Anomaly scan. 11+3

Woohooo - I feel like I'm on the home straight.  Such a weight lifted!!

I went for my anomoly scan today.  Everything is good - great in fact. All my measurements were spot on. The sonographer checked everything thoroughly - the measurement of the neck was .71mm (should be under 2mm I think) and there was a really good nasal bone and the heart was bashing away, all the valves working great. She said they were the best measurements she'd had all day. 

We got some really great photos. 

It was so unbelievably reassuring tho!! I really didn't think to hear that everything was as it should be would mean so much. We all say that we'd love our baby either way and I know we would, but to hear that everything is ok is SUCH a relief. Worth every penny over and over and it makes me feel a lot more secure about having a healthy baby at the end of this, regardless of what the diabetic clinic say to me this time.

Unforch tho, I'm still a bit small only being 11+3. Baby needs to be 45mm for comparison and the bean is only 44.3mm LOL!! SO, it means I go back next week for another scan YAY!!!

We came home and told Isabella. She jumped around and asked to see the pictures and wanted to see the Beans nose and eyes and tummy.  She then insisted on drawing a picture of the baby on my tummy and kissing it a lot - its was unbelivably sweet. She is so excited and keeps saying "can I see the baby mammy??" and looking at the scan pics. Its a great feeling!!

Yay.  

Will do more tomorrow.

Approach with caution. 10+6

Just a short post today.  I'm still sick and therefore ferociously grumpy.  Gordon is having to do most of the housework and I can just about manage to cook a dinner.  The main cold is gone but I'm left with awful sinus, absolute exhaustion and a constant headache.  I'm off all the meds now with the exception of paracetamol. This, if nothing else, means that previously perfectly rational people aren't inexplicably judging me for taking medications prescribed by my GP.

I've also admitted that I have nausea.  That took 3 weeks to accept it wasn't my cold or constipation or the rare glass of wine or whatever.  Its awful crippling exhausting nausea, starting almost on the dot of 10 past 4 in the afternoon.  Its such that I dont actually vomit or wretch but I spend the whole evening on the verge of it.  Eating a bigger lunch and a smaller dinner has helped, as has NuxVom, the homoeopathic remedy.  Also, the Mammy recommended Soda Water which gives me big satisfying burps LOL!!

Isabella is surpassing herself with tantrums and general pain-in-the-ass-ness but I'm hoping that Gordon and I can knock that on the head in the next few days with a reward chart and the threat of Santa not coming etc.  December can be handy for that.

One very nice thing was my Friday afternoon.  I went to my friend Wendy's house with Isabella for a playdate with her son daniel  She always cheers me up without seemingly trying very hard?  Dont we all have one of those perfect mates, the never-judging, never hyper or over-dramatic,  never miserable or gloating friends??  Life never sucks or shines - it just ticks over nicely.  We can sit and whine and batter out issues and come away feeling like everything got sorted out without breaking anyones heart.  I'm very lucky to have a couple of those pals.  Its my December resolution to spend more time with those people.  Thanks Wendy.

The Technical Stuff
All was doing fine until yesterday when suddenly my insulin requirement seems to have dropped significantly.  I was on target all of yesterday until bedtime.  I was 4.7 and then hit 3.3 about 8 minutes later.  I inhaled toast and lucozade but still suffered another horrid 2.7 at 5am.  This woke Gordon as I was incoherent.  He didnt get back to sleep so ended up going to work at about 7am.  Feeling particularly guilty about that.  I then did a TBR of -20% leaving me at 10.2 this morning.  Argh. ARGH!! I was still so shattered that I went back to bed only to have another 2.7 at 1pm.  I feel like I've been hit by a truck now.  Back to the drawing board tonight with my diary and pen.  Eugenie - you might be doing numbers with me yet!!

Almost human. 10wks.

Sorry I've not been on in an age. I've been floored with a rotten rotten cold and have been more than miserable. I smelt for the first time in about 4 days, unfortunately it was one of the Bessies little parcels - ugh.  

