Week 31!

I am slow with this week's update - the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me and PJs.

Around week 28 I had to go for my gestational diabetes 1-hour screening test and the results came back saying that my blood sugar was a little high. That meant that I had to take the three-hour test - which basically involves fasting for 10 hours, having blood taken, drinking an orange drink that contained 100ml of glucose and then getting three more blood samples taken on each hour. Not fun! Although Jamie and I had some good times in the waiting room watching all the oddly characters at the lab.

The results on the second test showed that my blood sugar was a little elevated, so they referred me on to a specialist. I saw her on Monday this week and then a dietitian today. There should be nothing to worry about - gestational diabetes is fairly common later in pregnancy and for the most part can be managed with healthy eating and exercise. Apparently my numbers are just elevated - not necessarily freak-out territory or anything! In most cases too it goes away entirely after the baby is born - that darned placenta (which is a gross word) is causing the troubles.

It's still pretty stressful though. Now I have my eating plan (the dietician reviewed my insanely-detailed food journal and recommended actually adding some carbs to my breakfast and lunch) and must do 30 minutes of exercise after breakfast and dinner. I also have to monitor my blood sugar, which involves pricking my finger and testing 7 times a day! They give you a machine, but I had to buy test strips and such. Good thing we have good health insurance! Now I have a healthy appreciation for the deep discounts that Wilfred Brimley (or whatever that oatmeal guy's name is) can get seniors on diabetes testing supplies - you know, those tv commercials?!

PJs, however, seems really not bothered by all this hub-bub for his Mama. He's wiggling like crazy and on all my doctor visits his heart beat and activity are great. He still likes cookies I'm sure, but he'll have to wait a while to have one of his own.

What PJs is up to this week:
Your baby's arms, legs and body continue to fill out -- and they are finally proportional in size to her head. He weighs about 3.3 pounds/1.5 kilograms and looks more like a newborn. He measures about 16 inches/ 41 centimetres from crown to toe.

You may notice your baby isn't moving around as much. Don't worry; he's just running out of space in your uterus. As long as you can feel him squirming, you'll know he's just fine. Believe it or not, he still has plenty of growing to do. You can expect him to gain at least two more pounds/900 grams before delivery.

Your baby's organs are continuing to mature and he is passing water from his bladder: good practice for the urinating he'll do after he's born. Soon you can wonder what your baby is wishing for -- brain scans have shown that fetuses have periods of dream sleep around month eight.