My experience with Gestational Diabetes

So as you can tell by the post title, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes this pregnancy. Although it didn't come as a huge shock to me, thanks to PCOS and family history, I still took the news REALLY hard. I was diagnosed right around 29 weeks and it took me several weeks to come to terms with it. I had a lot of self guilt, like if I would've done something differently I could've changed the outcome. The one hour glucose test wasn't that bad, people blow that shit way out of proportion. However, the 3 hour test wasn't the most fun I've ever had. Although the 100g sugar drink was nasty, the worst part was having to sit there hour after hour after hour with an empty stomach; but I somehow survived. The day of my 3 hour test, before I even got home, the nurse called and told me I failed. The next week I went in and met with a nutritionist and learned how to use my meter, which wasn't foreign to me as I previously mentioned, family history with diabetes. I had about two weeks that I felt like I had pretty good control over my numbers with diet alone. However, my Doctor is VERY strict and wanted my fasting levels below 95 and mine ranged from 92-102 so he said I needed intervention. I cried in his office, telling him I could do better but he explained that this is all about hormones and nothing I do or don't do will change things. He gave me the option of Glyburide or Metformin. I am NOT a medication person at all and when I HAVE to go on meds, I do an obscene amount of research. I heard people got horrible digestive upset (to put it nicely) with Metformin, so I decided on Glyburide. My Doctor told me to start 5mg each day with breakfast. My first day on it my sugar level quickly dropped to a very low 44 within just 2 1/2 hours of breakfast and the entire day was a constant battle trying to keep my numbers high enough to not pass out, have a headache, feel shaky or sick. I called his office once that day and the following and said I felt like my dosage was too high, he told me he wasn't willing to make a change until we see several days of trends. Well about 4 days went by and I was literally eating candy and crap food just to constantly have sugar and carbs in me. He finally agreed to drop my dosage in half, which still didn't seem to work for me. FINALLY at my next appointment, he agreed that the Glyburide was not a good option for me, as I had one of the only adverse reactions he has ever experienced in his practice (I swear I'm always that 1%)!! He suggested I go to insulin next. I was not looking forward to taking shots but I knew this was best for my son, this isn't about me and my comfort level. He wanted me to start at 5 units of insulin at night and 10 in the morning. I told him I'd like to start at 5 at night and 5 in the morning as I have great numbers throughout the day and he was receptive to it. I've now been on insulin for roughly 4 weeks now and I'm still taking 5 units in the morning but my nighttime dosage was upped to 8 because my fasting numbers were still in the upper 90s and so far this seems to be a perfect combination to keep all my numbers under control. The amount I'm on is actually considered on the lower end as far as dosage goes, many women have increases every week and can be on as much as 100 units a day so for that, I'm very grateful. I definitely don't have the sugar crashes like I did on Glyburide because the insulin I'm on is long lasting so it slowly releases after I take it, over several hours. The only bad "side effect" (if you can even call it that) is bruising on my sides from the shots, which isn't even a big deal. Overall, gestational diabetes sucks...let's be honest but it's not the end of the world and it's completely manageable once you figure out the best treatment plan for you!