We recently found out the bad news that Helen has gestational diabetes. Basically that means that her pregnant body isn't able to break down the sugar that enters her system, which of course can be dangerous for the baby (and Helen.)
To combat the problem, she is seeing a nutritionist, has to test her blood sugar levels after every meal and change her diet a bit. If her levels are too high, she'll have to inject insulin into her body every day until the baby is born.
What is particularly frustrating is the fact that we thought Helen had been eating pretty well recently - avoiding sweets and loading up on grains, fresh fruits, milk, etc. Apparently though, those foods are the worst things to eat, at least when it comes to diabetes (since the carbs all turn into sugar.)
If this only meant Norby was going to be a little chubby when she was young we could live with that, but it also means she might be over-producing insulin to fight the sugar levels, which could become a problem once she's born.
While it's not too late to take action it is hard to do so on the spur of the moment. To help, I've told Helen I'll eat what she eats, because I think we both want to make sure our baby is as healthy as can be, and don't want her starting out in life with a problem like childhood diabetes.
UPDATE: Helen met the nutritionist again and she told Helen that she would not need to inject insulin! Woo-hoo!
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