Me & GD

It's officially official [again]:

       I have Gestational Diabetes. {GD, for short.}

At my last OB appointment, I had to take the 1 hr glucose test. Something every pregnant woman looks forward to, right? Hahaha! It's not really the worst thing in the world, but it's definitely no picnic either. Fortunately my experience this time around wasn't so bad. When the lab tech took my blood, I was told that the results would be in the next day and no phone call would basically mean all is well.

Naturally, when 5PM rolled around the following day, I was ecstatic! No GD this time! I can eat ALL THE CARBS without feeling guilty! Woohoo! Thursday rolled around, which meant so many yummy snacks at PWOC. I celebrated by sampling, um...a lot...of the options. (Come on. You know you'd do the same!)

Later that day as I was cooking dinner, the phone rang. It was a number I didn't recognize, but it was local so I answered. It was my OB's nurse, and the news wasn't good. I failed the 1 hr test. It wasn't exactly a surprise, but I was still taken aback. I think it's only normal considering it took them 48 hours to let me know. You'd think that having a history of GD would prompt them to call me a little quicker with the results. Anyway, I did get upset about it. I had thought I was fine - that I wouldn't have to prick myself 4 times a day from here to Millie's birth day. I wouldn't have to count every carb, or try to find something I could eat if we went out to dinner. Pregnancy hormones being what they are - and doing what they do - I broke down and cried.

After talking with my bestie and my MIL, I decided to give my OB a call the next day and beg out of the 3 hr glucose test. If you've taken it before, you know that this test is far worse than the 1 hr. You have to fast after midnight, go in early and drink that sickeningly sweet drink, and then endure 3 blood draws - each 1 hour apart. When I did this with Charlotte I almost passed out twice. The lab techs had problems drawing my blood, and I really just felt awful the entire time. I really didn't want to repeat this experience....and with my husband out in the field. Thankfully, my OB is awesome and allowed me to test my sugar at home this week. 

After finding out I failed the 1 hr test, I decided to get back on the low carb train. As a result, my blood sugar has been nearly perfect. So this is me....accepting that I have GD once again. It's not exactly fun (my fingers are already killing me!), but it's not the end of the world either. I've also noticed that I have quite a bit more energy than I did before. I know that this is due in large part to my blood sugar levels...and all those stinkin' carbs I had been eating. Now, I do still feel tired throughout the day - that's just pregnancy for you. (Not to mention wrangling a toddler!) But I can tell that I feel able to do more and that's a big deal. I honestly kind of hate that I didn't realize this before. I mean, you'd think that someone who had been down this road once before would recognize the signs/symptoms. I hate to think what it did to my little baby's pancreas, too. (Theirs will produce more insulin to keep their sugar where it should be...which isn't a good thing!) 

This is my life: giving myself "ouchies" 4x a day. Le sigh.

There's nothing I can do to change it now, though, so I try not to worry. As long as I can keep my sugar under control with diet, I will be happy! That was my goal once I was diagnosed with it last time, and that's my goal this time as well. I'm not a fan of carb-counting, but I know it's for the best and it's definitely a healthy way of eating and living. 

So, here's to having GD for a second time...and kicking its butt! ;-)

Happy Dance

I was going to post about something completely different today, but I just have to share this with...everyone. =P

I had a follow-up appointment with a nutritionist yesterday afternoon for GD. I had to keep a {detailed} food journal for a week and take it in with me, along with my blood sugar log. My goal for the week was to really follow the "diet," which sometimes meant not eating all the carbs I could have had. That was mainly because I was worried I'd overeat or we didn't have anything in the house that sounded good at the time.

I'm not gonna lie, I was terrified that I'd go into the appointment and get criticized for what I'd eaten. We at at McD's twice and some of my snacks weren't exactly the healthiest. Thankfully, the LTC wasn't critical of my food choices at all! Basically, all he wanted to see was how what I was eating was affecting my blood sugar. We went over all my big meals {I guess those are the most concerning?}, and checked to see what my sugar was after each one. I only had one day where I went over by a few points, and apparently that was because I had a snack too close to mealtime. I thought it was something I had eaten, but nope! So now I have to be a bit more careful of when I eat...which I'm pretty sure I can handle. Then, he said the best thing I've heard since that nurse called to tell me I have GD.

Yeah, you don't need to come back and see me. You're doing fine.


