Diabetes, Miscarriage, TTC and everything (long!)

Ok right now we are in the discovery phase of trying to have another baby. We want to wait until I am licensed and working. BTW Good news is that I might have a job lined up as an RN once I pass the boards! So I'm praying that works out. At first she just wanted to offer me a PRN position, but once she found out that I'd be an RN, not an LPN, she got excited and said that she will have a FT position for me (but I have to have my license before I can practice as an RN of course).

So anyways. A little history. There was a time when I was married to my first husband that we were trying for a baby. We went years unable to conceive. And this was after we already had a son (he was a surprise). In fact, after I had my son I went months and months with no period. They were REAL erratic. I was lucky to have 2 or 3 a year. I went to the Navy doctor and she just brushed it off saying I was too young to have fertility issues (I was 20). According to her the only way for me to get pregnant was to have monthly periods and the only way to have monthly periods was to go on the pill. Whatever. Needless to say I never did get pregnant again. Good thing too because him and I divorced a few years later.

Jump ahead a few years. Still erratic and rare periods. My current husband and I were dating for over two years and I was feeling really sick all the time (no, not like you think). I felt really emotional, tired, and just real lousy. I was trying to lose weight on the Atkins Diet. For those of you who aren't too familiar with it you barely eat any carbs and that makes your body burn fat for energy (rather than using carbs). A by-product of this is something called ketones. More ketones = more fat burning. You can buy test strips to check this. Anyways, Marty and I were on the diet together at the same time. His will power is greater and he stuck to it religiously. I cheated LOL But one night we bought ketone test strips to check out progress. YAY! He was showing trace ketones! That meant he was really starting to burn fat! Then I went to check, fully expecting to confront my food cheating ways to a negative ketone strip. Imagine my surprise when I had off the chart ketones! My body was flooded with ketones and I wasn't even trying! I thought that was a great thing, but it was actually pointing to something more serious.

So I set up an appointment for all of this yucky feelings I had. I wasn't even thinking about the ketones at that time. So I went to my doctor and she put me on the pill for the periods (and the fact we weren't TTC). She also did the routine tests and sent me on my way. A few days later I got a call back. She wanted me to come in to have my blood retested. There were some numbers out of whack. So I came in and sure enough a few days later I got a call to come in to the office.

When I came in my doctor told me that my blood tests were showing that I might have diabetes. My fasting blood sugar was very high and she wanted me to be seen as soon as possible with a specialist in town. I got an appointment for him as well. I had to come in the next day for a fasting blood sugar check. I couldn't eat after midnight. I was so scared of having diabetes that I didn't eat after 9 the night before. I wanted my blood sugar to be as low as possible.

That morning I drove to the doctor's office as scared as could be. My beloved grandmother died years before within a month of being diagnosed with diabetes. That was so traumatic I didn't want to die either. I went in and they pricked my finger and put the blood on a strip. I asked the nurse what it needs to be and she said less than 110 to be normal. A few seconds later a number popped up. I looked at the machine and then looked at her as numb as could be waiting for her to say something. "Honey I think you're diabetic". Instantly I broke down. No way! I can't be diabetic! The nurse left the room to go get the doctor.

He came in and introduced himself. He was very kind and seemed to be understanding. I was waiting for him to say "Well, I don't think you're diabetic". But he didn't. He just confirmed that all the fasting blood tests all pointed to one thing. I was diabetic. He explained that's why I was feeling so run down and sick. Also explained how emotional I was during the holidays when all I did was ate and ate. My blood sugar was probably sky rocketing. It also explained the high ketones that were showing up on the strip. My body didn't have enough insulin to turn the carbs I ate into energy, so it was feeding off of my body. But in diabetics, high ketones can be dangerous.

They tried me on a special diet and eventually two different medications. I had to check my blood sugar several times a day and report those numbers to my doctor. The numbers were still very high and weren't coming down. So my doctor decided to add insulin shots to my daily care. So I had to learn how to give myself shots every day. Eventually that helped quite a bit.

In the meantime, my original OB/GYN diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS. Women with PCOS generally don't ovulate and have erratic periods. They also tend to put alot of weight on. All of that was happening to me. The treatment for PCOS is a diabetes drug called Metformin (Glucophage). That just happened to be the medication they put me on for the high blood sugar.

