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My Gestational Diabetes Journey

How I Got Through My First Pregnancy with It

By Heyy BamPublished 5 years ago 2 min read
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The initial shock of being pregnant was only the beginning of my pregnancy journey. I already knew that at one point, I would have to take my “Oral Glucose Tolerance Test” aka a Sugar Test, but I really didn’t know how the test went or what the outcome really meant for my pregnancy. My pregnancy was going awesome and my fiancé, and I got so excited at the sight of my tummy growing bigger and bigger. Somewhere around weeks 24-28, the time had come to take the test. The night before, I had my dinner early, and as much as I wanted to indulge in my cravings, I knew that I couldn’t eat or drink 8-12 hours before my test.

The next morning came and it was time for my 3 hour long test to begin. First, they took blood and then gave me a few minutes to drink the glucose drink which dink have the greatest taste. Hour one passed then it was time to take blood again. The first hour without food wasn’t all that bad, but half way into the second hour I started to feel it. After hour two, blood was taken it was time for my final hour of the test. The last hour really kicked my butt because by this time I was starving and I could tell baby girl was upset from the way she was making my stomach feel. When the final blood take was done, my doctor sent me to see the sonographer so that my fiancé and I could check on how our little one was doing.

While laying on my back during the sonogram, I began to feel really nauseous to the point a got really sick. When the results came back, the revealed that my sugar levels were really high. At my next doctor's appointment I retook the test because of my ridiculously high sugar levels and I threw up during the last test. A few days after I took my second test, the results came back that I had “Gestational Diabetes.” Gestational Diabetes is any glucose intolerance onset or first recognition during pregnancy. At that moment I knew my pregnancy was going to be a very busy occasion. Not only did I have my regular appointments that I had to attend, I had to go to the hospital once every week to meet with a nutritionist. At the nutritionist office they came up with a plan for me in order to keep my sugar levels at a moderate level so that I didn’t need insulin and would not have a high risk pregnancy.

My nutritionist came up with the idea that I would follow a strict schedule and keep track of my sugar levels (blood glucose levels) by using a blood glucose meter and tracking it on a chart. My daily routine consisted of:

  • Test Blood Glucose
  • Morning Snack
  • Test Blood Glucose
  • Breakfast
  • Test Blood Glucose
  • Snack
  • Test Blood Glucose
  • Lunch
  • Test Blood Glucose
  • Dinner
  • Test Blood Glucose
  • Before Bed Snack

As if being pregnant wasn’t long journey already while keeping up with this routine I still had to visit the nutritionist every week and go to visit my doctor for my scheduled appointments. All in all, the journey of having gestational diabetes was a nerve racking experience for me but I learned so much about testing blood glucose levels and reading them that I was able to help my grandfather test his diabetes. There’s a first time for everything so we can learn so much from the experience.

pregnancy
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About the Creator

Heyy Bam

Age Like Wine 🍷 & Travel The World 🌍

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