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mrs.

at about 28 weeks i was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. i cut pop completely. and i had my sugar under control. but then i had to go to a dietician. she had me eating 2100 calories. then my sugar went way up. so i called my ob and told him that i am back on my own diet and the calories went back down. but not low enough. i was 213 with the dieticians diet.and around 160 with mine. still not low enough. but 213 was high and i always felt sick. the diet they put you on may not always be the best for you.

laura nichols

Fibroids & C-Section

I'm 6 mo pregnant and 41 years old. This is my first pregnancy and is truly a blessing. The pregnancy thus far has been really easy, no signs of any problems with the baby, no vomiting or intense issues of any kind, just minor discomfort - so I thought I was going to get off easy.

No such luck. At my last ultrasound the "high risk" doctor told me that the fibroid that was small and insignificant at the time of conception has grown significantly and is now the size of a 3 month fetus and is blocking my cervix which may make a C-Section inevitable, unless for some reason it moves out of the way. A week later I went to my regular monthly meeting with my doctor and she told me that the fibroid is a serious complication and because of its location would require a C-Section but that it cannot be a bikini cut C-Section, they will have to cut up high in order to avoid touching the fibroid.

Apparently a fibroid is full of blood and, if distrubed, could cause hemmoraging which may result in the need for blood transfusions, an emergency hystorectomy (spelling?) or even death. To say the least this freaked me out a little.

She went on to say that this situation was the leading cause of death in women during childbirth. While I am glad to know what I am facing so that I can deal with it, it really scared me at first - I think what bothered me the most is that the doctor seemed as freaked out about the situation as I did, guess she's not used to this type of thing - she's pretty young.

Since the pregnancy has been going so well I had anticipated working up to my delivery date and returning to work after a short recovery period (6 weeks or so). But now it may end up that I will be on bed rest within the next few months and that my recovery may be a heck of a lot longer because this type of C-Section takes longer to heal, not to mention the recovery time I will have to have if there are complications.

The one thing I can say is that at least my delivery will be "scheduled". I plan on talking to the "high risk" doctor again at my next ultrasound to see which of the doctors in this unit is the best and most experienced at handling my particular situation so that I can make sure to schedule my C-Section when he or she is on duty (I am a military wife by the way so all of this is being handled at the Naval Hospital - I have been getting wonderful care thus far).

I have tried and tried to find something on the internet that deals with my particular situation to no avail. If anyone out there has experienced a similar situation I'd love to hear your story and how it came out in the end.

Melissa

Worried

I am just in my 17th week of pregnancy and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. About two weeks after trying to monitor it with exercise and diet - I was placed on insulin. I am very worried about the birth and health of my baby. But I have been reassured that as long as I eat right and exercise, I have nothing to worry about.

Symone

Hyperemesis Gravidarum

I was really looking forward to being pregnant. Unfortunately, my morning sickness went from bad to worse pretty much right from the get go. Since this was my first pregnancy, I didn’t really know what to expect and figured that all women had it this bad. When I noticed I had lost of bit of weight, though, I got concerned and called my obstetrician. She told me that a little bit of weight loss can be normal during the first trimester due to the morning sickness. When I weighed myself a few days later and found that I had lost even more weight, I called her again. This time she asked me just how much weight I had lost. When I told her, she made an appointment for me to come and see her the next day.
At the appointment, my OB had me describe my symptoms, as well as weighed me. When I was done telling her how I always felt nauseated and seemed to always be in the bathroom throwing up; how I could barely get anything done because I felt so exhausted all the time; and how, despite always feeling thirsty, I seemed to always have too much saliva in my mouth, she said “Hyperemeis gravidarum.”
I had no idea what she was talking about, as I’d never heard the term before. Turns out hyperemis gravidarum is a severe type of morning sickness. She said it wasn’t common but it also wasn’t rare for a woman to develop it during pregnancy.
I was worried that all my throwing up would be harmful to the baby, that it wouldn’t be getting all the nutrients and such that it needs. My doctor said not to worry; since it was caught early enough, it was unlikely that my baby suffered any damage. Boy was that a relief to hear.
Once I knew that my baby was okay, I wanted to know how to get rid of hypermesis gravidarum. My obstetrician said that it usually goes away on its own by the 20th week of pregnancy. 20th week?! I was just in my 12th week! There was no way I was going to go another two months having to constantly throw up. The last few weeks had already made things pretty miserable and I couldn’t help but feel kind of down. I couldn’t go anywhere, not even to work, because I felt so miserable. I had a really understanding boss who let me work from home, but even that was difficult because I felt so tired and drained all the time. The thought of having to feel this bad for another 8 weeks was just too much. Then my doctor finished her sentence and informed me that some women also have hyperemesis gravidarum throughout their entire pregnancy. I burst into tears. What if I spent my entire pregnancy with my head in the toilet?
I had always looked forward to pregnancy and doing all those pregnancy things, like shopping for nursery furniture and baby clothes. Even trying on maternity clothes seemed exciting to me. But I hadn’t been able to do any of that so far because I had been so sick. And now my OB was telling me my entire pregnancy was going to be like this?! It was too much.
Thankfully, hyperemesis gravidarum is treatable. After getting treated at the hospital (I needed to have some fluids and nutrients restored), my OB prescribed me some anti-nausea pills and recommended I try acupuncture or massage therapy. These treatments helped a lot although I still had some morning sickness.
I’m now going into my third trimester and my hyperemesis gravidarum hasn’t bothered me in weeks. While I still wish I could have enjoyed my first trimester a bit more, I’m glad that the rest of my pregnancy proved to be as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be.

Jasmin Kistiner