pregnancy in diabetes

Hitting a nerve

It seems I may have hit a nerve with my numbers on a scale post a few days ago, and you know what, I’m glad I did. Because while I knew in my heart that I was doing everything right (I mean, seriously, a girl that eats this much salad while pregnant can’t be in the wrong) on the surface I was beginning to second guess my actions with Ms. Dietitian’s criticism of my weighty outcomes. Despite my hemoglobin A1c (three-month average blood sugar reading) being a consistent 5.5, which is pretty darn good, and despite my veering away from my love of chocolate and ice cream for the most part throughout the duration of this pregnancy, and massively mowing down on salads galore, when I heard Ms. Dietitian’s words telling me that my weight was far too weighty, all logic flew right out of my head. I started thinking […]

Hitting a nerve Read More »

22 weeks: numbers on a scale

I’m not a crier, I hate breaking down into tears, I try to avoid it at all costs. But this morning, when I walked out of the pregnancy in diabetes clinic, that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I felt like a failure, a disappointment, a bad diabetic – a feeling I haven’t felt since my days of chubbiness, inactivity, and out-of-control diabetes. I walked into this appointment believing I’d get a glowing report. My BG numbers have been great, the lows have dissipated, and my activity levels have majorly elevated (did I mention I’ve done seven hikes in a week and a half and have another one planned for tomorrow?). But, despite the doctor exclaiming I was the first patient she’s ever had where she hasn’t had to implement any insulin pump adjustments, because of my good BG numbers, I was read the riot act by the dietitian regarding my

22 weeks: numbers on a scale Read More »

Deja vu

Today, Big Ring and I celebrated holiday week number 2 with a 2.5 hour hike around Lynn Valley; it was my 7th hike since last Saturday. And my goodness, it’s like deju vu every time I put on my hiking shoes. And not because I’m trekking around the same routes – in fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve hiked Buntzen Lake, Westwood, Lynn Valley Loop, and today’s 9 km Lynn Valley Loop with a Headwaters Trail extension added to the mix. Nope, it’s blood sugar deja vu I’m experiencing. It doesn’t matter whether I’m on old terrain or never before hiked terrain; it doesn’t matter if I’m hiking with Big Ring, or my favourite hiking chick; it doesn’t matter if I start early in the morning or after lunch – my blood sugars are pretty near identical every time I go out at every point I test. Perfectly identical.

Deja vu Read More »

Cooking up a baby hiker

As many of you know, Big Ring is convinced we’re having a cyclist, not just a thumb-sucking alien baby, but a world-class cyclist, like a baby Mark Cavendish, or Andy Schleck, or Jeannie Longo kind of cyclist. But me, I’m pretty sure we got a hiker on our hands. Here me out on this. I had to stop running early in the pregnancy, because the activity, no matter how tempered or short it was drastically dropped my blood sugars to near comatose state. I took up the walking, much to my chagrin, but still, no matter how boring that snail’s pace activity was, my blood sugars almost always bottomed out with that one as well. (Maybe the kid was so bored, it had to add some low BG excitement into the mix.) So I pulled out Mr. Foldy, figuring not only would I be sprucing up my athletic pursuits, but

Cooking up a baby hiker Read More »

19 weeks: The stubborn gene

The things I learned about thumb-sucking alien baby today: It’s stubborn. It has a beautiful spine. It may have evil tendencies. It’s going to be a future cyclist. And it moves… thank goodness! Today was my 18-20 week ultrasound and initially I thought I’d be going it alone as the lab is 45 minutes from Big Ring’s work. But that dear husband of mine caught the trepidation in my voice and announced a couple days ago that he’d be accompanying me. Normally this is supposed to be an exciting, glorious time right. But for me, I’d kind of been fretting about it. See, I’ve been freaking out lately that I haven’t yet felt any kind of alien baby movement. And rightfully so! You wouldn’t believe how many people in the last three weeks (doctors, nurses, friends, co-workers, strangers) have asked if I’ve felt anything. Uhm, no. (And it’s not like

19 weeks: The stubborn gene Read More »