34 weeks and two very happy doctors

Today I am 34 weeks pregnant and I'm just so happy to have got this far. Its a far cry from the scariness of week 28 when I found out that not only was my cervix short, that I would need steroids to mature the baby's lungs in case it came soon, and that I had gestational diabetes on top of it all.

The last 6 weeks have been tough but it is oh so good to be in this place now!

I went to see the endocrinologist this morning. She is very happy with my blood glucose levels and said I've done a great job of getting it under control. She said I've obviously figured out what I can and can't eat to keep things in check.

She also weighed me and said I've gained 1 kg in the last 5 weeks, which she says is fine. She would have been concerned if I was gaining too much weight. She said the baby will take what it needs and keep growing at the right rate, even if I'm not gaining weight. It was really good news. One of my fears about sitting on the couch for about 10 weeks was putting on loads of weight.

She also gave me some information about what happens with my GD during and after birth. She said a caesarian will be easier to manage than labour. I will be fasted anyway so blood sugar should be fine during the actual operation. I will need to monitor my BG every 2 hours until the caesarian and would only need insulin if it is high. But she said she would be very surprised if I needed any insulin during the operation.

Once E3 comes out, he will have a heel prick test every 4 hours for the first 24 hours to check his blood glucose and make sure it doesn't fall below 2.5 mmol/L. I asked does the baby need to be in the nursery for this to happen and she said no, he can be in the room with me. I also need to start breastfeeding as soon as I can, and hopefully this will be enough to keep E3's blood glucose up in the days after birth.

I then need to monitor my blood glucose 2 hours after every meal on Day 3/4 and it's only a worry if over 7.0 mmol/L. After I leave hospital, I shouldn't do any monitoring at all. She warned me against 'curiosity monitoring' ie. after I've eaten loads of carbs on one-off occasions because she said its just not very informative. Then the final step is to have a OGTT at 3-4 months and then I'm in the clear. So hopefully it will all go smoothly.

She said now that we are at 34 weeks, its much less concerning all round. Obviously it would be good if E3 could stay in longer, but its not very worrying if he doesn't.

The obstetrician was even more upbeat. He said the baby is practically as good as full term now so we don't need to be worried anymore. I don't completely buy into this but its an enormous relief to have the specialists feeling so positive, because it really lifts my spirits as well.

I confirmed with the obs that our private hospital can handle an emergency caesar at night if my membranes break and he said that it should be fine, as long as I let them know when I call that we are on the way and need a caesar straight away.

I am feeling much more positive after all this. I'd been a bit low, mainly because of not feeling very well with haemorrhoid pain, heartburn, symphis pubis pain, and broken sleep because of getting up to go to the loo all night. Just the usual preggie symptoms really but they all seem to have got worse this week. I guess that's how life will be for the next 3-4 weeks or so.