I had a wonderfully uncomplicated first & second trimesters of pregnancy, so I feel a little bit like I’m “paying” for it with this lovely third trimester!
I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, much to my surprise, right around the start of the third trimester, after failing two glucose tolerance tests. I was absolutely not expecting this! I went into the first test feeling like it was a totally unnecessary test {just about every pregnant lady has to take it, depending on your doctor} because why on earth would I have diabetes? I definitely had a preconceived notion that gestational diabetes only happened to people who didn’t take care of their bodies, who didn’t know how to eat right, or that you at least had to have history of it in your family. Yeah, I was a little overweight before getting pregnant, but I wasn’t eating ice cream every night or anything! Oh, how wrong I was – and how damaging those notions can be.
I’m pretty sure almost every mama diagnosed with gestational diabetes {GD for short} goes through a bit of a mourning period, if it’s not an expected diagnosis. WHAT did I do wrong? Is it just because I’m fat and don’t eat enough vegetables? So much self-blame and bad feelings raced around my head. Totally normal feelings, but totally misplaced and ultimately hurtful to myself. If you’re recently diagnosed, tell those thoughts to SHUT IT. They’re wrong and dumb and you’re fine.