So week 29 I’m at home like any other normal week, the holidays just ended and I’m feeling pretty good about 2016! This is going to be an awesome year, I’m having a little baby, my career is really taking off and I love what I’m doing. I can’t wait! Oh and even better the hubby and I are going on our Australia vacation we won on The Amazing Race next week, WOOOOHOOO!

Brendon and I are going back and forth about where to stay for our day in Sydney and what to do; we wanted to take a few extra days since were traveling across the world to go to Haymen Island and the Great Barrier Reef. I made a few suggestions and he was looking into them. Then he calls me and tells me my OB has been trying to reach me and to give them a call. Immediately my heart dropped and started to race, why the heck would the OB call me in the middle of my monthly visits. I already had my low PAPP A test results what the heck? Of course my mind went straight to my diabetes test results and this was the first Monday after the holidays, maybe they wanted to tell me everything looks good? So I OF COURSE called right away. I got the scariest news so far, I tested positive for gestational diabetes! – I don’t want to offend anyone, but I am not over weight, I work out at least 4/5 times a week if not every day, I sweat alot when I work out. I lift weights, 5pounds/10pounds. I do the elliptical, I swim, I walk, I do yoga, I do the firm, I do the stair mill, I walk at inclines on the treadmill, I hike… I mean I am super active. I haven’t even gained that much weight being pregnant and my belly just now started to pop! I eat mostly healthy, I did over indulge over the holidays eating cookies and sweets and chocolate alot but I never would have thought that this could happen to me. I actually thought I was the “fit mom” and had the “fit Pregnancy” I literally tweet that out weekly & hashtag that on insta. So what the heck how did this happen to me?

I cried when the doctor told me. I couldn’t stop crying when she told me I had to meet with a nutritionist and I had take my blood sugar levels and they need to monitor me more. I felt faint and my heart felt tight and I felt like everything I thought about myself was a lie. I had to go walk around the block with my dog and talk to Brendon just to calm down to breathe. Thank goodness Brendon knows how to take care of me! Its super scary to think you have ANOTHER problem during your pregnancy. I just kept thinking I did something wrong. Brendon came right home and cheered me up and helped me to read everything on the internet, I’ve been down that rabbit hole one to many times so I couldn’t read about it by myself. We called the doctor back and spoke with my nurses who told me it was going to be oK! UCLA OBGYN is amazing they are so sweet they told me I just had to monitor my blood sugar and control my diet. They told me not to stress, it actually can make blood sugar rise. They let me know the nutritionist is just going to give me basic diet rules to follow and that there is alot of things I can still enjoy. They told me to try to eat veggies with every meal and proteins. NO SUGAR, NO DESERTS, NO ICE CREAM but also NO SIMPLE CARBS 😦 NO FRUIT 😦 NO JUICES 😦 NO DAIRY BEFORE 12 😦 drink lots of water and just try to stick to veggies proteins and complex carbs. This news was devastating but Brendon told me I could do it and think of it as a challenge on the Amazing Race or like being on a slop diet on Big Brother, after all it’s only a few more months! I’m really good at challenges and I push and challenge myself all the time- yay will power- but this feels different!

After calling back numerous times and asking for the results from my test and asking a million more questions I felt better. I literally grabbed the chocolate off my table and threw it away, I tossed my secret stash of Christmas candy  and cried again when I had to toss all my dark chocolate bars. I then went through all my trader joes frozen food meals I had in bought to make cooking simpler; chicken fried rice … SUGAR is one of the main ingredients, root vegetables… brown sugar and syrups are all over these bad boys, asian style stir fry veggies with sauce … again ton of sugar hiding in the pack, cheese rolls ok well thats obvious… but alot of things I was shocked to find had sugar in the ingredients. Scallops with mushrooms in a creamy sauce… you guessed it sugar! Spicy Seafood Stew sugar in the base. EVEN MY SOUPS HAVE SUGAR! I started to look at the ingredients of things I was eating daily and was mad at myself literally the ONLY thing I was eating with out sugar was raw lettuce. I really thought I ate healthy, I always opt for dressing on the side of my salads. I pick fruits and juices over ice cream and pastries. I buy greek yogurt with the lowest sugar per serving. I eat brown rice and brown rice pasta and use tomato paste and sauce with olive oil. OK I do have a slight cheese problem, but I buy low fat cheese and stick to the cheeses that are “healthier” .

Brendon told me he would stick with me on this new diet and that we will get through this together. So I’m thankful and blessed I have such a strong partner and man who really does love me and baby!

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XO Rachel