Pregnancy update...

I've spent the last week traipsing back and forth between doctors, labs, and dieticians. Now I have the information I needed to be able to tell you all about it. Around 26-28 weeks in a pregnancy, the doctors typically have expectant women take a 'sugar' test. This just consists of going to the lab, having blood drawn, drinking a sugary drink, then having more blood drawn in an hour to find out how the drink affected your blood sugar. The purpose of this little test is to find out if the expectant mom has developed Gestational Diabetes during her pregnancy. There are several factors that can affect the development of the disease. Some of the reasons a woman is at higher risk for developing this disease are:

• over the age of 25
• having given birth to a baby over 9 lbs. previously
• having a family member (mom or dad) with Type 2 Diabetes
• having weighed over 9 lbs. herself at birth

There are other factors too, but I can't name them all. See the link to find out more about the disease.

I have all of the above risk factors, although I did not develop the disease in any of my previous pregnancies. However, when I took my test last week, it came back a bit high. After spending 3 hours doing the fasting test on Saturday, I received a call from my nurse yesterday to tell me that I do in fact have Gestational Diabetes. So, they referred me to Highland Diabetes Healthsource Center at Highland Hospital in Rochester. I saw a dietician today, and a nurse. They went over all my risk factors, how this will affect me and the baby, and what and how much to eat each day. They also gave me a machine to check my levels and strips that go with it. I will be checking my blood sugar levels about 4 times per day, and reporting to the nurse once per week...just to keep track of the numbers to be sure they do not need to intervene any further. It will be difficult at times I'm sure, because I do love my carbs. However, it doesn't seem as if I will feel deprived. I can still have anything I want to eat, just in controlled portions and it must fit within my caloric goals. Sweets will have to be eaten sparingly, which is probably going to be good for all of us anyway.

I just wanted to let everyone know the latest. Things should be fine. I feel I have a good handle on what I need to do now. If there are any other developments I will be sure to inform you all. I hope things are going well for everyone. Take care...I'll try to post again soon.