Hello, let me introduce myself first..
For the first 30 years of my life, everything was smooth and worry-free. I was my parents’ most beloved child, found my true love in college, and happily married him after graduation.
At work, I was my boss’s most valued employee. Whenever I was in charge of a project, colleagues would inevitably say, “Oh, then I’m totally at ease.” I was constantly named “Employee of the Year,” with generous bonuses every year.
Later, I started my own business. Within just three months, I had broken into the market and started making money. By the fifth month, I was earning twice my previous salary. Growth was steady month after month. Right when the business needed more hands, I serendipitously met an amazing partner, and the company reached a whole new level.
Really, it seemed like at every step, whatever I needed, a pair of hands would always place it right in front of me, just in time.
My Two Girls: Ellie & Mia
Meet Ellie, My Firstborn
In 2020, my husband and I decided to have a child. After trying for over a year, we finally got the news in 2021 that a little one was on the way. In 2022, we welcomed our first child, Ellie. She made me a mother.
She is utterly adorable—big eyes, rosy skin, chubby little hands. Every time I look at her, I can’t help but give her a kiss. She is pure joy, and I love her more each day.
But as a first-time mom, I faced unprecedented difficulties. The postpartum tearing wouldn’t heal, and the pain was excruciating. Clogged milk ducts made my breasts hard as rocks. The severe sleep deprivation… And what was even more crushing was that, with zero parenting experience, I was clueless when faced with her unexplained wailing, night terrors, refusal to nurse, constipation, diarrhea, fevers… I desperately searched online, longing for one accurate, truly useful answer!
It was during this time that I thought, once I make it through this “dark” path, I must leave a light on for other new moms.
And Then Came Mia
Ellie had just turned one when I got pregnant again. In 2024, we welcomed our second daughter, Mia.
Completely different from Ellie, Mia is a great eater and sleeper. Although she had her fussy moments in the first two months, starting almost from month three, she became super easygoing. She feeds on schedule, gradually sleeps through the night, loves her solid foods, and adapted quickly when I had to stop breastfeeding due to mastitis.
This made me realize just how vastly different babies can be! It made me even more determined to write about my experiences.
Why I Had to Start This Blog
The Catalyst: A Life Pivoted
After Mia was born, my business also began to decline sharply. I had no choice but to close it and become a full-time mom. My work no longer involves Excel and Word, but instead revolves around changing diapers, washing bottles, making baby food, and managing household chores…
This has been a monumental challenge for me. All my past achievements seem irrelevant now. Managing two young children has brought me a sense of frustration I’ve never known before.
The Daily Reality
They are always fighting over things. When one is in my arms, the other immediately demands to be held too. When I try to cook, Ellie wants me to read her a book. When I attempt to load the washing machine, Mia has a diaper blowout, and I must drop everything to change her…
By the time I finish all that, I see the cup of hot coffee on the table has gone cold again. And it’s not until evening that I remember, “Oh my goodness, the clothes are still in the hamper, unwashed!”
Of course, being a mom is filled with happiness, but that doesn’t negate how hard it is.
My Promise to You
Because I’ve walked this path myself, I won’t just tell you how joyful motherhood is, like many websites do. I want to share my real, unfiltered experiences so every new mom can find a “companion” here.
I want to tell you: you are not alone. What you’re going through, I’ve been there too. Your breakdowns, your helplessness, your moments of losing control—I’ve had them all. You don’t need to feel guilty. This is just a small, necessary stretch of the journey for every mom.
My Hope for This Space
I really want to share my parenting experiences—not just the warm, glowing moments, but to honestly document the pitfalls I’ve stumbled into, the tears I’ve shed, and the “survival wisdom” I’ve scraped together in utter exhaustion.
The Goal: A Mom’s Toolkit
I hope this blog becomes a “mom’s toolkit,” filled not with vague theories, but with:
- Practical Tips: Like how to quickly figure out why a baby is crying, tried-and-true methods for dealing with clogged ducts, or how to efficiently manage the daily grind with twins (or two under two) solo.
