Today was the dreaded meeting with the diabetes educator. Dealing with this while still plague-ridden was more than I wanted to handle, but I gritted my teeth and went anyway...
...and found out it might not be as bad as I feared.
First and foremost, I'm pregnant. (NO, really?) That means any restrictions still have to be sensible to growing a human inside me. Therefore, while yes I have to count carbs and watch my glucose levels, and yes I have to poke my finger 4x a day (and pee in a cup every morning to be sure I'm not deforming baby's brain with ketones), I'm also not being completely restricted from carbs or sugar or fats or anything else. In fact, I'm supposed to make sure I get at least 150g of carbs every day! I can have a damn cheeseburger for lunch, so long as I lay off the bacon and have a salad instead of fries on the side.
Second of all, I'm not SUPPOSED to let myself get hungry. Smaller meals, more often. (Heard that one before, eh?) I have been directed to eat 3 meals plus 3 snacks every single day. And I figured out today, about the time I started feeling bad that I hadn't had my afternoon snack, a sugar-free skim latte counts as about 1 carb selection, perfect for a snack! Yum. And heaven on the sore throat.
Third, she gave me my actual glucose numbers from the 3 hr test, and they weren't nearly as bad as it sounded. I don't know if Julie was going off a different set of numbers than the diabetes education folks use, but of the 4 readings only one was even close to being out of normal range for pregnancy (it was right at the top number exactly) and the other 3 were within normal. I also learned that the fact that I was already down hard with this cold may have been enough to bump my numbers higher. So I might not actually be full blown GD yet. It can't hurt me to start being careful now, though. Apparently the pregnant body needs 3x the insulin as normal in the 3rd trimester. And with PCOS, I am already fighting an insulin resistance. It's just safer all around if I keep things monitored, I suppose.
Long story short, I think I might be able to manage this until April. And now, I'm going to go enjoy my 6" turkey sub on wheat, loaded w/veggies (only 3 carb points!) and try to beat back this plague a bit further. Wish us luck that baby cooperates tomorrow for the ultrasound and I'll be able to announce girl or boy!
p.s. - For my costume today, I took strips of muslin and wrapped my belly. I was a mummy. ;) Happy Halloween!
Post-dinner glucose: 116. Perfection.
ReplyDeleteYes! You CAN do it :D
ReplyDeleteIt will be OK sweety.