That’s right. My husband and I are expecting a baby girl later this fall and at 24 weeks we’ve already given her the name Madison Grace!
Her announcement on PKU Parlor might help explain why I haven’t posted in a while. Finding out I am pregnant has been both overwhelming and wonderful at the same time. The editor in me wanted Madison’s announcement to be partnered along with some insightful advice for my blog readers, but to be honest, I’ve never felt as such a “newbie” towards anything else in my entire life. While working through all the normal questions and concerns that most women have with their first pregnancy (visiting day care facilities, finding a pediatrician, planning maternity leave, etc.), I’m also working through what it means to be expecting with PKU.
Longtime blog readers may recall after returning to the low-protein PKU diet in January 2013, I began a long journey filled with a variety of hurdles including the inability to keep consistent insurance coverage for my formula, the emotional impact of a dramatic hair loss, and the hunt for a medical team that was experienced and refreshingly optimistic about tackling maternal PKU.
And yet once I felt that all the pieces had fallen into place, conception was not something that happened instantaneously. Negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test eventually began to take a toll and I started to wonder if becoming a mom would ever happen.
Despite my skepticism, I was surprised to learn I was pregnant during a routine OB visit this past April. And when my first ultrasound determined I was more than 10 weeks along, I was even more surprised to learn I had nearly missed-out on my first trimester! …Certainly a perfect example for why returning to the diet prior to conception is so important.
In the weeks leading up to finding out the good news, my PKU clinic and I had been trying to figure out why my levels appeared to be gradually increasing despite no change in my daily phe intake (in hindsight, it was likely because my body was working hard undergoing massive changes to make a baby). As soon as I reported the pregnancy back to my clinic, the decision was made to drop my phe by 50 mg to 500 mg/day (or 10 gm of protein) and increase calories to a minimum of 2,300/day (more for those days when I exercised). Sure enough, the adjustments quickly brought my levels back down.
It is hard to believe it’s been 14 weeks since I first found out I was pregnant. I grin from ear-to-ear every time I feel Madison kick. Her acrobatic stunts are a constant reminder that all this hard work is so worth it!
In the coming days and weeks, I’ll share more of my experience as well as other PKU recipes and tidbits. I hope you’ll continue to stop by!
–NM