How sweet it is?

You know, yesterday I was feeling really positive about everything (except for the fact that I'm mentally ready to have this kid and apparently he isn't ready to come out yet). But today's a whole different day, and now I'm starting to have my doubts.

I was conversing with someone on Facebook about the baby and how big he's going to be, and feeling pretty proud of myself for having avoided the whole "high blood pressure" thing. Then another friend, who is an EMT, joined the conversation. He asked if I had considered the possibility that I might have gestational diabetes. At first I dismissed his comment; after all, I passed my glucose tolerance test, and there's been no mention of anything like that from my OB ever since. So I really didn't think much about it at first. But he planted a seed in my head, and I did finally start to think about it. I looked up the symptoms of gestational diabetes, and it made me start to wonder. I have had a major sweet tooth during the course of this pregnancy, eating a lot more desserts, candy, and generally sugary stuff than I did before I got pregnant (not that I didn't crave the stuff before, I just didn't eat as much of it). I have gained way more weight than I wanted to, and more than is recommended for a woman who is already overweight. For someone who is overweight, they recommend not gaining more than 20-25 lbs. I've gained 40. I do drink a lot of liquids and pee quite frequently. It's hard to use that as a gauge, since I'm intentionally drinking a lot due to my blood pressure, and peeing a lot as a result of that and as a result of the baby having dropped a bit. The baby's size could be related to that as well, since moms with gestational diabetes tend to have very big babies. But of course we can explain that as well, since big babies run in my husband's family (he was almost 9 lbs, his sister was over 9, his dad and his aunt were about 10). Anyway, I just don't know now. Can someone develop gestational diabetes AFTER the glucose tolerance test?

Then I got to doubting other things as well. I'm feeling pretty rough today, very tired and kind of sore. My thighs are really sore, almost like I worked out a couple days ago or something, making it hard to get up off the couch. Also, I'm having a lot of vaginal/groin pain today. Of course, that could be because my OB checked my cervix yesterday at my appointment, which means she had to stick a lot more of her hand up there than is comfortable (of course, NO hand would be the most comfortable). So it could just be that things got stretched out a bit when she checked me. And it could also just be that the added pressure of the baby's head down there is causing the pain, since he's dropped over the past couple of weeks. Last night I was also feeling a little crampy in my lower abdomen. I have no idea what that might indicate. But when I mentioned it to my husband, he half-jokingly said, "You aren't in labor, are you?" And that got me wondering, how will I know for sure when I'm going into labor? I mean, I would think/hope that it would be really obvious when I start having contractions. I'm assuming that they should be significantly different than the Braxton Hicks contractions I've already been having (which have gotten noticeably stronger in the past couple weeks). But really, how can I tell? Maybe it's just a backache. Maybe it's just cramps. Maybe it's just a slight change in the practice contractions. But maybe it isn't. I don't want to be one of those women who overreacts and rushes to the birth center, only to be sent home by the (possibly) snickering nurses because I'm not in labor. But I also don't want to wait too long and have the kid in the car on the way to the hospital, either. So how am I supposed to know?

All this not-knowing is really annoying.