I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

On my most recent ob/gyn appointment, I kindly asked my doctor if it was protocol in the Netherlands for pregnant women around 24 weeks to take a Glucose Tolerance Test. She initially responded with a no, but then paused and took a more evaluative look at me. A light-bulb sprung up. She realized that due to my ethnicity (Filipino), I could be possibly
at risk for gestational diabetes.

She ordered the Glucose Tolerance Test right away.  I basically had the weekend
to prepare for what I believed to be a 12 hour fast. Keep in mind that even before I was pregnant, food played a major role in my life. While I tried to maintain a healthy lifestyle thanks to my very health conscious husband,  I was enjoying being able to submit to
certain food indulgences during my pregnancy.  I savored every minute of not having
to care too much about my waisteline and partake in yummy sweet treats.

A day after my test,  we received a phone-call that would alter the remaining 100 days
of my pregnancy (and realistically, the rest of my life with respect to potential future
health implications).

In trying to console me, my darling husband emphasized that the ob/gyn nurse said
that I had only slightly elevated blood glucose levels and as a precaution wanted me
to meet with a diabetic nurse and a dietician.  I’ve been in this country long enough
to know that unless absolutely medically necessary,  the most common response would
be the cost-effective and conservative “wait-and-see” approach. The fact that the nurse
had tried to reach  5 consecutive times via my cell-phone, left a discerning voice-mail
and then called my husband lead me to believe that this was indeed serious.

From my understanding,  either you have gestational diabetes or you don’t.

Upon hearing the news, I was initially absolutely devastated.  I had a sneaking suspicion
that not everything was okay, but in trying to be more optimistic, I simply brushed my concerns aside and conveniently blamed my neurosis. Furthermore, the last thing I
wanted was any more potential pregnancy problems. I already have epilepsy and thus
won a coveted position of being directly monitored by an ob/gyn.  Now I have gestational diabetes to contend with.

Thus begins my 100 day blogging journey about my impending motherhood in a foreign country, and as I, to the best of my ability, have a successful pregnancy and a healthy
baby boy in light of less than ideal health circumstances.