Bjay's
(Diabetic Mommy's)
Pregnancy and Birth Story
Part
4
Going
to the Hospital to Stablize Glucose Levels
For some
reason, when I heard the phrase "go into the hospital to
get your glucose levels under control," I envisioned being
forced to exercise by a tough nurse yielding a bull whip and being
put on a strict diet while suffering from agonizing hunger pangs.
Instead, the situation seemed to be that I was just staying there
- like a guest. The nurses gave me my insulin and wrote down my
levels. The doctor came around once in a while to see how I was
doing and adjust my insulin. I lay there in bed and watched TV
all day long while my food was brought to me. Nobody even suggested
I go for a walk down the hall. If I did get up, I was sometimes
told to lie back down.
My menu instructions
said "diabetes exchange diet" on it, but most of the time
I got the regular meal - complete with sugar packets, donuts, and
gigantic hand-sized cookies. It took a lot of will power to leave
the "bad" stuff on the tray, especially when they made
up a good portion of the meal. Most of the time I did not get snacks
because they forgot them and I had to make a stink about it because
my glucose levels were getting pretty low in between meals and it
was causing my glucose levels spike and be unstable.
When I was
in junior high, my sister once got hospitalized for a concussion.
She got to watch cable, had good food, and got lots of presents,
cards, and visitors. Ever since then I always thought the hospital
was a pretty cool place and I always wanted to go.
Well, here
I was, and aside from the unfriendly diabetic diet, I was in absolute
heaven. I could lounge around all day long, I got my own personal
TV set, I had my food served to me, and even my medicine administered.
People I hadn't seen in years came to visit. I even got a stream
of visitors from our church who doted on me. I never had to lift
a finger. It was great. The best part was that I wasn't even in
any pain or injured. I could wholly enjoy the experience. All that
was missing was a spa robe and my manicure set. I was having a good
old time - except that I wasn't seeing my glucose levels coming
down and stabilizing as fast as I wanted them to. I knew I had to
do something.
I started
squeaking and demanding some oil to shut me up. I complained to
everyone I possibly could. When I complained to the hospital diabetes
educator and dietician, they helped make better arrangements.
It got worked out that I could use vouchers to walk down to the
cafeteria and choose my own food. There were also arrangements
for me to go to the physical therapy department across the hospital
campus to ride on their ancient stationary bike for a few minutes
each morning. I even swam in their pool a couple times. The ironic
thing was that I couldn't benefit from the long walk to the PT
department. It was mandatory that I be pushed in a wheelchair
both there and back. Go figure.
These two
little changes (choosing my own food and exercising) made a huge
difference in my glucose levels. Initially I was told I would
have to stay in the hospital for two weeks. I was out in six days.
I now had
an insulin regimen. It was the following: 26 units of NPH in the
a.m. and p.m. with 32 units of regular with breakfast and 18 units
of regular with dinner. I felt this was an enormous amount of
insulin and I thought this would be the amount I had to take for
the rest of my pregnancy. If I only knew!
The placenta
is a large temporary organ. The good news is that it sends out
necessary hormones during pregnancy. The bad news is that these
hormones interfere with how efficiently your body can use insulin.
As the placenta gets bigger, it sends out more hormones, and you
need to get more insulin into your system. This would cause my
insulin needs to steadily increase.
I also had
a meal plan. I was generally following the diabetes exchange diet,
but because I was on the go a lot, I was paying the most attention
to my carb servings while trying to get a variety of good nutritious
foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while avoiding
foods with low nutritional value. I found I did best with one
carb serving at breakfast and snacks, and two carb servings at
lunch and dinner.
I started
to see an excellent endocrinologist, Dr. Mitchell Parker. He played
around with my insulin a little and helped me get into tight control.
He had diabetes himself and seemed to be an understanding man.
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Index:
Part
1 - We Decide to Have a Baby
Part 2 -
Meeting Dr. Wrong and Getting Pregnant
Part 3 -
Finally Finding the Right Team Members
Part 4 -
Going to the Hospital to Stabilize Glucose Levels
Part 5 -
Let the Appointments Begin
Part 6 -
Stomach Flu - Go Back 2 Spaces, Go Back to the Hospital
Part 7 -
More Frequent Fetal Surveillance Begins
Part 8 -
Go Back to the Hospital - To Have the Baby!
Part 9 -
The Baby Comes!
Part 10
- Since the Birth
|
Diabetes
and pregnancy, fertility issues, gestational diabetes, parenting, 
