I don't think it ia any surprise that I love food. Last night I went out with my hubby for a much needed date for our 5th anniversary. We went to a lovely restaurant downtown and so enjoyed our meal! It was yummy! I don't know if you would call me a foodie, but I might be.
Thing is, once again, I feel like my love/hate relationship with food has returned for the time being. In my 28th week I was once again diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I have to say though that my numbers are not near as high as they were the first time around. And instead of going straight to insulin to bring my numbers down we are going to try and control them with food. This is good. Thing is I hate being told what I can and cannot eat. Hum - reminds me of someone little I know! (Apple = tree in this case).
I don't know why but this time around, either because I am more aware of the complications that GD can cause with the baby and me, or simply because I have been down this road before, I feel more confident to do this without insulin this time. It could also be because my numbers are not near as high too.
I also think because I have been through this once, I have been better prepared and have asked better questions. For instance - my elevated fast number - why is that happening when I can get the rest under control by morning snack. Is it because I am not eating enough carb and protein at night, during the day? How does undereating my carbs allocations impact my numbers and my body? How does exercise impact overall? I did find out that just 5-10 minutes of exercise right after breakfast will help to bring down my morning numbers and with just 30 to 40 minutes a day I can also help to bring my fasting numbers lower too. This is good to know, and yes, the good thing is that chasing a 2 year old around does count as activity!!! :) Still, 5-10 minutes after breakie, when you aren't awake is tough to do.
I have definitely seen lower numbers with just three days of more regular exercise but my mornings are still a little high. I am working at trying to figure out the best combination of food at night and then food for breakfast to stay under my 7.8. Caffeine first thing is out because that can actually hold onto sugar thus elevating my numbers at breakfast. As coffee is my after breakfast treat, peppermint tea helps me greet the day!
Yes I can't have exactly what I want when I want it right now but that is okay. I can still have the occassional treat. It is just really hard to say no when all those iddy biddy chocolate bars are hanging out in the stores for Halloween. Even though they still call out to me when I walk by, "Sheila, oh Sheila, I am over here"! I just pretend they are talking to someone else in the store!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
A Day of Thanksgiving
I believe I am a very thankful person. I appreciate the life we have, the friends, the family, my incredible hubby and my precious daughter. The allergy scare that we experienced the Sunday of Thanksgiving, around noon, has made me sit back and relish just how lucky we are.
So Sunday, I was making dessert (yummy, yummy Black Bottom Dessert) to take to my family's Thanksgiving Dinner at my brothers. My little helper had just had her lunch and was getting ready for her nap. She had been helping my make the dessert in the morning, so the step stool that she had been standing on to supervise was still in its place waiting for her return. She came to see how I was progressing on dessert and decided while there to taste what mommy had made. When I saw her licking the beater's I wasn't worried - only contained butter, icing sugar, eggs and vanilla. It was as I was finishing the clean up, and I heard her start to cough a lot that I realized there was something going on. By the time I turned to look at her (2-3 minutes tops) she was starting to break out in hives and was starting to have problems breathing.
Needless to say the next few minutes are a bit of a blur - I ran to get the Benadryl to give her as she wasn't to the point where I needed to administer her Epi-pen. I tried to get her to take the Benadryl, which didn't work and then then the vomiting started. Okay - get it out of your system that is good was all I could think. Still once that was done you could tell she was still having problems breathing. So at this point I called my hubby, told him what was happening and that I was taking her to the hospital. I wasn't playing around with this.
As we were leaving she seemed better, though kept scratching at her neck because it was itchy and bugging her (hives). On the way to the hospital, the vomit started again (remember I am pregnant and in an enclosed space) and this one dwarfed the first, but she got everything out of her system that time. By the time we got to the hospital (which thankfully wasn't busy at all) she seemed a thousand times better. Still, we were there, might as well get her checked.
I am truly thankful that we have a leading class Children's Hospital in our town. Our doctor, the staff and most of the nurses at the hospital were great - though stumped by what had caused this. Considering she seemed back to normal by the time we got in and got checked out! I figured we were being labelled as overprotective parents until . . .well the one look the nurse gave me as I ate a Larabar while we waited, told the whole story.
You know when you meet someone who you can just tell doesn't like you, even if you have never met that person before. Well that was the sense I got from this nurse yesterday.
You have to remember, all this took place over the lunch hour, so guess who didn't get to eat - 28 weeks pregnant and not eating (not even thinking about the Gestational Diabetes aspect) just don't go together. To me the Larabar was a saviour at the bottom of my purse.
Thing is, there are no peanuts anywhere in our house and I am diligent about reading labels and making sure that the things she is eating are peanut and nut free (even though we have to troubles with other nuts). Yes I know that things happen and peanuts can get in even where they aren't supposed to but that wasn't the case yesterday. And no I wasn't eating a Larabar while making the dessert, which brings us back to the end of our visit to the ER. The doctor had cleared us to leave, was going to send a referral to the allergist we had seen a year ago when this all started, when she came back and closed the curtain, which I thought was weird but somehow knew what was coming.
