28-Week Doctor Visit

Welcome to the third trimester! Holy crap!!! I can't believe it's here already. This is going by so quickly -- too quickly, really.

This morning we had my 28-week appointment. Weight gain (ugh -- below), great blood pressure, baby's heartbeat sounds great and my belly measures right in line with what it should. I also received my third trimester packet of information -- regarding things like cord blood banking (see earlier post about cord blood donation), glucose testing (see below) and choosing a pediatrician (will post about this soon). The doctor said we will start talking about things like labor and delivery around 36 weeks, but that Bill and I should start looking into a labor class (which we've already done -- I'll blog about this soon too, I promise). So we're right on schedule!

The reason we switched to a morning time for this appointment was because I was due for the (first) glucose test: This is a test done by 28 weeks, where you have to drink 50 grams (Do they even measure liquid in grams? I swear that's what the bottle said) of glucose. The nurse asked if I wanted orange or fruit punch, but being the non-adventurous, non-chugging type, I stuck with the orange. It tastes kind of like Airborne. I had only five minutes to drink it (and Bill will tell you that it was painful to watch me do it), and then the nurse set the timer for one hour. After the hour (and a lot of belly dancing from Baby!), they drew some blood, to be tested for how well the glucose began to break down. If it turns out that it was not well, I'll have to go back for a three-hour test, where they make me drink more of that stuff and take my blood three times over the course of three hours. I hope I don't have to do that.

They're also testing my blood for my thyroid levels, which my OB has determined are not quite as low as she'd like them to be, and so now I'm taking 50 micrograms of the Synthroid instead of 25, and she has taken over the checking of the levels. Apparently, she doesn't trust the doctors at my PCP office to do it, which is funny because they are the only doctors that Bill and I have trusted in a long time.

Today's weight gain: 6 pounds
Total weight gain: 18.2 pounds

And now we begin the every-two-week appointments!