- Pitfall Avoidance Guides: Sharing the baby products I regret buying the most, and those “game-changer” parenting hacks. Letting you know which parenting anxieties you can let go of, and which principles are worth holding onto.
- A Community for Moms: I hope my stories connect me with more moms like you. We can cheer each other on in the comments, share our own tricks, turning the storms we face alone into a journey we walk together.
The Bigger Vision
My previous career taught me to analyze data, solve problems, and optimize processes. Now, I’m applying all those skills to this new “position” of Mom. I want to prove that a mom’s value is absolutely not confined to the home. The mindset, resilience, and creativity we built in our careers can shine just as brightly—perhaps even brighter—in this more complex, long-term “project” of raising humans, and can even be transformed into a force that helps others.
My hope is simple: that every mom who opens this blog can let out a sigh of relief and say, “So it’s not just me.” Then, she can find a bit of practical info, a dose of comforting solidarity, and return to her sweet, chaotic mom-life with a little more confidence and a little less weight on her shoulders.
This road? Let’s walk it together.
Re: GD Thread
For the few other people I just gave the very basic of rundowns and then answered any inevitable questions as best I could. I don’t think I’ve run into many, if any who haven’t had some very basic understanding.
I knew that it could happen in pregnancy before my first and I’ve had enough exposure to regular diabetes that it was probably easier for me to wrap my head around it then some.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
I was weirdly concerned with limiting my sugar for most of the pregnancy, so maybe I’m psychic? Except I was craving and eating lots of fruit, so not that psychic
@fuzzywombat I was extremely conscious about sugar too! For about 20 weeks, until my craving for sour gummy worms hit
Married: 6/2016
TTC:6/2016
BFP: 11/22/2016 | EDD: 7/29/2017
Tip from me...fair life chocolate milk is amazing at bedtime and heats up well for delicious hot chocolate. It's lower carb than regular milk and higher protein!
To each person managing this, good luck and a reminder that it's only temporary! I have to remind myself that all the time...
”gestational diabetes cannot be prevented by habits, it is a result of hormonal imbalances changing how the body deals with insulin that is caused by the placenta. It can be controlled with diet sometimes, and other times needs medications and always meds blood glucose testing.”
I go the science route and people learn and then also stop blaming me for something I didn’t cause (other than that I got pregnant).
I thankfully don’t have GD but failed the first test and spend 4 days learning about it while I waited for my second test and results.
@sheepshepherdess how are things going for you?
So far biggest issue for me is the mornings, had to change out my banana for an orange and eat everything all together instead of taking 45mins to eat! GD is weird. I’m technically also not supposed to snack within 2hrs of meals, but that’s not how my body works so I’ve been ignoring that. BG is staying normal even with extra snacks so that’s interesting.
What gauge needles are you all using? They gave me 33 and I stabbed myself 5 times and got no blood, even using all the tricks, and setting it to depth of 6. My machine came with a sample of 30gauge so I tried that and it worked immediately.
At first I blamed myself and thought it was something I had done, but I'm feeling better the more I read about it. Even though I have no family history and was at a healthy weight pre-pregnancy, apparently being over 30 and having multiples are two of the risk factors. Especially having two placentas - double the placental hormones to throw things out of whack. I'm hoping that mine can be controlled by diet - I was eating Keto for about a year before getting pregnant, so cutting back on the carbs shouldn't be too hard for me.
Good luck to all of you ladies, and here's to healthy babies!!
Be careful with keto during pregnancy though—at my GD appt with the diabetes expert, she explained that it’s not a healthy state for pregnant women, especially those with GD. This was actually a huge shock for me as I had been planning to go super low carb to deal with the GD. Best thing is to get your glucose machine and try to balance things out rather than keeping it super low.
As @sheepshepherdess said Keto or super low carb isn’t the goal or safe during pregnancy. Your body (and baby) needs carbs, it’s just all about the right amount of the right kind and at the right times. Although I imagine there might be some Keto snacks or tricks that might come in handy for you!
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
I also figured out that whipped cream is decadent and has low carbs, so I put it on some berries for my "dessert." Thus far this works for me, although I know I read @thatbaintforbetty can't do any dairy
That being said I totally cheated and got a mocha latte this afternoon and had a low low carb lunch to balance it out. My numbers were okay, although I think my sugar rose and then dropped because I got a little dizzy after... But it was damn tasty! (Sorry baby...)
