Glucose testing - Part 3...

I finished my 3-hour glucose test and was so glad it was over. I thought I could sit back and relax because I honestly didn't think I had anything wrong with me. A couple of days later I get an envelope in the mail from my doctor's office. In the envelope was a single sheet of paper from a notepad handwritten from the doctor. It said, "Your glucose testing indicates that you have gestational diabetes. Please contact the office and make an appointment immediately. Signed - scribble, scribble."

I was devastated. I didn't even know anything about gestational diabetes. All I could think of was that my baby would be harmed and that I would have to give myself shots of insulin. Not good for my needle phobia. I called the office, shaking. I made the appointment for the next day. I was anxious for the appointment so I could find out what was going to happen but I was also dreading it. Sometimes not knowing seems like it would be better. But I knew this condition could impact the baby so I couldn't wallow in my denial for very long.

The next day I went to the doctor. My heart was pounding and I was on the verge of tears the entire time I was waiting in the waiting room. I was called into the little room and the nurse took my blood pressure. It was really high. Obviously it was because I was nervous but this caused concern because I had always had a very normal blood pressure. The doctor came in and talked to me and showed me the results of the testing. My readings were actually only borderline. They didn't seem excessive but because the numbers came out on the wrong side of the border, I had gestational diabetes. What was going to happen to the baby, to me?

Well, women with gestational diabetes cannot process sugars very well because the hormones don't allow the body the produce and use insulin. This is all because of the placenta. And the glucose carries over through to the baby through the placenta. This can cause very big babies. The baby gets bigger more quickly than normal but the lungs and other organs/systems don't develop any quicker. So you can have a 9-lb baby 3 weeks from your due date. Big babies cause complications during labor and delivery and injuries for big babies are more common (like a broken shoulder or collarbone). All very scary stuff.

So how do I treat this condition? I was sent to a specialist. There they had someone talk to me about diet and gave me a chart of what I was allowed to eat and when I was supposed to eat. I was also given a glucose monitor. Great, more needles. I was to test my blood 4 times a day and see the specialist every 2 weeks. The monitor tracks the readings so they would be able to tell if I was controlling my sugars with diet or if I would need insulin as well.

I left the appointment with the specialist and just cried for a while. This put a damper on the pregnancy and I didn't think I would be able to enjoy the rest of it.

Oh well. Time to stop feeling sorry for myself and start doing everything I could to make sure my baby was ok. I started to feel the magnitude of the fact that I was responsible for someone else.