Pregnancy Adventures: Gestational Diabetes

For some reason, I had in my mind that I had no chance of getting gestational diabetes.

28 week bump update
(Yes, I'm 30 weeks now...this was two weeks ago.)
(Yes, this is taken in a dressing room at a resale shop.)
(Yes, I bought this dress.  And it was a great deal.)

I ate (fairly) healthily, worked out regularly, and wasn't gaining too much weight during my pregnancy.  The fact that it runs in my family didn't phase me as I drank my gross orange glucose concoction and headed in for the test.

Maybe feeling awful on the way to the doctor should have been a clue, but I just figured that everyone would feel out of sorts from fasting, then drinking sugar-water.  I was still sure that there was no way my blood would be problematic.

False.  When I looked up my results online that night, I was rather shocked to find my blood glucose was high--very high.  Of course, I proceeded to seek advice from Sara and pretty much freak out.  The past 2+ weeks of testing, I have remained in the freaking out stage, with occasional bouts of this-is-ridiculous-the-doctors-don't-know-what-they're-talking-about-I-was-healthier-before-and-should-ignore-all-this-advice.

I'm also a little bit shocked how much the gd is affecting my lifestyle.  I already loosely tracked what I ate and made sure I was making healthy choices, so I didn't think the gd would affect me much.  After some crazy highs and lows, my requisite vomiting, and even tears over brunch, I am learning that that is not the case.

tools of the trade:
I love my meter (OneTouch Verio IQ and recommend it to everyone!)

I feel confused, frustrated--and very hungry--a lot of the time when I feel like the rule-following choice is not the logical or healthier choice, and I am learning about a dark side of dieting. I've had various meal plans and lifestyle choices over the years (even a Raw Vegan Challenge with Dawn), but those mostly felt positive, whereas this feels super restricting.  I'm not really depriving myself of that much that I would have had otherwise--besides a morning bowl of grapenuts, which I REALLY miss--but just feeling like I can't have so much makes me feel that way.  It is also INSANELY frustrating when I do "follow the rules" precisely, but still end up with highs and lows.  It's not exactly positive reinforcement.

Today, after another visit to the dietician and some pretty fun number crunching (hurray for math!), it's pretty clear that my numbers are on the rise, even when I'm following all the "rules".  We shall see what the doctor says on Friday, I suppose...

gratuitous Scarlett photo
(enjoying the new digs)