Weekly non-stress test: Check. Blood pressure: 132/72--not bad at all for this late in the game. Weight: 1 lb lost. Total weight gained: 8 lbs. Aches and pains: Hips are killing me. Blood sugar: closer to range, but the fasting number is still way off. Insulin has been increased and diet has been re-arranged in the evening, but it doesn't seem to be helping that number. I'm told that's because as the pregnancy progresses, the amount of whatever I'm producing to inhibit the insulin increases as well.
I did have a scare yesterday. I forgot my mid-afternoon snack and went 4.5 hrs without eating. I began to feel extremely bad and shaky, only to find my sugar was 69. I drank some orange juice and waited. Checked my blood again--65. I took a sugar pill and checked again: 59. Drank 1/2 cup of skim milk and my sugar finally started rising...too much. Although I was hungry and it was time for dinner and my next insulin injection, I waited because my right hand said 170 and my left hand said 140 (which is another oddity of my body--my sugar can be as much as 30 pts different, depending on the finger I check). It went back to normal range after I finally ate dinner, but I felt awful before that and probably scared Lovely because I had to remind her what to do if I passed out, etc.
Although I'm still opposed to having a c-section as early as 38 wks, I am wondering how much longer this can go on. I have contractions almost nightly, so I doubt I'll be able to schedule it when I want anyway (which is kind of OK because I want God to choose the birthday, not me). We'll see. Until next week, and the next stress test...
Crafts, Kids, Cooking, and Class.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Gestational Diabetes Running Wild
I was going to post a shocking picture of what I have to do everyday in order to try to control this disease, but I believe the battery is dead on my iPod...so the imagination will have to suffice.
I have met with an in-home nurse twice and I'm called almost daily by the diabetes nurse to whom I must report all of my blood sugar testing results. Here's what I've found, since no information online seems to coincide with what I've been directed to do:
Morning routine: Check ketones (sp?) each morning. Check fasting blood sugar. Target range w/o insulin: 60-95. Do not go more than 8-10 hours at night without eating. Eat breakfast. Wait two hours. Check blood sugar again. Target range w/o insulin: 100-129.
Additionally, I'm to eat a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner, and an evening snack. I'm to check my blood sugar two hours after each meal.
Believe it or not, I was following the very strict diet of counting starches, veggies, meats, fats, milks, and fruits. I was following the diet as closely as possible. Result: My numbers were all over the board. I could eat the same thing three days in a row, at the same time, starting with around the same fasting number, and yet I'd end up with 50 pts or more difference. My numbers often skyrocketed into the mid-200s range, which is not good considering I would have been sent to the hospital had it hit 300. A nurse had initially come to my house to explain all of this, and so I felt like a complete failure when nothing seemed to be working. After about four days on this diet with no improvement and out of control numbers, I was told I would have to be placed on insulin.
I don't know about you, but I had only known gestational diabetes patients who controlled it with diet, not insulin. This was scary. Honestly, it's still scary. When I opened the cardboard box on my doorstop and saw 100 needles staring up at me, tears streamed down my face. How would I be able to handle it? How would I be able to do this for nine more weeks? Would this even help?
The nurse arrived at my house a week later to show me how to administer the injections. Oddly, the best place to inject is in your abdomen, which made me freeze. I was expected to stick a needle right next to where I continually feel kicks and punches from the life forming within me? Yes, that was the expectation. Again, I cried. I did it, but I cried. The next morning, I cried. I did it, but I cried.
How many times must I use insulin? Three times per day. That is a minimum of needles going in me seven times per day. I told S not to squeeze me too tight when he hugged me; fluid might start to leak everywhere from all of the holes I've poked into my body.
So far, my numbers have been much better, some actually approaching the bottom of the range. I'm still expected to follow a strict diet and I'm not expected to gain anymore weight; in fact, I may lose weight. I now look at my plate and almost (note: almost) snicker at the irony: as a kid, I would never eat veggies, especially those cooked. I would never eat fish. No way would I drink a diet Coke (I know--not the greatest choice considering the artificial sweetener, but think of drinking only water--11 glasses per day, I might add--for nine weeks), and yet I've learned lime removes most of the aftertaste and gives it a better flavor. Oddly, I can't eat many of the suggestions made for diabetics when I do searches online. Milk and fruit are no-no's in the mornings. No juice unless my sugar is too low, and even then, only 1/2 cup. Most breads still spike my sugar.
Another thing I've learned is that although I felt a little "off" once my numbers evened out, I now feel better and have a little more energy. I don't feel quite as emotional (which may explain a certain previous post of a raging pregnant lady). I had no idea what had happened to my body without me even knowing it. I'm told again and again that this is not my fault; my hormones are just going wild and there's nothing I can do by myself. Don't buy into the myth this only happens to heavier people, either; I've read lots of stories now about people living on organic food, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight, only to be told they have gestational diabetes. Once again, I've learned I'm not in control, but I know He is.
I have met with an in-home nurse twice and I'm called almost daily by the diabetes nurse to whom I must report all of my blood sugar testing results. Here's what I've found, since no information online seems to coincide with what I've been directed to do:
Morning routine: Check ketones (sp?) each morning. Check fasting blood sugar. Target range w/o insulin: 60-95. Do not go more than 8-10 hours at night without eating. Eat breakfast. Wait two hours. Check blood sugar again. Target range w/o insulin: 100-129.
Additionally, I'm to eat a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner, and an evening snack. I'm to check my blood sugar two hours after each meal.
