About a week and a half ago I went to the doctor's to take a glucose tolerance test. I failed and had to go back a couple of days ago to take a longer (3 hour) glucose test. Turns out I have gestational diabetes. Here's a quick summary of what that means, for those who want to know.
When you eat, the sugar that's in the food eventually goes into your blood stream. When the body recognizes this it releases insulin. Insulin is what initiates/promotes cells to take up the sugar (or glucose). During late pregnancy the mother's body becomes more resistant to insulin so the baby gets more glucose. The baby's growth curve becomes more steep during the third trimester and the increased glucose helps establish that curve. Normally the mother's pancreas secretes more insulin so she still has normal blood levels of glucose. Sometimes (like me) the pancreas doesn't.
Both Andrew and I (he's so supportive) have started a diabetic diet and go for a 30 minute walk everyday. We're meeting with a dietitian this Tuesday and we'll go from there. Hopefully everything will be alright.
