It was a September to remember!

Looks like I need to update you on the entire month of September.  How in the world did that happen?!  Geesh!

Well, as my last post mentioned, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  The first week was extremely frustrating for me.  My blood sugars were constantly high and I felt like I couldn't eat any carbs at all without sky rocketing my sugars.  I went back to the dietitians and they informed me that I had lost 2 pounds that week and that I wasn't eating enough carbs. Huh?!  This was really confusing for me because I always thought the goal was to eat less carbs.  Well, the nurse and dietician informed me that they do not want me to miss carbs.  I need those carbs for many reasons and when I am losing weight, its a sign I am not eating enough.  So... how do I keep my sugars down and still eat carbs?  Well, thats the thing.  My body isn't doing what it should be doing.  Because of the placenta and all of the hormones, its causing me to be insulin resistant.  So... that means I needed insulin.  I was seriously shocked.  I never ever ever would have thought I would have had to be put on insulin, let alone ever even considered that I would be a gestational diabetic!  The nurses informed me that I *need* to keep eating my allotted carb choices for every meal (3x/day) and for every snack (3xs/day) and to try not to go under.  They can't adjust the insulin if I am trying to adjust my diet.  Eventually that clicked in my head, but it did take some time because it seemed like common sense to just cut back on carbs if my blood sugars were high.  Wrong.
So, it is still a major adjustment.  Insulin injections 4xs a day and checking my blood sugars 7xs a day.  Its not as bad as it sounds, but the eating is the most difficult part.  Being sure I am constantly stocked with healthy, smart carb choices and not to miss a meal or snack.  My insulin dose has been increased about 4 times now and it still isn't perfect.  I would guess we will have another increase or two over the next week.  Hopefully we get the perfect dose, soon!
Cheers to all of you who have had insulin dependent gestational diabetes... whew!  I have a whole new appreciation for you and for anyone who is insulin dependent.  My goodness it's a lot to learn and stay on top of!  But, no matter what, I am getting through it.  I keep saying that if this is the only issue we have the whole pregnancy/delivery, then we are doing amazing.  This is nothing compared to so many other things that could have come up.  And I am thrilled to still have Baby Kaufman inside and growing!

Mid-September I flew out to Portland to attend Baby Kaufman's baby shower!  It was so much fun to be able to meet so many of Kellie's closest friends and some of Chris' family that was able to attend!
Here is Kellie and I at the shower before all the crying began ;)

Crying?  What crying?  Ha.  Well, let me fill you in.  That morning I woke up really early and had this great idea that I wanted to write Kellie a letter and read it during the shower.  As I was writing it I kept thinking to myself 'I really think I will be able to get thru this without crying! Maybe just a few tears near the end.' HA!!!  Boy was a I wrong!  As soon as I stood up to speak I couldn't even get out the words Dear Kellie!
It was an extremely emotional time for us but very special.  I know I write a lot on my blog, but I wanted Kellie to hear me express how special this journey has been for me.  I think she got my message :)
I know so many of you wanted to know what the letter said, so here it is:

Tear jerker, right?  Yes.  For sure!  And here is a photo of me reading it to Kellie.  I know, I look awful.  But, I love Kellie's expression and its such a raw emotional moment.  

The baby shower was a success!  I am so glad that Kellie wanted me to be there.  I loved being there and getting to experience that.

Next up, I went to DASH to the Destination!  DASH is an all expense paid trip for the top 75 income earners in It Works.  The ironic thing with this trip is this is what sparked all the conversations last year about me being the Kaufman's surrogate!  Who would have ever guessed that 1 year later I would be 7 months pregnant with their baby boy!  This trip was in Florida and it was perfect that Chris and Kellie were there too.  Such a great time to spend together and a fun 'baby moon' for all 4 of us before the big day in November!
One night while we were all hanging out mingling, Baby K was having a huge party inside my tummy!  Kellie was having so much fun feeling him move, kick, and squirm all over the place.  After several minutes she finally asked Chris to feel.  He was hesitant at first but Baby K was NOT shy for his dad!  He was a crazy man inside there and it was so special to see Chris so excited to feel him move for the first time.  Kellie grabbed a photo of this moment ;)

We had fun that week at DASH together and really soaked up the time.  Here are some photos of us for the 80's party theme night!

And, just for fun, here are a few more from the week of us.  One night we had a gorgeous dinner on the beach and so it was the perfect time to get some photos of us!  I wish we would have gotten one of the 4 of us!

After the trip, it felt great to get back home to see my boys and to unwind a little!  That was a lot of traveling!  But, thru it all, I continued to feel great.  I had snacks in my hotel room for my diabetes and I tried to make good food choices.  Wasn't always easy, but we got through it!  

Last week, at 32 weeks, I had an ultrasound to check on the growth of Baby K.  This is protocol with insulin dependent GD. They want to be sure he isn't growing too fast.  The problem with GD is that the baby will convert the sugar into fat, which can make them grow much too fast and end up as one chunky baby.  I am doing everything in my power for that to not happen!  

Here are some ADORABLE ultrasound photos of little man.  

It's crazy how realistic the photos look now!  He ended up measuring about a week ahead of schedule.  Which did concern me at first.  However, once I spoke with my doctor, she said that his legs and his head are what seem to be measuring at a higher percentile.  His belly is at 50th% so that typically means that the diabetes isn't affecting him too much at this point.  With his legs and head measuring in the 80-90th percentile, that will take up the overall average of his entire growth.  So, she wasn't concerned at all at this point. YAY!  

I will have another ultrasound at 36 weeks to confirm his size again.  

I cannot believe we are just 6 weeks and 2 days from the BIG DAY!  Kellie and Chris have made the decision to bring their 2 girls to Iowa for the delivery and I couldn't be more excited about that!  I cannot wait to see them hold their baby brother!  I think it will also be neat for my kids and Kaufman's kids to meet.  My boys have a pretty good understanding what is going on, but they have yet to meet any of the Kaufman family.  So, I think them meeting them will really help them understand it all and bring it full circle.  November 13th is the BIG day and we can't wait!  

Thanks for all the love and support, as always!  Sorry this is so long!  I am going to try REALLY hard to do 1 blog post per week over the next 6 weeks.  I have a lot of topics I still want to talk about (my husbands support, my kids, and would love a blogpost from Kellie and/or Chris!)

So stay tuned!!  

Oh, and one more belly photo from 32 weeks 1 day!

-Much Love,

Makenzie