Best of luck on this new adventure! Good thoughts to all of our tiny humans who are brewing and don't even know the sacrifices of their Mamma's!
Damn placentas.
Dairy can be a big trigger for some. Which is why I have the no dairy at bedtime or breakfast rule put on me.
I agree though that placentas are super mean and this kid definitely owes me a couple milkshakes, lol.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
It can be very overwhelming. The classes and dieticians are usually very helpful in making sense of everything. And we are always here if you have questions.
Also it’s not as common but not totally out of the norm to not have it for one pregnancy and have it for the next.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
knew nothing about diabetes and really felt overwhelmed doing internet research, but my dietician laid everything out for me with some simple rules that made the whole thing much easier to understand. All the internet hugs in the meantime!
Well this has not worked out at all, and I kept going over 140 for blood glucose, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, so I’ve changed my types of carbs to more whole grains, taken down my fruit considerably, and am eating fewer carbs. Daily total is now under 120g. No insulin yet and I’m desperately trying to avoid it. How do these numbers compare with everyone else’s numbers?
Do you keep a food log? I sadly barely eat any fruit right now and I am not happy about it but it does work for me. Some foods will work and some won’t and it sometimes doesn’t make sense which is which. Pasta doesn’t trigger me as much as I would have thought but potatoes do big time.
Can you share what your meals/snacks look like?
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
A typical day might be:
Breakfast : 1 egg, 1 sm piece of toast (switching to whole wheat) or 1/4c sweet potato, optional meat.
Snack : 1/2c plain yogurt with 1tsp jam (never spiked after this)
Lunch : Sausage, potatoes, stir fried greens, bell pepper
Snack: 2c popcorn, nuts, cheese, veggies
Dinner: steak, acorn squash, asparagus, salad
Snack : 1/2c ice cream (also haven’t ever spiked from this)
Though I often skip snacks just for convenience, and because I was told I shouldn’t have snacks (assuming carb snacks) within 2hrs of meals and that had been tricky.
I vary meats between chicken, fish, pork, and beef quite a bit. Have done some experiments and haven’t ever spiked after a snack. Breakfast is the worst, and then every now and then I spike at lunch or dinner because I screw up and have too many potatoes or fruit (best guesses).
Assuming I could lower carbs at meals but then just try and make up for it at snacks?
I’m thinking that another issue is not balancing the carbs properly. One day I spiked with chicken veggie and rice soup, when the week before I’d had the same amount of rice with other foods with no issues. I’m thinking there just wasn’t enough fiber to counteract the rice when it was just in the soup.
My docs were very strict that snacks are necessary. They help keep the levels stable and skipping them can cause issues. I was told 12 wheat thins and some cheese is preferred for me, it’s working best to keep me stable till lunch. But that’s also more an insulin related worry since I take a long acting type that peaks 4-5 hours later and need to sustain optimum levels till lunch.
I haven’t even tried to do white rice, it’s usually a big trigger and didn’t even feel like experimenting. I haven’t noticed a benefit of one protein over another in terms of my numbers.
I’ve found I can do less protein but can’t do less fiber. So like salad with less meat then I would get if I was eating it as part of the main course can be fine but I cannot go under on the veggies without issues. Although I try keep my protein up as much as possible, especially since she is a little on the smal side.
Also i know that as the hormone levels rise later in pregnancy diabetes levels can as well. It’s standard that if on insulin that you will increase over time in response. I would imagine that it would be true regardless of the the meds that levels can be harder to control as the hormones increase. I have no idea what the the non medicated response to that is since I’ve been in insulin both times. But the fact that you can eat one thing one week and be fine but not the next seems like a normal extension of the bodies increase in hormones and therefore it’s natural insulin resistance. I would bring it up with the doc and see what they have to say. Or ask if there is a lower limit to carb intake? I know that the exact amount of carbs can vary doc to doc but I’ve usually always been on the low side from what I have gathered so I’d be worried about taking that number lower.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
Obviously I’m super new to this, but I keep hearing it can get worse as the pregnancy progresses too.
