[Stormieweather]

Diabetes runs in my (birth) family. My grandfather lost a leg from it and my mother has to take insulin shots 6 times a day.

During my first pregnancy (long before I had located my birth family), I developed gestational diabetes. My Dr. told me that about 50% of the pregnant women who have gestational diabetes develop it later on in life and to watch myself. My second pregnancy, the gestational diabetes was worse but I was still able to control it with diet and exercise. I went to a lab once a week to have my fasting sugar checked. However, during my last pregnancy (gave birth 13 months ago), the diabetes was so severe that I had to check my own glucose 4 times a day and self inject insulin once a day before dinner. In an effort to keep the level of insulin I had to inject down as well as the number of injections I had to give myself every day, I really clamped down on my diet. Very few carbs (and whole grains when I did eat them), lots of veggies, protein and water, and I looked at the sugar/carb content of every single thing I put in my mouth (sodium as well, since I had toxemia). The diabetes clinician wanted my morning sugar to be under 110, but that was a real struggle. The good news is that I only gained 30 lbs with this last pregnancy, whereas the weight gain for both prior ones was over 70 lbs each.

Obviously, my body is becoming less and less able to process glucose. I am keeping a close eye on the symptoms and have begun to notice a few worrisome ones, such as numbness in the tips of my toes and excessive thirst. However, whenever I check my glucose, it is within normal levels (less than 130 at any given time). I guess I'll just keep on keeping on...for now.

Stormie