5 weeks 4 days - We discovered we were pregnant via 4 tests! Yes we couldn't believe it!

6 weeks 3 days and our first ultrasound to confirm dates. It was wonderful to see everything is where it should be and a crown to rump length (CRL) of 7.1mm with a heart rate of 120bpm to match. Technology is amazing! Can't wait for the next ultrasound!

9 weeks into our first pregnancy and we are so very excited. We cannot stop thinking about every little change and stage that we will go through in the coming months and years! The process is unbelievable! Even through all of the nausea and morning sickness, I remind myself that it is all worth it!

11 weeks 4 days and an ultrasound today! Such beautiful images to see. Lots of thumb sucking, some jumps and a wave. Crown to rump length (CRL) of 54.2mm. My partner said "don't forget to include the point 2!" The heart rate was beating at 163bpm. Nuchal fold tests and blood work revealed low risk.

11 weeks & 4 days

Bugalugs at 19 weeks

13 weeks - 4 days - Heart rate measured by a doppler at 135bpm. Bub was moving a lot with strong kicks that I could hear but not feel. CRL of 8cm and my belly is really starting to grow.

At 15 weeks and 5 days the heart rate was at 155bpm. Again baby was kicking loudly on the doppler but I cannot feel such sensations yet! Perhaps we are having a soccer player! Babes CRL is 10.5cm.

At 16 weeks 5 days the heart rate was at 145 bpm. An unrelated ultrasound enabled me to get some glimpses of bubba and revealed our baby has grown a lot. Bones are now calcifying and bubba looks like a little fatty now. Chunky little hands, legs, arms and belly and one enormously wide umbilical cord. There was a lady in the news who gave birth to a 17lb baby this week. God forbid if that happens to me! Still waiting for any sensations of movement to begin! Baby has a CRL of 13cm. Almost into maternity clothes now!

18 weeks 1 day - I think I may be feeling movement. But not entirely sure yet.

18 weeks 5 days - my belly is officially huge already. I feel 8 months pregnant. Just bought a stethoscope on Ebay because I heard that after about 20 weeks you can hear the babies heart rate and movement with one. So very excited to start using it!

19 weeks - Ultrasound at 19 weeks. What a day! Baby was very cheeky and was not in a good position to have all of the organs tested and measured. Also kept moving as well, so a lot of the images were blurred. The technician could not get adequate pictures of bubba's heart, so I had to return twice. We tried to move bubba by having me lay on my stomach, going for a walk, having a sugary drink, and when I returned the little blighter was still in the same impossible spot. Not going to cooperate. Still don't know if bubba is a girl or boy!!!!! So will just have to wait till the grand entrance. Everyone keeps telling me it is going to be a girl! Heart rate was measured at 141bpm. Bubba's measurements are on track! But the CRL is not measured anymore as it is too difficult to judge. Textbooks list it as CRL of 15cm at 19 weeks! Last time I thought it looked like a little fatty, but now looks normal so I guess I'm not having a 17lb baby after all! Phewwwww!!!! Bubba's weight is 5 days ahead at 297 grams or 10.5 Ounces! Measurements of the Head Circumference (HC), The Abdominal circumference (AC), and the The Biparietal diameter (BFD) put bubba at about 19 and a half weeks (5 days ahead) but The Femur length (FL) was on track. Femur length can be longer or shorter and nothing to worry about. Unless it is very short which can be an indicator of dwarfism. Images from this ultrasound can be watched here, or are also at http://youtube.com/watch?v=4kepuATj4TA

19 weeks 1 day - well it IS OFFICIAL!!!!! The quickening has occurred!!! I now believe I am feeling bubba. Little light flicks in my abdomen, on an off for nearly a week when I am laying down and sleeping. But haven't thought they were bubba. My hubby can't yet feel these from the outside, but I can probably because I have the inside sensation as well. Wouldn't describe it as gas, butterflies or popcorn. More the sensation you get when you have a very small muscle spasm somewhere on your body. Little flicks telling me someone is there! Priceless. It is so exciting!

19 weeks 5 days - the stethoscope is proving useful, can't here the heart rate but can hear lots of kicks and movement through it and hubby can hear bub even though he can't yet feel bub from the outside! If I haven't felt bub move for a while, I can just listen with the scope to all of the activity going on. Magic!

20 weeks Yay! Bubba is kicking like crazy today! Heart rate measured at 153bpm.

20 weeks 4 days - heart rate 140bpm!

