Today we go to the Diabetes Center for our "class". We were told to get to the Admitting office 15 minutes early. We go to admitting, right on time, and the woman’s computer has locked up. I pray this is not an indication at how my whole day is going to go.
We finally get called back to be "admitted" to the hospital. The lady was really nice. She starts telling us how her daughter had Gestational Diabetes. She said if her daughter can give herself shots, anyone can. Oh, that’s nice. She’s trying to make me feel better. Then she goes on to tell us that she had the pregnancy from hell. Umm.. couldn’t you have stopped at the good news? Apparently she caught some type of virus while in the hospital and had to stay and extra week. Not only that, they were told they were having a boy, it ended up being a girl. She starts entering things into the computer only to find out that my appointment was put in the computer for June 28th not May 28th. I told her that I was okay with that, but I was pretty sure my Endocrinologist would not be. After 10 minutes of phone calls we FINALLY got checked in. Not only did I walk away with enough material to have nightmares for weeks, I got a nifty hospital bracelet out of the deal.
We go across the hall to the Diabetes Center. Our first appointment is with the nurse. We go back to this little room where there is all this material and a glucose monitor on the table. She goes over all the material like we are 5 year olds and can’t read it for ourselves (she was reading it word for word.. I mean, come on!) She shows us how to code the machine so the strips will work, then she asks me to check my Blood Sugar. I load the lancet and wait.. Josh asks me what the problem is.. "I know it’s about to go off!" About that time I accidentally hit the button and it pricks me. (Good thing, or we’d probably STILL be sitting there) So we check my sugar and its 185. I thought that was good considering my Glucose Tolerance Test came back at 269, but the Nurse said it should be 60-90 before meals and under 120 after meals. Then she pawns us off to the Dietician. She tells me when we get done there, I’ll come back to her to learn how to do the insulin shots.. I can hardly wait..
We go to another little room with the Dietician (to whom I’m pretty sure we went to high school with) She starts going over portion size, counting carbs etc. I didn’t mind this that much because I have done Weight Watchers and the Low Carb diet, so I’m used to looking at labels. She wants me to get 225 carbs a day! She seemed sort of surprised when I told her that was a lot. (Low Carb diet you are only allowed to have 20 carbs in the induction phase) She shows me all of her fake plastic food, asked me if i had any questions. Out the door we go back to the nurse.
We go back to the other little room where there is a insulin pen, a syringe and a vial of solution. I look at Josh and tell him if she thinks she’s going to give me a shot just for the hell of it, she’s got another thing coming. She comes in and sits down. I tell her that they gave me the pen so that’s all I really need to know how to use. She shows me how to use it, then she tells me she wants me to practice giving myself a shot. I tell her that’s unnecessary because I won’t be giving myself a shot with a syringe. I also tell her I don’t like needles so giving myself an unnecessary shot was not going to happen. She offers up Josh as a practice shoot. I ask her if I shoot him do I still have to give myself one. She said I would, so I told her there was no point in putting him through this too. At this point my fear of needles is in full force. I start to lose it. I have been so brave up to this point. I don’t know if it’s hormonal, emotional or a combination of both, but I break down. 48 hours ago I was fine. How could all this happen so fast? I finally pull myself together long enough to do the shot. It didn’t hurt near as bad as testing my blood sugar.
We finally get to leave. By this time it’s 11:30, so Josh has to go straight to work. I try to recall what the Dietician said so I can figure out what I can have for lunch. I was going to do Subway, but I knew I couldn’t have Subway on the Low carb diet so I wasn’t sure. I ended up going to Wendy’s and got a Chicken Caesar Salad. I come back to the office, count the carbs only to realize I don’t have enough carbs. So I rummage through the breakroom to find some peanut butter and crackers. This will have to do. I go back, take a deep breath, shoot myself with my first dose of insulin and eat my salad in silence as I try to process everything they’ve told me.
When Josh gets to work, he checks on me and asks how my Blood Sugar is.. I totally forgot to check it. (sigh) I’m lucky I remembered the shot. I spend the rest of the afternoon making a schedule so I knew what I needed to do and when – and practiced checking my blood sugar.
Checking my blood sugar was an ordeal at first. I would either pull my finger away, not get enough blood, or by the time I did, the monitor would be turned off by the time I got it all together. It was frustrating to say the least. I kept thinking to myself "How am I going to do this 7 times a day for the next 4 months?"
I decide to pick a rotisserie chicken at Publix for dinner until we could sit down this weekend and make out a menu. That night for dinner we had chicken, green beans, a baked potato and a salad. I test my sugar, take my insulin and sit down to dinner. Then I realize I only have 15 carbs! So I eat a slice of bread and drink a glass of milk to make up the difference. This is going to be more involved/difficult than I thought.
That was one of the worst night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought about what was in my future. I knew in my heart that this was best for the baby, and that’s all that mattered. But I’m still only human. I worried that I would end up like my mom and be on dialysis. I know God doesn’t make mistakes. I know there’s a reason I’m going through this, just not sure yet what that reason is. Maybe this was to open my eyes as to how I was living my life before this and it’s my 2nd chance to turn my health around.
