Gestational Diabetes Sucks

I went to my GD class yesterday to educate myself on my current condition in my current condition. First of all I want to say that I was comforted when they told me that the GD was NOT my fault. There is nothing I could have done to prevent this, and that it all has to do with the pregnancy hormones blocking my insulin receptors from processing my sugar properly. The fact that I have a family history of diabetes absolutely also played a role in my getting GD as well. It had nothing to do with my food choices, or with my exercise regimen (or lack thereof). I am so glad I can quit beating myself up over this.

The class wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. According to what they said, I can still have some of everything I want, just in serious moderation. I found out today that that meant SERIOUS moderation. I basically get to count carbs for the rest of my pregnancy and was given a guideline for each meal and snack. Pretty much I can only have 30 carbs for each of my three daily snacks and 30-45 for my big meals. When you realize how many carbs are in the food you eat, you realize really quickly that even 45 carbs isn't very much at all. I starved today because freaking everything is a carb!

I was instructed to test my blood at least four times a day, once in the morning before I eat anything, and then two hours after each meal. If I feel "off" at all during the day, I am supposed to perform a finger prick then as well. I am supposed to keep a diary of my blood glucose levels every time I take them and what time I took them. I also get to test my urine for ketones every morning to ensure that I am not burning fat on this new regimen (yay [yes, that is sarcastic]). I am supposed to walk for 15 minutes an hour after each meal. To top it all off, I am supposed to document EVERYTHING I eat and what time I ate it. Can you say "pain in the ass!"? My entire day now revolves around blood sugar. Everything I do affects blood sugar.

1. Get up in the morning and test ketones.
2. Test blood sugar.
3. Eat breakfast.
4. Write down test results, what I ate, and what time.
5. Walk for 15 minutes an hour after eating.
6. Test two hours after eating.
7. Snack.
8. Eat lunch.
9. Write down test results, what I ate, and what time.
10. Walk for 15 minutes an hour after eating.
11. Test two hours after eating.
12. Snack....

Today was not a good first day either. I had a bowl of frosted mini wheats, that said they were on my approved diet list, with milk. My blood sugar is supposed to be below 120 two hours after eating. When I tested, I was at 136! I about died. No wonder I felt like crap. I called the clinic and the dietitian helped me figure out I had eaten 50 carbs at breakfast, almost double the 30 I was supposed to cap out at. After I had gotten the 136 reading, I went for a 15 minute walk and retested at 69. I asked if it was normal for my blood sugar to drop off like that, and she told me it was. Two hours after lunch my count was 125. I was seriously frustrated by this point because I was trying to do what I was told, but my counts were still high AND I was freaking starving!

When I was told what to eat in class yesterday I thought it all sounded so simple, and like it would be no problem to follow the guidelines, but today I realized just how hard it is. How is a pregnant woman supposed to keep from starving when she can't eat anything? According to the class, most things I thought were proteins are carbs, like dairy and beans. The funny thing is, milk is considered a carb, but cheese isn't. Huh? Hubs has been trying to help me figure out what I can eat since he was into nutrition a while back. He's told me the class was BS and has been trying to educate me on what will keep my blood sugar from spiking.

I am just glad that I only have 6.5 weeks left of my pregnancy where I will have to deal with this. The other two girls in my class were four weeks behind me in their pregnancies. Hopefully tomorrow will go a little bit better than today, and I can get things at the store tonight to prevent myself from starving tomorrow.

In other news, the weather here is just freaking strange. It was 80 degrees here on Sunday, so I went out and cleaned up the back yard and the front flower bed. By the time the sun went down that night, the temperature had dropped 40 degrees. The next day we had freezing rain, and it has been overcast and gloomy since. Of course our brand new heater went out Monday morning again. To make it even more fun, I think the heaters for upstairs and downstairs are taking turns going out. :D I still think the previous homeowners are laughing at us for buying this place.

To end things on a good note, I had my monthly review with my project manager today at work, and he told me that he is still really pleased with my work. They don't have any plans on bringing anyone in to replace me while I am gone on maternity leave, but rather contracting my job out until I get back. He has been super understanding about my missing so much work with my pregnancy, which has been really nice. Job security in these crazy times is really comforting.