Journey with You

I had another u/s last Wednesday 7/19. My little one is getting big. He measured 36th percentile, approximately 5 pounds 7 ounces. Even though he was slightly smaller than average, the tech said his growth was fine. His heart rate did slow down a lot since my last prenantal appointment, from 140’s to 123 BPM. The tech said it’s normal for the heart rate to slow down at the end of the pregnancy. He was head down and facing my right. GOOD BOY!!
My cyst was still there and its size was about the same. The tech said the measurement was a little bit larger than last time but she said it may be due to how it’s shaped. At this point, I am not thinking too much about my cyst, just hoping it won’t prevent baby’s head from getting engaged. I am expecting to have my first internal exam this coming Friday and hoping to hear some good news, some progress.

I can definitely feel my little one getting bigger and stronger. While I bent over my ribs sometimes bump into his bones. Even though it’s not quite comfortable, I love feeling his movements and it makes me feel great to know that he is growing. It’s great that he was only 1 ounce away from the cut off for low birth weight. What’s really funny is that lots of people think I look big and say I am going to have a big baby. According to the u/s, chances are he is going to be a 6, 7 pounder, which is fine with me as long as he is healthy!! I am wondering if it’s my cyst making me look big though. >_

We talked about visiting my aunt over the July 4th weekend but didn’t really decided until the morning of July 1st. By the time we got there it’s already 8:30pm. We spent a beautiful day sitting in the car. Wish we’ve had decided earlier and left earlier.

We all went to a Chinese restaurant for dim sum lunch in Fort Lee the next day. There were so many good stuff I hadn’t had for a LONG time but couldn’t have because of my GD condition. DARN!! After that, DH and I drove to the close-by Mitsuwa Market Place. Lots of Japanese there. Very interesting. The food court there sells lots of delicious Japanese food and desert. Wish I could have them!!! There is also a Japanese book store and a store selling all kinds of Japanese imports including some really nice furniture.

We then drove north to a park under the George Washington Bridge. The beautiful Manhattan skyline was in sight. It was a hot day but there were many people BBQing there: Asians, Indians, Hispanics, blacks, and whites.

We visited a very nice beach at the central eastern NJ. The park is located north of the town of Highlands. The park is shaped like a peninsula, west side facing NJ and east side facing Pacific Ocean. There are 5-6 different sizes of beach in the park. We went to the most north-eastern one first and you could see Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island from there. It’s really cool.

Even though it’s a four day weekend, it’s just way too short for visiting my aunt. We spent the first and the last day driving. I didn’t really feel coming back.

On July 6th, we had our scheduled pediatrics tour and it all went well. The doctor meeting us was pretty friendly and patient. Even though they don’t have a lactation consultant on staff, we decided to give them a try. Our baby now has a doctor. ^_^ (Oh, and I’ve confirmed that it’s required for the hospital to perform a new born hearing screening.)

Went to see the specialist for my GD on Friday 7/7. He said except a few high numbers, he was pretty happy with how I’d been doing and wanted me to continue. I was hoping he would tell me to check my blood glucose less frequently but it didn’t happen. Oh, well!! That evening I went to the hospital to attend the breast feeding lesson. It was long but very helpful. I’ve learned lots of tips and the nurse who gave the lecture seemed very nice. I was looking forward to seeing her again when I deliver.

Had another prenatal visit yesterday morning. My urine and blood pressure were all fine. My Group B Strep cultures came back negative. I also gained some weights from last time which made me feel good. Couldn’t help but asking again about fetal hearing. She said a fetus can hear but it’s very muffled sounding. She said there is no need to worry about going to a loud concert and being spanked on the butt. She measured my fundal height and it was 35cm, which was right on track. Baby’s heart rate was in lower 140’s. I asked her to check the baby’s position. She though he was transverse first, which made me nervous for a second, but after palpating my whole belly, she agreed that the baby is head-down as last two appointments. She said it’s easier to find out baby’s presentation by doing internal exam and if the baby has been head-down, chances are he is going to stay that way. Oh, my baby! Please stay head-down!!! They will start doing internal at my next appointment; I’ll be 37 week then!! I’ll be full term also. It’s so exciting!! They also scheduled another sonogram next week to check on my cyst and the baby’s growth.

We had a shower yesterday, they day of my baby shower. It cleared up by the time my shower started so it all worked out.

We had some great food at the shower, some store bought and some home made. Too bad I couldn’t try all of them because of GD. I had some bread with spinach dip, shrimp, raw veggies with dip, two small pieces of veggie pizza, and some fruit.

There were about 16 or so people there. They are all people from work. (It’s a work baby shower after all.) After people ate, we started playing some games. The first one was to guess how many mints there are in this baby bottle. The second one was that everyone, except me, cut off a part of the ribbon to represent the measurement of my belly. The third game was that everyone was given 4 cards, when the host called your card, you got to pick a gift out of four. When all four gifts were all owned by somebody, you could choose to take either one away from the owner. The gift kept being moved from one person to another until the host ran out of the card. The last four people got to keep the gifts (surprises).

