Life with Gestational Diabetes

Well, I'm 31 weeks along. Depending on who you talk to, I'm either going to "pop" any day now because I look so big, or that I look "just right." It's been a real adjustment, dealing with gestational diabetes and changing the way I eat. I now eat 3 meals and 3 snacks everyday, and I test my blood sugar by pricking my fingers 4 times a day. I have a pretty defined meal plan that states how many servings of different kinds of food I can eat at each meal/snack. Out of convenience, I pretty much eat peanut butter several times a day. It's been hard remembering to test my blood sugar when I'm at school- sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I'm doing that I forget. A positive thing though, is that having this has forced me to leave school at an appropriate time to make sure that I have dinner at the right time. It's been hard to eat out so we really have to be intentional about what we eat. I LOVE fruit and now I can only eat it in really limited amounts. That's been disappointing... And, I haven't been able to have any slurpees or bubble teas for weeks now!!! AAGGH! I've never been crazy about desserts, but not being allowed to have any has made me really want to have it! When this is all over, I'm going to celebrate by going dessert-crazy. I'm thinking a dessert potluck or something. Who's with me!?

I have to carry these with me all the time- my nutrition journal, my blood monitoring journal, and my blood monitor kit (has the monitor, lancets (the things that prick my finger), and test strips).

When I was pregnant with Grace, I went out on disability leave from work at 33 weeks. I started having contractions and the doctor believed it was stress related (due to work). Well, this past week, I started getting cramps (it was the same with Grace). I don't want to call them contractions yet because the pain is still manageable, but if it's the same as with Grace, the pain is going to start to intensify. It makes me feel overwhelmed to think about having to already plan for a long term substitute for my brand new class! I'm still hopeful that I'll be able to teach as long as possible. Please keep praying for me and this little one.