Always the thumb sucker, my son.
I am so happy to be writing my first post for The Shopping Mama! I will be your resident pregnant lady for the next few weeks, after which I will be the resident newby mama. First, a little about me: I’m a 33 year old lawyer-turned-educational-fundraiser who lives in Philadelphia with my professor husband and our first four “children” – three cats and a dog. I am an avid knitter, amateur jewelry designer, urban gardener, and a so-so cook. And yes, I hold delusions of grandeur that I will be able to keep up all of these activities even after I become a mom.
Today I am 33 weeks along with our first human baby, a boy. My husband and I waited a good long time to have a baby, so we assumed our journey to conception would be long and there would invariably be some complications. But we got pregnant almost right away and there were no issues with our growing fetus. Until about two weeks ago. Our first hint was at the latest ultrasound, when the doc told us that our baby was measuring a week or so ahead in size. Days later, after failing both glucose tests, I was diagnosed with what sounded like the scariest complication ever: gestational diabetes.
After some research, I came to realize that it’s not really that bad. Gestational diabetes is a common condition. While some mothers-to-be are predisposed to it, the initial glucose screening is given to most of us because it can often affect women who do not meet the typical criteria. In a nutshell, GD occurs when hormonal changes caused by pregnancy create increased insulin needs that can’t be met by the mother’s pancreas. Extra glucose remains in the mother’s blood and passes to the baby, who then has to struggle to produce enough insulin to process it. The typical risks of untreated GD are pre-term labor, oversized babies, childhood weight issues later in life, and in extreme cases, still birth. The positive news is that very few GD patients go on to have continued diabetic issues after pregnancy.
The condition can usually be treated with a diabetic diet, blood sugar monitoring, and exercise. I met with my OB practice’s nurse practitioner after my diagnosis and learned how to use a blood sugar monitoring device and what to eat to keep my blood sugar regulated. In the end, it’s really about portion control and staying active. Over the last week, I have pricked my finger four times a day to get a reading and have measured every inch of food that I’ve eaten. As a result, I’ve learned an incredible amount of information about how what we eat can affect how our body works chemically. The testing has also helped me see that something as small as getting off the El one stop early and walking the four blocks to my office can help my blood sugar stay low for hours. It reinforces the idea that we hear from health experts all the time: small changes in how we live our daily lives can make bigger changes than we might think.
The big test will be our next ultrasound, where we will find out if the baby has grown too big to go full-term. Our options might be to induce early or to have a c-section a little closer to the due date. While my ideal plan has always been to have a vaginal birth at whatever time my little guy is ready to appear, my primary goal is to give birth to a healthy baby boy, so we could have some big decisions to make in the next few days.
Next Tuesday, I’ll give the verdict from the ultrasound and a maybe a glimpse into our other work-in-progress: the baby’s room!
Kate
March 8, 2011Welcome, Laura! I’m so excited to follow your journey through the last couple months of pregnancy. It’s such an exciting, nerve-wracking and FUN time and I look forward to living vicariously through you.
I can’t relate to gestational diabetes, but I do know that ANY complication is scary. I hope the next ultra sound brings good news.
Thanks for inviting me to join the crew, Kate! I’m super happy to be here and I look forward to interacting with your readers!
Anastasia @ Eco-Babyz
March 8, 2011Congrats on the pregnancy! I just wanted to assure you that you are right, gestational diabetes is really not that big of a deal (here is more clarification http://mothering.com/pregnancy-birth/diagnostic-tests-of-the-third-trimester). I think it is just a result of the combination of poor nutrition and pregnancy together. What do you eat normally? Do you have lots of carbs, white flour, white sugar? Increasing your intake of veggies two fold and minimizing everything else would change a lot
Thanks, Anastasia! My physicians actually told me that just about anyone can get GD, regardless of size, diet, or pre-pregnancy habits. I definitely loosened up on my usual non-pregnant eating habits as my pregnancy progressed, but didn’t do anything crazy. Still tried to make good choices for snacks and meals (with the exception of the first trimester, where I just ate whatever would stay down). I’ve always been a whole wheat and veggie fan. I did occasionally splurge on ice cream or a sugary treat, maybe a couple times a week, but my doc assures me that having dessert every once in a while does not cause GD. (Just in case you other mamas-to-be are starting to worry!) Luckily, I had a follow-up appointment today and was given a big gold star for keeping my blood sugars so low over the last week or so. The diet they had me follow is not that far off from what I normally eat, other than the slight change in portion size.
Malia
March 8, 2011Thanks for the post Laura and I can’t wait to read more. I’m glad you are rocking the blood sugar levels.
amy
March 8, 2011Welcome, Laura! I’m excited to read all about your journey!
City Share
March 8, 2011It’s fun getting to learn more about you and see your writing in the new locale. Good luck with the upcoming weeks.
becca
March 8, 2011I have to go in for my 3 hour glucose test on Friday, after testing really high yesterday. My OB is convinced that I have GD because of other symptoms. Thanks for calming a few of my fears. Hopefully I can get it under control quickly.
Good luck on Friday, Becca! You know, alot of women fail that first screening but pass the 3-hour with flying colors so don’t worry too much. I can’t say that the 3-hour process is very fun, but it’s over before you know it. IF you do get a diagnosis of GD and there’s anything I can do to help, just shoot me an email at laura [at] theshoppingmama [dot] com.
Rachel R.
March 10, 2011Congrats, Laura! I know that any pregnancy complication can be scary, but we occasionally see babies born with GD in the NICU where I work and they usually have a short stay if that’s their only issue. They may need IV fluids to control their blood sugar levels shortly after birth and sometimes have feeding difficulty, but usually come around once stabilized.
It sounds like you are doing everything possible on your end – GD is more a concern when it’s uncontrolled and mom is not making any lifestyle changes.
Nancy
March 23, 2011Hello! I had GD for my first pregnancy and portion control is key! Testing is not fun but really helped keep me on track! My daughter came out healthy at 7 lbs 6 ounces and had no high blood sugar. I was able to have a VB. My second pregnancy, I had to follow the same diet-even though I was never diagnosed GD and she was 7 lbs 7 ounces. I gained 20-25 lbs with both pregnancies-all thanks to the GD diet. Best of luck and you will get through it!