SO, I finally got over the hump of my cold by taking the maximum dose of paracetamol (in tablet and Lemsip form), heaps of Olbas Oil, steaming my head and eventually gave in and took a Piriton (anti-histamine). Piriton makes me drowsy so I crawled into bed in the spare room at 10pm and slept for 12 straight hours. The difference the next morning was unreal. I felt almost alive! However, because I couldnt get any accurate information on decongestants in pregnancy and the risks involved and therefore didnt take one, I now have an ear infection. I'm at the GP tomorrow morning and will probably need antibiotics. That really REALLY infuriates me because i'm pretty sure that a course of AB's are a lot more dangerous than a couple of sudafed. I also know that AB's are going to destroy my diabetes control and I could really do with some luck in that area. I'm going to take another Piriton tonight and hopefully get over the hump of the chestyness I have now. Sleep is such a curative thing for me.

Nothing much really to report unfortunately - I'm really trying to hide my bump now but its not working.  Asking my friends, i think for the most part its because of my section.  My figure had mostly returned after Isabella but I never lost the little roll of fat under my bellybutton which is common after a CS.  That seems to have hugely swelled now and general bloatedness is making me look huge.  

I have an appointment on the 5th for my first trimester tests.  Here is the information if anyone is interested.  http://www.rcsiwomenshealth.com/Patients/Patient_Services_-_Obstetrics_/First_Trimester_Screening/index.asp   Its just a scan and a blood test and Gordon is coming with me so I'm not nervous or anything. Looking forward to getting another scan and seeing my bean. I'll be 11+4 then so I might tell everyone after I get the results of that. Mam and Dad are having a little Christmas on the 11th so I might tell Isabella before then and let her tell her little cousins.  I'd love to video telling her - she can be such a sweet little thing that I'd love to have it to show her sibling in years to come.

I dont think I've anything else to whinge about. Oh, despite explaining over and over to the Rotunda why I was going public this time and not private, I was still put on my ex-consultants team. I rang and asked to change but the thundering bitch on the other end of the phone told me that I had no choice now that I was public. 

I'm also a bit nervous cos I met a midwife from Holles Street National Maternity Hospital a few days ago (socially) and she spent a good 20 mins going on about how you are much more likely to have problems delivering if you are a public patient. You dont get the same level of care. I was stunned she would say that, regardless of it being true.

I've gotten all my appointments for my 20wk and 24wk scan and they'll be very thorough because of the high-riskness. I'm going to ask for some very detailed placental scans and growth scans as they can be good early indications of pre-eclampsia.  Although they still cant control or prevent PET, knowledge is power and after last time, I want to prepare myself as much as I can.

**Sniff, cough, splutter** 9+3

Ugh.  I have a cold.  And I'm going to wallow.  A LOT.
My nose is running.
-  If I dont sniff, my nose tickles and I sneeze.
-  If I sneeze, I feel sick and dizzy.
-  If I do sniff, I get a pain in my head.
-  If I blow my nose, I go dizzy and my head pounds for about 3 minutes.
-  If I dont blow, my nose runs.

And no, there is nothing I can take apart from paracetemol.  Paracetemol sucks.

I'm also taking silver and echinacea and vitamin C and ginseng and Nettle Tea as a decongestant but I think I'd actually sell my soul for a sudafed and some codiene.

Had an ok week.  Gordon was in Puerto Rico and Mammy was my saviour (whats new).  She came over on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night meaning I got full nights sleep.  I went to Ballsbridge on Thursday night with Isabella and Oisin came here to mind the Boo.  Mammy picked us up some Mousaka and Bread and Butter pudding and I ate my head off.  I also got a nice long lie-in.  That meant I got some vital housework done before a rotten nights sleep Friday and 3 hypos in a row on Saturday morning wiped me out again.  I'm reaching the real tip of the exhaustion scale now. I'm literally aching in my bones for sleep all the time.

I think cos Gordon was away and then Isabella got a rotten cold, I didnt sleep great at all.  He came home early on Sunday and I got a couple of extra hours sleep but I still feel drained.

Anyways - because of my cold, my sugars have gone nuts.  I had a 2.4 Hypo on Wednesday morning which wiped the floor with me.  I was shivering and shaking for the rest of the day and was just bloody miserable.  I was also high until bedtime which then gave me a sweet dose of cystitis.  Lovely.  I was out most of Thursday and managed fine but then battled a persistent high on Saturday, my pre-meal levels were all crap which is unusual for me.  I did a good bit of cooking and Mammy and I had a great meal on Saturday night while watching Paul (superb movie).  Post meal, I scoffed a heap of lovely fresh fruit, Mango Melon pineapple grapes and was rewarded with another huge hypo.  Argh - I give up.