Thankfully we were pretty busy at work, so I didn’t have much time to dwell on what was about to happen. I didn’t let it hit me until I was in my husband’s car on the way to the doctor’s office. We made it up to the 3rd floor, which didn’t seem odd as my OB/GYN is just down the hall from the Endocrinologist. We go in, take our seats and start filling out paperwork. I always feel like I’m taking a test when I fill that stuff out. How much do you know about your family history? If I put the wrong thing are they going to tell me they can’t help me? (sigh) I fill out everything, then realize I have to potty (thanks baby) I ask the receptionist if they will need a urine sample, and if so, can they go ahead and take it. ( I wouldn’t have to ask at my OB/GYN’s office, that’s the first thing they ask you when you get there.. guess they are used to pregnant women’s bladders) I hear a couple of snickers from the 2 older ladies sitting in the waiting room.. not sure what’s so funny. They don’t need a sample, so I go potty so Junior has more room. Then I go back to where Josh is sitting, and I wait… and wait.. and wait.
A couple of crazy characters came in during my 2 hour wait to see the doctor ( I assume this is because I’m a work in). The first couple that comes in is probably in their early 20’s. The guy has tattoos all down his arms. I hope, for his sake, he’s not the patient. I’d hate to see them try to find a place to draw blood on those inked up arms. It’s the girl that’s the patient. There’s 2 signs that are posted at the receptionist’s desk. Both seem to be common sense to me.. Turn off your cell phone.. and We will need your driver’s license and insurance card at the time of service.
Turn off your cell phone – Tattoo guy reminds girl to turn off her cell phone. He turns his off, but then a few minutes later, he’s texting someone. Who would’ve thought the sign needed to read " Turn your cell phone off and keep it off!" This didn’t help Girl out either as she ends up having to use her cell phone as well.
We will need your driver’s license and insurance card at the time of service. – The reason Girl had to use her cell phone was to call her insurance company to get her policy number. She claimed no one told her she would need ID or an insurance card at the doctor’s office… that’s probably because they assume you would know to bring it with you…
The next couple that came in wasn’t much better. Tattoo Guy #2 has a Mountain Dew with him. You don’t bring a Mtn Dew to a diabetes doctor! He’s lucky those 2 old women didn’t beat him in the head!!
They FINALLY call my name. We go to this little room and sit and wait, again. At least we are by ourselves and don’t have to deal with goobers mentioned above. A nurse comes in and takes my blood sugar. Let the poking begin. It’s 185 (probably thanks to the Mexican I had at lunch before I came over) Then she asks me if I’ve been checking my sugar… No, I just found out yesterday! So she goes to get me a bag full of diabetic stuff. There’s a glucose meter, strips, a lancet, a log book etc. This will be my life for the next 4 months. She leaves and we inspect the bag as we wait for the doctor.
The doctor finally comes in. He sits down and starts going over my numbers. He starts talking about the results of my 3 hour test.. The only problem is, I haven’t done a 3 hour test. After 5 minutes of me trying to convince him I haven’t had the test, he realizes he’s got someone else’s stuff in my file. So I verify the numbers we’ve already gone over are,in fact, my numbers and everything else is okay. All my other tests come back fine.. Then he tells me that I have to check my blood sugar 7 times a day. He also tells me that he will need to draw blood from me and I’ll go across the hall to get that done.. He’s joking right? I confirm that I heard him right, and give Josh a look and a sigh.. Okay, well he hasn’t said anything about giving myself shots so I’m in the clear, right? Then he hands me this box.. I ask him, "What’s in the box?" "Oh, that’s your insulin, you need to give yourself 3 shots a day. You’ll go to the Diabetes Center and they’ll show you how to do it." Damn. He left as quick as he came. In 5 minutes he had turned my world upside down.
Next I went to get my blood drawn. The nurse at my OB/GYN told me to always tell anyone drawing my blood that I have small veins and to use a pediatric needle. I sit in this contraption of a chair and wait. This big black woman come in and tells me not to cry, that it’s going to be okay. Easy for her to say, I just found out that I will be poking myself a total of 10 times a day!! So I pull myself together and I tell her about my veins. Her response was "Oh honey, I don’t use pediatric needles. I’ll get it, don’t worry." Hah! Next thing I know she has SHOVED what felt like a ballpoint pen in my arm. I tried to scream but nothing came out. I could feel the color leave my face. She pushes me off to the receptionist so she can claim her next victim.
I make my appointment for 2 weeks and we head downstairs to the Diabetes Center.
By this time it’s after 3.. We go in to the Diabetes Center thinking we can just get all this over with today. (Especially so Josh doesn’t have to take any more time off work) The receptionist tells us that if we’d got there earlier we could’ve been fit in. (If we hadn’t waited 2 hours at the Endro’s office, we would’ve been here earlier!) She said I’ll have to spend an hour with the nurse and an hour with the Dietician. So we make our appointment for the next morning and head back to the office.