The last game was conjugated with the gift-openings. Everyone got a sheet of paper with bingo boxes on it. They wrote down what gifts I was getting. When I opened a gift that they had on the list, they could cross it out. When someone got all four in the row crossed out, they won a gift. People were having a great time and some of them even got to take some gifts home.

I, or my baby I should have said, got lots of great gifts. Lots of baby outfits, some toys, some blankets, some baby bathing necessities, two bibs, two CD’s, a couple of hooded towel, a hamper, a night lamp with a rubber duck on it, two diaper bags I liked, one really cute Fisher Price aquarium bath tub, a changing pad and cover, two nursing pillows, a baby book, a photo album, a scrap book that I can write everything about the baby, etc. and etc. I also got a special one dollar bill from Department of Treasure with lots of 8 in the sequence number with a card talking about the year of dog and the personality of people born in the year. Oh, and the wife of my boss bought me all the bottles, nipples, and a sterilizer I need. That was so nice of her. This lady June even especially sawed a beautiful “multi-purpose” blanket for my baby. I can hang it up on the wall, use it as a curtain, or a blanket when the baby grows older.

The last but not the least, I cut a cake with “Welcome Baby OUR LAST NAME” on it. I couldn’t have the cake though. DH came before the party was over so he got to have some food and the cake so that was nice. He hung out with other two husbands of the hosts while we ladies were enjoying our good time.

I felt so moved that even though I am not really close to anybody at work, the hosts still put so much effort in organizing such a wonderful baby shower for me and there were so many people coming. It really made me feel home.

I had another u/s last Friday. According to my OB, I was 31week on that day. The u/s was to check on my cyst and the growth of my baby.

He was head down, which was perfect. The tech measured his head, waist, thigh bone, and his heart rate. All measurements looked good and his heart rate was about 154 BPM. I saw my lil one’s face for the first time. (I only got profile shots before.) He was so cute!! I think he looks more like his father than me. He has his Dad’s high forehead. His nose looks like my FIL’s nose. DH said he looks like a Bhudda. What’s really funny was that we both think he looks a lot like my FIL. I guess we’ll find out fore sure once he is born.

The tech told me he is 37th percentile and it’s normal. I talked to nurse Vickie this morning. She said it just means that chances are he is going to be a 6, 7lb baby instead of 9, 10lb one. His growth is fine. I feel relieved to hear that. At least I don’t need to worry too much about him being overly large. Besides, Asians statistically have smaller babies then Caucasians and I am small myself. Thus, as long as I follow doctor’s instructions and get enough calories I need, my baby should be fine.

I am just so glad I got to see my baby and so grateful that he is doing well in my womb. His health is the most important thing to me at the moment. My cyst was still there and about the same size. But I am not thinking too much about it right now. I am simply hoping to have a healthy baby and go with the flow on other issues. I may very likely need a surgery for my cyst after delivery but I think everything will work out just fine.

I am somewhere between 30 and 31 weeks today. I didn’t have a great weekend because I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes last Thursday. Yes, I’ve failed my 3 hour Glucose Tolerance Test. My 1 hour and 2 hour numbers were much higher than the standard set by American Diabetes Association. I am so shocked and depressed to learn this. Even though it may go away itself after the delivery, statistics shows that 40-50% of the women who have Gestational Diabetes develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. I sure hope I am not going to be one of them.

I am going to see a specialist tomorrow morning to find out what kind of diet plan I need to follow and how I should check my blood sugar daily. I’ve changed my eating habits a little bit, hoping it will help. I am avoiding all sweets, no juice, no fruit in the morning, decrease the daily intake of fruit, and eat high fiber whole grain bread and crackers. I am also eating a small amount every meal but eat more meals through out the day.

DH and I went to my prenatal appointment with Dr. F today. We first discussed how GD will affect me and the baby. She said we are going to see how I am doing with the new diet and check the size of the baby at the u/s before they decide what we are going to do next. I am having my u/s this coming Friday for my cyst. At the same time, they’ll find out the percentile of my baby. 50% will be perfect, higher number means larger than average and smaller number means smaller than average. The size of the baby will greatly affect my choice of delivery. She also said they will check the baby’s blood sugar right after the delivery so they can give baby sugar water if his blood sugar is too low.

We then went over my birth plan. They pretty much can work with most of my wishes, so that’s good. DH then mentioned about Dr. B. It turned out that Dr. F already knew our situation with Dr. B from nurse Heidi at the hospital. However, she didn’t comment too much. She did mention that Dr. T may be on maternity leave by the time I deliver, which means that I will have 1/3 of chance seeing Dr. B.

I haven’t gained any weight for the past month. She said it was okay and I don’t need to worry. She said some women even lost some weight while on diabetic diet but as long as the diet provides enough calories, there won’t be any concern. She said my blood pressure was beautiful. So was my fundal height, 31cm. I am hoping the fundal height being on target is a good sign showing that my baby is not over-large. We listened to his heartbeat, which was 158 BPM. His heartbeat sound strong and healthy. Dr. then touching around my belly for his position. He was head down. YA! I was so happy to hear that!!

I am praying that I’ll get my blood sugar in control and my baby will be strong and healthy!!