So I was suddenly on all of these pills and injections for diabetes and PCOS. But a few months later I was back to no periods. What the heck? I went to the doctor and I couldn't believe it. I was pregnant! WHAAAT? Because we weren't expecting it we were pretty shocked. But eventually Marty and I got used to the idea and became SO excited. We eventually went to the doctor for an ultrasound. I was 9 weeks pregnant and we watched our baby on the screen. It looked like it was kicking and waving at us! Wow. It looked like a little teddy bear. We named it "Baby Bear".

Because I was diabetic I had to set up an appointment with a Maternal-Fetal Specialist. Since we just had an ultrasound the week before Marty went on to work that day. But this doctor wanted a baseline for their records. YAY! I get to see my baby again!

But when the nurse showed the baby up on the screen she started asking me questions like when I had my last ultrasound and what they said and all that. I could tell something was wrong. It looked like the baby was at the bottom of that black sac and wasn't moving around like it was the week before. No kicks, no waves. The nurse tried to scan for a heart beat but wasn't able to find one. She said she was going to get the doctor and in the meantime I could call Marty. I called him up on his way to work and I told him they couldn't find a heartbeat on the baby. He said he was turning around and coming there right away.

Finally the doctor came in and took a look at the monitor. He confirmed that some time between my last ultrasound and that day our baby died inside of me. My body hadn't realized it yet. I wasn't cramping or bleeding or anything. I still had morning sickness. But there was no doubt. He sent Marty and I to my regular OB/GYN and while we were driving they called ahead to his office. When we got there they took us back right away. Emotionally we were a mess. Shocked.

My doctor gave me the option of waiting for my body to miscarry at home or to go to the hospital for a D&C. I didn't like the idea of the D&C, but because I had a stillborn baby in the past that I didn't go into labor for (and ended up in a septic shock coma) we all decided it was best to do the D&C so we wouldn't risk another septic missed miscarriage.

I was a mess that night. Marty took care of me all night. I wanted to take Nyquil just to knock myself out and then to have the surgery done at the hospital the next morning. But for a moment it crossed my mind that I couldn't take Nyquil because I was pregnant. Then I remembered, yes I'm pregnant, but my baby isn't alive. So in grief I took the Nyquil.

I spent a week off of work and I was so upset. I hurt so bad emotionally an physically. When I followed up with the doctor again he put me on a stronger birth control pill, thinking it would work better than the low dose pill I was on.

A couple of months later - SURPRISE! We're pregnant. WHAAAAT?! HOW?! I TOOK THE PILLS RELIGIOUSLY!!

Since we just lost the last baby we were scared to be pregnant again. Plus we weren't married yet and we received alot of grief over the last pregnancy out of wedlock. Great. How do we tell people we're pregnant again. Ugh.

Well, this time I didn't miscarry. We eventually became so excited and on September 5, 2004 our son Colin Joseph was born. He was 5 weeks premature and spent a week in NICU on a breathing machine but he did great after that. Now he's almost 5 years old!

So now here we are. For the last 2 years we have considered adding one more baby to our beautiful mix. Yes, we've been married now for a number of years :-) and we have an amazing marriage. I just can't even begin to explain how in love we are. Every day is like a honeymoon. Just so in love. We're both college educated and once I'm employed in the next month or two we are going to start trying big time.

But for now I am checking my basal body temperature to see if I even ovulate. According to last months chart I DID ovulate!!! And the luteal phase is long enough to support a pregnancy, if one occurs. So once I'm employed as an RN and bringing in an income we're going to make it happen. My new OB/GYN wants to try me on a fertility drug called Clomid because of my history with PCOS, but we're going to try it the natural way (without the high risk of twins and triplets!) And if we aren't able to get pregnant on our own then I'll have my temperature charts to show the doctor.

Please let me know if you are interested in this temperature tracking site. It's completely free and offers explanations and support all the way. I highly recommend it. Simply post a comment or send me an email to gapolaks (at) (gmail) (dot) com and I'll send you an invite! :-)

Baby Formula: Store Brand vs Name Brand?

When I had my last son, Colin, I anticipated breastfeeding him exclusively. That was my plan. I didn't want to worry about the expense of formula. Plus I thought I was "doing the best" for my baby.

But I didn't anticipate him being born prematurely. I didn't anticipate him needing machines to help him breathe. I didn't get to nurse him in those first few precious moments like I envisioned. He started out being tube fed. I would pump breastmilk and take it to the NICU for him. Even after I was discharged. Finally the day came when he came off of the machines and I would be able to nurse him. Ok, breastfeeding is natural, but it's not automatic. It just didn't work out that first time. I think because he was so hungry. So I ended up giving him breastmilk in a bottle.

