BellyWatch2 | 30 weeks

Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes in the United States each year. Well, last week we found case #135,001. Yep, V was unfortunately diagnosed with the condition, and much to her dismay we've since been doing what we can to adjust her diet to compensate for her sugar imbalance. In all, I guess her case is not that severe since they didn't put her on insulin, and she seems to be maintaining her weight just fine. But we are signed up for a class this Thursday (the start of week 32) that should detail what we need to be doing from here on out. She also hasn't gained a single pound since our blog entry about her weight gain this pregnancy and that was over a month ago (actually, I think she has lost a pound or two since then) so chances are, she'll be able to regulate her sugar levels just fine with a few significant changes to her diet (whole wheat bread, Crystal Light, and sugar-free ice cream... hooray).







As for what gestational diabetes is, here's a short summary I came across on the web: The placenta supports the baby as it grows. Hormones from the placenta help the baby develop. But these hormones also block the action of the mother's insulin in her body. This problem is called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance makes it hard for the mother's body to use insulin (which functions to maintain sugar levels). Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels and can lead to an overweight baby. So now the pregnancy has to be monitored so that we don't give birth to a toddler. So the good news is, we get a "free" ultrasound soon to check the baby's status (yeaaaa! we've been sooo ultrasound deprived this time around... one measely picture in 30 weeks). But overall, I'll close by saying that V is still doing well. A little frustrated by the adversities of this pregnancy (heartburn, nausea, constipation, and now gestational diabetes) but hanging in there.

In other news, we attended a Family Life marriage conference here in Hampton Roads this past weekend. V had been wanting to go for about 3 years now and I finally ran out of excuses to miss it, so we went this year. In short, it was excellent. We had a great time, learned a lot, and endured our longest Justin-less span of time since his birth (we dropped him off on Friday and picked him up on Sunday morning). I got the look of death when V asked me on Saturday, "Do you miss him?" and I said "Miss who?" [d'oh!]... but by Sunday I had to admit to feeling the separation (of course she started feeling the separation about 3 hours before we dropped him off)... And by Sunday afternoon, our quartet was reunited and all was right with the world again. Good weekend for everyone.