Isabellas cough got particularly bad on Saturday night and she coughed all night and all day yesterday.  I was all set to bring her to A&E for an X-Ray today but she slept 11 hours last night and coughed maybe 3 times.  Not a bother on her this morning apart from a runny nose and a rotten mood.  Happy for her - unimpressed at my ability to fight off her germs tho!

The Technical Stuff
I got my results back from the hospital and although the nurse was pleased, I'm not really.  My Hba1c is 6.9% but she said that my hormones could have sent that high.  However, my fructosamine is 305 which she said is excellent and is a much better indicator of how my sugars are. I'm happy with that and am very glad that I'm not having another test for a few weeks.

Thursday November 17th.
Last Thursday was World Prematurity Day.  Its a poignant day for a lot of us as it gives us one day to remember and consider the prematurity of our little miracles without it overshadowing their birthday.   I started the day with a lovely fund-raising coffee morning in my pal Tracey's house.  Her daughter Sadhbh was born 12 days after Isabella at the same gestation and weight. They were "roomies" until Isabellas discharge aged 51 days and we've stayed in touch since.    Later on, we met up in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda at the launch of "Tiny Footprints", a record of the journey of 80 families whose babies were born prematurely. Tracey and I got cornered by the only NICU nurse we really didn't like.  The girls played happily together and Tracey and I stuffed our faces with tiny cupcakes and giggled like girls at the antics of our monsters.  It was lovely to see her and see all the other children there that had had the same difficult and unsure start in life.  Judging by the noise and mess level, there were few who hadnt come out of their NICU stays "unscathed".

Here are the two girls looking somewhat different from the first time they met.

4/5 isnt bad! 8+4

Woohhhoooo!!!

First appointment over and done with. And what a huge relief, you've no idea.

Mammy stayed over last night as Gordon is in Puerto Rico, lucky sod. I wasnt so much nervous about staying in the house on my own as I was about having a hypo in the house with just Isabella and Bessie to notice me lying on the ground unconscious. Also, my appointment this morning was at 8am so Mammy stayed over last night and brought Isabella to Montessori this morning. She then valiantly fought rush hour traffic to meet me there. Sitting in the waiting room (Ticket No 18), I sat beside two older Mams and immediately joined them in the weekly lambasting of the diabetologist. Woohhoooo! Immediate satisfaction. They were delighted that I was all geared up to put the bitch in her place. I spent a good hour in bed last night practising what I was going to say when she started on me. We all had a good fest of "she's not going to intimidate me" etc and were comparing baby weights and A1c results before long. Went for my bloods and weight, height BP etc, I was talking my head off I was so nervous but my BP thank goodness was only 130/70. Huge relief. The nurse asked if I wanted to see the "Baby Doctor" (no, I want to see the Obstetrician thanks) so said she'd put me on the list. 

I pottered off for a coffee, met Mammy and then queued up for Round 2. 

I was pretty quickly called into the Room of Doom (the Diabetologists interrogation cell) by a lovely if slightly fierce woman who told me she was the Registrar. She went through all my levels, naturally focussing in on the few highs. I explained all my Basal rates and how and why I raised my levels over the last few weeks. She had me explain my diary layout (which unlike the standard hospital one allows for me to record my carbs and any basal/bolus/ratio changes), declared it sufficient and clear and then told me that Dr Byrne wouldn't be happy with the two fasting 5.5's I had in the last 10 days. I was very calm but clear and said that I wasn't going to chase down a one-off, but if I saw a pattern of 5's or 6's, I'd happily raise my overnight basals. I also said I wasn't going to risk an unnecessary and possibly dangerous hypo to change my doses after one night and that as it was clear to her that I knew how to adjust my levels and doses according to DAFNE principals she was just going to have to leave me to it. 

