G.D.

Welcome to week 33

This week came with new challenges for my pregnancy. Two weeks ago, I was told I had borderline gestational diabetes and would have to undergo measures to control my glucose levels to keep dear baby healthy through the rest of the pregnancy period. You may be wondering why a few posts ago, I actually wrote about how relieved I was not to have it and now I have it. Well, turns out my doctor's receptionist neglected to tell me to do the 3 hour testing and then my results came back as borderline G.D.

Why me? Well, I should have expected it since both my parents have type II diabetes so it's in the genes. Perhaps it also didn't help that I have had a sweet tooth throughout my pregnancy. What happens is during pregnancy, your hormone levels are so out of wack that there's not enough insulin produced to deal with the glucose. The major impact to the baby is they get to be big babies which makes labor more difficult but I also found out that since the baby is so used to the high glucose levels during gestation that they get Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), in other words, a cranky baby that needs sugar in their system right after birth.

So I met with the Diabetes Specialist last week and met with a dietitian and nurse this Tuesday to go over a strict carbohydrate meal plan and have to test my glucose levels 6x/day. I came out of the meeting feeling pretty overwhelmed; knowing I would have to count my carbs. each meal and have to prick myself on a regular basis. I have never had to diet nor count calories in my lifetime so I wondered how much I would have to modify my lifestyle/habits to accommodate for this and for how long? Well, I'm at day 2 and it's not too bad so far. I am learning lots about the different types of foods and how they break down in the body (it's nice my coworker is also the Fitness Manager!) My glucose levels seem OK so far. I have been eating more frequent, smaller meals/snacks throughout the day and walking after every meal so it's been a healthy change. I actually feel better, having control of the portions I eat. I still consume ice cream and dark chocolate but just have to keep it to very tiny portions. It' s not as bad as I thought. However, I would love it if I didn't have to keep moderating my glucose levels for the rest of the pregnancy. I will find out next Tuesday when I meet with the doctor again.

Interesting fact: The glucose levels that I have to strive for are stricter than what someone with type II diabetes would have to follow. The glucose levels before a meal for someone with type II diabetes should be between 4.0 - 7.0 while for a pregnant women with G.D., it needs to be less than 5.0

Tomorrow is our second meeting with Baby Chin. We have another U/S planned and looking forward to seeing and finding out how the baby is developing and to confirm once again if it's a girl!

Yay for Friday!

Rae