It's a girl!

Well, I'm 19 weeks pregnant now, and we just had an ultrasound to check to make sure our baby was growing properly, and we were able to find out that "it" is in fact a "she"!  We're pretty excited!  Here are some notable things so far:

• Because Type 1 diabetics are more at risk for having babies with birth defects, my OB did an extremely thorough ultrasound.  We got to see all kinds of crazy stuff. Four chambers of the heart, both femurs, feet, arms and hands and he counted all the fingers! He even checked to see how many bones she had in her pinky, because apparently if you only have 2 pinky bones instead of 3, that, among other things,  is a good indication that the baby could have Down Syndrome.  We saw her kidneys, her spine, and even her cerebellum! So crazy! But she was pretty good at hiding her face, so we didn't see that yet.  She was moving around like crazy, which was so strange to watch, since I'm not feeling her move at all yet.  We are going to have another ultrasound in a month. I think he wants to get a better look at her face, and to double check a few things she was hiding this time around.  We also have a fetal echo scheduled for next month, too, so that will be cool to see her heart!
• Speaking of birth defects, I've started seeing the "high risk of high risk" OBs at the same office of OBs that I've been going to. He's been practicing for FOREVER and is actually really awesome. The other high risk OB I was seeing before will still be my doctor, but I think this guy is going to handle more stuff from now until I deliver, since he really knows his stuff. The only thing is, is that he can't deliver anymore because he recently was diagnosed with Parkinson's (I think?), so I'll have another person at the practice deliver me anyway. But he's doing all my ultrasounds now, and I really like him a lot.  Any way,  he told me that studies have shown that you start to really see a risk for birth defects when A1Cs are 8.3 or above.  Obviously you want to have an A1C as close to normal as possible, but knowing that my A1C was WELL under 8.3 put me at so much ease! 
• Insulin resistance has kicked in finally, and it has been quite trying to keep up with all the changes. It's nice, because I'm not so freaking low all the time anymore, but it's rough to have to adjust things every couple of days. And, my insulin needs have already increased so much! Sheesh! My carb ratios are all down to 1:4 or 1:5, and my basal rates have all increased too. I end up having to change my pump about every 1.5-2 days instead of every 3, so that becomes annoying. And I'm starting to run out of real-estate on my stomach to rotate my infusion sites! This will be an adventure!
• Speaking of changing insulin needs, I swear my little girl is already fickle.  I don't know if this is how the physiology works, and it probably is not like this at all, but I swear this little fetus just decides on a whim when she wants to suck all my calories from me, and when she doesn't.  Sometimes it's like she's making me constantly low and I can't eat enough food to keep both me AND my fickle fetus alive.  And sometimes it seems like she's saying "Naw, I don't want to eat today, so no thanks on the food, and, oh, here, have all this food back too." And then it's like she somehow dumped all the blood-sugar fuel she decided she didn't want anymore BACK into my blood stream and I'll randomly have highs.  I'm sure that's not how it works (anyone who knows anything more about how my blood sugar is used by her, feel free to pipe in), but it really feels like that sometimes!
• And speaking of feelings, some days are just HARD! Overall things have gone really well, I've been so lucky so far, and I have an amazing medical team, and my blood sugars are in great control, so I can't really complain.  But, while that is true, it doesn't mean it's not terribly hard work.  What is just a number or set of numbers to most people (A1Cs and daily blood sugar logs), is actually just a small output of data representing hours and hours and hours of work on my part.  Or hours and hours and hours of feeling like crap on my part.  When I have marathon lows for 6 hours, and then my blood sugar suddenly jumps really randomly high, that's 6 hours of my life that I spend feeling like crap, lying in a heap on the floor sometimes, balancing a careful amount of carb intake vs insulin intake in hopes that it will meet the needs of my growing baby. It's exhaustion from lows, headaches from marathon lows or rebound highs, and random walks at 11pm at night because your blood sugar just won't come down no matter how much insulin you throw at it. not eating when you're starving, or shoving food in your face when your so full already you feel like you're going to explode. So, while in general, things have been a lot easier than I have thought, and Type 1 and pregnancy isn't like Steel Magnolias anymore, it is disingenuous to say that "everything is a-ok."  But, that's usually the sound-byte I give people, because how do you explain all that other junk to someone who doesn't really understand? And, I don't want to be "that guy" who keeps saying "Oh man, my pregnancy is the worst and it's so hard, and you couldn't possibly understand." Nobody likes "that guy"  (or "that girl," rather), and most people are just genuinely trying to show interest and are caring about you, so you don't want to burden them with a full medical report! But, this is a diabetes blog, and I'm writing this for the enlightenment of other potential diabetic parents, so there's the truth! It's hard, but doable and wonderful, all at the same time!

OK, whew! long, sorry! Just one last thing:  Why on EARTH do people think it's OK to touch someone else's stomach just because they are pregnant? Would you go up to some random person on the street as touch their stomach if they weren't pregnant? No! It's creepy, people. Keep your hands to yourself! I've decided that if people want to touch my stomach, I'm just going to start rubbing theirs right back, and see how much they like that. Seems like a good plan, right?