2 lbs 2 oz

Baby Stella weighs in at 2.2 lbs and we are thrilled! I still cant figure out why I've gained 30+ lbs and she's so little!! LOL Mulitple doctor appts yesterday that all turned out to be great! We got to see our little one sucking her thumb and dancing in my belly. It is such a great feeling and relief each time we have an ultrasound. Blood sugars are on the rise but an A1C of 6.2 is great considering the hard work my body is doing. I have noticed that sugars rise one hour post meal and then drop two hours post meal, which seems to be a common thread with type 1 and pregnancy. Today makes 27 weeks! We are almost there!

Since the last time I blogged things have not changed that much. I have had to up my insulin intake by .5 with every basal and increase my carb/insulin ratio. I have had many doctors appts and a few ultrasounds all of which looked great! The baby weighs 1lb 4oz!!! Which leaves me to wonder...if the baby is so small why am I so big??? LOL I promised myself when I started this blog I would be honest...here goes. I have gained a total of 28 lbs (UGH) give or take a few depending on the amount of salt and water I've had the day before. In a matter of a few days I found out the clinic I worked hard to keep open was closing and I was pregnant (the big guy works in funny ways). Now like many of us diabetics out there, I am a emotional eater. If I wake up sad or feeling bad for myself, I eat. If things dont go my way one day, I eat. If I'm bored, I eat and so on. Going from working out everyday, working 50hrs a week and fighting for my passion, to being laid off and not being able to find a job because of my growing waist line has had it's toll on me. Lets face it nobody wants to hire a pregnant lady who's going to be leaving to have a baby in a few months. Soooo I eat and wait, I wait for Stella to get here and bless us with her arrival. I wait to be able to do the simple things like stay awake past 8pm or workout without have a 30 blood sugar. I wait for another job opportunity like the one I had before that lit my fire every day. So until she gets here I just wait... and grow! LOL
Until next time! :)

22 weeks

Had a fetal echo done yesterday and all I can say is WOW!!! Baby girl is a mover! The cardiologist pressed the wand on my stomach and she literally took her feet and pushed it back! We saw her little feet on the monitor push back at him ! It was funny and exciting! He got a good laugh...but we think she's going to be fiesty! Things have been going accordingly,but let me tell you fellow pumpin preggers get those numbers in check! The closer my due date gets the more concerned I become about the size of this baby...for obvious reasons! Keeping the numbers where they should be has become harder over the course of the pregnancy. Numbers will be great one day and the next day insulin resistance has begun...literally over night!

20 Weeks and counting...

It has been too long since the last time I blogged! The past few weeks have been crazy!
Doctor's appts are now bi-weekly and I'm testing so much I dont think I have any blood left in me. The nausea is almost too much to take, but it's all worth it! My sugars have climbed a little but that is to be expected. The holidays were rough with food and drink everywhere, but we made it thru! Things are going along as they should and the best part is that we will be welcoming a baby girl into our family in May!

This is a better week!

The past few days have been great. I hit my 12 week mark and we told everyone we know that I am pregnant. Sugars are a little unpredictable...waking up at 50 and staying between 100-170's all day. One of the hardest things being pregnant is waiting on others to do things for you. I have always done things for myself, fixing a flat tire, taking out my own trash, painting rooms in the house. All of which my husband is totally capable of doing, but being the impatient person I am, I don't like to wait for others and I find it hard to relax. Like I've said the simple things I used to do now take a great toll on me. I have always enjoyed a packed weekend with family visits and getting together with friends, but now I find it hard to leave the house for me more than 4 hours at a time. Just pulling weeds for one hour from my small flower garden dropped my sugar 70 points!! I do notice a rise in blood sugars the further along I get. I am allowed 3 meals with carbs between 50-60 per meal, 3 snacks of 15 carbs each and I still hungry! This baby likes to eat! The nausea is getting better too, it's bad in the morning and at night, I get about 5 hrs in the day that I feel good. Pregnancy is tough, pregnancy and Diabetes is a rollercoaster ride. This is one rollercoaster I am glad I got on !

Its not just about pregnancy

In my last post I seemed to have left out alot of information about myself...

I have had Diabetes for 31 years, diagnosed at age 3. I come from the times of urinating in a cup and dropping in a tablet for adjusting insulin doses. I have been on every kind of insulin made from Pork to Humulin to Novolog. I tried syringes, insulin pens, pumps, the watch that takes blood sugars, and the meters that literally takes 7 mintues to get a result!

