“Wow, you didn’t wait long before you had a baby” That is by far the comment that is said to me the most.  

Yes, he was a honeymoon baby. I would rather call him a miracle baby. 

Welcome. YOU have found me.

You have come across my page because you are curious as to whether you are alone in your way of thinking. So I want to first say thank you for putting yourself first and secondly, realising you want that little bit of support that you might not be getting from the peers or family around you. I am happy to help in any way I can. If your answers aren’t here then talk to me in other ways. (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or say Hello@theunlikelymummy.co.uk)

I am 100% here for you because honestly, I wish I had ‘a me’ to help me on my journey. Well not a journey, more like a job. The loneliest job you will ever do. I have even lost count the number of times I have wanted to walk away from it all and 6 months in I sometimes still feel the same. My plan is to blog different topics about my pregnancy, birth and Rohan’s milestones. What I thought would be best for my first blog is Gestational Diabetes. 

My story 

Already mentioned my honeymoon miracle baby but to add to it l told I had Gestational diabetes. I am a first-time mum. Told I could never have children. But I fell in love with the most unlikely person we I have known since I was 18. He has protected me and made my life better. Made me better. We got married. We fell pregnant with our miracle. Our boy. I knew he was a boy from the very beginning and we picked Rohan as his name. All I wanted to do was protect him. 

Gestational diabetes got the better of me from time to time. But I beat it, I should say we beat it. My husband and I. Diet alone. I was so proud. I was so worried I was unknowingly well knowingly) hurting my baby and the amount of love I already had for him was overwhelming for me. What I found and maybe you do as well if you in this situation is… Where is the information? Okay, yes it is there, but where is the information that doesn’t make you feel like you have already failed?

So what did I do – I cried A LOT. I googled a lot. Both now very silly when looking back. I could have made it fun, I could have been more experimental. We had lots of fish and new potatoes. We had lots of eggs and halloumi cheese, tomatoes, lentils, and pasta but I also had treats, éclairs and ice cream (normal ice cream is actually better for you then the specialist ice creams) I read every label and actually really educated myself. I had fantastic support from the diabetic specialist nurse from the hospital. I owe her my pregnancy. I had rubbish support from my own midwife. Even today I blame them for the way I was through my pregnancy. (Happy to talk to anyone about this and I will be doing a separate blog on my midwife experience) 

Even if you haven’t been diagnosed with GD you can stay with me and share my experiences because I have more I want to share with you all. But for now, GD is on my mind.

I am a vegetarian who (luckily) eats fish and we just controlled it. Lots of controlled food. I made everything enjoyable. We ate together. We eat early. Lots of walks. Lots of long showers/baths. We beat the diagnosis together of gestational diabetes. It is scary, isn’t it? I had my fasting glucose test on a Monday, by the Thursday I was sat in a room with very overweight ladies who didn’t care. One came in after eating a bacon sandwich and hot chocolate and wondered why she was in the room at early pregnancy. I was careful at the start but because of my ethnicity and background, I was 99%  positive I would have got the result of GD. It still made me feel like I failed. The judgement. 

Where is the information? You can only have 15g of carbohydrates for meals other than dinner which is 20g – wow! That is literally nothing when you put it on a plate. But a typical day for me. 

 Breakfast- 3 X pieces of halloumi cheese, 5 X cherry tomatoes (cooked with a little bit of oil), 3 X oatcakes (gluten-free) with cream cheese and a pint of water.

Snack- Cucumber sticks or nuts

Lunch- Salads (chickpeas, cucumber, noddles)Water, Pom bears

Snack- Yoghurt with fruit, bran flakes and two pieces of small chocolate.

Dinner- Fish plain or with a Nandos sauce, 3 or 4 new potatoes (half pieces),Range of veg and Water

Evening snack- (but only if reading was low)- Eclair or milk and biscuits.

We played a lot with flavours and if I was a meat eater, I could have had meat which would have been easier. But I was super proud I created a plan to control myself. The key was and still is plenty of water!!!

I was told, if you don’t control it, it means tablets, it means injections. I didn’t want either of them. I wanted to just control it and be proud of myself but the looks, the comments you get. Oh GD, you must be overweight etc. Well actually no it’s genetic. It’s hard to explain it without being judged and feeling like you constantly having to explain and justify yourself. That is what I found the hardest and every time I went to see my midwife, she made me feel rubbish about myself, oh GD must be ‘fat’ oh you don’t control it. Actually, look at my readings – not ‘fat’ and they are all well within range. I would walk out crying because I was told I was harming my baby. I would leave, call my husband and cry. I felt like I was already a failing mummy. Who does that to a person, who makes them feel like a failure before the journey has even begun. If it wasn’t for the support of my parents, my husband and hospital midwife, Sadie I wouldn’t have got through the pregnancy. It was a hard journey with a very rewarding end. 

 What I want to say to you is – you got this!! You are strong. I got through it and it was hard but once you hold your baby you soon forget. Trust me, you do forget. I promise you that. 

Note. There are plenty of GD websites, but be mindful which you want to sign up for. I paid for a direct debit for help, advice, and recipes. Worse thing I did. It made me feel worse. You can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t Google information and don’t listen to all of the advice from the midwife. You know your body. Trust me – you do know your body. I am happy to help anyone – just get in touch.