Counting Carbohydrates

I am an insulin dependent diabetic (which I'm sure you're saying..of course we know that if you've been a reader of my blog for any period of time).  I can eat whatever I want (probably shouldn't but do..), I just have to count my carbohydrates and give insulin accordingly.  I do not have to count sugars, calories or anything else of the sort.  As a pregnant diabetic, I have cracked down on knowing the exact amount of carbohydrates (which I should have been doing the entire time...) and have discovered that most restaurant's websites have it on there.  My favorites allow you to add in everything you are eating to make a full meal of all nutrition facts (aka, I don't have to add on my own).  Be prepared to be shocked if you do this though..some of the food you eat has an insane amount of carbohydrates..

Chick-fil-a has the meal calculator

Panera has the nutrition calculator 

McAlister's has the nutrition calculator

I am sure there are many other restaurants that have these as well, but these are the ones I have come across.

A lot of recipe websites such as AllRecipes have the nutrition facts on the bottom of the recipe page or have another location to calculate them.

Being a Pregnant Diabetic

I am an insulin dependent Diabetic.  Which means that my pancreas is basically worthless in terms of providing my body with insulin to counteract what I eat.  This happened around the time of my 13th birthday.  You can read more about my story here.
I always knew my pregnancy would be different from the norm, but was unsure of what exactly that means.  I have found out in the past few months.
1. Doctors..lots of doctors.  I have 3 that I see regularly:  my OB (once a month), my diabetes doctor (every 2-3 weeks) and a perinatal doctor (or a high risk OB).  I also send my blood sugars, food and insulin logs to my diabetes doctor every week.
2. Checking my blood sugar A LOT.  I check at least 9 times a day (before meals, an hour after, and before snacks..not to mention any time I feel that my blood sugar is "off")
3. A meal plan:  I have to have 3 meals a day with specific amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fat as well as three snacks between those meals.  Y'all, I am eating A LOT!  I also cannot have specific foods and specific times for the way that they affect my blood sugar (ex: no cereal and milk and breakfast)
4. For the first few months I also had additional stress.  I am a "high risk" pregnancy due to my diabetes.  I stressed myself out worrying about how baby was all the time.  After some advice from my doctor and an amazing HGA1C (blood glucose average over a 3month period of time), I am relaxing a bit. : )
5.  Ultra sounds: Now don't be jealous because we still have to pay for them, but I do get more ultra sounds than the average expectant mama just to make sure Baby is okay! Everything has been great so far! I love seeing Baby more often.  Score one for me!
6. No pregnancy glucose test:  Since I am a type 1 diabetic, I will not have gestational diabetes : )  Which means that I don't have to have the icky glucose testing.  Score 2 for me!
7. Running with the pump: Prior to September, my insulin pump has stayed at the house when I run.  That is no longer an acceptable practice,  it is now worn on me via a Spi-belt.
8.  Wearing a sensor all the time:  I was so lucky to get a blood sugar sensor that talks to my pump this fall and what great timing too! I now wear it all the time as well as my pump to keep a closer eye on my blood sugars.  I am having low blood sugars that I do not always feel and luckily it sets off an alarm, so that I know to treat them.

I am sure there will be so much more that I learn as we go along.  I am so thankful for the blessing of Baby growing safely in my stomach and all of the doctors who are making sure Baby is safe!

In Sunday school this past Sunday, our teacher brought up a few verses that really spoke to my heart The first reminded me of the blessing and responsibility God trusted me with in giving diabetes. 

John 9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."

The second reminded me of the care and love that God puts into creating each tiny human.
Psalm 139:13-14 For You formed my inward parts.  You wove me in my mother's womb.  I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.

Insulin Pump

When I had just turned 18, my doctors, parents and I decided that an insulin pump would be the best way to manage my diabetes.  The insulin pump allows me to give myself insulin without having to give shots.  I change the site every 3-4ish days and tell the pump how much insulin to give according to my blood sugars and the amount of food I have eaten.  After receiving the pump in the mail however, I freaked out about it (I mean really who wants to be connected to something all the time) and asked my parents to send it back.  After talking through it a bit more, we decided that I should at least be trained on it before making that decision. 
Well 9+ years later, I am still LOVING my Medtronic Insulin Pump. On my last pump upgrade, I got a blood sugar meter that "talks" to my pump so that once the blood sugar appeared, I could put in the food I was eating and it would suggest an amount of insulin for me to give. 
I just got a new one that has even more features and although I am sure most of you will not care, I am excited, so I'm sharing.
The best feature of my new pump is that I now have a CGMS: Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (aka tests my blood sugar all the time).  
My pump is on my left side (you can see the cord coming from it) and my CGMS is on my right side.  Both "sites" are changed out weekly or a few times a week by me. 

My CGMS checks my blood sugar in increments throughout the day and wirelessly tells my pump.  My pump sets off alarms if my blood sugar is too high or too low and then keeps a graph of the day so that I can see my blood sugar patterns. (This is my pump)

It also came with a USB that connects to their website.  It will wirelessly upload the information from my pump (blood sugars, insulin given and food eaten) and I can share this information with my doctor.  It is amazing!

Diabetes Drama

For the most part, I do not complain about my diabetes (Cody, mom and dad you may disagree..), but I can think of 3 specific occasions right now where it has been a big nuisance.

1. During Spring Break of my 8th grade year, my family went on a ski trip to Crested Butte. On our way home I can't remember exactly what happened, but supper time came up and we were in a tiny airport that had no options of food but vending machines. At this point I was taking 2 shots a day and I had to eat certain amounts at certain times. Well I ended up having to eat my carbohydrates from a vending machine and I just really didn't want to. This + a low blood sugar (remember low blood sugars have a big impact on my moods) resulted in a "fit" in the airport which included the words, "its just not fair." Oh I shudder at the thought...I am now publicly apologizing to my mom, dad and brother. : )

2. I was on drill team in high school. I loved drill team. I worked really hard to be the best dancer I could be. Each year we went to drill team camp for a week to learn all of our football halftime routines. At the end of camp, we performed a "show-off" for our parents. Physical activity makes your blood sugar drop faster than it normally would on its own. As we walked in for our show-offs my junior year, I realized that my blood sugar was dropping. We went through the first dance and then I started crying (low blood sugar = extreme moods for SB), told my director that my blood sugar was low. She had the entire drill team sit down while I ate fruit snacks and to bring my blood sugar back up. I am very glad that she was kind enough to want to wait to include me, but oh my goodness, I could've died. I was so embarrassed.

3. Today was our convocation. We had been given instruction to make sure that we were on time and to account for all of the traffic as our district was large. My kinder team made arrangements to ride together and we got there so early. As we got out of the car, I realized that my pump had fallen out of my stomach. We were going to be up there all day and there was no way that I could go without my pump for that long. I was 25 minutes from my house and had ridden with other people and did not have my car. One of my sweet teammates had to drive me all the way back home (which was trafficy b/c we were headed towards town) and then back to the convocation. Thank goodness for sweet friends.

Now for the positives so that I don't leave you with a wah-wah-wah feeling
*If I was running late for class in high school, I may or may not have run to the nurse's office to check my blood sugar so that I could get a pass to class.
*I got to eat snacks in class regardless of whether or not we were supposed to..or I actually needed them..I mean, I'm diabetic
*I had the best pediatric doctor and nurses. I LOVED going to see them!
* My favorite excuse to get out of doing something usually includes the words "but I mean I am diabetic..."

Be looking for info soon on a possible team for the Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes in H-town again this year. Go Team Sage!