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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Go Treat Yourself to Some Ice Cream


I had another doctor's appointment this morning. Before going I went for a run on Town Lake. The run itself was not so great, I had some side cramps and leg cramps which resulted in a number of stops. On the flip side, the stops lead me to see a couple of friends I would've missed otherwise. So overall it was probably a good experience topped off by a nice cold shower at Barton Springs.

Back to the doctor's appointment...

The nurse's assistant came in first. She measured my blood pressure, the size of my stomach, and Baby G's HR. As usual, these things were all good. Once again she asked if I feel kicking (yes, a lot) and explained the kick count test, which is used if you don't feel kicking one day. Essentially you drink cold water or a cold caffeinated drink and count the kicks for an hour. Cold caffeinated drink... I guess that means soda or ice coffee... not going to happen. By the way, I thought we were supposed to decrease our caffeine during pregnancy?!

Next question was to ask me about scheduling of my 3 hr gestational diabetes test. It's on Friday so I don't have results yet.

The doctor then comes in, and asked about the 3 hr test. I tell her I'm in disbelief about the entire thing and she tries to reassure me that it's nothing I've done wrong because I am exercising and haven't gained much weight. She said about 50% of those tests will come back negative so we'll talk about that later if need be. Okay, no surprise there.

That's when it got funny. I told her I'd been feeling some side cramps which lead into a conversation about what exercise I am still doing. She told me that hardly anyone can still run at 28 weeks and by 32 weeks she doesn't think that's realistic.

The next comment was about my weight gain, apparently I have 'not gained enough.' She then asked how much exercise I'm doing and told me that 10 hrs/wk sounds like a lot because it's more than 1 hr per day. Telling her I used to do 17-20 hrs/wk didn't seem to help. She then went on to tell me that I should now be gaining 1 lb / wk and if not I'll have to cut back on my aerobic exercise. "Go treat yourself to some ice cream," was her recommendation. Good grief, I ate 2 cupcakes and over a lb of dark chocolate this weekend (I kept that comment to myself). She then tried to make me feel better by telling me most pregnant women are couch potatoes and use it as an excuse to eat what they want, so it's good to see the other side... but, I need to gain more.

Is it just me or does this seem a little contradictory? Last week I tested positive to the preliminary gestational diabetes test. The nurse tells me exercise and diet may help. On Friday I have to fast for 12 hrs and get blood drawn. Today I'm told I haven't gained enough weight and I need to decrease my exercise level and eat ice cream.

Seriously people... is it any wonder that pregnant ladies get moody, emotional, and seem to change their minds at the drop of a hat? I feel like I'm in the middle of a loose - loose situation here... somehow I keep messing up even if I'm trying not too.

Note: The picture above is from a couple of decades ago, at my brother's birthday party. Can anyone guess which one is me?

1 comments:

OHF said...

Have you explained to the doctor that you're Michelle Garel? I think that would clear up a lot of these misunderstandings about exercise. As I witnessed this morning, I attest that you are one fit (expectant) mother!

BTW, I still love "Annie." Burnett, Reinking, the dance numbers, the racial stereotypes... you just don't see this type of stuff in the theatre anymore!