Diabetes Sucks-and a bit of a Rant!

Well, the food is downright plech! I don't mind the vegetables, but I'm only supposed to be eating about 2 servings of fruit a day. And no milk and fruit at the same time (bye-bye smoothies). I'm also supposed to have a protein whenever I have milk, starch (which, for me, are my whole grain foods, as I'm not much of a potato or pasta eater), or fruit. Seriously, who wants to choke down a hard boiled egg or a serving of cottage cheese each time you want to have some fruit or some steel cut oats. I know there is a learning curve and with some time I will be able to get a little more creative, but so far this is booooooooor-ing!

Thank goodness for soy products, because I'm not much of a meat eater. And then on top of everything, I do believe that meat and dairy products are huge contributers to cancer. Just read some of Roger Mason's articles at http://www.youngagain.org. Click on "Article Library" for a full listing. He believes that the doctors who put you on insulin medications are quacks and that the only real way for anyone to "cure" their diabetes (provided they have a working pancreas) is to give up high fat (animal fats), high protein (animal proteins), high sugar diets, eliminating meat and dairy altogether and go back to a diet of predominantly whole grains and vegetables. Of course he also says you have to balance out your hormones, all of them, and get all the other nutrients and supplements that start to decrease as we age. I believe him. I think it's eating all that meat, dairy and sugar that gets you in trouble with type 2 diabetes in the first place. Oh, and excercise...it's essential in controlling blood sugar.

My own compromise is that I try to substitute soy meats for real meat, when I can. I try to buy organic meats that aren't treated with hormones and antibiotics, when I can. And I ALWAYS buy organic milk. Probably not good enough, but that's what I normally do.

Also, regarding Roger Mason: He has a unique perspective. He's not a dietician, nutritionist or medical doctor. His background is in chemistry. So when he tells you that "nightshade" vegetables (tomatos, potatos, peppers, eggplant, etc) are bad for you, it's not because they're not "nutritionally" good, it's because there are NEUROTOXINS in them. When he says Canola Oil is bad for you, it's because there's no such thing as a "canola" plant...it's RAPESEED oil, which was originally used industrially...It is toxic over 2% concentrations and in order to sell it for human consumption, it's processed in concentrations lower than 2%...but it's still toxic erucic acid!!! At any levels. Do YOU trust the FDA when they tell you something that is toxic is okay at specific low levels? I don't. Why is there so much alzheimers? Why is there so much Autism? Why is there so much cancer? I think it's an accumulation of all the environmental poisons, combined with all the "low level" poisons that we ingest on a daily basis. Check out some of his articles and then research what he says...make your own decisions, but be informed.

He also scrutinizes research literature. You will not find him listed on websites like http://www.quackwatch.com, but you will find some of the people that he exposes like Dr. Andrew Weil and Robert Atkins. As a matter of fact, he exposes a lot of people, practices and products that are absolutely bogus and have absolutely no legitimate research behind them.

Anyway, this gestational diabetes sucks and I keep reminding myself that it's for the good of these two babies. I would like to revamp my eating after this pregnancy and bump up the grains and vegies and start eliminating the meats and dairy, so that I don't get Type II diabetes later on.

Max Started Pre-school Today

Happy Day for Max! He's been going on and on about starting school. Somewhere he can play with "lots and lots of friends." When I brought him to his classroom, he was already playing before I had a chance to chat with the teachers for a moment. I never had any luck getting him poopy-potty trained, per the rules of the school, but they agreed to see how it goes with him. He was able to poop on command (in a diaper of course) before we left for school this morning. So for two days a week, 4 hour stints, I hope that suffices, for now.

Anyway, in true overly-hormonal-pregnant-mamma-drama, I burst into tears on my way back to the car. It's tough to leave him somewhere like that. As much as he's been driving me crazy lately, it's even more unthinkable to not have him with me.