 She started off the "you know how important it is to have good levels...." spiel but was quickly quieted when I said I was very clear about the risks - which was why I'd tried so hard to get my levels so stable in the first place. She had a flicker of a smile at that point. I also said that I didn't think any judgement could be made on my ability to manage my diabetes until my Fructosamine and HbA1c test results were in. She nodded, agreed and sent me on my way and said she'd see me in 4 weeks, unless I had any issues before then. FOUR WEEKS!!!!!!! I nearly fell off the chair at that point. I've just been told to go home and manage my diabetes myself, just to call in if I need help. Makes a *small* change from my last experience of "Go home and pack a bag, you havnt a clue what you doing so we're admitting you. We're going to try sort you out but your baby will probably die anyways". So I danced out of the room rejoicing with Mammy that I'd bascially just WON!! 

Within a couple of minutes I promptly called to see the Obstetrician. She was a lovely lovely woman who swiftly gave me a scan and confirmed my dates. YAY!!! Beanie is measuring by my dates now, a nice strong heartbeat, all good. Mammy got to see the heartbeat and she could even see it without her glasses LOL!! She went through all my medical history with a fine tooth comb, everything that happened last time and what I felt were the issues and what was missed. She wrote a long list of things she was going to do (check my Isabella file for test results etc) and ring Beaumont for something else. She wants me to have the triple test and a few other tests as I'm "older" but as these have to be done at 11wks, she'd be able to do them herself. 

She said I had a slightly increased chance of PET/HELLP this time but that she saw no immediate flags. She said if I expect an early delivery, I can only be happy with a 37wk delivery. I said that I really would prefer a planned CS rather than a failed induction and another traumatic emergency section. She said she saw no reason I wouldn't get that, especially as I want to get my tubes tied at the end of it. We laughed and chatted through the whole visit and she said that she was very pleased with my knowledge and preparedness and that she would look forward to seeing me in 2wks for my private testing.

So all in all - it was a much better visit than I could have possibly have hoped for. I've been so unbelievably stressed and upset about everything that its a bit strange to have won the first round.

I think I'll leave it a while for it all to sink in. LOL!

I took myself off into town and up to Lemon Crepes and Coffee and absolutely jammed my face with food and nice things. I picked up some Christmas presents and then sauntered home.

What a lovely day to be pregnant!

First appointment tomorrow 8+3

A quick post. Wide awake, major insomnia. First diabetic team appointment tomorrow and first ObGyn appointment afterwards. I have to ask them to
Leave me alone and let me manage my own diabetes.
Give me a scan
Give me Zanex
Give me a planned CS in 30wks.
Tie my tubes when all this is done.

How many out of 5 do you reckon??

D-Day. 7+6

Today was D-Day.  I rang the diabetes nurse in Beaumont yesterday and she was over the moon about my pregnancy.  I went through all my levels with her and she was really impressed and impressed on me that I was doing better than anyone else she'd heard of at my stage.  It gave me a big of a boost of confidence that was badly needed.

So, with Gordon by my side, I faced my first call.  The nurse on the other end was lovely - seemed impressed by my 6.9% A1c and made an appointment for me for next Tuesday 15th.  She called me back a couple of hours later and asked for the last 4 days of diabetes control.  I painstakingly went through all my levels, explaining about ratios and carbs and bolus' and basals.  She said she'd talk to the endocrinologist and get back to me.  I was dreading the call that told me to change this or that and was in a bit of a state.

While I was sitting feeling sorry for myself and heading straight into a major grump, my lovely friend Eugenie arrived at my door with and Ikea present and a request for carbs.  The visit hugely cheered me up so I got my shit together and me and  Isabella went into town to get me some maternity clothes.  I'm only 8wks tomorrow but jaysus, I've a belly on me. Trousers are NOT comfortable and I only had a couple of dresses.  New Look did me proud and I came home with two dresses, a top and leggings.  Sweet.

The best of the day was getting a call from that lovely nurse again.  She said that she'd spoken to the Endo and he was "delighted" with my levels.  He said I am to continue making my own adjustments and calculations.  They'll see me on Tuesday but its not urgent as I "clearly know what I'm doing". I did a bit of a dance on O'Connell Street - Isabella wasn't impressed.  LOL!!

So, yep, I won my first round.  I'm over the moon and feel like a huge weight has been lifted.  Its only 5 days until I have my first appointment so I have a chance to relax into knowing I'm doing ok.  This confidence is a new found feeling.  I'm a bit unsure still!