no more sugar!

Ok, now that I've had four days for it to sink in... I'll share the "bad" news. I have gestational diabetes. I've gone from "not fair!" to "waah" to "ok, let's deal" to "waah" again to "it's gonna be ok." LOL - if you didn't follow all that, bottom line is, while I still feel sort of clueless about it all, it's gonna be ok. :) God's hand is in everything, including this step of the pregnancy. I need to learn to eat better anyways :)
My numbers weren't overwhelmingly high, but high enough to warrant being sent to a diabetes class and monitoring my glucose levels daily. I go to the class on Thursday, so hopefully that will clear up a lot of my cluelessness. I've looked online a bunch and spoken with some friends that have battled gestational diabetes and some that have type 2 diabetes in their families. Since today was grocery shopping day (double-couponed it at Harris Teeter to save over $50, wooho!), I was able to look around for whole wheat, low-carb, no-sugar, etc. products. There really is more out there than I expected. And, unfortunately, what I did expect, some of it was more expensive. Anyways, I don't feel "expert" enough to discuss specifics of what gest. diabetes means yet, but here are some links to sites that I have been perusing. Please ADD SITES in the comments if you know of any good resources and I'll edit them in. Maybe someone (plus myself!) can benefit from the info.

Mayo Clinic's Overview of Gestational Diabetes
Gestational Diabetes Sample Menu
Fast Food Carb Counts
Diabetic Recipes

I do have to say, after looking at the list of "risk factors," it seems like my getting it is almost a no-brainer. I fit in 3 of the 6 categories. I hesitate to put them out here for fear of needlessly worrying some of you, especially if you have delivered a stillborn yourself, but I found it interesting:

These factors increase your risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy:

• Being overweight prior to becoming pregnant (if you are 20% or more over your ideal body weight)
• Family history of diabetes (if your parents or siblings have diabetes)
• Being over age 25 (check mark this one)
  
• Previously giving birth to a baby over 9 pounds (my daughter was 8lb 12oz/close)
  
• Previously giving birth to a stillborn baby (unfortunately, yes)
  
• Having gestational diabetes with a previous pregnancy
  

(as listed by the Cleveland Clinic)

I think in my "not fair!" period of emotion, the statistic from the American Diabetes Assoc. that "Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes in the United States each year" seemed to stand out. Kind of like when I heard these stats: Only "1 in 160 births are stillbirths" (March of Dimes). And now I am also one of the "only" 4% of all pregnant women get gestational diabetes. Numbers mean nothing to me anymore. :) Sad, but true.
I'll have to post more after my diabetes class on Thursday. It'll be then that I get to learn about pricking my finger for glucose readings and all that good stuff. Til then... (remember, if you have any words of wisdom or resources to share, please comment below!)