So I failed my 1 hour glucose screening.
I don't think I'll ever forget getting that call from my OB. Here I sat, reading a silly article on Jezebel, enjoying my homemade breakfast sandwich (turkey sausage, real sharp cheddar cheese and a free range fried egg on a whole wheat high fiber english muffin*, in case you were wondering) and my phone rang. I knew the results would be in soon so I spat out my food and answered, completely expecting good news.
"Hi Maigen, this is Colleen from Dr. Kittle's office. Hun, you failed your glucose test." "I failed?!?" "Yes and by quite a bit, I'm afraid." "What's a bit?" "180."
One. freaking. eighty.
I knew I needed a 140 to pass.
And I got a 180.
At first I just wanted to scream that of course I failed. They were the ones that told me to drink that glucola!
But she didn't give me the chance as she went on to explain I would be skipping the 3 hour test entirely and that they were referring me to a nutritional counselor at the hospital. I will now be testing my own blood sugar 4x/day for the remainder of the pregnancy and, if after making dietary and lifestyle changes it's still not controlled, I will start insulin.
What. the. f.
As if having an unplanned spontaneous identical twin pregnancy wasn't terrifying enough. Then getting told in week 17 that the cysts on their brains could be trisomy-18 - or they could be nothing at all. Now I have gestational diabetes and get to figure out how to satisfy my insatiable, albeit waning, appetite while watching every damn thing I eat.
I know I'm being a brat. I should be feeling blessed that it was caught when it was and that I am in smart, capable hands both with my OB and MFM who I trust with my life (and those of my unborn). But I hate this. Mostly because I have already worked my ass off to make sure I'm eating "right." I don't gorge myself on junk food and I make healthy choices every day (although I don't deprive myself of most cravings either).
I've eaten more fresh vegetables in the last six months than I had in my entire 29 years before.
We haven't eaten anything but whole wheat bread products in years, including pasta and even that's only a once a week meal at the most.
I only drink almond milk, but I eat good quality cheeses and yogurts daily.
I could live on chicken, sometimes we do for a few days, and I would be eating turkey all the time if I didn't have to heat it up until it was gross.
I have healthy portions of red meat, fish and vegetarian dinners with green sides throughout the week. I eat a salad at least every other day.
I look at my diet and I don't see how I can avoid any more sugar than I already do, other than cutting out the juices I've only added to my diet because I am pregnant. I started drinking V-8 V fusion (which has a whopping 28 grams of sugar) for the servings of fruit and vegs as well as OJ once or twice a week for the calcium. I don't drink soda. I don't eat fast food more than once a month.
I do have pizza once a week and I'm dying over the idea of giving that up. I don't want to have to count carbs and draw blood from myself and worry about our grocery budget even more than I already do.
I know. I shouldn't be looking at it like that. I should be willing to do whatever it takes to keep myself and these girls healthy. I just didn't think it would be this hard.
And, of course, I am turning 30 this weekend and having a party. No cake?!
I've done a lot of reading today and found out (as well as told by a doctor at my mom's work) that it was more than likely the twins that actually caused it, rather than my diet, especially since I ate so well to begin with. The trouble with twins is they put an extra strain on my pancreas and my body can't metabolize sugar nearly as efficiently. I can try to control it but it might not work so I should just take the insulin.
I have so many considerations for so much of this, from whether I even believe I actually have GD (maybe I just ate too close to the test*) to how I feel about treating it. Part of me wonders if I should just keep doing what I'm doing, watching what I eat and be grateful for all the extra monitoring I get. Not to mention the fact that while I'm only 27 weeks along, I also only have eight weeks left. It won't be that bad. I don't think I want to take the 3-hour test. I will monitor my sugar for a week or so (or however they want me to) and go from there. Meanwhile I will keep you posted on adjusting to this new lifestyle while we figure it all out.
Xo,
Maigen
*side note: this is the same breakfast I ate literally right before the test, minus the sausage. I have to wonder if the high carb english muffin did me in.
No comments :
Post a Comment