21 weeks 2 days and daddy finally felt bubba from the outside! Bubba kicking all the time now and quite strong at times too, all over the tummy, high and low, and at the internal organs as well, especially the bladder and cervix, yikes! Bubba's CRL would be about 18.5cm long and weighs about 400g now.

23 weeks 2 days - Baby has been kicking where I listen to my belly with a stethoscope. The kicks and punches will follow the scope about 300 degrees around my belly with he exception of the top left of my belly - hmmm I wonder if that is where my placenta is attached?. Very funny. Already likes playing games.

24 weeks - Yay! 24 weeks 1 day and I finally found bubbas heart rate last night with the cheap stethoscope I bought! Bubba is really aware of my touch and will follow the scope or the touch of my hand around the belly. Amazing! Heart rate was at 141bpm.

26 weeks - 99 days left today, and week 26! Last night my stomach felt like it was going to burst. Very uncomfortable and I was unable to sleep. Bubba must be feeling so cramped in there! I felt a foot or something like it for the first time so I woke hubby up and grabbed his hand and he felt it to. Awesome!

27 weeks 7 days - 85 days till 40 weeks. Lots of new health issues appearing now. Since week 12 I have been experiencing right upper quadrant pain which doctors suspect is the gall bladder but ultrasounds have shown no stones or inflammation. Essentially I have to fast for these ultrasounds - and by not eating the pain goes away and hence the ultrasound shows nothing! I have also been having episodes of feeling faint and having to sit down and a racing heart. Two days ago, I failed the glucose screening test with results at 144mcg's or 8.0, when normal is less than 140mcg's or 7.8. Failing this test made me think about my pancreas - it produces insulin to reduce blood glucose levels but in some pregnant women the hormones from the placenta block the production of insulin. I have had pain since about week 12 - so maybe it is not my gall bladder at all but the pancreas instead which is right next to it. So today I had the full 10 hour fast to ascertain if I now have gestational diabetes. I drank 75 grams of glucose and gave 3 blood samples over several hours. In pregnancy, the 100 gram test is recommended and 4 blood samples are taken so I hope my practitioners know what they are doing! Tomorrow I get the results for this and for my bladder condition, my liver function, iron levels, and thyroid function as I was borderline hyperglycemic when I got pregnant. I will also have my Anti-D Rhogam injection tomorrow because I have a negative blood type as well and this will prevent my antibodies attacking the baby if it has a positive blood type and there is an exchange of our blood. I started to get a bit down about all of these issues - Have I done something wrong - could I have had better care and preparation through pregnancy? But I guess some women sail through pregnancy, and others have a really difficult time. With all the nutrition, exercise and rest in the world new health issues for me just keep cropping up, yet my baby appears healthy and happy. It's just that my body doesn't know how to take care of me at the moment. Heres hoping all of these issues disappear when the little one comes!

28 weeks 1 day - Well what a crazy couple of days that ended with at diagnosis for GD! Was really lucky to get into my hospital and see some great professionals in diabetic education as well as a midwife and a dietician to be set up to self monitor my glucose levels over Christmas. Need to ascertain if I will need insulin injections or not. It is kind of a relief to have a diagnosis. I knew something definitely was not right 2 weeks ago with severe fatigue, ridiculous thirst and frequent urination. Essentially feeling unwell or chronically tired most of the time having up to 5 naps a day - cannot function.. I have been having pancreatic/gall bladder/liver pain since week 13 of my pregnancy and they had cleared me of any stones or tumors - so issues with insulin production makes a lot of sense at causing stress and pain in that area of my body. Today I was also told my liver function is impaired too, but all other tests were normal! My glucose test was a 2hr /75g glucose test. My fasting value was 5.0 (90) which is great, the 1hr value was 10.8 (194.4) and 2hr value was 9.0 (162) both terrible so definitely impaired glucose tolerance or impaired insulin production happening in there. So there you have it GD! I was really down about this when I found out - and got a little overwhelmed with info overload. But at least now it can be managed to reduce implications for bub. And I'll have more tests for those organs to see if there is some other factor at play. I have no history of diabetes in my family and diet is pretty good. Was in the healthy weight range/BMI prior to pregnancy too! Always been pretty healthy so bit of a shock to need so much medical management now! Just need to remember not to blame myself for this but accept that it happens to some women and manage it. It is likely my birth plan will be restricted. I won't be able to use the active birthing rooms, I'll be monitored much more closely with teams of professionals. Hoping that it will all happen naturally as planned - but with GD it is likely I'll be induced early. And they assure me I will only need a caesarean if bub grows too big - which shouldn't happen with proper management. Bub may also need a few days in the special care unit if its blood sugar levels are too low. I am measuring on date and bubs heart rate was 145bpm which is good. Head is down already but could change a bit in the coming weeks.

