Gestational Diabetes Part 1

     Hey everyone! I am Amy, Jacob's wife of 10.5 years. We have 3 children ages 8, almost 5 and 2. and #4 is due in late July. I will be doing some more frequent posting here on the blog. Instead of talking about historical events, we see going to talk about living out faith in everyday life. Everyone's everyday life will look different from each others and yours will look different from year to year or even month to month

     As a stay a home, homeschooling mom of 3 children I have had my fair share of everyday struggles. There are days of tantrums,sickness, cranky kids and parents and so much more. Today I am going to touch on one of my biggest struggles over the past 9 years, that shows up every pregnancy... gestational diabetes. I have unfortunately been diagnosed with gestational diabetes for each of our pregnancies. 

     Now, if you have been pregnant or have had friends who are pregnant, you are probably aware of the disgusting drink that every women must drink around 20 weeks of pregnancy. This drink is purely sugar. The intention is to learn how your body can handle a crazy amount of sugar. Each pregnancy I have suffered through this drink at least once . Yes At least, because it you fail the 1 hours then you have to do it again for a LONGER 3 hours test. If you fail these tests then you have gestational diabetes or GD. So basically  GD means that your body is not producing enough insulin and you have higher levels of sugars. Now this can mean many scary things for your baby, BUT don't worry! The scary things typically happen to people who have un-diagnosed or un-managed gestational diabetes. Once I was diagnosed, I worked with my OB and a nutritionist to find an eating plan that worked best for my body. 

     Now that we've hit the logistics, lets talk about the spiritual and emotional. Ladies, pregnancy is HARD. Your  emotions are going crazy, hormones are outta whack, you  are constantly adjusting to new things and Now you have to deal with this. The first time I heard I had GD I was devastated! How had I failed our child? I was healthy, didn't eat too horribly, had NO symptoms of diabetes and had no family history of diabetes. It was CRAZY that I would get this diagnoses. 

     Our first pregnancy was a rough one. We had moved to a new city, Jacob was in seminary and working full time while I was working full time and pregnant. Now I found out that i had a high risk pregnancy that required blood pricks multiple times a day, high risk appointments on top of my normal ob appointments and not much support from my doctor. I'm going to pause here and let you know that if you don't like your doctor or are not getting teh answers you deserve, then CHANGE!! We changed doctors for our 2nd, 3rd and now 4th doctor and LOVE the doctor we have had for our current and last 2 births! 

     Back to our first birth almost 9 years ago. Gestational diabetes was SCARY! I didn't know anyone who had it and was TERRIFIED something horrible would happen to our daughter. I was living in a constant state of anxiety and fear, and honestly I wasn't listening to God at those times. Yes I was praying, and reading scripture, and journaling but God was just a life boat and not where I complete placed my trust.

     Fast forward 8 years and 2 pregnancies later and here I am. Pregnant with our 4th baby, at 31 years old and diagnosed at 15 weeks with gestational diabetes. The second time I have had GD since 15 weeks. Our baby isn't even to the point that they could live outside the womb and I already have a high risk pregnancy. The biggest difference from my 1st pregnancy to my 4th has been My faith and my walk with God. 

Stay Tuned for Part 2...