Mari Walker

Despite everything stacking up against my desire for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) – previous big baby, ultrasound estimating an even bigger baby, being overdue and having gestational diabetes – I was ultimately successful and delivered my second daughter vaginally. I knew I was having a big baby. My first was 9 lbs, 10 oz, and ultrasounds late in the pregnancy were predicting an 11+ lb second baby. I knew in my heart that she wasn’t quite that big, especially given my strict diet and lack of weight gain (thanks, gestational diabetes!). Read the rest at Woman's Hospital's Life Among Women blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when first published.) 

Our four-year-old daughter is very excited about becoming a big sister, and she’s maintained a very positive attitude about the new baby since we told her around week 12 of the pregnancy. (We didn’t tell anyone else before her, since it impacts her more than pretty much anyone else.) It’s good that we’re expecting another girl, since she suggested we just “pretend it’s a girl baby if we have a boy baby.” So far my daughter hasn’t been around many babies, but when she is she loves them. We also haven’t had much reason to visit the hospital, so we knew that the sibling preparation class at Woman’s Hospital would be a great idea. We signed up for the A Baby is Coming class a couple months before our due date. Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when published.)

As I am rounding the bend to the end of this pregnancy and my experience with gestational diabetes (and hopefully diabetes all together – unless I should ever become pregnant again), I find myself wanting a cookie more than ever. Both literally and metaphorically. I have worked very hard to maintain my blood glucose levels, and so far my readings have been well managed with diet and exercise. I can’t speak to the experience of insulin-controlled diabetes or how that changes things, but my experience with diet-controlled GD has produced an obsession with food and eating, although hopefully it’s improved my relationship to see food more as simply fuel. But I’ll be honest, I still have carb and sweets cravings and know it would be a slippery slope to falling back into the food-as-comfort attitude I’ve had most of my life. Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when first published.)

All pregnant women miss some foods and drink that are on the verboten list such as sushi, wine and cold sandwiches. I miss those things too, but I have an even longer list of “wish I could haves.” Here are just a few I’ve been thinking about. In addition to the raw fish aspect of sushi I can’t even work in a California roll because of the white rice that would spike my blood sugar. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. I also haven’t really been able to eat other Asian foods – Thai especially is too carb heavy, and I can manage Chinese if I just do steamed veggies and a non-fried meat dish (much less tasty than what I’m really craving – I’ll tell you that!). Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blo g. (Called Mommy-Go-Round when published.)

When I was pregnant in 2011 I had a desk job, and as my due date neared my assignments decreased to the point of sheer boredom. I joked that I was able to “finish reading the Internet” because I had so much time on my hands. That’s not the case this pregnancy; although I do work freelance jobs at a computer I also am taking care of my preschooler and bound by her schedule. I still have found myself around week 30 of the pregnancy beginning to get serious about how to get this baby out and researching childbirth methods again in earnest. My first birth story makes me weep. I’m so glad that I wrote it down, because already I’ve forgotten many of the details even if some of the heart pains have stayed excruciatingly with me. Looking back, I’d probably make the same decision now. After more than 24 hours of induced labor and very little progress, warnings of a “big baby” and “permanent nerve damage,” my husband and I chose to take our doctor’s advice and have a C-section. I...

I’m writing this one week away from my estimated due date, so no matter what, I’m in the home stretch of this pregnancy. Although it’s been true since the beginning, each day brings me closer to birthing and meeting my daughter. I can’t wait! It also means I’m in the home stretch of gestational diabetes – hallelujah! I’ve worked very hard to manage my blood glucose levels, and I didn’t miss a single test until last week. I woke up and started getting my older daughter ready for preschool and just didn’t do the fasting test. It was the weirdest thing, as I didn’t even realize the mistake until I tested two hours after breakfast and saw I was missing a number in my record book. The morning fasting test is the worst one to skip, but the sky didn’t fall and all is well. I think one missed test out of hundreds isn’t too bad, and my numbers have been so good that it isn’t really an issue. The data nerd in me is disappointed to have a less-than-perfect record! Read the rest ...

I’m not a first-time mom, so I haven’t spent much of this pregnancy poring over listicles of “things you need” and “things you don’t need” to bring home a new baby. It may be false confidence, but I think we can handle it. Although there still are a few things we need to buy. One thing we definitely needed was a car seat, since the car seat we brought our first daughter home in is a convertible model (Britax Marathon) that four years later she’s still using! Luckily Target has pretty good baby clearance in January, and I managed to get the updated version of my firstborn’s car seat for $90 off. SCORE! One thing I definitely don’t need is another bag... Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when published.)