28 weeks 6 days - Well, around 4% of pregnant women in Australia are diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. And of that number - 15% of them cannot control their own blood glucose levels through diet and exercise alone. Seems I am one of those special 6 out of 1000 women who get it like this, and diet has nothing to do with it. Seems my placenta is creating way too much of the hormones that are normally created in pregnancy to reduce the mothers insulin, which ensures a higher level of glucose in the blood for baby, except my hormones have gone overboard and I now don't have enough insulin to unlock the glucose from my own blood so my cells can use it for energy and it builds up. So I alternate between low blood sugar - feeling very lethargic and hungry like you do in the morning after a long fast while sleeping before breakfast rectifies it, and high blood sugar which my cells cannot access for energy - so this also makes me feel excessive fatigue, hunger, thirst, mental fog - to the point were I slur my words and cant think anymore (which is funny because this is similar to low blood sugar). I will need daily blood glucose monitoring and insulin injections for the remainder of my pregnancy to bring those levels down and prevent the baby from getting too much nourishment and getting oversized. I am being admitted to hospital on Thursday for more tests on my organs (which I've been experiencing pain from since week 12 and could be connected to GD) as well as commencing insulin treatment. Bummer. But at least I have been diagnosed and can try and do everything I can to ensure bub has no complications from this. Wish me luck for the final stretch!

29 weeks 5 days - I have just been in hospital for 5 days for insulin treatment. My diet was very good prior, but it has been spot on for over 10 days now with a dieticians help, low GI foods, appropriate carbohydrate portions, no sugar etc. I had no Christmas fare at all, didn't go to new years bbq's - because I wanted to monitor everything I ate and am still coming to terms with injecting insulin 4 times a day! I've been monitoring blood glucose etc, but my readings just keep creeping up. They are not incredibly high, but high enough for me to keep having insulin increased every 3 - 4 days. I am coming to terms with the dissapointment of doing everything right but still having no control over it - so it will take some time. The hardest thing has been the regimented nature of monitoring, injecting, eating, and monitoring again. Timing is really important - not to eat too late, not to leave too long between readings, eating straight after injecting and having a snack if I need it, but then allowing enough time for a low pre meal reading. Fortunately I only have 8-10 weeks to go. I really don't want to be induced at 38 weeks as my hospital advocates. Will have a dating/sizing ultrasound in 2 weeks. Hope bub is normal size now! Fingers crossed.

30 week 4 days - ultrasound. I'm in love, love love!!!! Bubba looked very relaxed and cheeky. Ben swears that it blew us a kiss. Quite amazing when it appears as though it is making eye contact with us! Bubba was in the vertex position, head down, but facing my left hip. So we were able to get some great facial shots.

31 weeks and counting!

31 weeks - Actually the days above are till reaching 37 weeks, with possible induction some time after this date due to GD! The doctors have mentioned a likely induction at 38 weeks. This is even before they know how big my babe is. I can't believe how much medical management is happening now. It seems like overkill to me. I am scheduled for weekly visits from 34 weeks with fetal stress tests performed, but have immediately started on fortnightly ultrasounds for the remainder of the pregnancy. From all the readings I have done on GD, they said there would be an overly zealous treatment protocol put in place and that is exactly what has happened. I guess they want to be safe. I want to go naturally, and will manage my GD meticulously to reduce chances of having a big bub and needing inducement. I wonder how much I'll get to negotiate with the obstetrician on this. So far my diet is holding my glucose levels on a very low dose of insulin. Only time will tell. Getting a sizing ultrasound in one week.