I come back to the office and tell my story. I keep thinking to myself, ‘ Thank GOD I changed jobs! My previous boss would have fired me by now’ I also let them now I need off in the AM to go to my "classes".
Today I find out the results of my Gestational Diabetes Glucose Test. I’m not convinced that I will find out anything today because 1) Doctors/labs are usually never on time and 2) yesterday was a holiday. So I was shocked when at lunch, my phone rings from my doctor’s office. I say a little prayer and answer the phone. I can tell immediately by the nurse’s tone that something was wrong. My test came back really high. We were shooting for 139 and mine was 269. Crap. The one test I was worried about passing and I failed it with flying colors.
The nurse starts telling me that I have an appointment the next day with an Endocrinologist (Diabetes specialist) at 1 pm. I, more than likely, won’t have to do the 3 hour glucose test because mine is so high (Is this supposed to make me feel better?) that’ll he’ll probably start me on insulin and send me to the diabetes center. I’m honestly surprised I heard anything after 269… I immediately knew what this meant for me, one of my worst fears had come true.
After I cried for an hour, I started to accept my fate. (However, every time someone asked me about it, I’d lose it again) I let my husband know, so he could see if he could get off work to go with me. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to comprehend what the doctors were telling me,as I was still in shock. I went home that night and started researching on the internet to see what I was in for. I also called a dear friend of mine who has diabetes and is also a Registered Nurse. I was hoping there was something I was missing… some glimmer of hope that I would not be subjected to giving myself a shot. No such luck.
I finally called my mom and told her the news. I think this was the hardest because she had Gestational Diabetes herself when she was pregnant with me ( This is why I was so worried about it) and I didn’t want her to blame herself. She currently has diabetes and is actually in kidney failure. Luckily, she can do dialysis from home. She took the news well, but I could tell she was upset. I think she knew how bad I am scared of needles and she knew what I was in for, as she had been through it herself.
Today I had to go take my glucose test. This is the test they use to determine whether you have gestational diabetes. This has been my one concern through the entire pregnancy. I even asked my OB/GYN before I got pregnant if there was any way to tell if I would get Gestational Diabetes beforehand. Unfortunately, you can’t tell until you’re pregnant.
It wasn’t as bad as I thought. We showed up at 8:15 and I started drinking. I had to drink 5 oz of this orange concoction. I’ve heard horror stories about this test. To listen to other people tell it, I was going to have to drink 2 gallons of this stuff, can’t go to the bathroom and can’t throw it up. (which was a major concern as I still deal with morning sickness) So I was delightfully surprised when they handed me that red solo cup not even halfway full. To start, it wasn’t bad at all. It tasted like Orange Crush with an extra cup of sugar added to it. But towards the end, it was hard to swallow. The last 2 oz were the worst. The back of my throat started to burn from all the sugar. The worst part was, I couldn’t have anything – not even water – to help with the burning.
The clock started when I finished. I had to sit for exactly one hour, then get my blood tested. 15 minutes into the waiting, I couldn’t sit still. I’m sure I drove my husband nuts. I was on a HUGE sugar high. Another 15 minutes and the baby started in on his sugar high as well! He was having a fit! An hour into it and I started to crash. My head started hurting and I wasn’t feeling that great. Of course, this is when they want to draw your blood.
I don’t like needles anyway. It’s always an ordeal to draw my blood. It takes serious concentration and breathing to keep me from passing out on a good day. Now, not only was I trying not to pass out from nerves, I had a headache and baby was still kicking like crazy from the sugar juice. Of course, this is the time she can’t get a vein. I have small veins anyway. So they normally have to use a pediatric needle. The nurse tried one arm, all she got was spurts and it hurt really bad. After realizing this wasn’t going to work, she wanted to try my hand. I don’t know if you’ve ever had blood drawn from your hand, but it hurts… bad. Not only does it hurt while she does it, it hurts the rest of the day. So I talked her out of that option and she tries a butterfly on the other arm. This time we have success. However, by this point, I’m about to pass out.
I survive the stabbing and prodding only to find out I have to wait until Tuesday to get the results of the test. That’s almost a week! Geesh.
As most of you know, I had Gestational Diabetes while pregnant with Hudson. I tried to do some research before I went to my first Endocrinologist visit and couldn’t find anything. I am the type of person that I like to know as much as possible before going into a situation. I don’t like surprises, especially when it comes to the health of my baby.
I decided to document my journey so that I might be able to help others that are going through the same thing I went through. This is just my personal findings, experiences and opinions. I do not have any type of training in diabetes (other than the crash course I was given at the hospital) nor should anything read here be used in lieu of any medical advice given by your personal health care provider.
If I can handle being diagnosed with diabetes, anyone can. I was (still am to a point) scared to death of needles. Giving myself shots was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. It wasn’t fun, but eventually you get used to it. I never thought in a million years I’d be able to give myself a shot, especially 5 times a day, and prick my finger 7 times a day. One thing I learned through all of this. You can do anything when it comes to the health of your child.
If you are reading this because you just found out you have gestational diabetes, please feel free to contact me. I’d be more than happy to help you in any way that I can.