Birthday

Well it's my birthday today. Normally I would be seriously depressed about it but today I'm just mildly depressed. For obvious reasons, this birthday hasn't hit me as hard as recent ones have.

And that's all I have to say about that.

I also guess I should post some updates. I've been really bad about writing lately (bad blogger, bad!) so I apologize to anyone who has popped over looking for updates, only to find the same old crap. It started with some frustration when I couldn't find the perfect Beatles song for a post I wanted to write. It was when we met with the Fetal Echocardiologist back in February and I was searching for a song that would be appropriate; somehow Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band didn't really cut it. What can I say? I have high standards when it comes to blogging.

Blobby's heart was beautiful that day. Got very high marks from the Fetal Echocardiologist. Yay.
On February 26th I had a follow-up OB appointment and everything went well. I had gained 5 pounds in the 4 weeks since my previous appointment. I think this was my first weight gain; before that I had been even Steven with pre-pregnancy weight.

March 11th was my Glucose Challenge test. I was really nervous about that because before I even started with a fertility specialist, I got evaluated by an endocrinologist and was found to be borderline insulin resistant. So I was worried that I would be predisposed for Gestational Diabetes. Luckily, I passed my GCT with flying colors. My glucose was right in the middle of the normal range, so yay. However, they found that I was anemic so I was told to take iron pills in addition to my prenatals. Yuck. If you've never had to take iron pills, consider yourself lucky. And if you've had to take iron pills (pardon the TMI here) you might want to supplement with a nice stool softener like Colace. :-)

March 24th I had another follow-up at my OB. I had gained 8 pounds in 4 weeks- oy! Which meant that I was up a total of 13 pounds. I had my first Non Stress Test (NST) and sat with the monitor for 45 minutes. Blobby's heartrate was perfect and was showing the appropriate range of variability. So yay!

April 1st I had my 29-week ultrasound to make sure that Blobby's measurements were what they should be. Everything was measuring right on schedule, anywhere between 29 and 30 weeks. What a relief. Mostly because everyone's been telling me that I look very small so I was getting nervous that Blobby wasn't developing properly. But, thank whoever-is-in-charge-of-this, Blobby was perfect.

One thing we did see on the u/s that I wasn't expecting, however, was that I have what is called Placental calcifications. It is apparently something that happens often in pregnant women over 35 and isn't dangerous unless it gets so bad that it prevents the placenta from adequately providing oxygen and nutrients. Right now I'm at a Stage 2 which means there isn't any danger. If I get to a Stage 3, it will mean that I will require weekly ultrasounds to monitor Blobby and the placenta. My maternal-fetal specialist is being very proactive about this, which is certainly appreciated. However, I asked my OB about it and she said that every placenta is designed to live for 40 weeks. Sometimes in older women the calcifications occur sooner rather than later, but their presence has been debunked in the research literature as being a warning sign for anything. She said that my maternal-fetal specialist is one of the few practioners who actually looks at placental calcifications as something significant. So I guess either way, I'm covered. I have another ultrasound appointment on April 22nd (3 weeks from the last one) and we'll see what's going on.

So I guess that's the lowdown on what's been going on recently in my uterus. I find it so amazing that, despite having had to go through all the medical intervention to get pregnant in the first place, my body is taking over and is doing what it is supposed to do. I seem to have every typical pregnancy symptom they talk about. The swollen ankles and feet, the heartburn, the discolored and leaking nipples, the weight gain... but you know what? I am loving every minute of it and am so grateful for each and every symptom I experience.