We've Made it to 30 Weeks

Now that I've made it to 30 with my pregnancy, I'm feeling much more relieved. I'm not sure why that brings me comfort. Maybe because I know we are in the last stretches - just seven more weeks to be considered full term. Seven weeks is not that far away, although, it's still too early for her to arrive. On a good note, contractions have seemed to slow down this week. I haven't had to take medication at all this week. I'm still having 1-2 contractions per hour, but I rarely have had more than that (one exception: every evening when I'm tired I experience more like 4-6 an hour but that's my cue to go to bed and then they subside for the night). My cervix has not changed since 3 weeks ago, which probably means the contractions haven't been frequent enough nor strong enough to make big changes. Because I've had a good week, Dr. B is letting me go two weeks before seeing him again.

But just as one thing begins going well with my pregnancy, I know something else will go wrong...I learned yesterday that I have gestational diabetes. This comes as no surprise since I've had it with my 2 previous pregnancies. Fortunately, my body managed to process glucose well for the first 30 weeks. Since I'm at risk for GD, Dr. B has tested me early at 12 weeks then again at 24 weeks. I was pleasantly surprised when I passed those earlier screenings knowing full well I could've failed them. So, for the last 7-10 weeks of this pregnancy I'll be focusing on my diet more closely (less carbs and more protein), pricking my finger 4 times a day, and hoping to manage the diabetes with diet without the need for meds. The good news about GD is that the diet makes it very difficult to gain excess weight. I need all the help I can get in that area!

With all of my pregnancies when I went into labor, I labored for several hours, requested an epidural to ease pain, and then completely pain-free delivered healthy, happy babies shortly after. Labor with Lily was 5 hours. Labor with Schaeffer (after my water broke fully) was 4 hours. Labor with Griffin was 3 hours. I'm thinking this time labor should be 2 hours. Ha ha ha! Maybe wishful thinking, but not impossible. With Griffin, I received an epidural just 20 minutes before time to push because I felt fine up until then. In the last minutes, the contractions really intensified, were 1 minute apart, and did not relax until Griff was born. I discussed several options with Dr. B about managing the pain if I did the same thing this time. I have a few options: 1) get an epidural from the very beginning and not worry about timing, 2) receive IV pain meds when needed, 3) go completely natural, 4) use a birthing tub full of warm water for labor and delivery (Dr. B is the only OB at St. Mary's to do water births). Option 4 requires about 30 minutes notification to give the hospital staff time to set up the inflatable tub and fill it with water. Thirty minutes sounds like a lot of time if I'm only in labor 2-3 hours. But, I'm thinking through all of these options. It's so hard to know because each labor is different and I don't know exactly what to expect this time.