I have to balance it all with a lot of protein too, which is making my reflux so much worse. Sigh.
I spiked really bad today, either from craisins on a salad or from the gnocchi that might have been wheat instead of potato (ate out at lunch). Lost more weight too, but baby is measuring right on track which makes me feel so much better.
I tend to spike and then fall very quickly, so I’m thinking you all are right on about the snacks! Trying to take it one day at a time right now.
I also think you’re right @thatbaintforbetty that it’s starting to get worse as I get further along. Guess we’ll see how it goes.
Also if you are spiking and falling quickly try a more complex carb and definitely stay on your snacks.
(I tried craisins on a salad and had crazy spikes too, I think dried fruit is worse than fresh) Also I’ve pretty much given up eating out, which is a huge PITA since I’m so exhausted and some days the last thing I want to do is cook. It really gets to me how difficult something like eating is with GD. Like why does it have to super extra hard when I have even less energy/time/brain power? Way to kick me when I’m down.
Also I don’t think they usually go straight to insulin this late in pregnancy. Oral meds I think are usually used and work fine when diagnosed 28 weeks or later. They do not work nearly as well when diagnosed before then, mostly because you have a longer length of time for increases and fluctuations. Or at least that’s what my MFM doc said on why I always went straight to insulin. But I am not as familiar with the standard protocol for diagnosis/treatment in the later third since I’ve always had it early.
I actually feel like my numbers are getting worse right now and I’m probably due for an increase, so it’s probably a natural hormonal jump right about this stage/time of pregnancy.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
Stopping at the store after work to load up on snacks. Anyone tried premiere protein shakes? They seem to be the rage of all the gd forums
I have alarms for my morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and to start dinner. It’s the only way I remember to (mostly) eat on time.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
I’m weekly here on out for growth scans and NSTs, which is so crazy to me. Measuring right on track now though, so he’s not too big at the moment!
@HGRich so glad baby is measuring the right size!!
@fuzzywombat @thatbaintforbetty Sooooo many alarms in my life... I had to totally alter my morning routine to make sure that I was able to do fasting and after-breakfast before my morning commute.
On the plus side, start planning your first meal after delivery, lol.
Mine is donuts and since my sister feels bad for me she has promised me a dozen all my own!
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
Anyway I guess I’ll see what the nutritionist and endocrinologist say. I’m so glad this thread is here so I don’t feel so alone in this!
I am on insulin and therefore the more high risk side of GD but even so my doc is fine with my desire to go as med fee as possible despite the possibility of being induced. Remember even easy pregnancies can have complex labors and the best plan is an open mind. My DD was sunny side up, the doc flipped her, she flipped back. Babies dictate the way it goes and their way doesn’t always match ours.
@fatmonica Welcome! They are usually really good at explaining all about GD. I’ve had it twice and gone through 3 different insurance/health systems with it. (1 last time, and 2 this time due to switching insurance halfway through) They should give you lots of info on how to judge the amount of carbs in food (besides reading label info, cause fruit doesn’t have labels) and how much carbs they want you to aim for at each meal/snack. They will also go over how to balance out your meals (protein/carb/veggies) to help with the levels. Some people find that it’s not so much an adjustment of what you eat but how much, and some are the opposite. A food log is your friend, it will help you see patterns, especially if you have certain trigger foods. Dairy is a trigger for me, I can’t have it early morning or bedtime but not everyone is that way. There is a bit of trial and error because your body doesn’t always react exactly the same as others. There is also a wealth of info in this thread and please ask questions if you have them.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
I just found out I’m not meeting the nutritionist until a week from Monday and before that I have to take a two hour gd management class. But what do I do until then? I called my midwifes clinic and asked but it was just the student and she said to “watch my carb intake.” I’m not sure she really has a lot of info or experience with gd. I guess I’ll just avoid like really sugary desserts and white bread and stuff like that?
Ohh calorieking.com lists the carb/fat/calorie content of tons of foods. Restaurants, brands and all sorts of stuff
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019