I Tested it ... It Passed!

For pretty much my entire pregnancy I have dealt with a dry nose, congestion, bloody nose and a whistling nose. While it happens 24/7, it can be worse at night when I am trying to get to sleep. And as I am sure a lot of you know, there is nothing like a whistling nose when you are trying to relax. I don't know about you, but it drives me insane!

So I decided to check my options. If I wasn't pregnant, I would use decongestants among other stuff to ensure a good nights sleep. But being pregnant, I have to check the safest options. I read that Vick's Vapor Rub is safe, but I am not a big fan of that stuff unless I have a really bad cold where your nose is completely blocked when you lie down, and I am definitely not that bad.

So then I found a message board where someone mentioned using Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. You blow your nose and then take a Q-Tip, dip it in the Vaseline and put it on the inside walls of your nose. That sounded like something I could try. So two nights ago I gave it a try and it worked! My nose felt clearer, the whistling stopped and I felt like I was getting more oxygen. So just to make sure that it wasn't a fluke, I tried it again last night and it worked again! Who knew that something so simple would work so well!

There is only one negative side to using the Vaseline, and that is the initial smell of the petroleum jelly when your nose clears. But that passes pretty quickly. I have also noticed less morning nose bleeds because the Vaseline helps to keep my nose moisturized which in turn stops the bleeding caused by a dry nose.

I will continue doing this until I stop having a congested nose. It's safe and doesn't involve any medical chemicals and because I am not ingesting anything, neither is James.  :)  I love finding little home remedies!

Glucose Tolerance Test.

This morning I had my glucose tolerence test. This is a test to see how my pancreas is taking care of the sugar that I consume and so is checking for my risk of gestational diabetes. I was ordered to do the 1 hour test. So I went in and had to drink a very sugary drink. There are multiple flavors, and I got the Lemon-Lime drink which tasted pretty good. It tasted like flat Sprite or 7Up ... but not the diet kind haha.

I wasnt allowed to eat before the test so I was very hungry and when I got the sugar rush a few minutes after finishing the drink I didnt feel very good. I felt just a little nauseated and started sweating. But that passed after just a few minutes and the rest of the 1 hour wait time was a breeze (I brought a book).
For that one hour period I was not allowed to eat or drink anything and I wasnt allowed to leave the lobby area. As the phlebotomist said, "Once you drink that I am putting you in time out." Hahaha. But it's good to make sure women taking the test dont try to consume anything. I did have the urge to gulp a bunch of water to get rid of that sugar high feeling and wash the syrupy after taste down ... so I guess being in time out was good, even for me.

Once the hour was over the phlebotomist took me to have my blood drawn. Of course the results arnt instantaneous but I am sure that Dr. Samawi will discuss my results with me at my appointment next week. Dr. Samawi said that I have been so on track with my weight gain and have been staying very healthy that my risk should be very low. But because there is both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in my family it's always a good idea just to check. While every pregnant woman has to do this glucose test, we will be checking me due to my family history.

On the off chance that there are any abnormalities in my test results, I will be sent back to do a more extensive three hour test. As far as I know, its the same test with the glucose drink, but they draw blood multiple times over the three hours to see where the problem lies. So we shall see what happens after I see Dr. Samawi next week  :)

The first thing I did after I had my blood drawn was gulp some water and go home to eat! And now I am feeling much better and less like I just ate an entire bag of swedish fish for breakfast :)

Okay, so which doctor are you?

Doctor visits come with the territory of being pregnant, at least for most women. Since my insurance covers everything pregnancy related, I am definitely taking advantage.

So far, I haven't seen the same doctor twice. I went in for the initial pregnancy test a long time ago and was taken care of by a nurse. Then I came back for my first official prenatal visit and had Dr. Wu, who said will be my doctor throughout my pregnancy should everything stay normal and if I am having the baby naturally. He will even be there when I am giving birth. So I know I will be seeing him again  :)

Then last week I had my first educational class thingy with Martha. She just basically gave me the run down of what will happen over the next 7 months and who I can call for this, that and the other. I will also be seeing her again, for more general information as my pregnancy progresses. It's nice to have her, because until meeting with her I had no idea where to go for what. So she makes all the technical stuff less stressful :)

Then today was my first trimester blood screening. So I had to go to Quest Diagnostics to have some blood drawn. I know I will be back here because blood test are normal through out the pregnancy. Although what's not normal is how much blood they took! Five test tubes of blood were taken out of my arm. Because I am prone to passing out I like to focus on the clock and my breathing. He was sucking blood continuously for 1 minute and 20 seconds!!! It's no wonder I got light headed despite taking deep breaths. But out of all the doctor visits I will have to deal with, this wont be considered the worst. The pap smears will always win the 'worst award'.

The people I have yet to see include the dietitian, social worker, dentist and ultrasound technician. And I guess Dr. Wu has a partner that will be working with me as well. It's crazy the amount of people it takes to ensure a healthy mom and baby. It's quite a network! So far, everyone has been great and I am very thankful for every little part they play in my pregnancy. I feel like I am in good hands ... how ever many there are!  ;)