So far this third pregnancy has been going along just swimmingly. I’m 21 weeks today and I’ve had no morning sickness, no real complications, nothing too terrible at all. (Don’t hate me.)

Unfortunately, there has been one major problem: I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 14 weeks pregnant. I didn’t have gestational diabetes with either of my other pregnancies and it really wasn’t even on my radar this time. But my doctor chose to have me tested early in my pregnancy because I had a few risk factors. (I’m 35 and considered overweight). And it turns out early testing was a good call in my case!

Over the past few weeks I have quickly learned a lot about gestational diabetes as well as the testing process. And I’ve realized that the little I thought I already knew was mostly wrong! These are the things that have been the biggest surprises along the way:

1. A lower score on the one hour glucose test doesn’t guarantee you will pass the three hour test.

I know that different doctors do testing differently, but most doctors in the United States have women do a one hour glucose tolerance test. If they don’t pass that test, they go on to take a three hour test.

In the one hour test, you drink a glucose drink and then the doctor checks your blood sugar an hour later. At my OB-GYN, the cut off for the one hour test is 135. I got a 136; I missed it by one lousy point. Some doctors consider anything under 140 passing, so if I had been in a different practice, I might not have failed at all. Because of all this, I was pretty convinced I would pass the 3 hour test with no problem.

I didn’t.

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2. The Glucose tolerance tests don’t always go the way you imagined.

For the three hour test, you fast overnight. When you arrive at the lab or doctor’s office, they check your fasting blood sugar. And then you drink a big glucose drink and they test your blood sugar three more times over the next three hours. Well, when they took my fasting blood sugar, it was way too high. So they told me the test was over and I have gestational diabetes. What?!? To be honest, I felt a little robbed. How could I fail if I didn’t even get to finish the test?

At first I was pretty sure I was misdiagnosed. My score on the first test was low and I only failed one part of the second test – how does that lead to a diagnosis? But after a bit of reading, I realized that most people initially think their results were a mistake. It’s the whole denial thing.

3. You don’t have to go on a low carb diet.

When I found out I had gestational diabetes, I knew nothing about what I was supposed to eat. I had an appointment to meet with a dietician but I wasn’t able to see her for several days. In the meantime, all my nurse had said was not to eat sweets and to watch my carb intake. I took that to mean I needed to cut out most carbs  Totally incorrect.

If you have gestational diabetes, your doctor will give you your own guidelines to follow, but it is certainly not a low carb diet. I am a mega carb lover, and while I am eating much less chocolate, my total amount of carbohydrates is probably close to what it was before. The eating plan is more about spreading your carbs out throughout the day between three meals and three snacks and making sure to balance the carbs you eat with plenty of protein.

4. Checking your blood sugar isn’t that big of a deal.

One of the things I was dreading the most was having to check my blood sugar four times a day. Nobody wants to have to stick a needle in their body every day, no matter how tiny it is. But honestly, it hasn’t been that big a deal. It stings for a microsecond and then it’s over. The biggest pain has actually been just remembering to check it at the right times.

5. Gestational diabetes is different for each person.

I’ve been following my eating plan and checking my blood sugar for six weeks now. I’ve found that my blood sugar almost never goes up too high after eating. There have even been a few times when I have cheated and eaten things that are definitely not approved and my blood sugar has been absolutely fine. Many people with gestational diabetes have to be very strict about what they eat, but thankfully that hasn’t been the case for me so far.

What has been a problem is my fasting blood sugar. I have to check my blood sugar every morning when I first wake up and that is when it is always high. It makes sense why I failed the fasting test now! I have an appointment with my doctor to discuss this later this week and I am expecting to be put on some sort of medication to help with this.

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Any other gestational diabetes mamas out there? What surprised you the most? And if you have any wisdom to help me make it through the next 4-5 months, I’m all ears!