Just a quick reply:
I think most people complain because there is no way they would put that much crap in their system under normal use and would rather just do blood sugar tests or blood work.
eta
didn't mean that rude. just quick reply since you on line too :)
Name: maryam
Weeks/Days along: 23w 4d
Appointments: midwives on wednesday, OB at some point at the end of the month
Symptoms: I had nothing to complain about for weeks but now the symptoms are starting up again - my GI system is all messed up (reflux, gas, frequent/not great bowel movements, etc). it's actually pretty painful sometimes. baby is as active as ever, lots and lots of big thumps and squirms (eee!)
Food: gluten free for close to a week now with no improvement. so gluten doesn't seem to be the root of my stomach problem this time. I've been eating pretty well, but there's also been some kind of dessert every day. lots of mandarins and cucumbers. appetite is starting to die down a bit.
Exercise: I joined a climbing gym this week! I have a funny-looking full-body harness and I've been learning on the super-beginning climbing walls. they're still super challenging and I enjoy learning something new. I'm also doing some functional training 1-2x a week, walking a bunch, and soon starting prenatal yoga.
Body changes and other milestones: I suddenly feel so BIG, all over. my stomach is really big and hard to navigate around (tying my shoelaces is an issue), but I also feel extra padding all over. I've gained 17 pounds according to the OB scale (and I'm seeing a number I've never seen before). I can't decide whether I want to weigh myself again until the end of the pregnancy. I think at least some of this big feeling is in my head.
Thoughts:
the new term started today and I'm not feeling into it at all. I'm a teaching assistant for a class about human life history theory (evolutionary theories of reproductive decision-making, mate selection, infancy, all the way through aging) which is cool, but otherwise I'm just hoping I can get through this all without much stress. I'm thinking of somehow finding/acquiring hypnobabies. I'm using a pregnancy meditation app on my iPhone right now and it's great, but it's getting a little repetitive.
I'm trying not to complain about much because I'm healthy, my mate is healthy, all my babies are healthy, and we have everything we need to be safe and comfortable. but I'm dealing with some family stuff and my in-laws are being pretty inconsiderate. I would vent but it would just be too much.
on top of this, my brain doesn't seem to be working as well as usual ;) which doesn't ever help! going gluten free de-fuzzed my brain just a little, but definitely not enough.
Maryam - I feel you on the family issues. Seriously. I would love to vent but it (also) is just too much. I want to get the hypnobabies set also.
First day of term for me was today also :) I'm a student though. English, Criminal Justice and psychology. whoohoo for me.
Name: Astraia/Grace
Weeks/Days along: 23, I think? I need something emailed to me, I can't keep track of it!
Appointments: Feb... 6th? Maybe? Somewhere in Feb. I'm still going every 6 weeks since I'm medically boring :)
Symptoms: Feeling huge. Lots and lots of BH's and RLP. Feet are killing me, my back hurts, my belly feels like a big lump. My boobs have gotten huge and very sensitive. And I'm exhuasted- I mean it, just absolutely and completely done in. All day. Although I was thinking about it, and I haven't had more than 2 hours of straight sleep in more than week, and regularly get less than 6 hours of sleep- STILL got 6 hrs of sleep last night, and I went to bed at 8 pm.
Food: Not interested in anything. I eat because I get hungry and I need to be eating, but I really don't care what i put in my mouth- which is problematic, because it doesn't matter to me if it's healthy (ie, carrot sticks) or terrible (ie, jujubes).
Exercise: Minimal. Walk the dog some, but walking makes my belly hurt.
Body changes and other milestones: Feeling huge. Getting a lot of comments from strangers about the belly and asking when I'm due. A lot of "ohh, MAY? Wow. You're gonna be HUGE!" sorts of comments. Hrm.
Thoughts: Thinking about actually getting that chair for work. Concerned about constant braxton hicks and exhaustion level. Baby is squirmy and wiggly and I'm really loving feeling him/her- I feel like baby moves almost all the time, which is neat.
