Gestational Diabetes

At my appointment earlier this week I did my standard glucose test and drunk that lovely sugary carbonated beverage. Well, the next day I got a call from the nurse that I indeed did NOT pass the initial glucose test.

I didn't worry about it too much as I actually didn't pass when I was Haken either. However, with Haken I ate strawberries at lunch right before and I think that messed up the results. I also ended up passing the 3 hour glucose test that I had to take.

This time, however, I made sure to eat a carb free breakfast so the results would for sure be accurate. The nurse said I barely didn't pass, but I still had to go back in and do the 3 hour glucose test later that week.

So, today I went in and did the 3 hour test at the hospital. It was actually kind of nice as I got to sit there for a solid three hours by myself doing whatever I wanted to do. I took the laptop with me and got my blog all updated through the summer. It's amazing how much I can get done when I don't have any distractions. Shad stayed home with the kids and it was a good thing that he did because Jack ended up having a pump site at school that wasn't working at all. When Shad went to go change it out it was completely kinked. We haven't had an incident like that in a while. I'm glad he was close enough to take care of it so we could get his blood sugar down.

During the test I actually felt a little bit nauseous in the beginning, probably due to the high blood sugar on an empty stomach because I had to go fasting that morning. I was done by 11:00 though, so it wasn't too bad.

On the way home from the hospital I got a call from the nurse. I did NOT pass the 3 hour glucose test and so I am now considered a gestational diabetic.

This was so weird to me as I thought I was actually being really healthy this pregnancy. I was eating a salad a day for pretty much my whole pregnancy. I was trying to exercise regularly, although the last few weeks I had been a little lazier as I just didn't have the energy and thought carrying twins was a good excuse to sleep in instead of wake up and work out.

Apparently, you are more prone to have gestational diabetes if you are carrying multiples and have a history of diabetes in your family. Obviously, we have type 1 that runs in our family, but my dad was also technically considered type 2 so I think it is something that I will need to watch for in the future.

Because my numbers were technically "right on the line" she said to start by managing it with diet and then we will see where it goes from there. I have to check my blood sugar in the morning before I eat, 2 hours after lunch, 2 hours after dinner, and at bedtime. She was going to order me in a blood glucose monitor and test strips but I told her that we have an extra meter and lots of strips because of Jack, so we didn't worry about getting a new prescription.

Jack is kind of loving the fact that I get to check my blood sugar with him. Although, my numbers do look a bit different than his. I am supposed to be under 95 when fasting and under 120 after a meal and before bedtime. I think they just like to see that I am coming down on my own. By looking at my fasting blood glucose they can also see whether that is happening overnight as well. If it starts to rise, then that means it is not well controlled and I need to do more than just managing it with a low carb diet.

This pregnancy has been really easy so far so I thought something like this was bound to happen eventually. I am determined to keep it under control though because I read about the effect it can have on the babies like having low blood sugar when they are born and even making them more prone to being diabetics later in their lives. It sure is going to be a challenge though with the holidays coming up.

Say a little prayer for me.