Gestational diabetes is just what it sounds like – diabetes that arises during gestation. It’s usually diagnosed with a glucose challenge (the dreaded orange drink test) around week 24-28 of the pregnancy. Most women pass the test no problem and continue with their normal pregnancies. (That’s what happened to me with my first pregnancy in 2011 – no GD and a healthy, full-term baby girl.)
Because of my risk factors – obesity and diagnosed insulin resistance and PCOS – I was tested early at week 17 of my second pregnancy. After I failed the one hour glucose challenge I had to take the longer three-hour glucose screening. I failed that too so officially had a diagnosis of gestational diabetes in early October. Because it was caught so early that means I have twice as long to monitor my eating and test my blood sugar four times a day than a normal diagnosis around week 28. Woe!
My first reaction was devastation. I’ve passed the point of crying and feeling sorry for myself about my dysfunctional body and moved to the point of dealing with it and getting on with things. I wanted to write about my experience, and I’m grateful to the Woman’s Mommy-Go-Round blog for providing me an outlet to do that.