So I have not written in a while.  I am nearing my due date for this lovely baby to be and I am feeling it!

I am slowing down a lot these days and taking some time to rest.  I have been pretty blessed to not have suffered many pregnancy related side effects that many suffer from for the duration. I dont know how women deal with some of these things day in and day out. At Least I know that light at the end of the tunnel is near!

My pain has been well managed but as the weeks go by i am noticing increased back and hip pain. My legs and knees are swelling and my feet ache .  Due to baby’s position walking is harder and harder and i am easily winded and i burn out quickly. Even still i still consider myself lucky and know it could be much worse. I have not had to deal with many other uncomfortable physical symptoms.

Despite how I am feeling physically these days, things have been going so very well. I really am blessed in the ways my first pregnancy has been progressing.  It has exceeded all my expectations and dispelled any of my fears.

Looking back , we put this off for so long as I had doubted my ability to manage my diet and be consistent and compliant while achieving the safe PHE levels. I was also so unsure of my backs ability to carry our child due to all the injuries  I have endured over the years.

I feared the pain it would cause me and doubted my strength and determination. This Journey has shown me that I am so much more than what I thought of myself. It has proven to me anything is possible with the right motivation and dedication.

As I have said in many of my previous posts, my normal non – pregnant PHE target is around 350 mg phe. Though I had been quite liberal over the years. I was not nearly as diligent and did not keep food records or weight or measure or even watch my portions. My levels were stable under 10 but usually sat around 8 depending on how i was managing.

I drank  4 Cambrooke Bettermilk a day, 2 in the morning with 16 oz of water and flavoured it with MIO water enhancer. Then 2 again with dinner. Nothing at lunch.

 

Now being pregnant I drink 5 packages bettermilk. 2 in the morning with 16 oz water and 5 grams tyrosine.  Then I have 1 package of bettermilk at noon with 2 scoops phenylade amino acid blend. Dinner I have 2 more packages bettermilk , 2 more scoops phenylade amino acid blend and another 5 grams tyrosine.  in second trimester i used nestle strawberry quik to flavour my bettermilk for the added calories. In third trimester i switched to the squeezable powerade water enhancers due to the electrolytes. They are phe and calorie free.

Before becoming pregnant. I relied heavily on low protein food and ate whatever I wanted;  as long as it was a low protein product, not caring about my portion sizes or calories.

This caused my first trimester to be quite a shock when I realized how off my portions where compared to eyeballing. Hence I guess why I always had a weight problem.

In the early days I did suffer from nausea, but i think i subconsciously scared myself into not vomiting to much as it would elevate my levels. So I really hard to force food down. some meals would take hours .

I went through a lot of low protein food but what i was eating came in phases. Some things I replied heavily on in first trimester I could no longer tolerate the sight or smell of in the second. Then in the 3rd i was pretty much was forced to give up any low protein foods because they where simply to low and the portions where getting so large i couldn’t eat it all.

For example, in first trimester I lived on the low protein fruit banana hot cereal made by nutrica/ milpa brand. Fruits and low protein cookies for lunch and  Aproten pasta or dietary specialties rice dishes  for dinner.

In the first few weeks I dropped down to 200 mg phe. Then we began to increase up slowly by 10% until my levels got in the 2-4 mg/dl range.

I sat around 350 mg phe well into my second trimester.  Eventually my tolerance did begin to climb. The first spike came in October around 24 weeks . when I bumped up into the 500s, by the end of november I was around 800-900 mg phe!

In the second week of December I broke 1000 mg phe and baby was in a growth spurt.

My levels dropped below 2 in october and we have been constantly chasing them increasing my tolerance based on  each blood dot.   By the end of December I broke over 1500 mg phe and into january I broke 2000 mg phe! Still with levels under 2 !

I just could never believe me eyes every time I got an email with my levels.

In the second trimester I relied heavily on low protein omelets using Cambrookes eggz with so delicious coconut milk! I loaded them up with all sorts of vegetables and daiya cheese. I also made my own version of low protein sausages using the country sunrise mushroom burger mix. This became my most favorite meals and what I looked forward to eating the most every day. I could not have gotten by with out! and since I need a lot more calories i drizzle maple syrup all over it !

I think this was my only craving. As on the days that I was unable to make it out I truly missed it! I really doubled up and sometimes tripled up the recipes to help account for my phe targets and it was  fight to give it up later in the third trimester. I help out as long as I could!

Now that I am up to 2000 mg phe I am hardly eating any low protein foods. I have been very careful of any high protein foods that I add though since I know I will have to give them up and also because my body is so sensitive to them. I had tried a few things that really did not agree with me.

