13-3-2009 - Gestational Diabetes and other stressers

My mood while writing this blog: Annoyed

I went in for my three hour screening yesterday for GD and, just like last time, my results were less than desireable.

What your sugar level should be: What my sugar level was at:

Fasting: Under 100; 85 - good

1hr after drinking crap: Under 180; 184 - close, but not good enough

2hrs after drinking crap: Under 150; 174 - WAY TOO HIGH

3hrs after drinking crap: Under 140; 84 - what the hell? Looks great now!

These are pretty much the exact same results I had with my last pregnancy & then I had to go see a diabetic specialist and a nutritionist. We set up a meal plan where I had to count carbs as follows (15grams of carbs = 1 carb exchange)

• Meal 1 = 1-2 carb exchanges
• Meal 2 = 2-3 carb exchanges
• Meal 3 = 3-4 carb exchanges
• Meal 4 = 1-2 carb exchanges
• Meal 5 = 3-4 carb exchanges
• Meal 6 = 1-2 carb exchanges

I am guessing I'll have to follow that same diet for the next four and a half months, but the doctor hasn't called me yet. I avoided giving myself insulin shots the first time around so I'm hoping to avoid it again this time. It's not even the eating six meals a day & counting carbs thing that is bothering me. I know I can do that & I know it will go away after the baby is born so that is fine.

What is bothering me is that I am way too busy in my life right now to deal with all of this shit. After I found out I had GD last time I had to go to the doctor twice a week for non-stress tests. I do not have the time to do this now at all. Last time I was only working full time. This time I am working full time, attending school full time, raising a 20 month old son, & running a bowling league. Going to the doctor twice a week for twenty weeks, plus my regular check-ups with my doctor, and the appointments I am going to need with the dieticians and diabetic specialists are going to be too much.

Last time I was pregnant, I was working 40 hours a week - now I only work 35. My husband was working full-time, now he's in college & barely making any money. We had renters in our basement paying us money. Now we have the whole house to ourselves - which I definitely enjoy, but no extra money coming in.

Between the lack of time in my life & the shortage of money, I have no idea how we get by as it is & then to add something that requires so much extra time & money (in planning adequate meals & additional appointments) is really stressing me out.

I know that we will be fine - I am just so ready for my life to settle down a little bit. Ben graduates in November and will hopefully find a good paying job, but in the meantime, we are scraping by & living on faith.

I honestly only take home $700 every two weeks. He is lucky if he brings home $400 every two weeks. Our mortgage alone is over $1200. Then there is our truck payment, credit card debt, timeshare (yeah we're stupid), utilities, and other general expenses, gas & groceries, and entertainment. If you add it all up - it equals - NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO GET BY! It is amazing that we have squeaked by this far without missing any payments or borrowing money from anyone. I have such a strong faith that everything will work out OK, and God sure seems to be making it happen for us. I am not sure how or why, but I am sure appreciative that it is working.

Anyways, sorry for the rambling - I just have so much on my mind & don't exactly know how to handle it all at once. Thanks for all of your support!

Andrea