Sorry to hear about everyone being sick! I can't imagine being sick right now, I'd just lay in bed and cry (only half joking here!). I hope everyone recovers FAST! Also sorry to hear about husband issues.... we seem to be on the up-swing relationship wise, and I'd love to say it's because I'm putting more effort into it but I'm totally not.
Glucose test: it's GROSS, for one thing. I can't handle regular juice full strength, and this thing is like ultra-concentrated orange koolaid with all kinds of food colourings. I also don't agree with testing EVERY woman for GD when the diagnosis is controversial anyway. I seriously very nearly puked it up the first time, and I'm not a puker. This time I'm not doing it- I don't have any of the risk factors and I try to eat well and eat frequently (although I admit I don't eat well a lot of the time, I'm trying!)
Cristeen - WOO on Baby Signing Time!!! I'm a Signing Time Instructor through their Academy program, and that show is how my daughter started TALKING!!! I love love love Signing Time. :P
Ok so question.. she gave me a drink and told me directions for my glucose test. Why do so many people hate the glucose test? What's sucky about it? Does the stuff taste bad? It sounds like you just drink it and then they take your blood an hour later, so what's the big deal? I keep seeing people complain about it and never knew what it was until today when she gave me my orange-flavored drink thingy and directions for my next appointment.
I could really go off on this subject, but I'll try to keep it short(-ish)...
So, for all of those reasons, the actual performance of the test is questioned by many pg women, and many practitioners. There are also a lot of women (like me), who KNOW that they will react badly to that influx of sugar on an empty stomach - not that I'm worried about failing the test (because I don't believe in it), but that I have no desire to be puking my guts out, dizzy, and unable to function for the rest of the day. It's not good for me, my baby or my toddler who I have to care for. There's also the question of what does a fail on the test mean for your birth choices? In some places it means no HB. In some it means no MW care, being treated as high-risk and transferring care to an OB. In some it means that your OB is going to want to induce you before 40 weeks, which increases your risk of c/s. This is a question you have to ask your care provider. In DS1's pg, my refusal to take the GTT meant I was fired by my care providers and required to transfer care to a perinatologist. Not an OB, but a high risk OB. They attempted scare tactics, talking about big babies to try to get me to take it - I pointed out my size and the size of my husband and pointed out that the 2 of us together weren't about to make a small baby regardless of their test. They didn't like it, but ultimately they couldn't force me to take the test.
The reality is that if you or your care provider is concerned about what your blood sugar (BS) is doing, it's much more accurate to use a glucometer for a few days or a week. Keep a log. Test first thing in the morning, immediately after a meal, 1 hour after, 2 hours after. Keep the log side-by-side with your food diary, and you can see the patterns of how what you ate affected your BS. This is much more useful information. In DS' pg, using the glucometer showed that my numbers initially went up, as would be expected, but then at hour 2 the numbers bottomed out (lower than before eating). This is an indicator of hypoglycemia, which is very different, and requires different treatment than diabetes. But if I had taken the test, 2 elevated numbers are all that are needed in order to receive a diagnosis of GD. Other indications are often ignored (there's a mama in the Feb DDC dealing with this right now).
Symptoms: I had nothing to complain about for weeks but now the symptoms are starting up again - my GI system is all messed up (reflux, gas, frequent/not great bowel movements, etc). it's actually pretty painful sometimes. baby is as active as ever, lots and lots of big thumps and squirms (eee!)
Food: gluten free for close to a week now with no improvement. so gluten doesn't seem to be the root of my stomach problem this time. I've been eating pretty well, but there's also been some kind of dessert every day. lots of mandarins and cucumbers. appetite is starting to die down a bit.
Sounds like pregnancy to me! You sure you're not pg? 
As the baby keeps growing, the reflux, heartburn and gas tend to just get worse for those of us prone to it. I highly recommend digestive enzymes - you can get them at most HFS. Take one after each meal, and it helps prevent the reflux/heartburn. I also keep ginger chews on hand, which help with any roiling stomach issues I may get. Although if you are wheat sensitive, I do recommend staying away from it - for me that was the biggest culprit in previous pg. Cutting out wheat completely reduced my symptoms drastically (doesn't make them go away though). So long as the baby is squishing your organs, things aren't gonna work the way they did before. That can also contribute to the low appetite - your stomach is being compressed, so you're not as hungry and get full quicker.
