A Rough Evening

Yesterday evening was one of those nights. I had been fighting low blood sugars all day, including a 27 mg/dL mid-afternoon that left me shivering, hazy, and exhausted and I was preparing for my first night of class for the semester.

Side note: I am working on a Masters degree and attend online classes one night per week.

I drug myself out into the cold after work, struggled to hold my eyes open while I drove home, and then collapsed on the couch as soon as I walked in the door. But the blood sugar fairies were not on my side. Even with a 60% temp basal rate, my numbers were still creeping down. After an hour of trying to rest, I finally tested and saw a 45. Crap. Another snack. And thanks to those pesky pregnancy hormones, I was also sporting a pretty significant case of nausea. I choked down two boxes of juice and the shivering started all over again.

Thankfully, my husband came to the rescue. We’ve been talking about this whole ketone thing, so he urged me to think about some dinner. He convinced me to let him make me a box of macaroni and cheese.

Standing in the kitchen slurping on a box of juice and watching helplessly as my husband prepared my dinner, I got an overwhelming feeling of despair. How were my baby and I going to make it through this whole pregnancy and, even worse, how would I be able to give this baby everything he or she needs once he or she is on the outside? Heck, I can hardly keep up with his or her needs while still on the inside!

I’m hoping that it was just the low blood sugar talking, because later, after a lively class with some colleagues that I have not talked to for a while, I felt much better. I was still exhausted, but my mood had improved.

This morning, I am still fighting lows (55% temp basal rates and still the occasional 69 mg/dL) and I am still exhausted, but I’m trying to focus on the positive. I ate my 2 am snack last night and my ketones were negative this morning. Maybe my baby and I will make it through this thing yet.