33 weeks - It's been a busy time of appointments. Had a sizing ultrasound last week and have another next Thursday at 34 weeks. At 32 weeks bubba is measuring in the 50th percentile for gestational measurements, and the 34th percentile for ultrasound stats. Bubba's weight estimate was 4 lbs 2 oz which is very healthy and average. This is great news since the excessive medical management I've been having is geared towards the assumption that I will have a big baby because I have GD and will need to be induced at 38 weeks because I am on insulin, but I have been managing my blood glucose fairly meticoulously. Measurements of the Head Circumference (HC), The Abdominal circumference (AC), and the The Biparietal diameter (BFD) put bubba at about 32 and a half weeks, but The Femur length (FL) was about 5 days behind, so it looks like bubba will have my little legs instead of hubbys. I also had a CGT (Fetal Cardiotocography Monitoring) yesterday for the first time. Which measures the Fetal heart rate (FHR) against my uterine contractions. This will happen every week from now on. Bubba was so active that it was difficult to get a baseline reading which is bubbas's heart rate at rest. The fluctuations went for 20 minutes between about 120bpm and 177bpm so I don't know what bubba was doing in there, maybe having a good clean or dance! Other things that this test looks at is for variability of the FHR of greater than 5bpm throughout the tests, and there was certainly that - ranging from 15-20 bpm variability between the big fluctuations, and accelerations around contraction time, which is ok because it is not real labour when there should be an early decelaration, and decelaratons which there were also plenty of, but again nothing to worry about because they lasted for seconds and not for over three minutes. So all looking good for one healthy little munchkin.

CTG (Cardio-tocograph) at 32 and a half weeks

Our Bubba's cheeky face at 31 weeks!

I have just started gaining weight again. I stopped gaining at about week 23 with the onset of the GD, and didn't gain until week 32. But now in the final stretch I should gain healthily till about 2-4 weeks before labour. The baby should put on about half a pound or 227 grams a week from now on. The Braxton Hicks are becoming really nasty! Having them every day at the moment, especially when standing or driving over bumps in the car. And they just roll into each other. Twice this week I have had quite severe period like cramping and had to lay down where it has disappeared after about 30 minutes of rest. The other night I was keeled over the kitchen sink trying to prepare some vegies for tea! Oh the pressure!!

34 weeks - another ultrasound today. This time bub's weight was estimated at 2501 grams or 5 lbs 5 Oz putting it in the 74th percentile (up from the 50th percentile 2 weeks ago) and at only 3 days ahead of the LMP gestational age estimate which is fantastic for a GD bub. I am not worried because there is a large gap for error (15%) with this technology. So we'll just see what each fortnight shows. The most useful thing about these ultrasounds is not the measurements on their own, but the change in growth rates over the remainder of the pregnancy. Measurements of the Head Circumference (HC), The Abdominal circumference (AC), and the The Biparietal diameter (BFD) put bubba at about 34 and a half weeks, but The Femur length (FL) is now about 7 days behind, but nothing to worry about. Bubba is engaged already as I suspected because of the lower pelvic pain I've had with no upper discomfort at all, so this was confirmed with a transvaginal ultrasound. My cervix was assessed and it has thinned fractionally to 3.5cm from 4.7cm, but is still firm and shut at both ends even with bubba's head pressing on it. Labour is more likely to occur when it gets to less than 2.5cm. This is also one of the measurements that is one indication that induction gels might help to ripen it further.

I'm going to follow the Bishop Score (At right) and get my obstetrician to assess me based on it for when and if to induce. It is so useful - need a score of greater than 8 for a successful induction, and greater than 9 indicates I'll go on my own! At the moment the bub is intermediately positioned, cervix would be firm, effacement is less than 30%, cervix length is greater than 3cm, dilation hasn't started but fetal station is at about more than -3, so at 34 weeks my score would be a 1! The fetal stations are interesting, (picture at right), scientists reckon that first time mothers will commence labouring when the babies head gets to about -1 or 0, so I still have a way to go for that! Don't want them forcing me into it when my cervix is not ready. I found out that my placenta is posterior (at the back upper end of my uterus and bubba is currently sitting on it with its bottom like a cushion. My amniotic fluid level has improved in the last fortnight - now in the 50th percentile for gestation at about 13 cm. Was at 10.8cm, 2 weeks ago and that put me in about the 30th percentile. So the extra water I've been drinking has paid off. The umbilical cord is draped around bubbas neck like a towel, which is worrying because another turn will loop it around that little neck! But they assured me this is very common. My bubba is having hiccups up to four times a day, for between 5 - 10 minutes at a time. Normally after I eat, but not always. My readings on hiccups have taught me two things - 1. Hiccups prior to 37 weeks that last for less than 10 minutes are fine, bub is practise breathing and strengthening the little lungs, also gulping too much of the tasty amniotic fluid. 2. That hiccups that last for longer than 15 minutes is a problem if it happens more than 4 times a day and after 37 weeks it can be an indication of some cord compression for some reason. So would need to be checked out if that was the case. These kind of hiccups would also be accompanied with erratic frantic movement, and an erratic or dropping Fetal Heart rate. None of this information alarms me. Knowledge is such a powerful thing.

Continued in next blog page ......