Believe it or not, I was following the very strict diet of counting starches, veggies, meats, fats, milks, and fruits. I was following the diet as closely as possible. Result: My numbers were all over the board. I could eat the same thing three days in a row, at the same time, starting with around the same fasting number, and yet I'd end up with 50 pts or more difference. My numbers often skyrocketed into the mid-200s range, which is not good considering I would have been sent to the hospital had it hit 300. A nurse had initially come to my house to explain all of this, and so I felt like a complete failure when nothing seemed to be working. After about four days on this diet with no improvement and out of control numbers, I was told I would have to be placed on insulin.
I don't know about you, but I had only known gestational diabetes patients who controlled it with diet, not insulin. This was scary. Honestly, it's still scary. When I opened the cardboard box on my doorstop and saw 100 needles staring up at me, tears streamed down my face. How would I be able to handle it? How would I be able to do this for nine more weeks? Would this even help?
The nurse arrived at my house a week later to show me how to administer the injections. Oddly, the best place to inject is in your abdomen, which made me freeze. I was expected to stick a needle right next to where I continually feel kicks and punches from the life forming within me? Yes, that was the expectation. Again, I cried. I did it, but I cried. The next morning, I cried. I did it, but I cried.
How many times must I use insulin? Three times per day. That is a minimum of needles going in me seven times per day. I told S not to squeeze me too tight when he hugged me; fluid might start to leak everywhere from all of the holes I've poked into my body.
So far, my numbers have been much better, some actually approaching the bottom of the range. I'm still expected to follow a strict diet and I'm not expected to gain anymore weight; in fact, I may lose weight. I now look at my plate and almost (note: almost) snicker at the irony: as a kid, I would never eat veggies, especially those cooked. I would never eat fish. No way would I drink a diet Coke (I know--not the greatest choice considering the artificial sweetener, but think of drinking only water--11 glasses per day, I might add--for nine weeks), and yet I've learned lime removes most of the aftertaste and gives it a better flavor. Oddly, I can't eat many of the suggestions made for diabetics when I do searches online. Milk and fruit are no-no's in the mornings. No juice unless my sugar is too low, and even then, only 1/2 cup. Most breads still spike my sugar.
Another thing I've learned is that although I felt a little "off" once my numbers evened out, I now feel better and have a little more energy. I don't feel quite as emotional (which may explain a certain previous post of a raging pregnant lady). I had no idea what had happened to my body without me even knowing it. I'm told again and again that this is not my fault; my hormones are just going wild and there's nothing I can do by myself. Don't buy into the myth this only happens to heavier people, either; I've read lots of stories now about people living on organic food, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight, only to be told they have gestational diabetes. Once again, I've learned I'm not in control, but I know He is.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Gestational Diabetes
I was told today that I didn't have to take the dreaded 3 hr glucose test because I had failed the 1 hr so miserably. I was immediately recommended for sugar testing and education (not sure exactly what that means, but I'm sure I don't have time...). I decided to do my own research and looked up the effects and treatment, which in all honestly, I never thought would be so scary. Then the comments from people who had stillbirths didn't help. I know God is in control, but human emotion is ever present. (As if anyone couldn't tell from my last post.)
I guess this is just the icing on the cake since I've been dealing with insurance companies, a collection agency that insists I owe a bill that is covered by my insurance, my four jobs, and all the house stuff. I'm finally feeling overwhelmed enough that, although I've never been a quitter, I feel like I need to stop doing one of my jobs. I subbed today for 1/2 a day, and it really wasn't bad. But then I went to my 70 minute tutoring session with a student who just refused to hear me. That stressed me. I had told her mother I would continue to tutor her this semester, but I'm wondering how worth it it really is--and if it's worth jeopardizing health over it. I'll be in prayer.
I looked at the diet for GD and I just don't know what to do. Other than cutting out soft drinks completely, I don't know what to eat. I don't have time to make meals (which is a problem, I know), but there are so few things I eat as it is. I don't drink milk except in cereal, both of which I've been told to cut out. I don't eat cookies, cakes, chips, or candy. I have a little ice cream about once every 1-2 weeks. I like bread, but it's usually whole wheat for a sandwich. I don't eat much pasta because tomato sauce gives me heartburn and I don't want the fat of alfredo. Honestly, I've only gained about 10.5 lbs so far and I only have about 10 weeks to go. I'm afraid a dietician is only going to tell me I'm allowed this many carbs and this much fat, etc. I don't count that kind of stuff--it's like I have a brain block. I need actual menus.
I guess this is just the icing on the cake since I've been dealing with insurance companies, a collection agency that insists I owe a bill that is covered by my insurance, my four jobs, and all the house stuff. I'm finally feeling overwhelmed enough that, although I've never been a quitter, I feel like I need to stop doing one of my jobs. I subbed today for 1/2 a day, and it really wasn't bad. But then I went to my 70 minute tutoring session with a student who just refused to hear me. That stressed me. I had told her mother I would continue to tutor her this semester, but I'm wondering how worth it it really is--and if it's worth jeopardizing health over it. I'll be in prayer.
I looked at the diet for GD and I just don't know what to do. Other than cutting out soft drinks completely, I don't know what to eat. I don't have time to make meals (which is a problem, I know), but there are so few things I eat as it is. I don't drink milk except in cereal, both of which I've been told to cut out. I don't eat cookies, cakes, chips, or candy. I have a little ice cream about once every 1-2 weeks. I like bread, but it's usually whole wheat for a sandwich. I don't eat much pasta because tomato sauce gives me heartburn and I don't want the fat of alfredo. Honestly, I've only gained about 10.5 lbs so far and I only have about 10 weeks to go. I'm afraid a dietician is only going to tell me I'm allowed this many carbs and this much fat, etc. I don't count that kind of stuff--it's like I have a brain block. I need actual menus.
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