I got a pleasant surprise today. My uncle, whose girlfriend had a baby one mth early over the weekend, asked my advice on circumcision. I gave him the info I had against it, and I so hope he listens. His baby is so tiny, born at only 4lbs 11oz and will still be in the hospital another week.
There are a lot of false positives. I once had a false positive, but last time I failed the 3 hour test. I remember there was another woman in my ddc who also failed the 3 hour and she was very surprised because she was very young and petite with no risk factors. I didn't have too many risk factors either, but I am older. Now I am older still.
I was supposed to have the test earlier on, but didn't get around to it, and now the dr said to wait until 26 weeks. I am very nervous because I am having a very hard time controlling my diet this time around, and I am anxious that I am harming the baby. If I do fail, they will give me a glucometer which actually makes it easier to control my diet.
I have a friend like that- tiny little thing, eat's a fairly healthy diet, and has failed the GTT with 2 pregnancies!
Okay, I've been meaning to ask....is anyone dealing with a lot of RL pain? I don't recall having it this frequently during past pregnancies. I would get it if I'd sneeze or if I'd move or lay wrong or something, but this time I've been getting it a lot just out of the blue. Thankfully it's just simply that- RL pain, and it's nothing I can't stand, but it's just annoying!!! Anyone find a good way of relieving it other than just squirming around until finding a less "offensive" position and waiting for it to pass?
The one nice thing about mine is that my MW did give me the glucola so I can drink it on the way to my appointment and she'll draw my blood when I get there. She also said it's much more pleasant to drink when it's cold so I have it in the refrigerator atm.
According to Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth, between 50-70% of women get one result the first time they are tested, and get the opposite result when tested again (same pregnancy, of course). Its a very unreliable test, probably due to the large margin of (human error). Measuring, timing, and all that. Also interesting to note: evidence shows that there is no treatment, either with diet & exercise and/or insulin injections that actually IMPROVE outcomes for mother and baby.
I find all this info particularly interesting because I already HAVE diabetes (since age 9) and have had to do a lot of research and monitoring during this pregnancy. It takes a ton of self discipline, but if you think you might be growing a LGA baby, cutting out refined flours, sugars, and starchy foods from your diet for the rest of the pregnancy could help blood sugar fluctuation, *in theory* helping your baby to best utilize his own insulin and not gain as much weight in utero. But, then again, if your baby is predisposed to being large, anyway, you really wouldn't have any "proof" that treatment helped or didn't help. It is just as likely for a mother WITHOUTt diabetes (preexisting or not) to give birth to a baby with blood sugar issues as it is for a mother WITH diabetes that is well controlled by diet or insulin. Other variables and interventions are more likely to cause low blood sugars in newborns than the mother simply having a diagnosis of GD. Did I just ramble? I rambled. Woops.
Okay, I've been meaning to ask....is anyone dealing with a lot of RL pain? I don't recall having it this frequently during past pregnancies. I would get it if I'd sneeze or if I'd move or lay wrong or something, but this time I've been getting it a lot just out of the blue. Thankfully it's just simply that- RL pain, and it's nothing I can't stand, but it's just annoying!!! Anyone find a good way of relieving it other than just squirming around until finding a less "offensive" position and waiting for it to pass?
I have to assume that's what I'm currently dealing with. After my episode of BH yesterday I drank water and sat on the couch until they went away. Then I was determined to at least do one load of laundry and in the process of bending down to pick up clothes I felt a sharp pain along the underside of my belly that made me yelp out loud. Anything I did for the next few hours would trigger the pain and I was basically useless. Sleeping helped but now that's it the afternoon again, I've got the same pain when I walk, bend, turn, do anything other than sitting super still. It's right along the base of my belly from left to right. I think that's got to be RL pain right? I have an OB appt tomorrow so I'll bring this all up to him but I'm sure he'll just tell me it's RL.
I really, really hope this doesn't last for long. I have a lot of stuff left to do around this house before baby arrives and I can't do much in large quantities with this happening.
Oh... and I've had mega heartburn for most of today. What a crappy day!
The way you describe it makes it sound like RL, but I've never had it underneath my belly (more just up one side from underneath) so I can't say! I hope you catch a break!!!!
I think I may have pulled or twisted something last night while doing laundry and maybe it's just still tender from todays activity. I am going to force myself to lay low for a couple of days and see if it improves.
The co-sleeper is all put together and set up in our bedroom!
The co-sleeper is all put together and set up in our bedroom!
Nice! I have a bit left to clear out of our room but I've been considering getting ours put in its place. I also bought one of those tap lights to put underneath it for use at night when I have to wake up to nurse or change the baby. I have yet to test how well I can see but the dimmer, the better. We learned this great trick on day 2 with DD1 that as long as you keep the lights as low as possible and don't talk or interact with the baby during the nighttime stuff, they are more likely to fall right back asleep. We did that with DD and didn't even make eye contact at night and it worked like a charm! She had her days and nights straight within a week and slept solidly at night. It was a lifesaver.
