family – Page 2 – Living with Dianabetes

(Continuing my high-risk pregnancy story)

Wow, time flies!

I have been WANTING to write a blog post since the last time I wrote one more than two years ago but I always made an excuse or something would come up.

I give props to the social media influencers who have kids and continue to post about their life and do what they were doing before having a kid. That is commitment at its finest. As much as I wanted to share my story, I either didn’t make the time or didn’t have the time.

So here we are 🙂 More than two years later. My son (who is turning 2 this month!!!) is watching Cars 3 while I write this blog post.

So much has happened since the last time I wrote a blog post and I’ve thought about catching everyone up and writing about the rest of my pregnancy and my birth story and everything after and life updates and diabetes updates but then I don’t want to start and take forever to finish. But then I think it would be important as maybe people would relate and not feel alone or isolated. Okay, now I am just rambling.

In the last post I wrote, I shared my experience of meeting with a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist/doctor) who made me feel unseen and unheard. Luckily, I never spoke with them again and was always scheduled with someone else. I eventually requested an office closer to where I lived and met with the MFMs at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (while still making sure I didn’t meet with the first MFM as I became aware that MFM also traveled to the Pomona clinic). Anyway, the MFMs I worked with for the rest of my pregnancy were amazing and meticulous and patient and I was beyond grateful for them.

As my pregnancy progressed, I would see the MFMs a lot more often. I went from seeing them every two weeks to every week, which I loved as I got an ultrasound each time and saw my baby and heard his heartbeat.

One of the most anxiety-producing appointments was needing to do a fetal echocardiogram, which is a specialized ultrasound used during pregnancy to assess the baby’s heart structure, especially in high-risk pregnancies. I felt anxious as I was scared that something would be wrong. I thought something would be wrong as in a prior appointment, I heard the MFM say that the blood flow appeared slower than normal and they would need to further assess. I had to wait a whole week between those two appointments and I couldn’t help but think negatively and prepare myself to hear that something was wrong with my baby’s heart. I was hoping for the best but prepared for the worst and it was hard to challenge those thoughts. My husband and family kept reassuring me everything was okay, normal, fine, etc. but I couldn’t shake the negative thoughts.

Luckily, everything was okay and my baby’s heart was functioning normally. I let out a big sigh of relief when the doctor told me everything was okay and normal. And yes, a MFM did the fetal echocardiogram, not an ultrasound tech.

During the pregnancy, I had stubborn highs and my insulin resistance increased and I needed a lot of background insulin (I continued using my insulin pump throughout my entire pregnancy). It definitely took a lot of work to keep my A1C under 6.5 during my pregnancy and I was stressed with every high and every minute I was high. But I did it 🙂 and looking back, I am so dang proud of myself.

Whenever I get another chance to write another blog post, I will share my birth story.

Thank you all for reading!

Hi! I haven’t posted anything in a while and I apologize! Things have been crazy, but in a good way. I finally was able to make time to post an update!

On Jan 7, 2023 I spent time with my sister and mom. Since my sister and I moved out of our parent’s home last year, it was very rare that only the three of us spend time together. Usually dad is with us or the whole family is together (my husband and my sister’s boyfriend included).

My sister drove us around that day and I had asked for us to stop by CVS as I needed to pick up my insulin and test strips. We parked at the pharmacy and I noticed the pharmacy was closed.

We were getting back into the car and I said “let’s get a pregnancy test.” My sister and mom said “okay, sure.” The reason as to why this didn’t come as a surprise to them was because my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for the past year. I’ve taken a few pregnancy tests throughout the past year and they had been negative.

We (I) buy a two pack and head home.

Now, I had ZERO indications that I was pregnant. I literally just felt like taking one and expected it to be negative.

I pee on the stick, set it on the table in the bathroom, set a 3 minute timer and joined my sister and mom in my mom’s room. Timer ends and we all walk to the bathroom together.

Two lines are visible….meaning I was pregnant.

My sister immediately starts to inspect the packaging and starts reading the instruction booklet that came within the box. She asks, “Did you take it right?” I said, “Yes, you literally just pee on the stick.” My sister replies, “is it expired?” and checks the packaging. It is nowhere near the expiration date. My sister says, “take it again.” My mom chimes in and says “I want to see!” So there I am….in the bathroom…peeing on a stick…while my sister and mom are staring at me. I set the pregnancy test on the table and in less than 30 seconds, two lines appear again.

We all start crying happy tears and process the result of the pregnancy test.

I found out I was pregnant in the best way and in a way I never imagined would be possible, with my sister and my mom at my side.

My husband and dad had spent the day at our house as they were remodeling and fixing some things. I call my husband and do my best to act all cool and nonchalant and ask what they’re up to. He said they’re waiting for a table to eat dinner. I tell him I’m still with my mom and sister and he says “ok baby, enjoy” and we hang up.

I look at my mom and sister and say, “Should we surprise them?”

Tag: family

Hello again!

Update 1 – 2023