When he got home it was the same. He preferred the bottle. Every so often he would latch on and it hurt like you wouldn't believe. I would still pump and I was so sore that I would bleed. I didn't want to give him bloody milk so I had to toss it. Yes, I know it's a problem with anatomy and we tried everything.

During his 6 week checkup we found out that I would need to supplement his feedings with formula. Just to give him a boost and so he'd gain weight. Being born prematurely it was very important. Ok, well if I have to...

Eventually I dried up a few months later. I still added my milk to the formula until then and that made me feel better. He wasn't able to tolerate milk based formula so I went to soy.

But what I wasn't thrilled about was the price! OMG! Formula is INSANE! And if money is tight, especially like it is these days, you have to find ways to save money. Well, you can't go without feeding your baby. But MY lifesaver came in the form of formula that wasn't "name brand". I was paying almost $20 for the powdered formula of Prosobee. Are you kidding me?! When your kid ends up going through 2 or 3 a week it gets expensive. And at one point we were faced with "If he can't tolerate Prosobee he will need to go to Nutramigen". That was almost $25! This baby was costing more than us to eat.

Then I checked with his pediatrician about going with a "generic" brand of formula. He did not see any problem with it, provided it was soy. So I gave it a shot, fully expecting upset stomachs, diarrhea, or even needing to feed more to keep him healthy. The cost was great! And considering I could buy it at Walmart was so convenient. When I say the cost was great, I'm telling you it was nearly a 50% savings!!! And believe me, with money being so tight, every little bit counted.

There is actually a site where you can go to do a cost comparison. You select what formula you would normally feed your baby and it gives you a retail price and a Parent's Choice retail price. You can even go as far as putting data in like when you start feeding your baby Parent's Choice and how much of their feedings are by formula (like how I would add breastmilk, if you do that, you can put in the ratio).

Heck, even if you put that money into a savings account that you save, that offers up great money for when they're older!

I also did a little research on why name brand formula is more expensive. It's kinda like generic drugs. They don't pay for advertising, free samples to the doctors and hospitals, etc. When I worked in the labor & delivery department for my senior practicum you wouldn't BELIEVE how many expensive sample bags were stored away in storage rooms! I still remember when Cody was born, his cousin worked at the hospital and they were tossing TONNNNNNNNNS of these expensive sample packs paid for by formula companies, simply because coupons were expiring. WHAT?!?! Fortunately he was able to get some for us. That was great :-) But guess who had to pay for ALLLLLLLL those expensive bags? The company? No. The hospital? No. Every one of us who buy a canister of formula! So frustrating.

Here is some more information that I obtained through another website:
"Mother’s milk is the best source of nutrition for babies. Moms should try breastfeeding because it is considered best for babies by leading experts. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes it as the gold standard in infant nutrition.

If parents choose to supplement mother’s milk with baby formula, they should not have to overpay for formula. Store-brand formulas are now available at leading retailers such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, CVS, and Walgreens. Although all infant formulas sold in the United States must adhere to the same stringent FDA guidelines, they are not priced the same, as many leading store-brand formulas cost up to 50% less than national brands. In fact, parents can save up to $600 a year by choosing a retailer’s store brand infant formula.

Parents can use online baby formula savings calculators to see how much they can save versus Enfamil LIPIL and Similac Advance infant formulas:

http://www.parentschoiceformula.com/baby-formula-savings-calculator.aspx (Walmart brand Parent’s Choice Infant Formula)

The reason why store-brand infant formulas are less expensive is because store brands are not given out free formula to hospitals. Only mothers and health-care professionals should make infant-feeding decisions, which is why we do not want to influence that decision-making process at the time of birth."

So do yourself a favor and check out this site: Parent's Choice Infant Formula

See what buying generic can do for you, ESPECIALLY in these hard economic times.

The Cinnabon SECRET Recipe!

Ok, this is a copycat recipe for those AMAZING Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls! I wanted to make something special for my "boys" today and this was it! I've made them before, but it's been a few years. Actually several years. But they are AMAZING!

Roll Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water
2 pkgs dry yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
3 1/2 oz pkg Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1/2 c butter (melted)
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
6 cups flour
1 cup softened butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 t cinnamon (of course the best is the actual cinnamon sold at Cinnabon stores!)