On the other hand, I'm happy that he's having a really enriching experience. He is hungry for the interaction and he deserves to have his needs met. I've been snapping at him a lot lately, feeling spent and impatient because I'm in such an elevated state of physical stress with this pregnancy. My beautiful little boy doesn't deserve that at all. So even though I feel a little knot in my stomach with his absence, I'm really okay with it on a rational level.

So now I have a little time to just relax. And what's the first thing I do with it? Uninterupted vegging out time, on the computer with a little "spider solitaire." Ahh, the little luxuries of life!

Bellies and Toys

I'm right at the point where it's very, very difficult, if not impossible, to walk around without one of those "home depot" style back braces. Although the brace does little for my back, it does wonders to support this belly, if I position it it just right. It also has straps to help hold the belly up too. Anyway, if I'm going to do any serious standing in the house (like laundry or putting away dishes) I have to wear it. Now I wear it outside the hosue, as well, even though it's not subtle and can't be worn underneath my clothing. I do try to wear a denim jacket over it when it's not too warm out. But it's either that, or forgo the outings altogether, which I am not ready for.

Last night I took Max down to Toys R Us. I wanted to buy a couple of infant baby dolls, to start showing him how we might be treating these babies. We call them by their names; Brooklyn and Shelby. For some reason "his" baby is always Shelby and I get to tend to Brooklyn. Anyway, it was so cute to see him "interacting" with his babies. He loves feeding them, burping them and laying them down to sleep. Today I'm going to let him push them around in the double stroller for a bit.

We also picked up a Spiderman action figure. It seems that Spiderman is popular amongst other kids in his age range. I've been baffled by this, as the only Spiderman exposure there seems to be is completely inappropriate for his age. Yet all these other parents think nothing of it. No concern about the violence, the discourse and certainly not the lack of any educational element.
That being said, I figured he could play with the action figure without having to be exposed to the cartoon or the movie. No big deal.

Should I Be Worried?

Last night, before bed, I was talking to Max about the impending arrival of his two baby sisters. I explained to him that after a while, the doctor would take the babies out of mommy's belly and we would have them in the house with us. I told him that they would love him very much and he would have fun helping to take care of them and play with them.

Then he added, with a tone of earnest sincerity..."and I can step on them and make them cry?"

I just stared at him for a moment; shocked. Then explained that "no, we're not going to make the babies cry, we're going to love them and kiss them and give them bottles of milk to make them stop crying."

Should I be worried?

Lunch, Dinner & Snacks

So yesterday I ate salad with veggies, avocado and feta cheese for lunch. I also ate a hard boiled egg with mayo and wasabi. The days snacks were celery topped with salmon flavored cream cheese and wasabi and also peanut butter & celery. I also had a handful of almonds. For dinner I had cottage cheese and a hot dog with a slice of cheese.

Sometime during the day, my blood sugar was tested, thanks to my MIL, and it was 106. Good enough. BUT...let me add that I felt like crap the whole day. First of all, I'm sure I didn't meet my daily nutrient or caloric needs for a pregnancy. I also think that the LACK of sugars in my blood made me feel horrible and sleepy.

Today I have stuck to the low carb way as well, eating the soy chorizo and eggs for breakfast again, another handful of almonds and a piece of celery with salmon cream cheese and wasabi. I broke down and had a yogurt that had 17g of carbs in it because I am feeling weak. I ate 3/4 of it.

Tomorrow, I will stop this madness and eat much healthier, because I am having that 3 hour glucose test and will have that behind me. I won't go back to my diet of lots of sweets, but I will add back in the right kinds of carbs (ie. cereals, breads, brown rice, legumes). Then I will wait for the results of my test.

I woke up in the wee morning hours, last night, and watched a show called "You, the Owners manual..." It was a bit of a wake-up call to change my eating habits. Garbage in, garbage out. I want to be alive and healthy for a good long time to be with my children. That's not going to happen if I keep up my old habits. I went to Dr. Oz's website, http://www.realage.com and took the test to see what my body's real age is. It was just over 48 years old and I'm only 43. I really liked the site. It gave meal suggestions, recipes and shopping list...not to mention a whole lot of very good information.