As for GF, I seem to recall it takes 2-3 weeks to clear from your system. So if you're seeing some improvement at this point I'd keep it up.
Cristeen - WOO on Baby Signing Time!!! I'm a Signing Time Instructor through their Academy program, and that show is how my daughter started TALKING!!! I love love love Signing Time. :P
DS LOVES BST and ST. I've thought off and on about becoming an instructor, just because at this point I've been watching the videos almost daily for 2 years. And with another one on the way, it's going to be another 2+ years. I don't have the speed of someone who's using it all the time, and I struggle with fingerspelling, but I have the vocabulary, and do my best to sign whatever I can for DS, since he seems to understand it better than the spoken word. My cousin and her GF were both interpreters at a deaf school for a while, and at one point they were sitting on my couch watching the Zoo Train for the vocabulary. DS doesn't sign much though - at least he really didn't start trying until after 2. But he definitely understands it. And he'll ask for his fave videos (I'm a Girl! I'm a Boy!; My House; Happy Birthday to You!). I finally loaded them on the iPad so he could control them himself rather than me having to go swap the discs constantly.
You know what's funny??? I JUST asked you guys about my uterus today and then all of a sudden I go to my appointment and they measure my belly for the first time. And I asked what they were measuring and they said my uterus.. and the top of the measuring tape was SOOOO high!! I had no idea it was that high already!!! Holy crap this kid has tons of room in there, no wonder he is moving around so much! It was waaay up farther than I ever thought it would be lol!!!
Ok so question.. she gave me a drink and told me directions for my glucose test. Why do so many people hate the glucose test? What's sucky about it? Does the stuff taste bad? It sounds like you just drink it and then they take your blood an hour later, so what's the big deal? I keep seeing people complain about it and never knew what it was until today when she gave me my orange-flavored drink thingy and directions for my next appointment.
The drink is gross, and makes me sick... I can't drink it, but my midwife will let me drink the equivalent sugar bricks in regular Orange juice, which has some nutritional value....
and yes to what Cristeen said! I think she said it all!
Cristeen, thank you for the post. Thats interesting, some of it I already knew but some of it I hadn't heard before or researched.
How are you feeling today?
Just a reminder
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I'm a little crazy... I like the orange glucose test drink! I always have to do the super high sugar, THREE hour testing (90%????) so mine is even stronger but I suck that drinky back and joke that I want more! It tastes like melted orange freezies... yummm. I am definitely the exception! I am dreading the test because mine is 3 hours long and I cannot even leave the room and because I am fasting, they won't let me have water or anything and all they will BARELY let me do is swish water in my mouth and spit it out. That orange drink leaves me feeling thirsty and the three hours is a longgggg wait.
About the GD test... I don't know if they do the test different where I am, but I don't have to fast. I just have to eat a high protein breakfast (not sugary), then wait 2 hours to drink the drink and test an hour after that. So I guess it will be about 3 hours before I can eat again but that's about the spacing I go from breakfast to lunch or a snack anyway. This is interesting info about the test but I guess in this case I'd rather be safe than sorry. My SIL tested positive for GD and does not normally have diabetes nor is she overweight. She managed it with diet and checking her blood sugars at home.
Eww, Linnie...why do you have to do all that? And, btw, how's your foot?
I'm with Cristeen...no GD test for me either.
Cristeen - I may have a girl-crush on you now for your post about GD!!!
What bothers me most about it, is that now, as a diabetic, I can't for the life of me, find information that is geared towards being diabetic while pregnant. Everything is about gestational diabetes, which is NOT the same thing!!!!
If anyone is super concerned about diabetes while pregnant, ask your doctor to do a C-peptide test and a fasting glucose. If you really do have problems, those two blood tests will tell you all you need to know. Everything else is just gravy.