Okay, I've been meaning to ask....is anyone dealing with a lot of RL pain? I don't recall having it this frequently during past pregnancies. I would get it if I'd sneeze or if I'd move or lay wrong or something, but this time I've been getting it a lot just out of the blue. Thankfully it's just simply that- RL pain, and it's nothing I can't stand, but it's just annoying!!! Anyone find a good way of relieving it other than just squirming around until finding a less "offensive" position and waiting for it to pass?
YES! Never had this before, at least not like it is now. I don't know what's going on with me this time. My back is in bad shape and my lower belly hurts. Worries me because I still have like 15 weeks to go.....
I was supposed to have the test earlier on, but didn't get around to it, and now the dr said to wait until 26 weeks. I am very nervous because I am having a very hard time controlling my diet this time around, and I am anxious that I am harming the baby. If I do fail, they will give me a glucometer which actually makes it easier to control my diet.
I have actually kind of hoped to test positive because it would force me to eat better. I have an embarassing sugar addiction and I hate myself for it sometimes. However, I know I could stop eating it if I had to. I stopped for 8 weeks once and was so proud of myself! I lost 15 lbs and felt pretty good. Then my birthday came and it all went downhill from there (although I kept most of the weight off).
I don't know what is going on with my back but it's got me really frustrated. I always have lower back issues in pregnancy, but not this bad, this early. I did simple housework yesterday- dishes and sweeping- and was in tears after an hour because it hurt. I've been to a chiropractor and it doesn't seem to help. How can I be "mom" if I can't even do the basic stuff? Feeling pretty crummy today :(
No RL pain yet, at least none that's too bad or that I've noticed. But lots of lower back pain. My diastasis recti doesn't help at all. I'm worried its going to be much much worse with this baby once I deliver than any other baby. I plan on getting a belly binder and start doing the workouts as soon as baby is born this time.
Nice! I have a bit left to clear out of our room but I've been considering getting ours put in its place. I also bought one of those tap lights to put underneath it for use at night when I have to wake up to nurse or change the baby. I have yet to test how well I can see but the dimmer, the better. We learned this great trick on day 2 with DD1 that as long as you keep the lights as low as possible and don't talk or interact with the baby during the nighttime stuff, they are more likely to fall right back asleep. We did that with DD and didn't even make eye contact at night and it worked like a charm! She had her days and nights straight within a week and slept solidly at night. It was a lifesaver.
Great tip about the light. Thanks! So..... how is the co-sleeper best used? I guess I thought I could lean over and nurse the LO but that doesnt seem practical. Am I supposed to take the baby out of the co-sleeper, nurse, and then put her back? Also, a friend was telling me she wrote down every time she nursed (every few hours) and on which side ?
No RL pain yet, at least none that's too bad or that I've noticed. But lots of lower back pain. My diastasis recti doesn't help at all. I'm worried its going to be much much worse with this baby once I deliver than any other baby. I plan on getting a belly binder and start doing the workouts as soon as baby is born this time.
I found binding right after birth really helped my diastasis. It wasn't terrible, maybe a few finger widths, but it hadn't really healed after my previous pregnancies. Wrapping/binding at 13 months PP after #2 made a difference quite quickly but then I got pregnant again that month so it didn't really last.
I don't know what is going on with my back but it's got me really frustrated. I always have lower back issues in pregnancy, but not this bad, this early. I did simple housework yesterday- dishes and sweeping- and was in tears after an hour because it hurt. I've been to a chiropractor and it doesn't seem to help. How can I be "mom" if I can't even do the basic stuff? Feeling pretty crummy today :(
Do you know if it's SI joint pain? That KILLS my lower back during pregnancy (and beyond...for years we even considered a chronic virus) and my chiro doesn't really relieve that, either...I have to keep on top of it myself by releasing it at home. I can't remember if we talked about this before or not, I know I had shared this with somebody on here just can't recall who....but here is a video with an example of how I release mine. It REALLY helps...and I think if you tried it and it gave you any relief, you can probably be sure it's your SI joint getting twisted. DON'T skip stretching your quads/hips like they show because that one seems to really finish off the release.
Oh, and the video doesn't show the other one that REALLY helps me is laying on back with both knees up and having DH (or me just putting something there, or just my own fists) place his firsts in between my knees and I press against them, and then switching to holding the outside of the knees and pushing against that way. I do those, along with the individual legs like in the video, and then stretch, and it almost always relieves the pain. However, sometimes I have to do it numerous times a day.
MommyRuth: I have a feeling there are lots of false positives. I have a friend that tested positive and requested a re-do, and tested negative the next time. Plus, every office seems to have different procedures for preparing for the test. The first time I did it, I had to fast for a certain amount of time beforehand. The last two times I didn't. All that being said, I sometimes wonder if I had a false negative with my ds because he was so much bigger than my other two and I gained more weight. Eh. Who knows?
