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Monday, July 20, 2009

I Passed! :)

I got my results from my 3 hour fasting glucose test on Friday. I called them first thing in the morning to find out cause I was so curious and didn't wanna have to wait until after the weekend. The nurse said my numbers were slightly elevated but that I did not have gestational diabetes. Basically, 2 out of the 4 blood draws they did were great and 2 out out of the 4 were literally right on the borderline.

***note to people who might not be familiar with what gestational diabetes is - nobody REALLY knows what the cause is (it really seems to have almost nothing to do with what the mother does or doesn't do) but the following theory is pretty popular:

"The placenta supplies a growing fetus with nutrients and water, as well as produces a variety of hormones to maintain the pregnancy. Some of these hormones (estrogen, cortisol, and human placental lactogen) can have a blocking effect on insulin, which usually begins about 20 to 24 weeks into the pregnancy.

As the placenta grows, more of these hormones are produced, and insulin resistance becomes greater. Normally, the pancreas is able to make additional insulin to overcome insulin resistance, but when the production of insulin is not enough to overcome the effect of the placental hormones, gestational diabetes results."

I guess some women's bodies just have a harder time keeping up with the needed insulin levels at this stage in pregnancy. Anyway, I'm relieved I don't have GD but will still continue to eat healthy (I love my garden cucumbers and yellow squash!).

3 comments:

Andrea said...

Yay!! I'm so glad to hear that you passed! :-)

Jess said...

Thanks for checking out my blog and leaving me a comment! Congrats on the baby girl and I love your growing belly! Your picture with the sweater cracked me up! If I wasn't in school, I'd go back and read a lot of your blogs, but I just don't have the time...so help me out, what is your little girls name or have you not posted it yet?

babyparamore.blogspot.com

Andrea said...

If I were you (borderline) I would...
-replace all breads, tortillas, crackers, etc with whole wheat or multi-grain (I'm planning on doing this even after my GD goes away)
-make sure to eat protein with every meal/snack (even adding some peanuts and cheese helps!)
-eat more fiber (fiber and protein help regulate blood sugar)
-exercise
-not eat many sweets, only as a treat sometimes
-limit carbs at breakfast (I'm not a big breakfast eater though)

I would definitely not limit carbs at any other meal or snack other than breakfast! It's horrible to have to count carbs and to only be able to eat so much with each meal/snack. Hopefully your doctor will agree and won't advise that you watch carbs at all. Eating a variety of foods at each meal also helps regulate blood sugar, so keeping up with your balanced diet is a good idea!