Gestational Diabetes

That's right, I have Gestational Diabetes (GD) I found this out last Thursday at my 3 hour long appt. it was actually about 3 1/2 hours long but who's counting. The testing went fast, I did get to do some work while waiting, thank God they had Wi-Fi and I brought my laptop with me, so I could catch up on some work. Then mom came and sat with me for about an hour so the morning went fairly quick. The only blood draw that hurt was the one on my right arm, the tech couldn't seem to find my vein so she was poking around a lot. I never use that arm but thought I at least better once or my left arm is going to be sore. She finally found it and it was all good, but the next 2 draws were out of my left arm. It wasn't fun, but had to be done.

After my test I met mom at the hospital cafeteria, they are really good food and it's cheap! I had a piece of pizza and after my training today it probably wasn't the best choice for me. LOL

Once I got to work, I got the phone call that I didn't pass :( so I officially had GD and that I would need to set up an appointment with a nurse and a dietician to go over what all goes on with GD and how to control it, if I don't do this, I could have a big baby and possibly have to have a C-Section or the baby would have a hard time coming out. So I'd rather have a normal size baby and try and do everything right.

Here are my levels I just took a picture of them:

As you can see I really only passed one of the 4 test and that was at my 3 hour one. The nurse was asking if I felt jittery or anything because my blood sugar was really low, but I don't recall, I just recall being super hungry!

So today was my appointment with the nurse and dietician, both were super nice and new a lot about this and I know I'm not alone. So the first nurse I spoke with was to go over my levels and discuss what GD is, it means my blood glucose (sugar) levels go too high during pregnancy, so when I eat my pancreas is not producing enough insulin to break down the sugars therefore the baby is receiving too much glucose (sugar). And as I progress in my pregnancy the insulin requirements go up extremely so this is why it gets tested between 26 and 28 weeks. So do you all feel smarter??

So now that we all know what's going on, now I have to start testing my blood sugars 4 times a day as well as my Ketones, yeah I've never heard of it either, but its a urine test, Ketones are a substance the body makes when it uses fat for energy. Fat is your body's second source of energy, after glucose (sugar) so they appear in my urine when I don't have enough glucose for energy and is burning fat instead. This would be a sign that my body is not getting the nutrition it needs for me and my baby. So every morning, I have to pee on this stick and test to make sure its OK, then I go on and prick my finger, then I get to eat. And after every meal, an hour after finishing, I have to test my blood sugar. I have a food log and all to write everything down.

Then it was on to the dietician, she just informed me of what I can and can't eat, it's not that I can't eat anything I just really have to watch my carbohydrate intake. I can eat lots of meat, cheese, nuts and veggies but I should stay away from pastas, breads, fruit, and of course chocolate shakes :( I need to keep a food log and fax to them once a week so they can see how my levels are and if I need to change anything, if I don't eat right, I could be put on insulin and I really don't want to do that, so my goal is to try and get in some exercise and really watch what I eat.

I'm only allowed 2-3 carb choices for breakfast, 1-2 for morning snack, 2-4 for lunch 1-2 for afternoon snack, 2-4 for dinner and 1-2 for my evening snack So the 2 to 3 carb choices mean I can have anything that has total carbohydrates of 26-35 so instead of a bowl of cereal for breakfast I will stick with an english muffin with peanut butter. That's better for me than cereal, because cereal has lots of sugar! And on the weekend when we cook breakfast like bacon and eggs, that's going to be perfect for me! LOL It kind of boggles my mind but I know they know what they are talking about, so for now on I have to write down everything I eat and keep track of my sugars. The biggest challenge is to eat every couple of hours, the mornings will not be a problem but the afternoons might be because I don't seem to get hungry until I get home around 4:00 and I don't want to eat much before dinner so I wait but I'll have to try and change that.

So that's all I know! Today is Tom's 40th birthday and we are going to Texas Roadhouse, I can eat all the steak and veggies I want the dietician just said to stay away from the rolls and maybe just a small potato, but we'll see. LOL isn't that the best part of going to Texas Roadhouse? This will be our first time to the new restaurant, they finally got on in Dubuque!

I'm going to start the testing tomorrow morning so wish me luck!