After beating myself up at my first failure as a mummy I slowly realised nothing I had done had caused it. It's a hormonal problem in pregnancy, yes there are factors that can make it worse and behaviours or habits which mean you are more at risk, but the reality is it is a common complaint affecting 1 in 10 pregnant women.
So after having a rage or two (sorry Mum) and crying more than is normal, even for a pregnant woman (damn you hormones!), I decided that I had to accept the issue and get on with it. Own it if you like. After all, I have to deal with this for the next 3 months and I want myself and my baby to be as healthy as possible to get through the birth and beyond.
Pity party well and truly over my first stop was the diabetes clinic at the local hospital to meet with a diabetes educator. What a lovely lady! She talked me through gestational diabetes, or GD as us cool kids call it, and showed me how to monitor my blood levels.
Next stop is another clinic on Friday to meet with doctors and dietitians to find out more information and get me totally on track with what I need to do and eat. In the mean time I have been reading about GD online, some of what I have read about is scary, short term I may have to have a C section or be induced early if the Bean gets too big, long term, I'm at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes in the next ten years. What bothers me more is, if I don't get it under control, the Bean could be a humongous baby and this could carry through to them being heavier all their lives and be at risk of type 2 diabetes. Not gonna happen, not on my watch.
I'm not letting myself get too carried away with all of this information as these are worse case scenarios and not from my doctors, and I'm sure if I can keep things under control everything will be fine. So far my blood sugar levels have been within the right ranges and I will have weekly check ups at the hospital or with the Diabetes educator to help keep things going the way they should.
I might be missing out on Easter treats this year, but I know where my priorities lie and they are not with the Easter Bunny. The good news is once the Bean is born I should be able to enjoy the odd treat again, providing my blood levels are back to normal. Watch out chocolate bunny!