Diabetes

My newest lifeline.

In my first pregnancy, I developed Gestational Diabetes around the end of the 2nd trimester. I was very unfamiliar with diabetes in general and even though my late father had Type II most of his adult life, I was very ignorant on anything concerning the disease.

As far as I know, it went away after I gave birth. I never actually got checked to make sure, but I continued to check myself with my own monitor and all was normal. Never gave it another thought.

Until I found out I was pregnant with my second child. Even finding out about this pregnancy, I wasn't overly concerned because my first had still been relatively easy. Simply controlled with diet changes. Top that off with the fact that my little man came a few weeks early (and was healthy as can be at 6lbs 4 oz) and I didn't have much to worry about.

If you're a mother and you've gone through this, you know you have a one hour glucose test towards the beginning of pregnancy then another 3 hour test towards the middle. I didn't have my one hour test until about 15 weeks and I failed it miserably with a blood sugar of over 200. Dang. Doctor said that since it was so high that early on in the pregnancy, it could have been pre-existing. Double dang.
However, there is no way to know until after I give birth again. I can only hope and pray that my body just understood that producing insulin while I am pregnant just isn't an option.

I now receive my care at an Army hospital. Very much different from the civilian care I received with my first child. I will go ahead and say that it has NOT been a pleasant experience. That is a whole different story though.

Trying to work and monitor my sugar levels, eat right, care for a child and keep up a home finally worked on my last nerve, so I finally just quit monitoring all together. Mostly because I forgot to take my meter with me on our two week trip to New York a month ago. Bad idea. I ended up in the emergency room in Syracuse with a blood sugar of 670. Yikes!! We were there for my brother-in-law's wedding so there was a ton of stuff going on the entire first week and I was already feeling terrible but thought I could fight through it until we returned home. Finally, on the day of the wedding, my body couldn't take any more. I could barely even walk up stairs. Unable to breathe deeply, heart palpitations, weakness, headache. I was admitted for 5 days while the perinatal unit tried to get my sugar under control. Insulin shots every hour, strict diet of 75 grams of carbohydrates. It was a mess and I felt terrible for taking away from our visit and family. It was a mess.

They were finally able to get me straightened out and I was discharged and we made the 3 day drive home. They had pumped me so full of IV fluids, my hips, legs and feet were 3 times their normal size. Definitely a miserable car ride!

Now that we're home, things are a little better. I am still having issues getting the correct syringes for my body type, thanks to the amazing folks at the Army hospital. They apparently think my 5'6", normally 130-ish pound body can handle a 1/2" needle. Not so much!! I was recently referred to high risk doctors in Savannah, so I can only hope I will receive better care from here on out. This crap of having to see a different doctor every appointment was unbelievably frustrating. I would have to explain every detail of my pregnancy every. single. visit. Is this NOT why patients have files and charts?? Ridiculous.

I am down to giving myself two shots per day, now that my insulin doses are low enough that I can mix two separate kinds in one syringe. Before, it was 4 per day. Ouch! I've been doing it for over a month now and let me tell ya, it doesn't get easier! I still flinch every time I go to stick myself. It's just not natural! I'll say it again...I hope and pray this goes away after our girl is here. I am a fairly healthy person. I am not over weight. I may not exercise as much as I should, but I am still a healthy size for my height. I do NOT want to be stuck with this for the rest of my life. Guess I'll have to take it as it comes though.