My test is this Thursday. My OB mentioned something about eating pancakes instead, but I'm just going to drink the drink. It doesn't bother me (although waiting around for an hour stinks), probably because I am a really bad sugar addict :(
I had to fast before the screen I took when I was pregnant with my daughter. It's quite odd how different every office does things sometimes. Good luck on your test!
I still undecided but I am leaning towards not doing the glucose screen. I did not do it last time, but this time I have gained so much weight that I am unsure. Is anyone else planning not to do it?
I am not doing the screen. My midwife said if there is concern in the future, they can check my blood then and if necessary, do more testing, but I'm not concerned.
The sensitivity rate (true positive) for the Glucose Challenge Test (sometimes called the 1-hour test) was .74 and the specificity rate (true negative) varies between .77 and .85 (Van Leeuwen, Louwerse, Opmeer, Limpens, Serlie, Reitsma & Mol, 2012). This study used the outcome of the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (sometimes called the 3-hour test) as "ground truth." I don't believe there are data on OGTT false positives - if you have blood glucose above the defined limits of that test, you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I know of several women who were diagnosed based on the OGTT, went on to monitor their blood sugar (and sometimes alter their diet) and never have a single reading out of range. However, I have never seen any effort to look at the rate of this type of occurance. I know that one mother who asked her OB about it said that the OB told her that even if she didn't have GD, she did have impaired glucose tolerance *by definition* because of her test results, so he required monitoring through the end of her pregnancy even though she never had one single reading out of range. She was not allowed to "redo" the test. She did not have GD in a subsequent pregnancy.
Thanks for posting this! It's also surprising to me that the "norm" is to drink that glucola crap when it's not something people normally ingest, instead of using real food to test. It also says something to me that America is the only country that screens patients as a rule.
There are a lot of false positives. I once had a false positive, but last time I failed the 3 hour test. I remember there was another woman in my ddc who also failed the 3 hour and she was very surprised because she was very young and petite with no risk factors. I didn't have too many risk factors either, but I am older. Now I am older still.
I was supposed to have the test earlier on, but didn't get around to it, and now the dr said to wait until 26 weeks. I am very nervous because I am having a very hard time controlling my diet this time around, and I am anxious that I am harming the baby. If I do fail, they will give me a glucometer which actually makes it easier to control my diet.
I read something the other day about the possibility that pregnant women probably process glucose differently. Obviously, many things change when pregnant, so why not that, too? The article suggested that the GTT is totally absurd to use because it isn't fully understood how the pregnant body uses glucose, according to this article.
I can't articulate things correctly! It's been one of the most annoying pregnancy symptoms. I'm usually great with words, but my brain has been taken over by hormones! It's SUPER frustrating. Anyone else?
Thanks for posting this! It's also surprising to me that the "norm" is to drink that glucola crap when it's not something people normally ingest, instead of using real food to test. It also says something to me that America is the only country that screens patients as a rule.
I read something the other day about the possibility that pregnant women probably process glucose differently. Obviously, many things change when pregnant, so why not that, too? The article suggested that the GTT is totally absurd to use because it isn't fully understood how the pregnant body uses glucose, according to this article.
I've always thought that, too, about making us drink that crap!! Yuck.
I have read interesting stuff about the process during pregnancy, too. Especially related to thyroid. With my own thyroid issues, I've been researching how hypothyroidism in pregnancy (which is actually pretty common) can cause exaggerated insulin response and diabetic-like blood sugar levels in pregnancy and can make women appear to be near borderline or full-blown gestationally diabetic. I honestly think that this was a key issue for my tiny little friend who I posted about earlier.
Great tip about the light. Thanks! So..... how is the co-sleeper best used? I guess I thought I could lean over and nurse the LO but that doesnt seem practical. Am I supposed to take the baby out of the co-sleeper, nurse, and then put her back? Also, a friend was telling me she wrote down every time she nursed (every few hours) and on which side ?
I would take the baby out to nurse/change then put back in. Once ours was swaddled she would be relax and putting her down was much easier. And writing down or wearing a bracelet and switching wrists each time is definitely helpful to remember which side your nursed on last time. For me, it became easy to tell which one was fuller but I still had times where I really had to think about which one I nursed with last.
It also says something to me that America is the only country that screens patients as a rule.
I'm in Canada, and they do it here.
Before ten years ago, there wasn't a lot of evidence for the screen's effectiveness. But in the last decade more evidence has shown that it is a good starting point (medical personal understand that there can be a lot of false positives on the initial screen, but it helps narrow down how many need the actual GTT so that not everybody has to routinely do that one - which involves a 12 hour fast). Also, in the last ten years, based on what I've read, they've gotten more evidence for treatments/methods of dealing with GD so it's actually worth knowing whether you've got it or not. And because it's such an incredibly low risk test, the main drawbacks are time/cost and the gross factor for those who really dislike the drink.
I am considering waiting until I am out of the "normal" range of this test to switch to the new provider, because I'm concerned about how taking it and it coming back positive would affect my VBAC, especially since DF's side of the family leans towards big babies.
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