Little Jack’s Corner

Last week was a pretty terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad week for me as far as being pregnant goes.  Not only did I have the joys of the baby kicking the bazookers out of my poor intestines for the first time, but I also failed my first 1 hour gestational diabetes glucose tolerance test.

Now, while the statistics say that only about 1/3 of the women who have to take the 3 hour glucose test will fail it, my hormonally induced fear factor devil keeps trying to whisper “You’re gonna faiiilll..nah nah na boo boo” into my sugar coated ears.  Yes, everyone has tried to comfort me with statistics and “You’ll be fine!” pats on the backs.  Yet, while I truly do appreciate their love and support, right now every glass of sweet tea, every can of pepsi, and every 3rd helping of creamy mashed potatoes I’ve had since becoming pregnant flashes through my eyes whenever my tummy tries to tell me I’m hungry.  I just can’t help being a tad overwhelmingly worried.

For the first few days I was so worried that I barely ate anything.  Now I know that is not such a great idea to do, but I was scared.  Truly.  I don’t want to have this gestational diabetes.  My cousin, who’s dad is a bad diabetic, says that having diabetes during pregnancy also highly increases your chances of developing it when you are older.  Furthermore, if not controlled well enough, the baby can be harmed as well as pack on tons of fatty tissue while in the womb, creating a 12 pound baby at birth…and emergency C-Section birth.

So, for the first time in my life, I have begun to read nutrition labels. 

Did you know that one can of pepsi has 41 grams of sugar in it?  A can of CocaCola has 39 grams.  Before I was pregnant I rarely ever drank cola (pop, soda..whatever you call it), but somewhere along in my 3rd month I started craving them.  And what did my silly self do?  I gave in!  Over the past few months I remember chunking down 3 at a time sometimes.  And I prefer Pepsi cans.  That’s 123 grams of sugar right there.  No wonder I failed this test, huh?

Ok, so those are out.  Kaput…in a no-more-shall-I-partake-of-them-while-pregnant kinda way. 

I also learned from Aunt Mae and my cousin Carrie that these foods are also off limits when it comes to controling high levels of sugar:

• White / Bleached / Enriched Flour
• French Bread
• Pasta / Speghetti
• Macaroni & Cheese
• Orange Juice
• White Bread
• White Potatoes
• Mayonaise
• Most Candy
• Saltine Crackers
• Sugary Fruit Juices
• Regular Soda
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Artificial Sweeteners
• Whole Milk

….it may not look like a lot, but when it boils down to it those are things I typically eat every day without thinking about it.  Homemade french bread is one of our favorite foods in our home - it’s made from white flour.  Mashed Potatoes?  Check.  We love ‘em.  Pasta?  Speghetti?  Macaroni?  Check, Check, Check.  All foods that are easiest to cook for new housewifes.  White bread?  Nothing beats a good sandwhich.  Orange Juice?  I could drink a gallon in 20 minutes.  I love the stuff!  Saltine crackers?  Who doesn’t put crackers in their soup??

So I’ve had to rearrange my whole way of thinking about foods for the past few days. 

I have learned that whole wheat bread is fine.  But I have yet to tackle making whole wheat bread in my little bread machine.  It just seems too daunting.  Whole wheat pasta, bare-bones salads, and most fruits and vegetables are A-OK too.  But where does that leave my Taco Bell cravings?  I have yet to see a whole wheat cheesy bean burrito.  *sigh*

On a slightly better note, my husband came in the other day with a fabulous find.  Grinning at me, he whips out this amazing looking, tall, cold bottle of new-never-before-seen-by-my-eyes Jazz “Black Cherry & Vanilla” Diet Coke.

DIET? I hate diet drinks!  They all taste like stale, month old crackers to me.

“Just taste it” he says.  So I tentively took a sip.  Yummy!  This stuff tasted knockyoursocksofffabulouso!

The best part came when I read the nutrition label - 0 grams of sugar.  Yes, folks, I said zero.  I had no clue that diet drinks are zero sugar because…well.. I hate diet drinks.  All the other fanciful information on the nutrition label looked great too.  Plus, no high fructose corn syrup either. 

My hubby is just the greatest man in the universe.