Week 24: Yay for V Day!

Today is viability day, which means that if Ziggy were born today, he would have a 50% chance of surviving, albeit with a lot of medical intervention and time in the NICU. I can't say I'm crazy about those odds, but it's certainly better than no chance of survival. Obviously I want the little guy to stay in as long as possible, preferably to full term. According to my friend with two boys, baby boys are the most fragile of all babies and really need to stay in till as close to 40 weeks as possible. Apparently, this is especially true of white baby boys (isn't it ironic that white male babies are considered the weakest?), but since Ziggy will be hapa, I'm hoping that will give him an advantage :)

I was almost a week late myself (I think my EDD was March 30, but I actually arrived on April 5), so it will be interesting to see when Ziggy arrives, especially given that we know the exact date of his conception. Of course my parents claimed that they knew the exact date of my conception as well since they were using the famous rhythm method to avoid pregnancy. Well, apparently it's not the greatest form of birth control! I was conceived on something like the 21st, 22nd, or 23rd day of my mom's cycle (my parents have told me the exact day--I just don't remember), which means she ovulated really late.

When I was trying to conceive naturally and tracking my ovulation with basal body temperature, I noticed that I had a tendency to ovulate late as well, so maybe it runs in the family. We also both have short luteal phases, which can affect fertility. My mother often says she was lucky that I was an "accident," because otherwise she probably wouldn't have had any children (what with all of her subsequent miscarriages).

24 weeks also means I have only 1 week until my next appointment with Dr. W and my glucose screen, where I have to drink a sugar solution and then have my blood drawn an hour later. I hope I pass because if I don't, I have to do the glucose tolerance test, which is basically a repeat of the first test, except the sugar solution is more concentrated or at a larger volume, and then I'll have my blood drawn every hour for 3 hours. If I fail this test, it means I officially have gestational diabetes.

I don't know if I'm supposed to fast or not before the glucose screen because I didn't receive any instructions, but I think I'll just go ahead and not eat any breakfast before my appointment just in case--I certainly don't want to have to repeat or reschedule the test just because I ate something when I wasn't supposed to. Thankfully my appointment's in the morning, so fasting shouldn't be that hard.

Apparently some women feel really nauseated from the sugar solution, and since I tend to feel really awful when I consume something sugary on an empty stomach (according to SH, who is a Type 2 diabetic, this can be a sign of hypoglycemia, which can itself be a precursor to diabetes), I'm both worried that I'll feel horrible and also that I'll fail the test. My grandfather had Type 2 diabetes, and his mother, my great-grandmother, actually died from complications of diabetes in her 50s (of course, at that time, she received no medical help whatsoever).

Anyway, yay again for viability day! I hope Ziggy continues to bake for another 16 weeks or so! Of course I may soon be changing my tune as I grow bigger and more uncomfortable, but right now I feel like I could happily remain pregnant forever :)