Only at the end of our visit did she ask about the "granola bar" I was eating. I told her I don't keep the kind with peanuts in our house and this one contained almonds and cashews. I know those sneaky peanuts could be in there too, but the point is, I wasn't eating anything, ANYTHING, when all this went down. And while I ate this, did you notice it having an adverse affect on my child? NO! Also, I haven't had a Larabar in weeks and the last time was probably in the car while running errands. Once again, a closed in space and no ill affects then?
The doctor went on about Cross contamination and how we have to be extra careful, especially when dealing with an allergy like this one. I know she is just doing her job but after all this, it just made me angry!
First and foremost, if you are going to question my parenting - do it when we get there or when you see me eating the dreaded granola bar. At least give me the chance to defend myself instead of allowing me to feel that I have been judged and convicted without a proper trial! Okay that may be a little overdramatic but still, I already felt guilty enough about what had happened and was racking my brain to try to figure out what could have caused it without the additional judgement being place on me.
We may never know what caused yesterday's attack. What I will take from this is that we will continue to be diligent about what Sophie eats, we have too. I have also spent enough time worrying about what that doctor and nurse think I might have done or caused. I am the one who know's what was happening in our house, when it happened. For the love of my child and the fact that she is perfectly fine today - I am truly thankful!
So Sunday, I was making dessert (yummy, yummy Black Bottom Dessert) to take to my family's Thanksgiving Dinner at my brothers. My little helper had just had her lunch and was getting ready for her nap. She had been helping my make the dessert in the morning, so the step stool that she had been standing on to supervise was still in its place waiting for her return. She came to see how I was progressing on dessert and decided while there to taste what mommy had made. When I saw her licking the beater's I wasn't worried - only contained butter, icing sugar, eggs and vanilla. It was as I was finishing the clean up, and I heard her start to cough a lot that I realized there was something going on. By the time I turned to look at her (2-3 minutes tops) she was starting to break out in hives and was starting to have problems breathing.
Needless to say the next few minutes are a bit of a blur - I ran to get the Benadryl to give her as she wasn't to the point where I needed to administer her Epi-pen. I tried to get her to take the Benadryl, which didn't work and then then the vomiting started. Okay - get it out of your system that is good was all I could think. Still once that was done you could tell she was still having problems breathing. So at this point I called my hubby, told him what was happening and that I was taking her to the hospital. I wasn't playing around with this.
As we were leaving she seemed better, though kept scratching at her neck because it was itchy and bugging her (hives). On the way to the hospital, the vomit started again (remember I am pregnant and in an enclosed space) and this one dwarfed the first, but she got everything out of her system that time. By the time we got to the hospital (which thankfully wasn't busy at all) she seemed a thousand times better. Still, we were there, might as well get her checked.
I am truly thankful that we have a leading class Children's Hospital in our town. Our doctor, the staff and most of the nurses at the hospital were great - though stumped by what had caused this. Considering she seemed back to normal by the time we got in and got checked out! I figured we were being labelled as overprotective parents until . . .well the one look the nurse gave me as I ate a Larabar while we waited, told the whole story.
You know when you meet someone who you can just tell doesn't like you, even if you have never met that person before. Well that was the sense I got from this nurse yesterday.
You have to remember, all this took place over the lunch hour, so guess who didn't get to eat - 28 weeks pregnant and not eating (not even thinking about the Gestational Diabetes aspect) just don't go together. To me the Larabar was a saviour at the bottom of my purse.
Thing is, there are no peanuts anywhere in our house and I am diligent about reading labels and making sure that the things she is eating are peanut and nut free (even though we have to troubles with other nuts). Yes I know that things happen and peanuts can get in even where they aren't supposed to but that wasn't the case yesterday. And no I wasn't eating a Larabar while making the dessert, which brings us back to the end of our visit to the ER. The doctor had cleared us to leave, was going to send a referral to the allergist we had seen a year ago when this all started, when she came back and closed the curtain, which I thought was weird but somehow knew what was coming.
Only at the end of our visit did she ask about the "granola bar" I was eating. I told her I don't keep the kind with peanuts in our house and this one contained almonds and cashews. I know those sneaky peanuts could be in there too, but the point is, I wasn't eating anything, ANYTHING, when all this went down. And while I ate this, did you notice it having an adverse affect on my child? NO! Also, I haven't had a Larabar in weeks and the last time was probably in the car while running errands. Once again, a closed in space and no ill affects then?
The doctor went on about Cross contamination and how we have to be extra careful, especially when dealing with an allergy like this one. I know she is just doing her job but after all this, it just made me angry!
First and foremost, if you are going to question my parenting - do it when we get there or when you see me eating the dreaded granola bar. At least give me the chance to defend myself instead of allowing me to feel that I have been judged and convicted without a proper trial! Okay that may be a little overdramatic but still, I already felt guilty enough about what had happened and was racking my brain to try to figure out what could have caused it without the additional judgement being place on me.
We may never know what caused yesterday's attack. What I will take from this is that we will continue to be diligent about what Sophie eats, we have too. I have also spent enough time worrying about what that doctor and nurse think I might have done or caused. I am the one who know's what was happening in our house, when it happened. For the love of my child and the fact that she is perfectly fine today - I am truly thankful!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)