Gestational Diabetes Update

Since it's been almost a month since I got the call that I have gestational diabetes, I figured now is as good as any to update on how things have been going.

At my 31 week OB appointment, I got the low down on what that would mean for the rest of my pregnancy.

I was prescribed a monitor (it's purple!) and was told to test four times a day: as soon as I get up, and 2 hours after each meal.

The day I started testing, I'll admit, I was nervous. I knew, logically, that the needle I was using was tiny, but come on, who wants to stick themselves moments after waking up? The build up of nerves was a lot worse than the actual act and it really doesn't hurt all that much. I will say, however, for any of you ladies that used injectables or did IVF, I have even more respect for you. I don't know how you do those PIO shots.

Figuring our which finger would be the most cooperative was a bit of trial and error. For most of my readings the first weekend, I had to poke myself three times because I wasn't getting enough blood. It really only takes a drop, but I would poke myself and nothing (seriously, nothing) would come out. I thought I was doing something incorrect, so I had Keegan poke me once, and he couldn't get anything out either. My fingers were pretty bruised for a while because the blood pooled under the skin when it wouldn't come out. I was hoping to be able to rotate through all of my fingers so that I wouldn't be poking the same one over and over again, but it looks like my left hand pinky finger is the best at giving up the goods. I try to move the poke around the pad of my finger, but it's looking a little worse for wear.

I was told to try and keep my levels under 100 for the fasting reading and in the 120s for the reading after each meal. I was also told that my OB would rather the reading be slightly high (into the 130s,) after each meal than low, and if I got a really out of whack reading, to write down what I ate and try not to eat that food again.The fasting reading hasn't been a problem, it's been anywhere from 75 to 99; the after meals readings however, have been somewhat confusing.

I had no idea how my body was reacting to foods, so I decided to take the first week of readings to see how my body reacts to the foods I would normally eat and then decide what I needed to cut out / eat less of.

One Saturday afternoon, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. I got a wrap and fries and when I tested two hours later, my reading was 156. Good to know, won't eat that again.

Monday morning, ate Special K cereal and milk for breakfast. Reading came out in the 150s. Monday afternoon, ate cereal and watermelon for lunch (quick, desperate lunch because I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet,) reading came out at 119. I've eaten cereal since then and haven't had a high reading, so I'm not sure why I got a high reading the first time.

I've eaten other things like pasta and ice cream that I thought for sure would give me a high reading, but so far, so good. I have had one soda (a Sprite,) and that didn't go over so well, so I'm off soda for the rest of the pregnancy.

In all honesty, I haven't really had to change my diet much. I'm still able to eat fruit, pasta, ice cream, pizza, home made muffins and more. All things that I figured would send my blood sugar sky high have been fine. Keegan thinks that my body can process the natural sugars in fruit and in homemade foods well, but not in highly processed foods like soda.

At my next appointment on Monday, I'm going to bring in my testing numbers for the last two and a half weeks and see what my OB says. I wish I had started testing before I started taking Metformin again because I would have liked to compare the numbers. In a perfect world, my OB would say that it looks like my levels are under control and I don't need to test anymore, but I doubt that'll happen. In the grand scheme of things, testing isn't that big of an inconvenience, but no one likes to intentionally cause themselves pain, and while the testing supplies are partially covered by my insurance, they still cost money.

Overall, things have gone a lot better than I was expecting. I was fully expecting to have to put myself on a no carb, no sugar diet again with how high my numbers came back from my three hour test. Thankfully my body seems to be able to process most sugars, just not highly processed ones, so I haven't had to cut many things out. The only annoyance is having to live my life in two hour time spans (the time after eating when I have to take my reading,) but I guess that'll be how things are when I have a newborn who wants to eat every two hours!

Thank you to everyone who has been my cheerleader throughout this time. I was really beating myself up when I got the diagnosis, thinking it was somehow my fault. Many of you reminded me that this is something my body would have done no matter what and that women of all shapes, sizes, and health levels get GD.