It’s only been two weeks, but I had another doctor’s appointment to check my blood pressure. I was supposed to see the PA I saw last time, but she was overbooked and I was asked if I could see a different PA, and one of my options was the one I hadn’t yet seen in this pregnancy. She was my favorite from back when I was pregnant with Emelia. She recognized me as soon as she walked into the room. I actually saw her quite a bit after I had Emelia because I had, ahem, some healing issues and she walked me through some pretty freaking painful procedures.
Today, for the first time, it was a pretty positive appointment. My blood pressure is still borderline high at 136/85 and she said we’d possibly have to increase the medication at my next appointment from 200 mg to 300 mg.
But she found the baby’s heartbeat, so I could hear it for the first time. It was looking good, in the 150s to 160s.
I brought up my progesterone levels and how they were supposed to be looking good, above average in fact, and she said, yes, I can continue with it and stop at 14 weeks.
I asked her since I was already 12 weeks if I could go off them now, and she said that would be fine as well. I asked her what happened at 14 weeks that made it preferable to stop then, and she said because the placenta was fully grown and good to go on pumping out the progesterone.
All right…cool. Well, then I asked her why I was told to continue on my progesterone if two weeks ago my levels were above normal.
“I think probably because initially, the level was so low.”
Fair enough, I agreed, but then two weeks ago, my level was not only normal but above normal.
She flips back in the chart. “Oh yeah!” she exclaimed, “Your levels were high!”
Well then, she said, I could wean off them now for a week or go off them at 14 weeks. And she’s so sweet so I didn’t say anything more, but all of this is clearly not an exact science.
Initially, I said I was going to start weaning now, but then later that night I just told Chris to shove two of them up there.
“It’s not shots, and it’s only one more week,” I shrugged. What does it matter? I’ve already been pushed into medical intervention I didn’t want in order to refuse to feel guilty if anything ended up happening so what was another week if I could feel confident leaving this first trimester knowing I held up my end of the bargain? So the progesterone continues for another two weeks.
We also talked about my potential for gestational diabetes during this pregnancy. I had it with Emelia and while I didn’t think I had it with Olivia, she still came out with glucose issues. So I may have potentially developed it later in the pregnancy.
Unlike the first PA I met with, this one was pretty positive about it. If it happened, and I could manage it with diet, I would be fine. I told her 8 months ago I had my A1c checked and it was 5.8, one point above normal, so I was barely in prediabetes range. I went on a selenium supplement that I had been taking for the last 4 months or so, and she said we could run an A1c today and see where it’s at.
Later that same afternoon, I got a call from the other clinic to come in for my genetic testing. I’m over 12 weeks now, so I asked if I could get the next available and she said there was one in half an hour. Since I’m only five minutes from the clinic, I took it, making sure to grab my NIPT kit.
There at the clinic, the phlebotomist in the lab told me she’s never seen this kit before and if I had the form I was supposed to fill out. Turns out, after spending five minutes sweating in a panic, there was no form anyway. I wasn’t fully confident in her that every step of the testing would be done accurately, and I shot off another pissed-off thought about jumping through hoops for my clinic which says they’re pro-life but want to make things as difficult as possible for the women carrying said life.
I left there feeling…uneasy, but hoping everything would go well.
The next morning, I got a call from the clinic that my A1c was 5.4 and I was indeed not prediabetic. I was surprised selenium could bring it down that much when my diet for the last three months has been all carbs. All carbs all day every day. But it was a relief and she said I don’t need to start thinking about a low carb diet until 14 to 16 weeks or so.
She also recommended a protein shake I could try that also included veggies, so I’m planning on getting that.
The next day, I felt awful. Exhausted. Nauseous. Barely able to function with a three-year-old all day. And then that evening, while watching a movie with the kids, I got a migraine.
Since there was nothing I could take for it, Chris told me to go up to bed to shut my eyes in the dark and see if it helped. Today it seems better which I’m grateful for.
We did another trunk-or-treat this past Sunday with my sister, and then Halloween trick-or-treating with Chris’s family.
Olivia really really wanted to be Harry Potter, so I relented and checked out Target. Sure enough, they had a costume one size smaller than she’d normally wear, but it still fit and maybe I’m a shitty pregnant person, but I definitely made Mom of the Year with that one. Emelia was just so stoked to be wearing her sister’s old Owlette costume.
Today, I took the girls to a karate center and signed Olivia up for karate, something she’s been talking about for the last 2 years. She got a mini practice session with the owner and then got to take home her uniform. She’s so excited to be “a ninja!”