Thanks guys for the info on the glucose test! My doctor said I could eat breakfast instead of fasting, something like a couple eggs in the morning so I will do that. I hope I can handle the drink, there is a LOT of it so if it's gross that will be hard, but I will try! I guess mine is a 1 hour test, as they will be testing my blood one hour after I finish my drink.
Thanks again for the info, I hope I make it through the test ok!
It's like Fanta, with triple the sugar, on an empty stomach, and guzzled in 5 minutes or less. Who drinks 3 fantas in less than 5 minutes first thing in the morning?
Oh, is it crap? I just have this drink to drink, is it not good for you? I'm so clueless lol!
I have to do all that because I start measuring so much larger than my dates. I had to do that with the midwives I had the first two times. I am hoping that the OB I have this time is ok with me just doing the one hour test. The other problem is that I have small veins that move away from the needle but they appear to be "great" veins. They have to poke me multiple times to get a good vein. One time during the glucose test, they tried 5 times and went through the vein twice (not to mention the other needles needed at the beginning and end of the test) and I was so bruised, I looked awful. My very tiny and healthy mom had GD with her third pregnancy. I do appreciate all that info that Cristeen posted... I am agreeing with that info.
THANK YOU for asking about my foot. It's still pretty gross but I have almost no pain. (TMI ALERT) The stitches are trying to fall out and with them, a lot of chunks of dead skin are falling off too. It looks absolutely terrible. I still cannot wear any shoes other than my grandpa's boots so I am really yearning for normal shoes. Its probably a nice treat for my feet as I usually wear heels everyday including all through my pregnancies. I am sick of putting gauze and paper tape around my foot and DH usually helps with that now as it's hard to move into that bent over position.
Eww, Linnie...why do you have to do all that? And, btw, how's your foot?
I'm with Cristeen...no GD test for me either.
Linnie I don't actually mind the taste either 
BUT I mind the TEST for all the reasons Cristeen pointed out (Cristeen, you are AWESOME).
While I can actually handle the taste, my body is just not used to that much sugar - I do have a mild dark chocolate addiction (in regular life and pregnancy haha) but thats not actually so much sugar. They didn't tell me to fast - so the only way I can handle that much sugar in one sitting is by eating something like an egg sandwich beforehand. Otherwise I'll feel really awful.
I'm a little crazy... I like the orange glucose test drink! I always have to do the super high sugar, THREE hour testing (90%????) so mine is even stronger but I suck that drinky back and joke that I want more! It tastes like melted orange freezies... yummm. I am definitely the exception! I am dreading the test because mine is 3 hours long and I cannot even leave the room and because I am fasting, they won't let me have water or anything and all they will BARELY let me do is swish water in my mouth and spit it out. That orange drink leaves me feeling thirsty and the three hours is a longgggg wait.
It's like Fanta, with triple the sugar, on an empty stomach, and guzzled in 5 minutes or less. Who drinks 3 fantas in less than 5 minutes first thing in the morning?
Oh ok. I do ok with super sweet things so hopefully I won't detest it. And my doc says I can eat breakfast so hopefully that will help! Thanks!
I'm doing my glucose test in February, and my midwife said I could drink 16oz of Tropicana OJ instead of the Glucola. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I can down 16oz of orange juice no problem, I'm an OJ addict.
OneMore - I'm feeling much better, thanks. Seems like I just kinda got a tiny bit of what DH did. He was flat for 2 days, and groggy for 2 more. I just had some nausea, vertigo, and achiness. Last night taking my prenatal made me sick, but I was feeling queasy even before that. This morning I'm feeling tons better. In fact I just finished my lunch, which was quite a bit spicier than I expected - we'll see how my stomach reacts, but so far so good.
Jynx - any luck with the ADA? I'll look through my books, see what I can find. But you're right, it's not easy to find the little bit of info that's out there about pg and diabetes melitus. It's been overrun by the info on GD.
