Bolg#4 DST final "Fight against Gestational Diabetes"

In 2011, I received the most precious gift in my life. Yes! I was pregnant and had my first baby in the fourth year after I married.

When I told my husband this good news last April, he was extremely happy and immediately shared it with our parents. Of course, the whole family became excited and very nervous about my daily life. My mom suggested that I have food with adequate nutrition instead of fast food and avoid alcohol. My mother-in law asked me to go to bed early and get plenty of rest. They were a little verbose, but both my husband and I were glad to accept their suggestions without any complains. From then on, I was avoided from housework and exercise. In addition, I started to have organic food; and my appetite was so good that I usually had two big bowls of rice a meal with a variety of vegetables and fruits. At the end of my sixth-month pregnancy, my weight increased 15 lbs and my baby grew very well in my womb.

Soon, it was time for the glucose challenge test in the 28^th week. Unfortunately, my blood glucose level was much higher than standard value, so I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. What a terrible thing!! My family was shocked by this and wondered how to deal with this problem, especially after we understood that there were many bad effects on an infant if mom couldn’t control high blood glucose level, like large size and newborn death. “What should I do for my baby?” Doctors with whom my parents consulted in China said “Inject insulin”; instead, my OB suggested that I change my recipe and living habits. I didn’t want to use any drug so I followed instructions from my OB. At first, my blood sugar needed to be monitored four times a day. Then I strictly followed a low-carbohydrate diet, which meant a very limited amount of white rice and high-glucose fruits like apple. Unsurprisingly, I failed several times in the first week of controlling diet, but I found some tricks to control blood sugar, like eating grapefruit. To further decrease my blood sugar, I began one-hour exercise after each meal. Even in winter, I would run slowly half an hour and climbed stairs half an hour with heavy coat outside my apartment after each meal. During the last three-month pregnancy, I gradually got used to this style of life, which was completely contrary to the Chinese tradition; moreover, I thought this kind of life was much healthier. For example, although my belly became bigger and bigger, I didn’t feel any related discomfort, like back pain, body edema. Another benefit was that my weight stopped increasing and I didn’t need to lose weight after delivery. As a result, I successfully controlled my blood sugar in normal range without insulin; meanwhile my baby was in normal size and his organs developed very well.

Because I was a high-risk pregnant woman and an unexpected bleeding occurred one week before my due date, my OB decided to induce me in advance. After 20 hours striving, my cute baby, weighting 6 pounds 8 ounces, announced his coming to the world. My husband and I were extremely happy for his health. In the ward, my husband firmly held him with a smile. Looking at the two most important men in my life, everything I did before was worth it.

(Picture above is from babymed.com)