The Roller Coaster of Getting Diagnosed with Gestational and Type 2 Diabetes.

Age 36 I was pregnant with my last child. I got my gestational diabetes test just like all ladies do. I saw my doctor every 3 weeks then every 2 weeks as we got closer then down to every week the last 6 weeks. Given that my last child was 3 weeks early the doctor wanted to keep his eye on me.

I went in for a weekly visit and the nurse said you have gained 10 pounds in a week! I said you have got to be kidding?!?! She asked me if I had gestational diabetes and I said No! I told her I had my test done at 28 weeks but no one called so I was thinking I must be in the clear. The nurse said, "oh I am sure you don't have it we only call if your test comes back positive." She started looking through my chart and got this look of despair on her face. I said is everything OK? She said "yes, I am just trying to find your results, I will be right back." Five min later she came back in she said, "I am sorry, Mrs Knapp we can't find your gestational diabetes test." She said no worries I called the lab and they will be calling me back in just a few minutes.

I had gestational diabetes and didn't know it

I sat and read a magazine just relaxing without my other children around. I felt at peace yet I felt like what if I have gestational diabetes and I did not know it this entire time. Then thoughts raced through my mind like, no wonder I put on 10 pounds in a week. Is my baby going to be OK? Am I going to be OK?

Then the door flew open and the nurse said with a flushed face, "I am sorry, Mrs. Knapp but I have to tell you that you do indeed have gestational diabetes." She started tearing up, nervous about how I was going to react. I said don't cry I will be OK. I felt calm yet I knew this can't be all that good. The nurse told me how sorry she was that somehow she did not catch that I was positive. She said over and over again I am so sorry. I know how bad she felt. I felt she was being sincere yet in the pit of my stomach, I kept thinking oh this can't be good for the baby or I.

The doctor finally came in and said "oh my, I see that your gestational diabetes test results got lost and that you just found out." He also apologized. He said, everything will be just fine. He said, "you still have 4 weeks of pregnancy and with diet change and exercise I should be able to keep my weight the same the rest of the pregnancy. I thought Oh great. He handed me a bunch of booklets and said take these home and read these. Lower your carbohydrates like it talks about. Start walking 30 to 40 minute a day and we will see you back in a week. Well, that next week never came. That very same Sunday I gave birth to just under 10 pound baby boy who was over 3 weeks early. I did not even have a chance to work on my eating and my son was so big he looked like he was 2 months old.

A type 2 diabetes diagnosis

What a bummer to have gestational diabetes 10 weeks and not even know it. That still bothers me some to this day. I went back for my postpartum visits and the doctor shared with me that I have a 20% higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes but he reassured me that he would test me and make sure I don't have it. I got one test at 6 weeks after and I was grateful to hear you don't have type 2 diabetes. Again I was tested at 12 weeks and told I was in the clear and that I did not have type 2 diabetes. I left that day and never looked back. Unfortunately I was feeling horrible after my baby especially from month 6 and on. I was exhausted, could not drop a pound, was very thirsty, felt unfocused with very little energy. Now I had a great reason I had all of these symptoms. I was nursing so that is why I was thirsty. I was exhausted from being up with my baby at night. I was unfocused due to lack of sleep. I could not drop a pound because I was too fatigued to focus on my eating and did not have enough energy to exercise. Well, my dear husband said those are also a lot of symptoms of diabetes. Are you sure you should not go in and be checked.

I blew if off until I could not anymore I had to go in and see the doctor to see if I had something really wrong. I made an appointment by now I was close to the year mark since I had my sweet baby. My doctor really felt like my symptoms may just be type 2 diabetes. He sends me home with a monitor and sure enough my glucose numbers were testing very high. I was frightened. I began to get questions in my mind just like I did when sitting waiting for the doctor on that dreadful visit I had before I found out I had gestational diabetes. I went in for my visit after having the monitor for a few weeks and my doctor also had my lab work back and he said, "Mrs. Knapp, you have type 2 diabetes." I could not believe what I was hearing but down deep inside because I saw high numbers while testing those 2 weeks I knew I had it.

Finding the right management plan

Twelve years later and now having my diabetes in control through eating right and exercising feels good. I may have diabetes but I will never let it have me. I always work hard to keep things in check. Working out 5 days a week is really hard but also really worth it because it helps lower those numbers. Eating low carbohydrate food is not all that fun and sometimes I wish I could eat whatever I wanted but I eat low carbohydrates because they help keep my blood sugars in where they should be and keep me feeling better living life with more energy.