Stressing over the little stuff

sillybiochemist

Went to the OB today and did my gestational diabetes test.  This is the test I've been flipping out about since before I even went off the pill.  My risk is a bit higher than "normal" b/c my BMI was close to 30, my dad is a type 1 diabetic (which raises your risk to ~5% over someone who's dad isn't a type 1 diabetic), but I've kept my weight in check for the most part.  Although there's a 4 pound discrepancy between my scale at home and the doctors office that I'm trying to figure out which I should trust.  ANYWAY!  I managed to keep the orange tang-flavored (ick) stuff down but my blood pressure has jumped from 120 for the top number at the last visit to 140 at this visit a month later (today).  Doc retook it to make sure that it was at least close to what the nurse had taken (Which of course it was).  I knew I was stressed about this test but the bp makes me worry a bit.  I'm at the point where I'm every 2 weeks for my visits to the OB so she told me that if I'm still at that point in 2 weeks we'll start to worry about the blood pressure.  I'll know the results of the blood work related to the glucose test by the end of the week.

 

I'm usually a pretty optimistic person but I also have a tendency not to listen to my own advice and let the small stuff get to me.  The more I can't control it, the more it bothers me.  Which is probably why the GD stuff bothers me so much b/c in many ways at this point it's completely out of my control.  I'm not saying that you can't alter your diet, incorporate exercise, etc to help it so I'm not completely out of my mind yet because I know that there are things you can do to help the situation.   

I know part of my stress has to do with my mom coming in last weekend (which went pretty well for once) and then my in-laws came in this past weekend (leaving this morning).  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and feel like I haven't gotten anything done writing wise for my PhD work, which is really frustrating since in a few days I'll have been out of lab a month.  And been really busy with baby stuff then visits.  Not to mention I'm not used to not going to work on a daily basis (most of the time literally or 6 days a week).  Still kind of feel like I don't know what to do with myself yet I've been keeping busy.  I know I just need to take stock of my priorities and get going on things but chill at the same time.  Trying to make a plan but right now I'm just stressed and mad at myself for getting worked up over the little stuff.

 

Any suggestions to just chill a bit? 

MrsBlayne

Just try to relax! Like you said, you can't control the results at this point. As for your phd stuff, can you set yourself a deadline? I was supposed to we studying for a certification exam while I was pg, and I was having trouble staying motivated. I went ahead and scheduled the test for several weeks away, so that I would have that deadline to motivate me.

sillybiochemist

That's part of my plan, just need to implement it.  I'm hoping the blood pressure is more stress than something else (such as preeclampsia) but we won't know until a recheck, one way or another.  I'm also going to try and watch my sodium intake a bit more just in case it makes a difference (although to my understanding it affects the bottom number more than the top number).  We'll see what happens.  I do better with an action plan, so it can't hurt to try it.   My prenatal swim class relaxed me a bit so hopefully that's a step in the right direction.