The last time I blogged about this topic, I was not pregnant, but this whole story started when I was pregnant the first time around.
The short of it is that I didn't have any indication or family history of diabetes and was shocked when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my first child. I passed the postpartum check, but my A1C values (average blood sugar over 3 months) were creeping up each year, so I decided to act because my chances of Type 2 diabetes is forever elevated.
I had a lot of success, since in July after I got pregnant, my A1C dropped .3 units, which takes me out of pre-diabetic range. Still, I've spent most of this pregnancy worrying that it was only a matter of time, since again, my early tests last time did not register any issues, either. I was hard on myself because I was nauseated for about 18 weeks into the pregnancy, and I admit there were nights when I'd puke everything I ate and then walk to 7-11 to have some candy and Slurpee since they were the only things I could even consider eating.
I randomly tested some meals with my old glucometer. I had been testing randomly prior to pregnancy, so I was on a pack of strips that were still fairly new. Most meals were fine, though one day, I had dim sum and spiked. Concerned, I told my OB, who suggested I take the three-hour glucose test at my next appointment at 24 weeks. I never did the three-hour test the first time, since my spike was THAT bad last time, but I was actually glad since I would have a definitive answer.
Shortly after the 24 week mark (because life got in the way), I came in and did the test. It was pretty awful. The one-hour has you drinking 50g of glucose, and the 2 hour postpartum one I did was 75g. Never had an issue drinking those. This one was 100g, and for that first hour, I had to keep myself from throwing up, and for a while, I was a bit shaky. Having to have four blood draws in one morning was also not nice, but heck, I'm going to be giving birth again soon, so I should be prepared for all that.
Anyway, my results rolled in that evening, and the next morning, the OB confirmed all of the values (fasting, 1 hr, 2 hr, and 3 hr) were well within the normal ranges, so she deemed me free from gestational diabetes. I could not believe it, since I was pretty much prepared for the worst and have been asking her questions related to this for the longest time. She had told me not to assume I'd have it again, though of course I did.
I blamed myself a lot for having it the first go-around. Did I eat right? Exercise? I feel that while my overall eating was probably better due to habit and nausea, I had many moments of poor judgment and definitely have not been keeping up with my exercise as much as I'd like (working on that!). But now, the whole "every pregnancy is different" thing has come to fruition, and I have finally, finally let go of some of the blame that I put on myself in spite of being told it wasn't my fault.
This leaves me with about another 15 weeks or so with no finger pricking, tracking, or worrying about extra tests at the hospital for me or the baby, which is a huge burden off. Of course I've been used to eating more balanced these days, so that will continue, and I know rice is still worse than sugar for me, so that will probably need to stay off my indulgence list. I'll take it, though!
The short of it is that I didn't have any indication or family history of diabetes and was shocked when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my first child. I passed the postpartum check, but my A1C values (average blood sugar over 3 months) were creeping up each year, so I decided to act because my chances of Type 2 diabetes is forever elevated.
I had a lot of success, since in July after I got pregnant, my A1C dropped .3 units, which takes me out of pre-diabetic range. Still, I've spent most of this pregnancy worrying that it was only a matter of time, since again, my early tests last time did not register any issues, either. I was hard on myself because I was nauseated for about 18 weeks into the pregnancy, and I admit there were nights when I'd puke everything I ate and then walk to 7-11 to have some candy and Slurpee since they were the only things I could even consider eating.
I randomly tested some meals with my old glucometer. I had been testing randomly prior to pregnancy, so I was on a pack of strips that were still fairly new. Most meals were fine, though one day, I had dim sum and spiked. Concerned, I told my OB, who suggested I take the three-hour glucose test at my next appointment at 24 weeks. I never did the three-hour test the first time, since my spike was THAT bad last time, but I was actually glad since I would have a definitive answer.
Shortly after the 24 week mark (because life got in the way), I came in and did the test. It was pretty awful. The one-hour has you drinking 50g of glucose, and the 2 hour postpartum one I did was 75g. Never had an issue drinking those. This one was 100g, and for that first hour, I had to keep myself from throwing up, and for a while, I was a bit shaky. Having to have four blood draws in one morning was also not nice, but heck, I'm going to be giving birth again soon, so I should be prepared for all that.
Anyway, my results rolled in that evening, and the next morning, the OB confirmed all of the values (fasting, 1 hr, 2 hr, and 3 hr) were well within the normal ranges, so she deemed me free from gestational diabetes. I could not believe it, since I was pretty much prepared for the worst and have been asking her questions related to this for the longest time. She had told me not to assume I'd have it again, though of course I did.
I blamed myself a lot for having it the first go-around. Did I eat right? Exercise? I feel that while my overall eating was probably better due to habit and nausea, I had many moments of poor judgment and definitely have not been keeping up with my exercise as much as I'd like (working on that!). But now, the whole "every pregnancy is different" thing has come to fruition, and I have finally, finally let go of some of the blame that I put on myself in spite of being told it wasn't my fault.
This leaves me with about another 15 weeks or so with no finger pricking, tracking, or worrying about extra tests at the hospital for me or the baby, which is a huge burden off. Of course I've been used to eating more balanced these days, so that will continue, and I know rice is still worse than sugar for me, so that will probably need to stay off my indulgence list. I'll take it, though!
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