The 411

We found out today, after two different sets of glucose tests, that Shevawn has gestational diabetes.

According to WebMD, about 4% of pregnant women will get gestational diabetes and half of those (like my wife) will be diagnosed without having any of the risk factors (obesity, high blood, past pregnancy problems, etc.)

Here's my best understanding of what gestational diabetes is. (And please, don't take this as fact. I definitely wouldn't recommend getting your final medical explanations from a computer programmer.)

Insulin is this magic thing that makes sugar usable to our bodies. It moves sugar out of the bloodstream and into cells. Insulin is produced by the pancreas. The hormones produced pregnancy work against insulin, making it less effective at doing its job. This causes the pancreas to work harder in order to try and produce more insulin. Unfortunately Shevawn's pancreas isn't able to over come this deficit and that leaves too much sugar in her blood. And that's gestational diabetes.

The good news is that it doesn't really effect our baby girl. It's doesn't significantly raise chances of birth defects. Also, in the good news department is the fact that this is a temporary situation and will go away after the pregnancy.

The bad news is that because Shevawn's pancreas isn't producing enough insulin to manage her current sugar intake (which is NOT a ton, she eats pretty well) she will have to pay very close attention to what she eats in order to manage her blood sugar levels.

So that's what I know. We'll be talking to some doctors next week, but we've obviously already started researching and discussing what we need to do to ensure that both Shevawn and McGirl stay healthy.