By the skin of my teeth

The midwife's number came up on the phone about ten minutes ago, and I thought ... well, here we go. It's positive.

And she said "Thought you'd like to know I'm calling with good news!"

It came in like I'd hoped it would: I passed.

BUT I'm also not surprised to find out, given how I'm feeling, that I'm on the high side of the range. The test came after a week with a strict no-refined-sugar diet. Nothing. Zip, zilch, nada, not even dark chocolate which I would guess is the thing that has the least sugar of the things I think of as treats. (Way less than cheesecake brownies!)

I even cut down on the bread I ate, because most gluten free breads have empty starch flours instead of whole grains.

So: I don't have GD.

But damn, am I ever flirting with it. It's a very close thing; I am certain that if I hadn't been as careful as I was, I would have edged over the line.

So what does this mean? Honestly it's kind of the same result (diet-wise) either way. I mean, if I want to feel my best and I want the baby to be at its healthiest, I need to eat a lot less sugar so that my poor pancreas can keep up.

(Interestingly enough, since I have been reading about this, the biggest difference between GD and regular diabetes is that this is NOT that my pancreas can't produce insulin. It's that the placenta produces SO MANY hormones, and those hormones dampen the EFFECT of the insulin that I DO produce. And while in many (most!) women the pancreas can just keep up, in some women the pancreas can't, if there's just too much sugar. And it looks as though my pancreas is just fine when I eat well; but if I overload it, it can't take it. This is why people are at higher risk of Type 2 diabetes (the pancreas can't adapt as well as it should) but why GD does tend to go away post-partum (no more hormones decreasing the insulin I produce.))

But diet is the answer. Not insulin shots, nor do I need to keep being tested for glucose in my blood if I can keep it up.

So I guess it's all good. I wish I had passed with much lower results, of course. I wish I had license to indulge my every craving and whim for food. But honestly, that's not that good for you, GD or no GD, so ... it is what it is.

Whew.

Now I'm off to find something very nutritious to eat.