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups Confectioner's sugar
1 T milk

1. In a bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, prepare pudding mix according to package directions.
3. Add margarine, eggs and salt. Mix well.
4. Add yeast mixture. Blend.
5. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled.
6. Punch down dough and let rise again.
7. Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size.
8. Spread softened butter over surface.
9. In bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon.
10. Sprinkle over top. Roll up very tightly.
11. With knife every 2 inches.
12. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart.
13. Take hand and lightly press down on each roll.
14. Cover and let rise until double again.
15. Bake at 350 15−20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden. DON'T OVER BAKE.
16. Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting (mix all ingredients until smooth)

SeaWorld has an AWESOME new ride!

When I was growing up in Ohio, one of my favorite trips, ok probably my MOST favorite trip with my family was to SeaWorld in NE Ohio. We went several times during my childhood with the last time being when I was around 12. I remember fishing there, feeding ducks, walking right up to Shamu, watching a dive performance that was a blast, and the night time show. Oh man. The lighting and the music were just right and the people really cared for the animals. It was so beautiful seeing the human-animal interaction to the song "More than words" by Extreme. The night concluded with a trip to the lake for a laser show. It was so cool. This was during the first Gulf War and patriotism was real high. At the conclusion, the laser showed the words that SeaWorld salutes all of the men and women in our United States Armed Forces. Even at 12 I just wanted to cry with pride when the entire crowd erupted in applause.

So my impression of SeaWorld has always been top-of-the-line and I would LOVE to take my kids there. Being in the Atlanta area, we're not too far from SeaWorld Orlando. Which is also great because they just opened up an incredible ride called "Manta". It's designed around the Manta Ray, a remarkable aquatic animal.

You can learn more by visiting the website and doing a couple activities. You can follow them on Twitter for answers on a 5 question quiz. They will email something to you so that you get a complementary photograph of you on the ride. They also give you a front of the line pass if you complete all 6 activities on the site! How cool is that? No lines? AHHHHH!

Click on
Manta to visit the site!

Watch this video to experience the ride! My son and I watched it and we were both saying "I HAVE to ride that!" Oh man. It's unreal!



So check it out! If you've been or plan on going, please comment this post! I'd LOVE to hear about your experience. Wooohooo!!

For Those Who Are Expecting! :-)

First of all congratulations! Second, I wanted to post a link to a site that has OUTSTANDING information for the mommy to be. Videos, information, calculators (due date, etc). Check it out!

Pregnancy Week by Week

What to do with $10,000???

Wow, if someone came up to me and offered me $10,000 what would I do? Well, I could certainly afford to focus more on my education! And with the job market, even for a new grad nurse, being so ugly, I could afford not to work for a couple of more months. And let's admit, a nice dinner and a mini-spending spree wouldn't hurt either! :-) Oh! Or I could take the fam on vacation to Myrtle Beach or Virginia Beach! Yes!!

Whew, ok, back to reality. Today I saw where Charter Cable is giving away one prize of $10,000 and 4 52" HDTVs! Heck, I could take those as well LOL It would definitely make my husband really happy!

All you have to do is go to charter.net/10grand each week in May (HURRY!) and answer questions about Charter On Demand. We used to have Charter and I miss it BIG time! The On Demand feature was unreal. It was like having tons of stuff saved to the DVR that you could watch whenever you wanted. Everything from movies to documentaries to educational videos. It was great. Actually, according to Charter, they have over 6000 things on the On Demand.

Win 10 Grand Contest Page
Charter’s Twitter Feed

So seriously, it's worth taking a few minutes to give it a shot. Charter has been creating so much hype lately with TONS of giveaways. At least join in on the fun!!!!



DON'T FORGET TO COME BACK AND POST IF YOU WIN!!!! :-) :-) :-)

I wish I knew about this when I was in Nursing School!

Ok, we've all heard of Netflix right? Have movie rentals delivered to your home, you watch it as long as you'd like, when you're done you send it back in the prepaid envelope and they automatically ship out the next movie on the list.

Well I remember awhile back seeing something on the 11 Alive News morning show here in Atlanta. These people started a program where it works just like Netflix, but with books! No more going to the book store to buy the latest book out there that everyone is talking about, reading it, and then it sitting on the bookshelf. Or lending it to someone and never seeing it again. Too much mess.

So how cool would it be to have something similar to Netflix but with books. EVEN COLLEGE TEXT BOOKS! And we all know how much those can be (especially nursing books).

Please take a look at this site and see if it's just the thing you need! I know I am!