Gestational Diabetes Update at 33 Weeks

It’s been about six weeks since I last wrote about my gestational diabetes. That’s because things have been smooth sailing. Everything was under control with diet, exercise, and medication. However in the last couple of weeks, my glucose levels have been out of whack. (I was cautioned that it would get worse later in my pregnancy.) I would wake up in the morning and my glucose levels (fasting) would already be high! My nutritionist and perinatologist are both confused as to why. (They call me… “The Anomaly.”) I thought that, perhaps, because every night I would dream of eating a cupcake or a banana split, it would seem so real that my brain would send messages to my body that increased my sugar levels! Ha! If that were the case, then I think I should just eat a cupcake or a banana split so that the high glucose level in the morning would be worth it.

So it was suggested that I take a dose of my medication (Glyburide) the night before with my evening snack and see if that would bring down my fasting levels the next morning. Success! After a couple of days, though, I discovered that my glucose levels were high an hour after breakfast. So I started cutting down on my carbohydrate intake. No luck! I could eat two servings or one serving of bread, and would still get the same results… high glucose levels. So my nutritionist has suggested I take another dose when I wake up in the mornings, then eat breakfast an hour after. That worked for a couple of days, but then it stopped. More confusion! We even upped my medication to two doses, and still my glucose levels were high.

So I decided to experiment (with the approval of my nutritionist and perinatologist). What if I skip my medication when I woke up, and just didn’t eat carbohydrates for breakfast? I was hopeful but also a bit scared because if this didn’t work, I might have to give myself insulin shots. And I really didn’t want to do that because I hate shots! So I tried my experiment for one day. It worked! So I tried it a couple more days, and YES, it is totally working!

It’s still an anomaly though, how no carbohydrate and sugar consumption for breakfast could make my glucose levels rise. But I’m not going to worry about that for now. My glucose levels have been within range for over a week. Things are going well, and I have seven more weeks to go (or less!). Those weeks should go by quickly! Then when this baby comes out, someone better have a cupcake AND a banana split ready for me to dive into. 🙂