Preparing for a healthy baby
Happy New Year, friends! I hope you all had a relaxing and safe holiday season! Mine was jamb-packed, but it was great. This Christmas, we traveled to be with my in-laws for the week. It was a great time! The long car ride proved to be somewhat difficult and uncomfortable. We stopped to stretch, but not as often as we perhaps should have. My feet and ankles were quite swollen by the time we arrived. Good thing we had the week to rest! Watching my little nephew open his presents on Christmas morning got me thinking about what Christmas will be like for us next year — with a nine-month old. It’s only speculation, but we assume s/he will be crawling at that time, and maybe able to open a present or two before becoming distracted by the wrapping paper or the box — or a shiny Christmas bulb. In fact, we bought up some clearance plastic Christmas ornaments in preparation! We just can’t wait to meet him/her!
On New Year’s Eve, I took my glucose tolerance test. I was a little worried, as I must admit to indulging in a few more of my mother-in-law’s Christmas cookies than I should have. For this test, I had to drink an orange-flavored sweetened beverage — it tasted kind of like Kool-Aid, but sweeter. Then I got to hang out in the lounge, and watch TV in a big recliner for an hour, before they took a blood sample to see how well my body deals with sugar. All is well. No sign of gestational diabetes! Having gestational diabetes can cause birth defects and/or miscarriage in early pregnancy, and result in above average growth of the baby in late pregnancy, meaning a large baby to deliver, increasing the risk for complications, and Caesarean delivery. At 5’3”, I don’t need to have an above-average sized baby, so that is one less thing for me to worry about now.
I am now down to just nine weeks before Baby’s arrival! Lately, I’ve been noticing a lot of trouble staying asleep. I am tired, so falling asleep isn’t an issue, thankfully. I seem to wake up multiple times a night feeling tremendously uncomfortable, and it’s difficult to roll over. My hips ache from lying in one position for too long, and my belly aches, I guess just because it’s so large now. For now, I’m dealing with this mostly by taking naps in the evening if I’m tired. It seems to help a little, and at least I can get an hour or so more sleep. I do also notice I’m a little more off balance than usual, but this doesn’t seem severe so far. Just a little annoying at times. I wear my snow boots to work every day just in case!
My prenatal appointments are now every other week, and everything is still progressing as it should. Baby kicks almost all the time now; it’s wonderful, and a little weird, how “alive” my body feels. Gender reveal party planning is in full swing now, too! We are so looking forward to the big reveal!