Like Yogurt. Loved it but made me very sick.  I have been reluctant to add too much since I have been so careful and I know what my body is like when i eat things that are high when i am not pregnant. I did not want to make it harder on me to go backwards. Mostly I am eating things I use to eat when I cheated , or adding more of things I can already have.

in the past few weeks since my phe has gone above 2000 I have relaxed some and introduced a few things to enjoy for now .Or just to be able to say i finally tried that. Honestly though there is not to much that I love. Most new additions I can take or leave and won’t be hard to give up.

I had my first ever vegetarian pizza in january. I now eat oreo ice cream and i tried a bagel from tim hortons yesterday when i could not get home to eat. Such an oddity to have choices on a menu when I am out!

Honestly , it is so much food! Most days I can barely get it all in! I feel so overly full and cringe at the idea of eating more. I have actually started to add protein powder to my formula so I dont have to eat as much!

Right now my days mostly look like Maple Brown sugar oatmeal for breakfast with almond or coconut milk. Lunch I have been eating chow mein noodles plain or in a stir fry. Dinner I eat mostly white minute rice and vegetables. Or mashed potatoes and either cream corn or brown baked beans in tomato sauce or maple syrup.

I could have added dairy, regular pasta, nuts, seeds, milk and cheese had i chose to but i declined. I made a decision early on no animal products and regular pasta smells gross to me. I prefer my low protein pasta. I am actually looking forward to having a big aprotein pasta salad after baby!

I still dont like to eat out much as it’s so much harder to track phe and estimate the portion sizes so it’s just easier to avoid.  Though I finally decided to quit torturing myself and splurge on my one indulgence pre pregnancy and treated myself to sushi! I just totally love some good avocado sushi / vegetable sushi/ cucumber rolls/ yam rolls/ and vegetable tempura. I spoke with my clinic and we worked out a way to estimate the phe and then i indulge on my favorite food. It’s been so difficult to wrap my head around being able to eat like this and understanding that i am not hurting myself or baby. Everyone I know with PKU tells me how lucky I am and how they wish they could eat pretty much like normal or whatever they wanted and have such low levels. But honestly its been a real challenge for me.  So when I finally allowed myself to eat sushi, since i had eaten it now and then prior to being pregnant as a treat, i was ecstatic. It tasted amazing going down and I savored every  bite. But baby did not! Que the heart burn! Oh man every time I have eaten it i have really paid for it. Apparently baby takes after its daddy and can’t stand the stuff. So now I have to re give it up!

My heart burn is easing off now but dont want to take the chance of not keeping it down. ( sushi does not taste good coming back up, but really does anything? )

Baby has dropped down now and is engaged. I can especially feel this when i am trying to walk or be active. Or sleep. ( what is sleep?)

So really baby could decide to come any day. with our official due date a few weeks away, February 23rd 2016. I am in no rush. I do not wish to be induced or influence baby. I feel that baby will know when its time and will come when it is ready.

Now that baby has finished developing and the remaining weeks will be dedicated to weight gain, my levels have finally risen high enough  that they are finally above 2 again.

Normally such low levels have a negative impact on baby’s growth and development but my clinic assures me that this is when the mommy does not get enough protein. I am getting plenty of protein. I am pretty much eating and getting phe levels of someone who does not have PKU right now.

This time last year I weighed 199 lbs, ( yes i know obese type 2 and not something i share lightly. )

Then I worked hard losing 10 lbs in the spring. When I found out in june that I was pregnant, I weighed 190 lbs. Then in first trimester due to morning sickness and following a real pku diet by weighing my portions and tracking what I eat I went down to 180 lbs. Now I am 203 lbs. So in reality i have only gained 13 lbs in total.

I still track everything on how much phe and I still do blood dots 2 to 3 times a week.  I still need to drive them up to the hospital to have them couriered to Bc Children’s newborn screening laboratory.

I credit my success on many factors. I could not have done that with out the support and guidance from my dedicated medical team. I have a fabulous team. My PKU clinic in vancouver, my nurse, my dieticians Jen, Taryn and Annie, my doctor dr. sirrs and then my team here in kamloops. My Obgyn , my midwife, my family doctor, my counsellor , physiotherapist and all my wonderful friends and family.

Also having the low protein subsidy initiated by CanPKU and Health Minister Terry Lake has been life changing.  Everyone who has been apart of this journey has had a vital role in making all my dreams come true!

Our nursery is done. Last night was our final Prenatal class. Next week is our breastfeeding course, and this weekend we plan to install our car seat in my car.

Things are really coming together and feeling more and more real!

It is just a waiting game now!

36 weeks marked week 1 of month 9.

37 weeks marked full term. If baby was born today it would not be premature!

As a first time mom I can still go overdue up to 40 weeks but let’s hope not. I can’t wait to meet this baby and see finally what he or she looks like, and whether it is a he or a she!

But I am in no rush. I am confident baby will know the best time and will come when ready!

So the countdown is on and we are playing the waiting game!

Baby Rickett to be, we can’t wait to meet you!