When I was diagnosed people did'nt want their children playing with me for fear that their child would catch the diease. My family was pretty much on their own, relying mainly on the relatives that were'nt scared of me. It was a in some ways a burden, but in other ways this disease has taught me that I can accomplish anything, tI will not be afraid to try new things, and that everyone has secrets it's just a matter of time before they are out in the open. Most of all this disease has taught me to that life is short. We just never know where life will take us

Who says pregnancy is beautiful...especially with Diabetes

Everything I do has a food reference :)

Appetizer:

For years I wondered what it would be like to be pregnant with Diabetes...well now I know.

I have heard people say its the most beautiful thing you will ever go through. Really...I beg to differ. See ladies, I am approaching my second trimester and I can say that the first trimester was terrible. Feeling nauseas, dry heaving, feeling bloated, headache and body aches is beautiful? A man must have made that comment...

Entree:

My main goal for this blog is to share with you my experiences of pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes (DM1). I spent many hours looking for a blog, website, anything short of a paper handout that gave me insight into having Diabetes while enduring pregnancy. I came up with the same old thing...warnings about getting pregnant with DM1, the harm it could cause the baby, the possible complications if your sugars are too high or too low, what could happen to the mother if she made it through the delivery, all horror stories. I decided I was tired of hearing about the negative things that could happen. My whole life I have gone against the grain, doctors said I would'nt live to be 18, I'm 34. They said if I did, I would have one limb and my best friend would be a seeing eye dog. Well I'm writing because I have all my limbs and a min pin named Bruno. I have always been the kind of person to live her life not as a "diabetic" but as a person that has extra challenges in life. I'm not saying that it's easy to live this way and I'm not saying I have never sat down with a Dunkin Hines chocolate frosting container, eating it all in one sitting while cursing the very disease I choose to defeat. I'm just saying that I will not and have never given into this disease. I won't allow it to shape my life. So when it came time to have a baby I thought "I can do this" "who's gonna tell me because I have a challenge I can't have a baby". In the middle of my stubborness was a hint of fear, I truly wanted to know what my sugars would do, how I would feel, will the baby suck the life out of my organs leaving me to deal with kidney failure in two years (I owe those thoughts to the creators of Steele Magnolias) or would I make it through with another accomplishment to add to my list?

When I first found out I was pregnant I was sick as a dog. I don't think I showered once that first weekend. I could'nt lift my head off the pillow without feeling like the room was spinning, I woke up nauseous, was nauseous all day and went to bed nauseous. I had never felt anything like it in my life, even in my fun days I had never had a hang over like this. Then I noticed my blood sugars were dropping like crazy, I was covering so many lows I was starting to gain weight. I was cranky and moody and just felt aweful. Two days before I discovered there was a little one on the way, I found out the business I worked for was closing and I would be laid off. This gave me the opportunity to spent the next 3 weeks literally on the couch until I discovered Vitamin B-6 and Zantac!...AHHHH. For the 3 weeks I was on the couch, my sugars were pretty good, anywhere from 100-130, due to the fact that I had to continuously eat Saltines.

As time goes on I feel much better, I can shower, drive, and even leave the house without the fear of puking in my lap. I notice that I become more sensitive to the insulin doses that used to work perfectly for me. Adjustments to my basals are frequent and as time goes on, I find that my sugars are dropping even lower between 60-90's but sometimes in the 40's. Although these numbers seem a little low to me they are in line with where my doctors would like me to be so I won't complain. I find that any type of exercise wether it be walking, or the eliptical, drops me like a hot cake. I have also found that when having a low blood sugar it takes over an hour for my numbers to come back up and three times as much juice to bring it back to normal. I always feel that one wrong move, like running downstairs to stop the washer because I forgot to put my favorite shirt (or the only one that still fits me) in the wash, will drop me. I now carry multiple juice boxes in my purse and always have a back up of test strips on me just in case I get stuck somewhere or just to make my husband feel better (not quite sure which one I really do it for). So far this pregnancy has been a roller coaster ride blood sugar wise. My lowest part of the day is the morning waking up in the 40's and being extra careful throughout the day not to drop below 60 becomes very difficult. We all know how it feels to have low blood sugars and now I think I'm at the point where my body is adjusting to the lows and becoming familiar with them. I have a feeling I have a lot more to learn...

Dessert:

The best part of it all according to doctors is that I'm doing well! After a long day of low blood sugars, nausea, and fatigue I have to admit it's all for a good cause! At the end of the day when I'm laying in bed nauseaus and thinking I can't do it any longer, I realize...there's a life growing inside of me.I have this tiny little piece of me and my best friend growing inside me! Many times at night, in bed I say out loud to my husband "I'm not going to complain, but this is alot harder then I thought it would be". Most of all I think to myself "I AM going to do this and nobody is going to stop me, I will NOT let this disease get me or shape my life". "I'M going to live my life like a "normal" person". Although I know that living like a normal person is untouchable I remind myself that this is one more accomplishment I am determined to add to my list without complications.