Pregnancy: not for the faint of heart

So I'm sailing through to 26 weeks. Or am I? I love being pregnant. I love feeling my little dumpling do somesaults inside of me. I love when other people get to feel her move. I never understood the comparisons of "little flutters". The little kicks feel exactly like a muscle spasm in your abdomen. And. I. Love. It! A child really is God's miracle, and I am beyond blessed to have made it this far in my pregnancy. But God has put me to the test. Can I really handle this motherly business? I survived my first trimester's morning sickness, after all. The day before Valentine's Day I went on a day trip to Austin with my mom for a fun wedding taste-testing with my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law and the whole way there I puked and the whole way back was no different. I thought the morning sickness was back again, but turned out to be a bug. Thank goodness!

When I hit 20 weeks, I got another surprise. I was unfortunately kicked in the abdomen by a patient during one of my shifts. Just to be on the safe side, I tested my urine for blood. Thankfully, there was not one sign of blood, but there was glucose in my urine. Nothing I was expecting. I pricked my finger and found that my blood sugar was 405. Yikes! My doctor was hoping to write it off as stress. That my body was reacting to the kick in the abdomen. She ran tests, hello diabetes. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes at 20 weeks. Usually pregnant women are tested for Gestational Diabetes between 24-28 weeks with what I've heard to be a nasty sugary drink that you chug after fasting all night. Thankfully, I didn't have to partake in that. It was a God thing that I just randomly found out at work. Optimism, right?

I was educated on a diabetic diet (something I think EVERY person should be educated on), started walking every day, and checking my glucose four times daily. My numbers didn't improve. I was consistently in the 300s. So my doctor took away the "gestational" and is considering me Adult-Onset Diabetes, my numbers are too high and I was diagnosed too early in the pregnancy to be considered gestational, or so they say.
She prescribed me oral medication. Every week, by choice, I would call and update her nurse with my horrible sugars, now consistently in the 200s-300s. She would try to problem-solve by asking me what I was eating. I followed my diabetic diet to the tee. She asked if I was eating fruit. Note: if you have not attended a diabetic education class, watch yourself, I get defensive quickly. Of course I'm eating fruit. I am required to eat a set number of carbs, protein, and fats for this diet. Required. I do not quit eating if my numbers are too high. Fruit counts as a carb, y'all....nurse. I have calculated it in to my diet, and have measured accordingly. DO NOT TELL ME I CANNOT EAT AN APPLE. Rant over. 

So my diet now consists of lots of: eggs, avocados, turkey sandwiches, cheese, hummus, yogurt, cottage cheese, apples, blueberries, protein bars, veggies, lots of meat (chicken, beef, salmon, turkey). I have found this amazing brand at central market called "ZEVIA" it is a soda that has no sugar and the sugar substitute is stevia which I can have as much as I want of! So exciting! I usually pack the same thing in my work lunch every day but was wondering if anyone had any other good food ideas.

This week I was sick, a gastro bug of some sort. It is very difficult trying to find something that is bland and still meets all requirements. Usually the BRAT diet is on the doctor's orders, BANANAS, RICE, APPLESAUCE, AND TOAST. And I read "carb, carb, carb, carb". Do you know how difficult it is to eat a protein with every single meal/snack?!  Especially when you don't feel good? Yuck! Any advice will be appreciated on this subject. I did find POWERADE ZERO which has saved my life. I usually drink gatorade when I'm sick but can't now because of all of the sugar and Vitamin Water Zero doesn't have all of the electrolytes like gatorade and powerade.

Back on Track. Needless to say, every week she would increase my dose. Up until this week. We were at a standstill and my sugars were making no improvements. I was on a rather high dose of oral medication, eating perfectly, and still was running extremely high. My OB scheduled me to see the High Risk OB and my worst fear, put me on insulin. It is not the shot that terrifies me, but that fact that with insulin, I can go hypoglycemic, and from a nursing perspective, is scary. I'd hate for Brice to see me like that, for him to take care of me in that kind of state, it just plain terrifies me.

And my coworkers....amazing. People I had no clue even knew my name, are asking me how I am doing, how my sugars are. It humbles me. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't ask how I am, and really cares about the answer. Our ER family at Cook really does take care of one another.

And with all of this mess, I still absolutely love being pregnant. I was asked the other day..."so with all of this mess, do you still want 5 kids?" and the answer so far is, YES! As much changes as I had to make during this pregnancy, as much as I so badly want a Braums ice cream, I could be pregnant the rest of my life. Maybe I'm just in the honeymoon stage of the second trimester...maybe I'll change my mind when I'm "swollen and miserable" during the third trimester, but right now, I am super content with this little/big belly of mine, and protecting my little girl from this crazy world!

Update: sweet girl is 2 lbs and is measuring exactly at my due date (not too big-which can be a problem with diabetes). My OB will however "take me early" so I will not go full-term and will likely deliver the week after 4th of July :) our little firecracker, we love you so much already. Here she is today :)