm supposed to collect my blood glucose in the morning before any meal, then after the three main meals. I need to be under 140 at one hour after all the meals. She told me I still can eat carbs, just limit how much at each snack and meal. The nurse also said that I can experiment with how many carbs my body can handle before I go to high, which I am pleased about. I'm supposed to eat every two hours (carbs are part of each meal/snack) but if I'm hungry in-between I can have as much protein or veggies as I want. I need to think of good protein ideas- my favorites right now are cheese, nuts, and meat (but meat isn't as convenient). Anyone have any good ideas, keeping in mind that I don't like peanut butter and artificial sweeteners? Anything that has more than 4 or 5 grams of carbs on the nutrition label will count as a "carb choice", so steer clear!

I cheated yesterday...well, not on purpose, but before the info session we had to fill out a questionnaire. It said to list any pregnancy concerns and I wrote that lately I haven't been feeling the monos as much as baby B (baby A is still hard to feel very often). I thought it was weird I don't feel them that much because they were the first ones I felt. This wasn't a lie but I wasn't necessarily that worried. The nurses and doctors always tell me to say anything minor that I have been thinking about. Anyways, after the info session a nurse (and another nurse watching) did a quick ultrasound to check out all the heartbeats. I got to see my babies!! I think the nurses were just as excited as I was because they don't get to see quad ultrasounds very often. Now just one week till I get to see them next! The doctor told me after the u/s that at 21 weeks, they're still not strong enough to feel regularly, so that put me at ease also.

Hope everyone's weeks are going well. I'm jealous of everyone doing fun things this Saturday for Halloween. I get to at least see some trick-or-treaters!

One other thing: if anyone knows someone or is someone that is good at customizing blogpot blogs let me know! I need to spice mine up and find something else besides the templates they provide!

UPDATE: I was a little worried about taking my blood glucose after my morning meal. Everything I read about GD said that the morning meal is the hardest to control because your blood sugar skyrockets with not that many carbs. This morning I had a big bowl of oatmeal, carrots, and some cheese, thinking I was probably eating too much oatmeal. The number just came back as 120, so YAY! Tomorrow I'm going to see what happens with cereal (supposedly bad, especially with adding milk). It could be that adding the carrots and cheese helped balance out my carbs.