Dealing with our new friend Gestational Diabetes

Long time, no post! :) sorry!

Some people have asked for more information about what we are currently dealing with during our pregnancy, and so I've decided to use our blog to share more details about what's going on. Here's a bit of a timeline to get you caught up.

January 16th: 28 weeks

I took a 1 hour glucose tolerance test and "failed" it with a blood glucose level of 155. They like it under 140. The doc recommended I schedule a 3 hour tolerance test as soon as possible. I assumed that it was some kind of fluke--I'm healthy!! I read that about 15% if women fail the 1 hour test, but only about 1% actually have gestational diabetes. I assumed I'd be one of the "false alarms".

January 18: 28.5 weeks

Took the three-hour glucose tolerance test. It involved drinking a much stronger glucose syrup, and 4 blood draws...not my idea of fun. I did get 1/4 of the way through a new book, and crocheted a dishcloth. :) The nurse from my doctor's office called that afternoon to let me know I'd failed that test too. I was caught completely off guard. I mean, I eat well! (with the occasional dessert) I exercise! I'm a healthy weight! After quite a few tears, and some encouragement from several phone calls, I did some research, and found out:
- Gestational Diabetes has nothing to do with mom's diet
- The demands placed on your pancreas increase by 3 times during the third trimester because one of the placental hormones blocks insulin function
- The biggest risk of Gestational Diabetes is macrosomia: baby being too large. Obviously this can cause trouble during delivery, lead to increased risk of c-section or shoulder or nerve injury to the baby.
- The reason that babies born to moms with gestational diabetes get so large, is that glucose is their favorite fuel. Since mom's blood is full of it, the baby gets big, fast! Unfortunately, the baby's lungs don't develop as fast as his little fat stores do.

January 19: 28 weeks

Discussed our plan with the nurse at my doctor's office: watch and wait. We needed to wait a week and a half to meet with the specialists about how to manage this new reality. Until then: "watch my carb intake". Unsure of what that meant, I downloaded an app to help me log carbs, and read everything I could get my hands on (probably too much!!).

January 30: 30 weeks

Met with our new high-risk specialist for an ultrasound, diabetes education, and management plan, then my regular OB for a checkup.
- The ultrasound revealed that Collier is perfectly fine, but big! His weight was estimated at 4 lbs, 6 oz--the average weight of a 33 week-er! That put him in the 94th percentile for weight. More than likely, this is partially due to the diabetes, partially genetics (I was 9 lbs 7 oz, Chris was 8 lbs, 7 oz). One HUGE praise was that his kidneys (enlarged at 20 weeks) are "normal boy kidneys". Yay!!
- The diabetes educator gave me a very thorough diet outline, and taught me about checking my blood sugar. For some reason, this caught me completely off-guard. I was overwhelmed at the thought of pricking my finger 4 times a day, how that would work at school, etc. It took awhile to digest this.
- My OB (whom I love, by the way), took a while to discuss this new diagnosis. One, I can kiss dreams of a 6 or 7 lb baby goodbye. (don't buy newborn sized clothes! :) Two, they want me to try and last until 39 weeks for Collier's lung development. Three, they will be making changes or modifications to our management plan at every visit, so be flexible. She was very relaxed about it all, which did put my mind at ease a bit.

All in all, this was a roller coaster that I did not expect. While I know this is relatively mild as far as pregnancy complications go, my emotions have run the gamut from shock, to embarrassment (why, I don't know), to worry, and now I'm working on the "acceptance" bit. I have to keep in mind that there IS a purpose in all this--some reason why my "textbook" pregnancy tool this turn. This is especially hard when all I want is a cinnamon roll! :)

While many promises from God's Word have been comforting during this time, here are a few that have stuck out:

Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, and are called according to his purpose.

Hebrews 12:11
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin which so easily entangles. Let us run with perseverance the race that has been marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfectly of our faith.

Truly, I have been surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, who have loved and prayed over us always. And, this is the course that this race has taken us...so, I must choose to lay aside all these worries and silly obsessions with ice cream, and point my focus where it should be.

Thanks for reading! :)