Pregnancy Glucose Test

/in /by

A standard test in during pregnancy is the blood glucose test which is done around 26 weeks gestation. This is an initial screening for gestational diabetes, a 3-hour test will follow if your blood sugar levels are too high in the initial test. It’s important to be tested for gestational diabetes because this affects the health of both mommy and baby. You do, however, have the option to opt out of this test.

You consume 50 grams of glucose and your blood is drawn 1 hour later to measure your blood sugar levels. I had this test today. The standard drink supplied is glucola but it’s an option to drink 10 oz of (equivalent to 50 grams glucose) organic grape juice instead which is what I chose to do.

I opted out of drinking the glucola drink because I don’t want to consume the unhealthy ingredients, which includes dextrose from corn which may be GMO and food dyes Yellow #6 and Red #40. I know it’s a small amount of all these but I prefer not to drink it.

So the other option is to drink 10 oz of organic grape juice, available at the grocery store. This amount of grape juice supplies 50 grams of glucose required for the test.

My midwife appointment was scheduled for 8:30am so I was instructed to drink the juice 45 minutes before my appointment and take no more than 10minutes to drink the juice and note the time when I finished the drink.

I was up at 5:45am with my toddler who’s just getting used to her big girl bed and she got up super early, her normal wake time is 7am but not today! I drank about 16 oz of water then ate a meal at 6:30am which was overnight steel cut oats with vanilla Shakeology, unsweet vanilla ripple milk, cinnamon and pumpkin seeds. I drank water in between that time and 7:52am I poured the 10 oz of grape juice and also ate 2 Tablespoons of unsweet sunflower seed butter and sipped the grape juice until it was finished at 7:56am. So I went to my appointment and had my blood drawn at 8:56am. I should find out the results tomorrow.

I’m happy to be able to have an alternative to the glucola drink. I don’t understand why they use an unhealthy drink when simple grape juice works. In pregnancy, there are many things to consider when it comes to tests and it’s ok to ask questions and find a way that works better for you and your baby. You are their advocate from day one in your belly.

Believe in your dreams!

/in /by

Tonight I’ll keep it brief. Any dreams you have and we all have them don’t we? You must believe in your dreams more than anyone else in the world! That is a bold statement but unless you believe in your dreams the most they won’t come true or at least not as quickly as you’d like. Waiting around for someone else to believe in you or waiting for the approval of others will just postpone your dreams. And guess what? It’s not up to anyone else but you to believe in your dreams because they are yours to fulfill. Not that you can’t ask for help in bringing them to fruition, this is not what I’m speaking about.

Believe in your dreams.

You have them for a reason.

Believe in yourself.

Have faith you can do it – because you can!!

Going dairy free

/in /by

Most of my life I consumed dairy, in my childhood, I recall having a stomach ache every.single.day! That was just my normal so I didn’t think I could do anything about it. I was the one with the sensitive tummy, but we never thought that what I was eating could have anything to do with it.

In my college years, I continued eating dairy, plenty of pizza and ice cream during late night studying sessions. In addition to weight gain, I got something called Cystic acne. This was not very attractive for a college student and I wanted to just hide my face, I would get red spots on my chin or nose with a large bubble underneath the skin. I had no idea what it was and it was the first time in my life I had ever experienced acne. Dermatologists gave me antibiotics and it seemed to help some but the acne always came back. After college, I got a job with good health insurance so I went to the dermatologist who then suggested Accutane. It’s a very harsh drug that dries out your sebaceous glands to clear up severe acne, however, it cannot be used long term and you must be monitored closely by your doctor, including monthly blood tests and required 2 forms of birth control to prevent pregnancy because birth defects are so severe.

I ended up needing a second round of Accutane a few years later for 6 months. I have to say that if I had removed dairy from my diet all those years ago, I would have been able to avoid using Accutane altogether. Also, I started getting headaches daily and had gastrointestinal issues like severe diarrhea which I had never experienced before.

At the time I had no idea that what I put into my body or on my body had an effect. Even today when I consume unknowingly something with dairy, a small cyst will form on my face within a day or two so I know dairy made it’s way into my body. It’s unfortunate to be so sensitive to any type of food but I’m happy that I do know and can avoid it as much as possible.

With my now toddler daughter, I’m very cautious about giving her dairy because I don’t want her to go through what I experienced. We give her a dairy free pea milk called, Unsweetened Vanilla Ripple Milk– it’s high in protein and has an excellent nutritional profile including Calcium and Vitamin D.

She has tried dairy cheese and yogurt and seems to tolerate them well but I hesitate to make that a regular part of her diet so we use dairy free substitutions. My husband consumes dairy regularly otherwise she would probably be completely dairy free.

Bottom line, what goes in your body does effect you and every food available may not be the best food for you.

I Get To

/in /by

I get to…

I get to be a mom

I get to become a mom again

I get to be a wife

I get to be an entrepreneur

I get to choose

I get to become the person I want

I feel so grateful because I get to do all of these things and more. It’s easy to get caught up in life and obligations. It’s easy to get frustrated when the days are so busy and sometimes nothing seems to go my way. SO I have to remind myself that I get to do all of these things and then I feel so lucky for this life. In gratitude, I feel more happy and positive. More able to do the hard things and more able to become the person I want to become.

So if you are feeling stuck, make a list of all the things you get to do and you will be reminded of all the blessings in your life. There is always something to be grateful for even in the hardest seasons of life.

XOXO

Happy Thanksgiving!

/in /by

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you had a wonderful day with loved ones whether close friends or family!

It’s so important to take time to be with people. It seems like everything is within reach so easily with our phones that we can lose human connection in person. As someone who’s an introvert I enjoy being able to reach people with the phone but it’s definitely important to be face to face with our loved ones as often as we are able. Technology is a blessing but going back to old school is necessary for our well being too.