I was officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes around the end of May. I wasn't really surprised. My family has a history of diabetes, I have PCOS and I'm overweight. It still wasn't much fun to get the news. Another thing. Can we be done with things? Now I have another doctor to add to the list (that's 4 if you're counting). Oh well. It's honestly not too bad, just adding a few more things to my day. The main concerns with gestational diabetes are that the baby will get too big and/or have too low blood sugar not long after birth. Insulin doesn't pass through the placenta but sugar does. So if my blood sugar is high hers is high but she has to make her own insulin. Insulin is also a growth hormone in-utero so that leads to bigger babies (which may make delivery difficult or lead to a C-Section). It also means that after she's born if her body is used to making a lot of insulin it still will even if it doesn't need to anymore which can lead to a large drop in her blood sugar. It will even out, but can make things in the beginning a little more difficult. So avoiding these things is the goal.
My regular OBGYN doesn't monitor gestational diabetes so I went to see an endocrinologist at the beginning of the month. They went over the plan for the rest of pregnancy. I have to watch my carbs and sugar, test my blood sugar 4 times a day and test for ketones every morning. I have a sheet that I fill out every week with my numbers and what my goals are. First I test my blood sugar when I wake up (after fasting) and it should be 100 or under. I also test for the level of ketones when I wake up. I thanked cellular metabolism in college that I actually knew what these were and why I would test for them (thanks Dr. Dew!). When you break down fat you release ketones. They have no use in your body so you excrete them. I have to test for them to ensure that I'm getting enough carbs and not relying on burning fat for energy. Then I test my blood sugar 2 hours after every meal and it should be 120 or under. At the end of every week I take a picture of my sheet and email it to my doctor so she can look it over to ensure that diet will control it enough and I don't need medication.
They showed me how to use my meter and prick my fingers (on the side, not as painful). The doctor explained that she understands that sometimes it might be higher (some cake at a baby shower, getting used to counting carbs, my birthday coming up) and as long as there were only a couple a week it should be fine and I wouldn't need medication. It was nice to hear that having a few out of whack wouldn't cause too much concern. I also got a lot of information about carbs (for example, 1 1/4 cups of whole strawberries is 15g carbs) to help plan meals. I also need to have some protein with each meal. For breakfast I can have 30g carbs and for my lunch and dinner I can have 60-70g. I can have up to 3 snacks as well (15g carbs each).
It's been kind of eye opening for me. I've tried to be pretty healthy before this diagnosis, but now I'm really paying attention. Carbs hide everywhere! It's also been interesting to see how different carbs affect my blood sugar (and what I've had to cut out). It's a bit of a hassle, but it's really not too hard and if it keeps me and our little girl healthy (and keeps her from getting too big) it's worth it.
Thus far it's been going pretty well. My doctor isn't concerned about adding medication at this point so that's a good thing. I'm learning and am usually able to identify why a sugar might be higher than the goal. There have been a few I can't explain, but overall it's going well. Although I do miss ice cream (I had some for my birthday though . . . I figured I'm allowed a couple higher sugars a week and my birthday is a good day to use one). Hopefully it will continue to!
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