Friday, May 10, 2013

Day By Day

I just realized I last posted almost a month ago! I had no intention of being absent from my blog for nearly a month.

The truth is, just a little over a month ago this pregnancy (and life in general) became really, really difficult. :( For those of you that are involved in my every day "real" life, this will be old news to you. I just wanted to document this time in my life on the blog so I can look back at it some day and know how I was really doing.

Around 26 weeks pregnant, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I know I'm not the first or the last woman to be diagnosed with GD, in fact a friend of mine just recently had her baby and shared about her life with GD too.

I knew it would be difficult to follow a very specific and rigid diet (very low carb), but I was unaware of how my life would be completely flipped upside down and consumed with needles.

Right from the start I had to prick my finger to check my blood sugar 4 times a day. Yeah, no fun. It was then that we discovered that diet was not enough to keep my blood sugar down. Even my fasting blood sugar was high every day.
 
 

I knew and still know that I am doing absolutely EVERYTHING I can to keep my blood sugar under control. I have never been this disciplined with diet in my life, and at the request of my Dr, I increased working out (at this point that mostly consists of walking and swimming) from 3 times a week to 5+ times a week.

Still, all of this was not enough so I was put on insulin injections about 2 weeks ago. I'm not going to lie, I was terrified of giving myself an injection every night, but after a while you get used to it. The injections helped to get my fasting numbers down, but I still consistently run a little high after lunch and dinner.

 
I'm eating even less carbs than I'm allowed at most meals, and the proof is in the fact that over the past month I haven't gained any weight. In fact, I've lost some. This is the lowest weight I've been this far in a pregnancy.

I've had multiple Dr's appointments every week, and I get confusing and contradicting information about how best to treat my GD.

The latest news is that I'm looking at the possibility of having to do mealtime insulin instead of just the once a day at bedtime insulin. :( I have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, I really don't want to have to give myself injections all day long on top of checking my blood sugar 4 times a day, but on the other hand I feel at times that I'm starving myself and my baby in order to keep my blood sugar under control. :(
 
This past month has been HARD. Maybe one of the hardest in my life. I have so much fear that this diabetes won't go away after the baby is born (really, it should), and on top of all that I am very big and uncomfortable and chasing a 2 year old wild boy and a 4 year old active girl.

I feel as if the joy of expecting another little one has been completely overshadowed by the difficulties of this pregnancy. At this point, I am just surviving every day and looking forward to holding this baby and letting all of this be in the past.

The good news is that so far my GD has NOT caused my baby to grow too big or put on extra weight, which is one of the biggest concerns.

Needless to say, this has been confirmation that after this baby is born our family is complete. We already thought we'd be done having children after 3, but this experience has been the nail in the coffin. It's official, my body should NOT do this again!

I'm currently 32 weeks pregnant. I'm just hoping I can hang on for another 5+ weeks. I'm constantly praying for strength to make it. I know with God's help, I will.

Thanks for letting me be honest and vulnerable. I know this is not my most cheery post, but sometimes life is just hard.



6 comments:

Kara Taylor said...

Bless you, sweet Mama! We are praying for you, for strength and peace and a quick month of May! Love you lots! ~ Kara

Jenn @ Knee-Deep in Munchkin Land said...

Oh Chris! I love you! I know that you're having a hard time with this and I'm constantly praying for the health of you and Baby H. Hang in there! If anyone can do this, I know you can!

Kelsey said...

Praying for you! You can do it!! :)

Becky said...

I'm sorry things are hard right now Christine.... =( But, rejoice that there is an end in sight, you're getting so close! In the meantime, stay strong girl! You got this!

Momof4Girls said...

Christine honey, praying for you. I know these last few weeks have been very difficult. In a few weeks, that little one will be here!! Praying for daily strength for you until then. We love you very much!!!

Courtney said...

I finally see the post you were talking about. I'm sorry that this pregnancy has been so hard on you but I'm thankful there are only a few more weeks left and it will all be worth it in the end!

About Me

My Photo
I am a daughter of the King. Saved by grace. Follower of Christ. I love my God and I believe that he is faithful and true to his word! I'm still figuring out and trying to follow his plan for my life. I am a wife to my best friend Caleb, a mother to my miracle babies (they are my greatest joy and challenge), a sister and best friend to 3 passionate women, and a daughter to 2 amazing parents that continue to teach me what it is to be real and faithful to God and his word. I am lucky to get to be a stay at home Mom (thanks to God's provision). I love music, singing, coffee, cooking, baking, traveling, our beautiful state of Colorado, and mostly being with the family and friends that I love!

Husband, Caleb

Husband, Caleb
Caleb is an amazing husband and father. He is always so good to me. He is my best friend. He is the romantic one. We love to laugh and spend time together. We've been married for 7 years and I just love that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.

Our 1st Miracle

Our 1st Miracle
Elliana Faith... God blessed us with our first miracle little girl in December 2008. She is sweet, smart, spunky, funny, strong willed, precocious, extremely outgoing, vocal and so full of life! She brings us so much joy.

Our 2nd Miracle

Our 2nd Miracle
Ethan James,.. God blessed us with our little boy in March 2011. Ethan was a bit of a surprise and an even bigger miraclle. Ethan is ALL BOY! He is very active, into sports and running around. He is also sweet, introverted, affectionate, and laid back. These days he often has us laughing, he's starting to show a little bit of "clown" in him. He makes our hearts happy too. :)

Our 3rd Miracle

Our 3rd Miracle
Emsley Jeannette... Our surprise baby girl was born on June 11th, 2013 and came into the world 4 weeks early. Her first 2 weeks of life were spent in the NICU, but due to God's hands and the prayers of many people, she grew quickly and came home to join our family! She is an easy, sweet baby and we are enjoying getting to know her personality.

Sisters

Sisters
We fight one day and then the next day we're fine. We're always loud and crazy when we get together. We're very passionate. We've been through it all together, lots of ups and downs. We're eachother's biggest supporters.

Followers

Designed By:


Munchkin Land Designs


Credits

 
Designed by Munchkin Land Designs • Copyright 2013 • All Rights Reserved