The gestational diabetes has been an interesting journey for me this time around. The last time I had any problems with sugar was being pregnant with Lauryn 19 years ago, and they called me "glucose intolerant" and I only had to cut out sugar from my diet. Apparently, these days, they are much more conservative, not only with testing, but with the treatment of it. I've had the pleasure of sticking my fingers 4-5 times a day to check my sugars with a glucometer, recording them and then reporting my numbers to the diabetic center every week. It was a bit rough in the beginning as my fasting sugars (those taken first thing in the morning before eating) just refused to stay within limits. Because of this, the doctors put me on insulin every night before bed and then kept upping the dosage. After two weeks of the insulin shots (ouch!) and seeing absolutely no improvement, I stopped the shots AMA and started experimenting with what worked to actually keep my sugars down. Surprise, surprise - it was not insulin that kept my fasting sugars within limits; it was protein! Yes, if I eat a piece of protein just before bed (typically a plain hamburger), my sugars look great in the morning. I think the doctors think I'm cheating or something.
Anyway, with the awareness of once again being glucose intolerant, I've had to be very careful with my meals - what I eat, when I eat, how many times I eat, etc. Because my body is a protein-type and it has always done very well with high protein, low-carb diets in the past, I feel better than ever at this stage in my pregnancy. Now I'm not technically on an Atkins diet or anything like that as eating too low-carb could be dangerous for the baby. I just need to be careful with how many carbs I have and what kind I'm eating.
The baby seems to be doing very well and is as active as ever. I've had way more contractions in this pregnancy than any other - my hope is I'll be halfway through labor by the time I'm in it! lol My commute to the hospital is just about an hour which is a little nerve-racking, but being one who typically has longer labors, I'm not too worried about it. For peace of mind though, I did buy an emergency birth kit to keep at home and bring in the car on the way to the hospital....just in case. :) It's hard to believe within 3-4 weeks, our little boy will be here!
And for those wanting to know what I look like at this point in the game, here's me with the baby belly!
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