Hello Third Trimester!!

Well, hello there!! And where, oh, where have I been hiding???

 

Behind this growing belly, that's where!  Last week I walked into my third trimester of this pregnancy.  I'm not sure I can express how thrilled I am with the level of health I'm seeing with Baby Number NINE!

 

After struggling in my last seven pregnancies to keep my blood sugars low and steady, failing in my last two pregnancies and being diagnosed with insulin required GD, I am overjoyed to see my body reverse this response and my numbers low and even with very little effort on my part.

What's made the difference?  I'm sure that losing those 60 pounds prior to this pregnancy was an important factor.  However, another huge difference is that this pregnancy I've worked to continue the plant-based diet I've enjoyed over the past year.  I'm not eating a vegan diet, (which eliminates all animal products completely) but I am building my meals on foods that are primarily plant-based, keeping the meats and dairy to a bare minimum, basically having them in small amounts when we eat away from home.

 

 

A typical day of eating looks something like this for me right now:

Breakfast: Breakfast salad (kale, diced strawberries, green apple, frozen blueberries, raw oats, chopped walnuts or flax seed), Ezekiel English muffin with natural peanut butter

Lunch: Green salad topped with taco style lentils & rice, raw veggies

Snack: Clif Bar or fruit and popcorn

Dinner:  Potato or rice with sautéed veggies topped with seeds or nuts mixed in, legumes, green salad topped with seeds or a nut-based dressing

Evening snack: Clif Bar or green fruit smoothie or fruit and crackers

Of course these vary a bit according to the day.  I'm still eating a lot more grains and starches than what I was eating pre-pregnancy.  They help my belly feel full and, frankly, taste good to me.  I'll be honest and say that I'm still struggling to *like* the raw greens and veggies I need to get down daily for adequate calories and nutrition.  That means that I use grains and potatoes to help fill the gap when my gag reflex is at its highest. That also means that I often resort to a green smoothie to replace a green salad because it goes down a lot easier.

 

Now that I'm in my third trimester, I'm on the watch for my body to be struggling a bit more in processing sugars.  It's just what normal pregnant women do as they get near the end of their pregnancy. Thankfully, my fasting numbers have all been wonderful, averaging about 75-80.  In my previous pregnancy, I couldn't get my fasting number under 100 which landed me on insulin at about week 20.  I was already carefully following the GD diet I had been counseled to use in the pregnancy before, so it was quite disheartening to me to feel I had *failed*.  Already, though, in this pregnancy, I'm seeing great improvement and a huge lack of stress and fretting over every little bite that goes in my mouth. 

Twenty-Eight weeks is the typical time that a pregnant woman would take the glucose challenge test to screen for GD.  I would have taken it sooner, given my history.  At week 13 I did take an A1C screen to look at how my blood sugar was behaving over the course of the previous several months. The results came back in normal range, which was great.  After discussion with my mw and the OB she consults with, we are choosing to forgo the glucola drink and use my weekly monitoring results to see how my body is handling the challenge of processing sugar as this pregnancy progresses.  That means that I'm working to test my blood each day when I wake (fasting), and one hour after each meal for a week at a time, intermittently.  We all agree that this strategy will give us the big picture and help us make wise choices.

 

Hopefully, as the weeks progress during this last stretch, I'll only have great news to share regarding my blood sugars, growth of baby, and even how I'm feeling. Though, I admit, this little guy is getting heavy and harder to carry each day!  That is likely due to my shortcomings in this pregnancy which would be a terrible lack of exercise and sleep.  *blush*  I've gained approximately 20 pounds so far. That's the most I've gained in my previous five pregnancies.  I'm feeling large, uncomfortable, and very much like I'm outgrowing this body of mine. 

Still, I'm moving, planning, prepping, THRILLED to meet this sweet baby BOY!! and overjoyed to see that all I've learned and applied this past year is genuinely helping me stay healthy and grow a (big!) healthy baby to love on.  Once again, the Lord affirms that His creation and provision is all and everything I need for life and godliness.