*insert Allelujah chorus here*

Y'all, I about did a little happy dance right there in his tiny little office!! No meds for me!! But wait! It gets better. Because my blood sugar isn't really remotely high after big meals {lunch and dinner} I get to have more carbs!!! It's not much more {only up to 50 from 45}, but I will definitely take what I can get! Not only did he tell me I can have more carbs at big meals, but I also get to have a bigger bedtime snack. I had a few morning {fasting} lows, so more snack for me! And we also talked about how I can get a little bit of sweet stuff back in my diet. 'Cause, seriously, I'm pregnant. I wants the sweet stuff. I can have it with dinner/lunch, but I have to count the carbs with my meal. I'll take it! And I'm pretty sure it'll make me less miserable/cranky about not being able to have sweets. =P

So, yeah, yesterday afternoon was pretty freakin' awesome.

Then we went to an FRG meeting last night. They had a silent auction to raise funds, which turned out to be kind of awesome. I was expecting not to bid on anything, but I bid on a couple things and Joe did too. The one thing I really wanted was a Thirty-One bag. I love me some Thirty-One, but I don't buy much usually because it's a tad pricey unless you have a party. Anyway. I bid on it and kept my fingers crossed while we waited for it to be over.

Y'all. I won it!! Of course that meant I had to pay for it, but I'm pretty sure I bid under what I'd pay for it anyway. Check out the utility tote which I'll be using for a diaper bag once little missy gets here:

I think it'll be a great diaper bag, even without pockets on the inside.

Joe bid on a "basket" that was basically a game night... I still can't believe he won. Now we have to figure out what to do with all the crap we won't/can't eat. =P

Not pictured is a case of Mountain Dew. Sigh.

Yesterday was pretty awesome. I even got to eat a piece of pizza at the meeting last night and it didn't do any kind of damage to my blood sugar. =) It was only one piece, but I'll take what I can get. Counting carbs is kind of like counting calories... Once you find out how many are in certain foods, it kind of blows your mind.

Here's to 8ish more weeks of GD with no meds, more carbs and sweet stuff!

My GD Life

Now before you get to thinking I'm abbreviating for dirty words, I'm not. ;-) I'm talking about this thing called Gestational Diabetes {GD} that I'm stuck with for the next 9ish weeks.

Yesterday, Joe and I made our way to Tripler for a class on nutrition and blood sugar testing. Come to find out, not many husbands go to these. =P Poor guy was the only one there, except for the LTC who taught the class. Anywho. Now that I've gone through the class, this is what my life consists of:

I have to test my blood sugar by pricking my fingers 4 times a day. {Can you say OUCH?!}

I have to keep a food log, counting how many carbs I've had for each meal and snack.

I'm allowed up to 45 grams of carbs for lunch and dinner, breakfast and snacks are up to 30 grams. Which means I'm constantly looking at these to see what I can/can't have.

{via}

It's not horrible, especially considering I was previously a calorie-counter. But trust me when I say that counting calories is far easier, if only because you have more food options. My biggest food problem right now {and it's been a day} is breakfast. Cereal for breakfast is a no-go because most, if not all, cereals have about 24g per serving. So, I could have cereal...if I wanted nothing else with it, like milk. I like milk far too much for breakfast... I've been drinking probably something like 14-16 ounce glasses for breakfast every day. Now I get 8oz. I miss it. 

I've always been a carb eater, so this is going to be very hard for me. And let's not get started on all the sweets I can't have anymore...

As much as I miss eating all the "good" stuff, pricking my fingers sucks a little bit more. I am not a huge fan of poking myself with a needle 4 times a day. Which is why I'm praying that I can control my GD with diet and not need insulin. I don't even want to think about giving myself shots! 

I know all of this is for the good of little miss Charlotte, which is all that's keeping me going. Because this is not fun. And the more I let myself think about how much this sucks, the more upset I get. And then I think about the possibility of getting Type 2 somewhere down the road and it just makes me sad, irritated, upset...you name it. I'm sure that not everyone who has GD gets Type 2 later, but my mom already has it and so does my uncle {her brother}. So chances are it's going to happen at some point in my life. And I'll probably have GD with my next pregnancy too. 

Blech. 

Have I mentioned that this sucks? I'm certainly not going to die from counting carbs and testing my blood sugar, and I know that doing this is only helping me and baby. Clearly this isn't something I was expecting to deal with, but now that I have it I have to remember that staying healthy is all that matters. And hopefully, in 9ish weeks baby and I will have normal blood sugar levels and this momma can go back to having cereal for breakfast. ;-)

If you have any good low carb meals/recipes, please share them!!! I have a feeling I'm going to run out of ideas quickly.

