While I was pregnant, Ryan and I had gone to Chick Fil A one day for breakfast, and he took one of the Jelly packets and placed it in my glove box, “Just in case you or someone you know goes into diabetic shock and needs a quick sugar fix”. We both laughed and went along our day; little did we know the news we would get a few weeks later.

It was just another morning around 27 weeks pregnant, I went into the dr. in the morning for my glucose test. This is a test where you have to be fasting,  they draw your blood then give you five minutes to drink a glucose drink (I had the orange flavor), these drinks taste like a sugared down, uncarbonated orange soda. I gulped it down and was sent to the waiting room for an hour, then they drew my blood again and sent me on my way. That afternoon my phone rang, “Micah,  you failed your one hour glucose test. This doesn’t mean that you have gestational diabetes. We need to schedule you to come in and take a three hour glucose test, you could pass that and be in the clear, if you don’t then we will discuss gestational diabetes with you further at that point.” I was so upset, Ryan reassured me that it was okay, and everything would be fine.

A few days later I went in for my three hour fasting glucose test. They draw your blood and give you the concentrated drink again (this time they gave me fruit punch)…it was awful and took almost the entire 5 minutes to get it down, I wanted to throw up. I sat for the first hour, got my blood drawn, sat for another hour and so on. Three hours and four blood draws later I was sent on my way. That evening the nurse called me again. “Hello Micah, I am calling to tell you the results of your glucose test. Unfortunately you failed which means you have gestational diabetes. If you can come in tomorrow we can discuss your diet and I will get your prescriptions for your glucometer, testing strips, and lancets”.

I was heartbroken. I felt like I had been doing everything right, eating well enough, etc. Then they explained to me that it is hormonal. The dr. said she had seen obese women come through her office eating anything they wanted and never had any troubles with gestational diabetes. Then on the other hand she has had fitness buffs come in; they eat right, work out and they get uncontrollable gestational diabetes.  A woman’s hormones are the cause, it’s nothing that the woman has done or could have done differently. I was truly devastated,  but had a lot of encouragement and support from friends and family… this was just the beginning.

At first I was able to watch my diet closely, follow all of the guidelines and I was keeping my blood sugar levels right where they asked me to. Then my hormones shifted and I was having higher levels here and there.  They kept a close watch on Novellas development and she was growing very quickly and had a large belly. Eventually, after several ultrasounds and adjusting my diet a few times, my doctor suggested that it might be in my and the babys best interest to try a shot of insulin each night. Through tears streaming down my face, I reluctantly agreed, knowing that I would do anything that was best for my child.

☆(Let me just insert this little tidbit before going on…I have an incredible husband… I had a hard time giving myself the shots, so every night he would check the clock to know when I needed it, and he would prep everything and give me my shot, he would also prep everything for my finger pricks too. He would remind me to eat, encourage me to eat different things. “Have you gotten up and moved lately?”, rubbed my swollen feet and came with me to every appointment he could… my husband… yea, he is a rock star! )☆

We started with 4mL each night, I had to keep a juice box with me everywhere I went (along with my glucometer), just in case my blood sugar dropped too low. Now I was doing 4 finger pricks a day and one shot into my thigh each night. After a week or so and no changes in my blood sugars they decided to increase to 8mL of insulin a day. This helped for awhile, but at 29 weeks she was still measuring 5.5 lbs amd her belly was in the 96th percentile. Eventually the dr. decided to add in another 4mL shot every morning after my morning/fasting blood draw. Finally her growth slowed and she grew into her belly, 62nd percentile!

Although it is more likely that I will struggle with gestational diabetes during every pregnancy from now on, and Novella and I are both at a higher risk for developing type II diabetes later in life; it wasn’t as bad as I had imagine it would have been. Yes, at the end of our pregnancy we were going twice a week for non-stress tests to watch her movement and heartrate due to all of the insulin,  I basically lived at my dr. office. It all worked out. After she was born they had to check her blood sugar levels every two hours for the first 24 hours. She had a couple that were off, so they decided to monitor her blood sugar for an extra 24 hours. She ended up being fine and regulated herself well!

All in all, it is not quite how I had “planned” for my pregnancy to go…then again is anything ever how we plan it? God has his plan and we just have to trust him and have faith that he has it all under control. God carried us through all of this, and she ended up only being 7lbs 9oz, granted she was two weeks early! Do I know why I went through the struggles that I had during pregnancy? No, but I did and I overcame it and I feel stronger for it now. I no longer have blood sugar issues, they went away after she was born, and she is healthy, that is all that truly matters in the end. I would rather deal with all of the challenges and struggles during my pregnancy (things that go away after the baby is born) and have a healthy, beautiful, nearly perfect baby as the outcome!

By the way, the jelly packet is still in the glove box as a reminder of the struggle I overcame and to help us to remember to laugh every once in awhile! “Just in case you or anyone you know, ever goes into diabetic shock…”