I also reserved a few of his books at my local library. I want to be healthy again. I want to feel like I have energy again. I want to live long, without a list of medical complaints, threats or excuses.

Breakfast

2 eggs, scrambled with;
soy chorizo, topped with;
sour cream
and some steak

Carb factor...maybe 6 carbs
Satisfaction factor...0

Max wouldn't eat the waffle I made him and it's killing me to throw it away instead of just eating it, like I normally would (He wanted a "Lunchable" instead).

Not in the Clear, Like I Thought

So, today was not a great day at the OB office. A couple of weeks ago, they told me they would only call me if my blood glucose test came back too high. I hate that kind of an answer and I've learned my lesson about allowing that kind of responce. From now on, I'm going to make them call me one way or the other. BECAUSE, since they hadn't called me, I thought I was in the clear and passed it. INSTEAD, they had not even received the results from the lab and had to have the lab fax them over while I was there today.

I guess I was allowed to have a reading up to 140, with no worries. It turns out my blood sugar level was 209. So now I have to find time to sit around the lab for 3 hours while they retest me. And you have to sit RIGHT THERE. They don't let you wander away, in case you GET SICK...ugh! My doctor has advised me to stay away from sugar and eat a low carb diet. Something he has been advising me of from the beginning, but which I have ignored.

A typical day's diet might be something like this for me:

Upon waking:
Blueberry toast and tea...maybe a couple of slices

Actual breakfast:
cereal with milk or pancakes or blintzes or waffles and some fruit

Snacks:
carrots dipped in hummus
apple
ice cream
jelly beans
pita chips and tzaziki


lunch:
maybe a sandwich or some frozen food from trader joes...maybe cereal...cream of wheat with loads of butter and brown sugar...who knows

dinner:
a lot like lunch, maybe something healthier if Scott is home and I actually cook

drinks:
orangina
milk
sprite

My day also consists of eating things I make for Max, but which he later refuses or doesn't finish. Mostly I just graze throughout the day because I can't eat a whole meals worth at once. I can survive off of toast and cereal alone sometimes. Needless to say, I am a carb junkie.

So...we will see what happens when I retake this test on Thursday. I really don't want to have gestational diabetes. No one ever does. But I really, really, don't want to have to deal with this. Ugh!!!!

On a more positive note, my weight gain was only 2 1/2lbs. and that was all baby!!!

So Far, So Good

I had a perinatal apt. today and all was well. The babies are weighing in at around 30 weeks and I am 28 1/2 weeks along. The ultrasoundologist (I know that's not what they're called) said "you have really big babies, for having twins...normally they weigh in about a week BEHIND schedule."

I'm showing no signs of pre-term labor, so I am cleared for another 4 weeks, until I need to go back for further violations. So while all is well, I still feel like garbage. My whole midsection HURTS! There really isn't any position that I'm comfortable enough in to feel any kind of relief. Staying off my feet helps the most. I also have plans to try and start spending some time in a pool. That's one of the few things that makes the body feel weightless and will relieve the incredible pressure of gravity pulling on this massive belly.

Baby "A" is recessed further into my abdomen and on my left side. She is the bigger 3lb 8 oz. of the two. Baby "B" is on my right side and pushing against the surface. She weighs about 3lb 11 oz. I'm convinced that baby "B" is going to be a kickboxer someday. She kicks me and stretches out her legs all the time, leaving me with the feeling like she's going to break through the surface and find her own way out.

Max had his gymnastics class this morning. Later, this afternoon, I took him to Chuck E. Cheese for a couple of hours. He keeps busy dropping tokens into the various games and I read a book. I know it would be nicer if I was playing with him, but in the spirit of keeping off of my feet, I think he made out pretty well.