Building a Support Group

I can’t describe how much better I’m feeling today.  I had a great meeting with my diabetes program people yesterday.  I’ve been so stressed out because I feel that they bully their patients into doing whatever is convenient for them since they deal with so many GD patients.  I was able to really talk about what had been frustrating for me, ask questions about my medication, and show them through use of charts and spreadsheets that I’m not just the average gal trying to squeeze McDonald’s Value Meals into my 30g Carb limits.  Even if the appointment changes nothing in the way they treat me in the future, it sure felt great to talk about what I’ve been going through.  It also felt great that they were all very impressed with my spreadsheet. J Getting a little validation from the people who impose such strict guidelines on my diet and medication lifted a huge stress off my shoulders.

Today I get to have a friend over for a play date / mom’s girl time.  I’m really excited.  I converted my dining room into the coolest playroom ever and I’m really hoping that doing so allows us moms to have some deep conversation.  As a mom it’s so great to get together with other moms.  There’s no apologizing for a sudden diaper change or snack break, or timeout for a munchkin meltdown.  The only problem is it’s so difficult to really connect on a personal level, for me at least.  Serious conversations are interrupted every two sentences to correct, assist, or mediate the kids. It really takes some getting used to as well as some intense focus to not lose your train of thought.  And waiting for a night when both moms can get sitters and go out is just not very feasible.  So I have high hopes for my morning mom time.  I imagine us sitting on the couch with our coffees and chatting casually while our kids play in the other room.  We’ll see if it’s yet another fantasy!

Meanwhile, I’ve finally made an appointment with an independent nutritionist.  I don’t know much about this gal but it’s really important for me to have someone on my team who can help me with my nutrition.  I won’t have health insurance after the baby’s born so this is a great chance to start some nutrition counseling.  I’m hoping it will lift the burden of feeling like I’m trudging through all this all on my own.  The dietician I talked with yesterday brought up the point of food pairings – how certain foods eaten together make a complete meal and are best for balanced nutrition and absorption of those nutrients.  Knowing that I had this appointment scheduled today meant that I didn’t have to go bananas researching a new topic.  I hope that my nutritionist will be able to help me out with that today.

I also think this blog is really helping more than I imagined.  Being able to get up in the morning and put my thoughts out there gets them all out of my head so I can go along my day without being so crazy.  Maybe no one ever reads this, but just maybe there’s someone else out there like me who wants to try and manage their GDM as naturally as they can.  Perhaps my blog can become a piece of their own support group.