Phew - what a day! I spent exactly nine hours at the medical center today. I had taken the day off figuring I'd spend the morning having my ultrasound and doctor's appointment and the afternoon running some errands and enjoying a little free time. NO SUCH LUCK. Geekboy, on his way home from work, walked in the back door right as I walked in the front, having just returned from the doctor's office.
How does one spend nine hours at the medical center, you ask? Let me tell you! First, we showed up for the "big" ultrasound, but were called in about 40 minutes late as all of the earlier morning appointments had run over. Geekboy was able to stay for about 20 minutes, but then he had to run off to a work appointment. Had things gotten started earlier, he would have been able to stay for most of the ultrasound, but fortunately he got to see the baby, most of the important stuff, and the big boy/girl reveal before he had to go.
My ultrasound ended up running long - partially due to the fact that the baby's positioning made it hard for them to get heart images and partially due to the fact that they had to wait on a high risk OB doctor to review the scans. They tried to get the baby to move by making me empty my bladder and later making me roll onto my side, but neither tactic really did much, so I'm scheduled for a follow-up ultrasound in a month.
After the ultrasound, I was sent in (late) to meet with the high risk OB doctors. They were super nice and helpful and answered all of my questions very thoroughly. We discussed my blood sugar numbers, my history of hypertension, my possible diabetic history, my lap band, risks to the baby from the diabetes, and a whole host of other topics. A researcher also came in to discuss a study that they're running on pregnant diabetic women to test a new method of blood sugar level monitoring similar to the HbA1C, but only based on one month's blood sugar levels rather than three. After looking at the pros (minimal) and cons (minimal), I decided to join the study. Heck - why not if it can help advance medical science and it's no great inconvenience to me. And there is one small perk - they give you a free 3D ultrasound at around 35 weeks to try to accurately predict the baby's weight at birth.
After finishing up with the high-risk OBs, I was carted off to the lab by the researcher who wanted to make sure to get her blood sample. I was already having blood samples drawn for some other things, so providing an extra vial for her test was no big deal. Once the needle is in your arm, the worst is over. It really makes no difference if they take another little squirt of the red stuff. They also ran an HbA1c and a CBC (as I've been experiencing some fatigue and was wondering if I might be running anemic).
At the OB appointment, they decided that I should go on insulin - low levels to start out as my morning fasting numbers are consistently high and my after-dinner numbers run a bit high as well if I don't get out and do my walk right after dinner. While I'm not thrilled about this, I kind of figured it would happen sooner or later so I'm also not devastated. If anything, I feel mildly inconvenienced - that's about it.
Based on the decision to put me on insulin, after my blood draw, I had to go meet with the diabetes educator nurse so she could teach me to understand how the insulin works and to teach me how to administer it to myself. It was actually pretty fascinating stuff and I enjoyed the lesson more than I expected to. Based on what she taught me, I examined the doctor's recommendations for insulin amounts and timing and caught a recommendation that didn't make a whole lot of sense based on my history of after-breakfast blood sugar numbers. I showed the diabetes educator and she agreed that I was on to something. She suggested that I tweak my dosage accordingly. I was pleased to have understood the information enough to figure out what made sense for me. It's nice to be in control and to understand the reasons behind things rather than blindly following doctor's orders.
I was amused by the fact that the diabetes educator actually injects herself with saline during the lesson to demonstrate correct technique as well as to prove that the injections really don't hurt if done properly. She must have to shoot herself 5-10x a day! I wonder if that was in her job description when she applied for the position?
Once finished with the diabetes educator, it was 3pm and I was about to pass out from dehydration and low blood sugar. (Oh the irony!) All I had eaten up until that point was a protein shake for breakfast and a yogurt I had brought along in my bag for a mid-morning snack. I made a detour to the food cart in the basement of the building, but all they were offering was baked goods and pre-packaged sandwiches - both bad choices for controlling my blood sugar. I ended up going to a restaurant around the corner to get a bite to eat.
After "lunch" it was on to get an EKG as I had mentioned to the doctors that my heart sometimes seems to beat extra hard after meals. Waiting for the EKG: 40 minutes. Actual EKG: 2 minutes. It's actually probably a good thing that I went to eat before getting the EKG as my heart was sort of doing the beating hard thing when they took the reading so hopefully if there's anything weird going on, the test will show it.
Post-EKG: on to the pharmacy to get my scripts for insulin, needles, and blood sugar testing strips filled. More waiting.
And then finally I got to head home! What an exhausting day - but I fear it's only a taste of more medical fun to come...
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