Checking Up on Harper

Last Friday, we had an appointment to go check on Little Miss Harper Doodle. Usually I  am counting down the days until we can to go back to the doctor and see how our baby girl is doing. But this was one appointment I was not looking forward to.

Now don't get me wrong, it was not because I did not want to see our precious baby girl; it was because I didn't want to take that glucose tolerance test. You know the one I'm talking about!  I was terrified of it! Both my mom and my sister suffered from gestational diabetes and were placed on strict diets when they were pregnant so I just knew I was going to fail the test as well. Failing that test was something I just knew I couldn't do! I can have a doctor draw blood or give me a shot everyday without even flinching, but when it comes to having my finger pricked...this girl is a big baby! The thought of having to prick my finger three to six times a day literally made me start sweating.

In hopes of passing the test, I made sure that I ate a healthy dinner of veggies on Thursday night and drank only water. On Friday morning, I woke up early and fixed two scrambled eggs and some peanut butter and crackers for breakfast and drank a large glass of water. I was told the more protein you eat, the better your sugar level will be. I had no idea if there was any truth to it (though a friend swears by it) but I was sure as heck going to try everything possible to pass!

When we arrived at the doctors office, I had to head straight to the lab. The lady told me they had two flavors to choose from: orange and fruit punch. Having been forewarned by a friend, I knew the orange was the route to go. On top of that, I'm not a big fruit punch person. I had three minutes to down the half a cup of liquid. I cringed at the first sip but once it went down it wasn't half bad. It tasted like Diet Sunkist; it just had the thickness of cough syrup. The worst part of the whole experience was how I felt after I finished the contents of the cup. My throat burned like crazy and it felt like I'd just downed a whole cup of raw sugar. All I could think was that I wanted a glass of ice cold water to wash it down! But too bad... I didn't have one!

After I finished the drink, I was given a timer set for an hour and sent back to the main lobby to wait. A few short minutes later, we were called to head to the back to have an ultrasound done to check on Harper's kidneys. At our last appointment, the doctor's discovered that one of Harper's kidneys were swollen. Of course, when I first found out about it, I had a slight panic attack. However, after reading up on the problem when I got home, I learned that it truly is of no real concern. The issue is found in 1 out of every 6 babies and the condition usually works itself out before the baby is even born. If it doesn't, then the baby just has to see a urologist once a year after he or she is born. But to no avail, the doctors do still have to monitor it which means we have to have ultrasounds at each visit. This by no means upsets me because we get lots of pictures of our baby girl!

This visit was a little different though from all of our other visits because instead of it just being Kevin and I, Kevin's dad tagged along too! He wanted to get a glimpse of his first grand baby. Unfortunately, he was pretty disappointed. In her typical fashion, Harper did not cooperate with the ultrasound technician at all.  I had to roll from side to side and then back to my back trying to get her to wiggle into a different position. It didn't work and if she moved at all, she just moved her hands over her face! It's quite hilarious how stubborn she is. The only half decent picture we got of her was of her profile and her leg which still happens to be over top of her head...which means our baby girl is still frank breech.

After our ultrasound, Kevin and I had to meet with the doctor and discuss the results from our ultrasound. She pretty much told us what we already knew from our ultrasound session. Harper's kidney wasn't as swollen as it had been last time they had checked but it was still bigger than her left kidney so we have to come back in a few weeks and have another ultrasound (yay for seeing her again...whether she's uncooperative or not). She also told us that our baby is going to be a shorty! Haha not really but sort of. She told us that Harper's legs are measuring a week behind and she wasn't sure why considering Kevin and I were both tall. After explaining to her that Kevin is actually the tallest person in his family by like 5 inches, she didn't seem concerned at all. Apparently, she's going to take after her daddy's side and be short. Though I'm hoping she's going to be built like her daddy...tall with short legs and a long torso!

Following our talk with the doctor, I had to go find out if I had gestational diabetes or not. I held my breath the whole time I waited in the lab for the results. Apparently, I had nothing to fear. I passed the test with flying colors! The cut off was 140 and my blood sugar had read at 112. Yippee! There just might be some truth in that advice I was given to eat lots of protein before the test! Who knows?!

All in all, my much dreaded appointment turned out to be half decent and not as bad as I expected! Afterwards, Kevin, my father in law, and I headed out to get some lunch and celebrate my passing the test...you best believed I indulged in several glasses of ice cold sweet tea and some sugar filled goodies during that meal! (: