{"id":32528,"date":"2013-04-23T08:50:31","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T12:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?post_type=feature&p=32528"},"modified":"2016-01-09T05:00:56","modified_gmt":"2016-01-09T10:00:56","slug":"diabetes-and-delivery-a-story-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32528","title":{"rendered":"Diabetes and Delivery: A Story of Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pregnancy and diabetes are each difficult on their own. Put them together and you have two full time jobs. If you haven’t been following, I’ve been writing about my pregnancy with diabetes for ASweetLife (see here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>), and now, after a long nine months, I can tell you not only about diabetes and pregnancy, but also about diabetes and delivery.<\/p>\n

During my final month of pregnancy, I was chronically sweating. I passed the time gulping cold water, opening windows, and using my hand as a fan. Never mind it was winter. In my 40th<\/sup> week, I had brunch at a restaurant and asked the waiter to turn down the heat. He smiled and told me the heat wasn\u2019t on.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how I knew: The Girl was coming.<\/p>\n

A day later \u2013 two days before my due date \u2013 I was in labor. By the middle of the night, my contractions had progressed to five minutes apart. It was time to go to the hospital. But my husband Gary and I couldn\u2019t leave yet. First, I needed to review my checklist of things I’d need for diabetes and delivery. The list had been sitting on top of my packed suitcase for two weeks.<\/p>\n

In the margin I had written:<\/p>\n

DIABETES AND DELIVERY REMINDERS<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

CHANGE PUMP SITE BEFORE GOING TO HOSPITAL!!!!!!!! INSERT ON RIGHT HIP!!!!!!!!<\/p>\n

DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE ALL DIABETES SUPPLIES + TAKE INSULIN FROM FRIDGE!!!!!!!!<\/p>\n

All I could see were messy capital letters and an inappropriate amount of exclamation points.<\/p>\n

I thought to myself, CRAP. I have to change my site. Now?<\/em><\/p>\n

When I had made that checklist, I\u2019d predicted my hospital stay would likely last three days \u2013 the duration of one pump site change, which meant I could change my site right before going to the hospital, and then again when I returned home. All of this calculating was done in order to avoid having to change my site in the hospital, which really shouldn\u2019t have been something to fear. I\u2019d also figured that inserting my site on my right hip would be the most logical spot for labor. (That is how crazy\/unprepared I was.)\u00a0 <\/em>And speaking of being unprepared, I had no idea how painful labor contractions would be. \u00a0But there I was \u2013 in labor \u2013 and wishing I could think about nothing but my baby.\u00a0 Changing my site was the last thing I wanted to do. But you know diabetes. It always takes center stage. Somehow, in between contractions, I managed to change my site.<\/p>\n

Gary and I made our way to the hospital. Unfortunately, my doctor wasn\u2019t on call that night. The physicians and nurses on call didn\u2019t know me or my labor plans. Not that I had big plans. I only had plans for my diabetes:<\/p>\n

Insulin pump stays on.
\nNo sugar in the IV.
\nThat was it.<\/p>\n

But the staff wanted to follow protocol. They wanted to put sugar in the drip. And they were urging me to disconnect my pump and let the nurses take over.<\/p>\n

I thought, Hell no. I just changed my site! <\/em><\/p>\n

I adamantly said \u201cNo, thank you.\u201d This was before the epidural, so there may have been some grimacing.<\/p>\n

They called my regular OBGYN to make sure it was okay for me to manage my own insulin during labor. I felt like a child. Couldn\u2019t they trust me to care for myself. \u00a0\u201cDiabetic\u201d doesn\u2019t mean incompetent.<\/p>\n

My doctor gave them the okay.<\/p>\n

Labor was a whirlwind. I was excited, nervous, and still sweating. And in the middle of everything, I was still managing my diabetes. Gary was an amazing coach and helped lighten the load. He brought my meter over every 45 minutes so I could test my blood sugar. He inserted the test strip and charged the lancing device. He did everything short of prick his own finger. My blood sugars hovered between 90 and 120 the entire time.<\/p>\n

As strange as it sounds, managing my diabetes during labor didn\u2019t annoy me. Like any first-time-mom, I was anxious about meeting a new little person! My old pal diabetes felt familiar. Every normal blood sugar made me feel like I had control over the situation.<\/p>\n

After several hours of waiting to fully dilate, the doctor came in to examine me. She told me that I was 10 centimeters. It was time to push.<\/p>\n

I nodded and said hold on.<\/p>\n

Gary was already walking over with my meter and a juice box. \u00a0The juice box. \u00a0The telltale sign that the woman giving birth has diabetes.<\/p>\n

An hour and twenty minutes later, out came The Girl. But she was no longer The Girl. She was a real person.<\/p>\n

The nurse whisked her away to the table to clean her up. I tried to see what they were doing. I kept rambling, \u201cIs she okay? Is she okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Why wouldn\u2019t she be okay?\u00a0 But diabetes makes you ask those questions.\u00a0 What if my efforts to keep my blood glucose levels in check hadn\u2019t been enough?<\/p>\n

I watched Gary hover over our baby girl. He looked at me and gave me a thumbs-up. He said, \u201cShe\u2019s so cute, Jen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Diabetes<\/a>The nurse carried her over all bundled up. She weighed a healthy 7 pounds. Holding her in my arms for the first time was the happiest moment of my life. I don\u2019t care if that sounds clich\u00e9!<\/p>\n

As I reflect now on my 40 weeks of diabetes and pregnancy, all I can say is: what a long haul.\u00a0 I had debilitating nausea. Fatigue. Aches and pains. Anemia. Blood sugar swings.\u00a0 Then came Hurricane Sandy. A car accident. Excessive sweating. My little baby endured all that before even entering the world. \u00a0She\u2019s a fighter and a survivor.<\/p>\n

My daughter\u2019s name is Maya. The M in Maya is for my late grandmother, Grandma Miriam. Grandma Miriam was a Holocaust survivor and the original tough cookie. I thought it fitting that Maya\u2019s name came from her.<\/p>\n

The nurse checked Maya\u2019s blood sugar. (Babies born to mothers with diabetes sometimes have low blood sugar at birth. That means a trip to the NICU.) Thankfully, Maya\u2019s blood sugar was fine. She could stay with me. However, the nurses periodically pricked her heel for the next 24 hours. Just in case.<\/p>\n

I felt angry at my diabetes for getting in the way. Now it was affecting Maya! I thought, Leave her outta this!\u00a0 <\/em>Maya\u2019s blood sugars remained normal through her first 24 hours. They stopped pricking her.<\/p>\n

Usually, I am my own biggest critic. I allow diabetes to make me feel like I\u2019m not doing enough.<\/p>\n

But not when Maya was born.<\/p>\n

I beat the monster that lives in my body and brought a healthy little miracle into the world. I did <\/em>do enough!\u00a0 For that I feel both proud and blessed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The staff wanted to follow protocol. They wanted to put sugar in the drip. And they were urging me to disconnect my pump and let the nurses take over. I thought, Hell no. I just changed my site! 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