Our other little miracle...

Today the three of us; Hubby, Little Miss 4 and myself had another chance to see other little miracle, Bubs#2 at 31 weeks gestation. 

A possible complication of having gestational diabetes is Bubs#2 growing bigger than average increasing the chance of having to be born early even if he/she is not ready. 

I thought this was my biggest concern - not so...my endocrinologist had a feel of the baby at one of my appointments and stated "I think the baby is too small". In the next breath he told me that I needed to stress less as stress has a serious impact on gestational diabetes. Nice work Buddy! Definitely stressing less now??!! 

At the time I was, to put it mildly, upset and started thinking that something may have stopped the baby growing properly, was it something I had done, would he/she be OK, etc, etc.

My fears were allayed after speaking to my obstetrician who said he was sure there was nothing to worry about but we should do a scan anyway. He went on to reminded me that an endocrinologist is not an obstetrician.

Also, if you have seen me recently...I am massive! People ask me if I am sure I am not carrying twins... BTW - I AM NOT!

After the scan we know that Bubs#2 is OK and on the larger side of average, so nothing to worry about at this stage.

Oh and the kid is damn cute!!

Do you think it is possible to tell a kid is cute from an ultrasound pic?

You have to get rid of the stress...

I saw my endocrinologist yesterday, he seems a lovely man. Efficient, on time and all that.

He told me that an important part of managing gestational diabetes was getting rid of any stress. I had to laugh.

I have a life, I thought!

He asked me if I have stress in my life. I replied with a resounding "Yes!". He replied "You need to work on that in the next two weeks, seriously!"

I wish I was one of those people that didn't stress. I like to think sometimes I am one of these people....until BAM, nervous breakdown and I realise "Holy Shit I am stressed!".

This is normal though, right? Don't the majority of people have stress in their lives. Trying to juggle work, family, and all the other trimmings. Surely I am not alone.

Anyhoo, now starts the path to less stress, more serenity, peace and harmony.

The problem is, where the hell do I start?

HELLLPPP! What do you do to stress less?


Image from here.

I'm a diabetic, sort of...

When I told my brother this today, he said "The real one?" Cheeky Bastard! He is a Type 1 diabetic though so I'll let him off this time.

I have just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. No big deal my brother tells me.

This particular path in my life started a week and a half ago. After having elevated levels in the Glucose Challenge Test, where your blood is taken to check your glucose levels one hour after a glucose drink (which is bloody awful), my doctor sent me for the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).

The OGTT is where your blood is taken before and one and two hours after the glucose drink (still bloody awful, probably even more so as there is more glucose in it. Add a fasting empty stomach to that and you've got possible vomiting people). I have done this OGTT test three times before, once when trying to get pregnant and twice when pregnant with Little Miss 4 and got the all clear.....but not this time!

This time, my body is unable to produce the insulin that is needed.....so gestational diabetes.

They do tell you that when the pregnancy is over and insulin needs return to normal, the diabetes USUALLY disappears. However, now I have a higher chance of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life...PRICELESS! They also tell you it is common, 5-8% of pregnant women get it - I thought that 95-98% would be more common, but call me crazy.

Now I start the process of monitoring my blood glucose levels, watching what I eat and exercising more. For the next 3 months (and probably beyond), I will be doing everything that the endocrinologist and nurses tell me to do! Making sure that Bubs#2 is not affected in any way.

Hubby will be happy when I start using the Preggi Bellies exercise DVD and Swiss Ball that have been collecting some serious dust in my bedroom since I got pregnant....he has been asking me for a while now if I am ever going to use them.

Did you know that we are  actually coming up to World Diabetes Day on 14th November. Check it out if you like at http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday/ and Think Blue. Wear Blue.

Have you had gestational diabetes? What did you do? Or do you have diabetes?


Image from here.