The Final Verdict

This morning, after kind of a rough start, I headed to the lab to do the dreaded 3 hour glucose test. I was prepared for a long wait and I thought I was prepared for all the poking a blood drawing...but I really wasn't.

If you don't know, they draw your blood not 3, but 4 times for this lovely little test. The first one {prior to drinking the sugary orange drink} wasn't so bad. I mean, it hurt, but what else do you expect from someone sticking a needle in your arm, right?

20ish minutes later, I got to have a nice big cup full of that orange stuff. It was gross. Much harder to get down than the last time. And then the nausea hit. Oh, it was bad. It was very similar to morning sickness. It came in waves and just wouldn't stop. Then it was time for my 2nd blood draw of the day. This didn't go well. She tried one spot in my arm and it didn't work. Since I was already nauseous, this just sent me over the edge. Fortunately, they had ice packs and she handed me one and drew from my hand. After she was done, she had me lay down in the back. It was oh-so heavenly! I only got up because another preggo doing the 3 hour test wasn't feeling well and needed to lie down. But, that seemed to make all the difference because I was fine for the rest!

I did learn one thing while I was there today, though, and I will share it with you. The difference between a good phlebotomist and a bad phlebotomist:

The good...

and the bad.

Since I was there all day I had the pleasure of having 2 different people drawing my blood. The first lady I had sucked. You know, the one who had to draw from my hand. Yeah, she also blew 2 of my veins which no one has ever had a problem with before {bottom picture}. Oh, and it hurt when she did it. The second one? I hardly even felt it. {top picture} Not that there is anything I can do about who I had, but really? Ow.

Afterward, Joe picked me up and we went home to have lunch. At this point, I was practically ravenous. =P There's something about not eating for over 12 hours that really just makes you tired, too. I spent the rest of the afternoon plopped on the couch. 

And then the phone rang, showing a Hawaii number... I didn't believe her the first time she said it... 

"The test shows you have gestational diabetes."

Seriously, I had to have her repeat it which I kinda think sunk the knife in a bit deeper. She explained that she was putting in for me to see a "specialist" to teach me about diabetes and diet and that I won't be able to go back to the same OB office. I have to have all my OB appointments at Tripler from now on. 

All of it just hit me really hard. It took all of 2 seconds after hanging up for the tears to start. And of course, the one time that I actually want/need to talk to Joe while he's at work, he was too busy to answer. I did get a call {and some texts} in to my bestie, which definitely helped. If nothing else, she distracted me which is necessary sometimes. 

It's just so frustrating. First there's the "why me?" questions. Why me? Why can all these other women eat everything they want, hardly gain weight and still not get GD? And then there's the blame game. What did I do wrong? When did this start? How could I have avoided it? Then there's my current favorite: As if I didn't have enough to deal with already. My body sucks.

The last one is really the hardest for me to deal with. I mean, really, was having asthma and needing medication while pregnant just not enough?! I've been sick and on medication practically all my life. This is the one time in my life that I just wanted to be healthy and not need anything...and I can't even do that! Pregnancy is the one time in a child's life that you can really take care of your baby and {for the most part} not worry about what you're doing wrong. Yet here I am every day...my body failing her. Asthma - not enough oxygen. GD - too much sugar, not enough insulin. It just sucks. And of course I wonder how all of this is affecting her and will continue to affect her as she gets older.

I know that diabetes is manageable - my mom and MIL both have it. I know it can be lived with and controlled. I know these things. I just didn't want to have to live with something else, manage another disease. I also know that it'll likely go away as soon as she arrives, but my changes of having GD again are increased as are my chances of getting Type 2 when I'm older...and I already have that chance because of family history. Oh, and bonus for me, it increases my chances of getting glaucoma which {again} is already in my family history. 

Then, just for fun, let's add on the fact that my aunt's diabetes made her kidneys fail and she's currently in the hospital with a life expectancy of a couple weeks at best. Now, I'm not saying that this is going to happen to me {at least not anytime soon}, but it definitely doesn't help things. 

I'm just very disappointed and upset. I've had a couple good cries about it, but I expect a couple more in the days to come. I just need some time to get used to the idea. Also, I have no freakin' clue what I'm supposed to eat now and I'm almost afraid to eat anything because I just don't know....and I have no idea when I'll be able to meet with that "specialist." 

So, please say some prayers for us. And if you have any GD diet tips/suggestions, please share them.

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