As for all that - this is a subject I (obviously) feel very strongly about, and I did a lot of research about it in my first pregnancy. And after that I started midwifery training (which I later decided wasn't for me), so I have tons of books lying around, and have read lots of stuff about it, attended seminars, researched, etc. But being a fat woman with 3 pregnancies in 5 years, it's something that I have had to deal with. And I've had to stand my ground. And I believe in providing information to every woman - they have a right to know all of the above before agreeing to the test. Whether you choose to do it or not after you have the info is between you and your HCP, but I don't believe in doing a test just because the doc orders it (I believe I've said something similar about u/s to you guys). And I've flat out refused a blood draw before when the doctor didn't tell me he was ordering an HIV test, I just happened to see the sticker before the phlebotomist stuck me. I refused it, she told me I wasn't allowed to refuse, and I told her it was my arm, and since she didn't have my blood yet, I could just walk out the door (they don't much like it when people do that).
But for myself, because I'm insulin resistant (with PCOS), the docs seem to think that means I'm automatically diabetic (even aside from my weight). No - I have plenty of insulin in my blood stream, TYVM. I just can't use it (very well). That's a big contributor to my weight. More insulin isn't going to resolve anything, my body will ignore that like it does all the native stuff. I have to work on sensitization, which is a lot of work, and most of the time I feel like I'd rather be fat. Doesn't mean I'm going to allow myself to be brow-beaten by somebody who's just looking at my weight in a chart and making assumptions though.
Ok... I'll try to get off my soap box now. 
Name: Marisa
Weeks/Days along: 23w 1d
Appointments: 24 week appt next week
Symptoms: I actually feel pretty great. My SO was commenting last night that he's observed that I seem to really like being pregnant and that I sure didn't seem anxious for it to all be over. I had to agree, I'm lucky - pregnancy has been a pretty great experience this time and with my previous two. I even considered being a surrogate at one point. The baby is moving quite a bit, but I wouldn't say a LOT like others...so maybe she's a little mellower than some other babies.
Food: I have to laugh at all the things I read in others' posts that are completely mirroring what's going on for me. This week it's that I have a (new) total addiction to blueberries...just like a bunch of other women here :) Costco has organic fresh blueberries right now. I bought two Costco-sized clamshells on Friday and yesterday, Monday, I went back and bought THREE more! I washed and put away a lot of the berries in the freezer, but even still, I think they'll be consumed within the next few days. This is not a long-term supply! I'm also eating 3-4 mandarins a day (sound familiar?). Eating-wise, I am enjoying pretty much everything though....no aversions and no really strong cravings other than fruit.
Exercise: I went on a long bike ride with SO this weekend which was fun, felt great....except all of a sudden my bike seat was SOOOOO uncomfortable. I don't know if it's the "increased blood flow" making me more sensitive - or just that I don't ride often enough - but I was feeling the ouch. I'm definitely in the market for a squishier seat now!
Body changes and other milestones: My breasts are enormous and I decided this time around to skip buying larger regular bras and just buy nursing bras in the larger size. The fit is fine size-wise, but I'm really disappointed by the lack of support and how my boobs look under clothes. I need to keep trying other styles because I'm just not ready to give up a good shape (or underwire) for the next 4 months of pregnancy. Also, here's something weird that I haven't heard anyone else say - am I alone in thinking BH contractions feel good?
Thoughts: I totally feel for you all who are going through extra stress with your partners. Having a new baby on the way can be really emotionally challenging for both parents and in different ways. My SO and I are getting along really well - much *less* fighting - but weekend before last I woke up Saturday morning so incredibly moody and "down" that I literally couldn't do anything. I saw everything in such a gloomy light and I couldn't explain WHY! Needless to say, this was not a positive for our relationship. Sigh. I took a long nap followed by a 2 hour (!!) bath and I just couldn't motivate to do anything. It was NYE, so I finally had to drag myself out (and try to look decent) because we were late for a party. Luckily since then I've been feeling more normal, but it is a reminder of the inexplicable moods the pregnant half of the partnership can feel. I also know that for men especially it's stressful worrying about how a new baby will change the relationship dynamic, etc.
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