a bump in the road

by all accounts, i had a super smooth pregnancy and an even smoother labor and delivery. kp and i thank our stars daily for our experience and especially for M's arrival. the only hiccup we encountered was the diagnosis of gestational diabetes in late february, just a few days after my birthday actually (and a week of chocolate cake for dessert... but i have been assured that i did not give myself diabetes with that cake).

i was stunned to learn that i had gestational diabetes, especially because i think i eat relatively well. and while my diet did sort of fall apart during pregnancy - from week 6 to week 12 i lived mostly off chocolate milk, corn chips, and bananas... and i did develop a bit of an obsession with chocolate chip pancakes - i'd been especially diligent in the months leading up to getting pregnant and certainly got my fill of protein, dairy, fruits and veggies once the morning sickness subsided.

the worst part about diabetes is not cutting out sugary crap. it's the forbidden carbs that did my head in. no pasta (or couscous, or quinoa, or oatmeal...), only rye bread, no potato, no white rice (so no asian food - WHAT?). limited milk and yogurt. bye bye chocolate chip pancakes. limited fruit. no eating out. i couldn't eat black beans without my blood sugar spiking. i couldn't eat a sandwich because 2 slices of bread was too much. for 4-5 weeks, i basically couldn't eat anything without spiking unless i immediately got up from the table and did 20 minutes of cardio. i would do step aerobics on our front porch after dinner at night. and then i would cry because i was so tired.

 on my bike

 out for a walk

it was like training for a marathon on a no-carb diet. by the end, i was eating steak, greens, and corn on the cob at least 3 times a week because i knew it was safe. miso soup and tofu for lunch. carrot sticks. salad. thank god i discovered some low-carb ice cream bars or i think i would have lost it. and i did allow myself a weekly pastry at the farmer's market but only because we biked there every saturday, and i knew i'd burn all that glucose on the trip home. needless to say, i LIVED for saturday mornings.

my happy place

my blood sugar numbers were all over the place. i spiked regularly, but i still managed to stay off insulin. this was huge since they would have induced me at 38 weeks had i gone on insulin. but M still had low blood sugars at birth (the problem is that she was flying high on mine in the womb then was essentially cut off at birth, so they dropped way too low) and had to be admitted to the special care nursery for the first 24 hours. this really only meant they followed her feeding and tested her sugars every 3 hours; we still got to keep her with us.

the spookiest thing about it is that this diagnosis means i'm at risk for developing type 2 diabetes some time in the next 10-20 years. and M is more likely to develop it as well. so once the "i just had a baby and i'm breastfeeding - i will eat whatever i please" stage has passed, we'll have to be especially careful about diet and exercise. this is probably good news for the whole family.