I have GD? It can't be!

When I was pregnant with my first child, I had never even heard of gestational diabetes. When it was time for the glucose test, my doctor told me it was just a routine test and not to worry too much. She didn't think it was likely that I had gestational diabetes because I had no risk factors for it. I was young, not overweight (in fact I've always been slighlty underweight), and I had no family history of diabetes. So I went to the lab and drank the disgustingly sweet orange drink and had my blood drawn. I left the lab thinking that would be the end of it. Then I got a call a few days later that my glucose levels were on the high side, so I was sent back to the lab for the 3-hour test. I remember feeling annoyed to have to waste an entire morning in the lab drinking more gross orange drink and having my blood drawn every hour. I was sure it had to be a mistake and that this time my results would come back just fine. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I got another call, this time from the diabetes clinic at the hospital telling me I had to come in to meet with a dietician and a nurse for diabetes education. Apparently I failed the 3-hour glucose test which meant I had gestational diabetes. I was shocked and scared. I didn't know anything about diabetes except that there were a lot of needles involved and that didn't sound like fun. I wallowed in self-pity for a while, but after I begrudgingly went to the diabetes education and learned how to test my blood sugar and count carbs, it didn't seem quite so scary. In fact, I found it fascinating to see how eating different foods would affect my blood sugar levels, and how much just taking a short walk around the block could help keep it under control. Pretty soon it became part of my daily routine and not as big of a deal as I had first thought it was. I was able to keep my blood sugar under control with diet and exercise, without needing insulin. My baby was born at 7lbs at 38 weeks and had no issues. The next time around was very similar. I was hoping that maybe the first time was a fluke and that I may not end up being diabetic with my 2nd, but the gestational diabetes returned. Again, the baby had no problems. He was a little bigger than the first, weighing 8lbs 7oz, but only because he was born 3 weeks later. I'm hoping this time everything will go as smoothly as it has in the past, but every pregnancy is different so only time will tell. I'll be trying to blog regularly here so you can follow along with me and see how I'm doing.