Friday, October 05, 2007

An Endo Visit and Fitness Concerns

I had a regular endocrinologist appointment yesterday, my first since trying to conceive.

See, Endo also oversees the diabetes and pregnancy program at my local hospital, so for the past two-plus years, I saw her as either a trying-to-conceive patient or one who was actually pregnant.

Yesterday, I was merely a patient with diabetes.

There have been some changes in the clinic where she sees her non-pregnant patients. I was able to find out my A1C within 15 minutes, instead of receiving the info a week later.

Much to my surprise, my A1c was 6.7. I figured it would be deep in the sevens, considering some of the highs I've had. I also test far less than I ever did during pregnancy, maybe four or five times a day instead of ten-plus.

Also, Endo asked me, as I entertained Baby L in his stroller while reporting what my basal rates were, when I was ready to start trying for Number Two.

Not coincidentally, I've actually been asked this by a few other people in the past week or two. Endo told me that since I'm the age I am, with the infertility history I have, six months post-first-baby is when the questions start up again.

The Mister and I are not ready to get back on the infertility/IVF/pregnancy bandwagon. I have no expectations of anything happening naturally. We have frozen embryos in storage and when the time is right, we'll call up the clinic and talk about unfreezing them and seeing what transpires.

We also talked about my post-dinner highs, which are an ongoing battle, and my need for more regular exercise. Now that I'm not commuting for my job, a daily walk to and from public transportation doesn't happen regularly.

I actually like working out at the gym. Unfortunately, I am leery of leaving Baby L with the babysitters there, since they're down a long hallway and the babysitting room is so big, and the Baby himself is still quite little. (Does anyone have advice on this? I know I'm neurotic about many things, but how can I feel comfortable about leaving my kid with people I don't know?)

I tried this boot camp fitness class for new moms, which was great. They had onsite babysitting, so I could keep an eye on my kid while I did push-ups and jogged and huffed and puffed. The flip side is that I have a heel with plantar fasciitis, so it kills me to run, despite ongoing stretches and such. I stopped taking the class.

"Walk 60 minutes a day," the Endo urged. And I can do that. I just don't feel like I'm getting a major weight-loss workout when I walk around the neighborhood pushing my kid in his stroller. I tend to think that, unless I am sweating on an elliptical trainer or pounding it out in a Spin class, my exercise efforts aren't doing much.

I mean, I know the exercise is good for the blood sugars. I have that pretty much under control. It's the excess weight I'm more concerned about.

I joined Weight Watchers earlier in the summer, and have lost a small amount so far. On one hand, I know the whole idea is about portion control, which I understand. On the other hand, I never want to write down everything I eat, and figure out points, since I'm already playing with numbers with carb counting and blood sugars. So I go to meetings and try to keep an eye on what I'm eating (more salads=good), I haven't been tracking points all that religiously.

And while I've lost about 30 pounds from my highest pregnancy point, I'm about 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, and another 40 away from Yummy Mummy.

At least my A1C is good.

Weirdly, my 508 pump started alarming in the middle of the appointment. My pump is about seven years old, a good three years out of warranty, but I haven't gotten around to updating it because I like it and it continues to work. During the alarm (A37, if anyone cares), Endo was worried she'd have to prescribe Lantus for me and I thought it would be ironic if my old pump died at the Endo's office. A quick call to Medtronic confirmed that the alarm was minor (a discrepancy between my pump's internal and external clocks; why that happened I don't know) and that after a quick reset, the pump was as good as new.

As an update from my last post, two months ago, I did not take the full-time job I was interviewing for earlier this summer. The main reason is because I wasn't hired for it (the search is ongoing), but I also thought it was just too early to return to a full time job if I didn't have to. The company has since sent me freelance work, and I continue to do work for two other magazines, so workwise, I'm still in the game.

Parenthoodwise, Baby L keeps me pretty busy. But that's another post altogether.

13 comments:

meanderings said...

Hi,
Do you have a friend w/ a baby or young child that you can trade babysitting with every now and then? Just a thought. I think it sounds like your weight loss is going great!
Colleen

Unknown said...

It's gotta be hard trusting your baby with strangers. I hope you have some time to take care of yourself, though. My sis, also a t1 with baby (and 3 year old) at home, really struggles with this. It's so hard to leave them unless you know the care is good. Sounds like you're doing pretty well, though. Congrats on the baby, and losing 30 lbs. I TOTALLY know what you mean about counting points and writing all the food down in addition to everything else we do as diabetics. It seems like too much! I'm with you. More salads=good (so long as the dressing is low carb/low cal)!

Major Bedhead said...

If you bike, you could always get a bike trailer for the baby, since he's too young for a seat yet. Or a jogging stroller and some serious walking. There's a website called Map My Run that will let you plot out a route and give you distances. If you have a pedometer, I think you can even tell how many calories you're burning.

Unknown said...

It's great to read an update from you. Glad to hear the A1C was 6.7, that's super news. Good luck with the weight loss. Reading your post sounded sooo familiar. I try and walk every day but I also don't feel it's really burning the fat cells unless I'm sweating at gym. And I did WeightWatchers too and felt that after counting carbs, counting points was a lot to do so I just sort of totted them up in my head and lost some weight. I think you're totally right, as long as your A1C is healthy, that's the most important.

And thank you for your comment, it helps to hear that scaring the diabetic pregnant woman is common medical practice.

Michko said...

Glad to see a new post! Just echoing pretty much everything you said: exercise, testing, eating right and overall tight blood sugar management pretty much went out the window after No. 3 was born.

Mae West NYC said...

Hello from NYC!
Last year I broke my leg and could not put weight on my left leg while I was in a cast. Having an EXERCISE BIKE in my apartment was very helpful for my post-surgery rehabilitation.
If you had a bike at home, you could squeeze in a work-out any old time - - AND not worry about leaving the baby.
Also I recommend that you wear a heart monitor while walking outdoors and/ or exercising.
I do - - and a heart monitor's "read out" can make a big difference to a fitness regimen.
Good luck to you!
~ ~ http://MaeWest.blogspot.com ~ ~

Anonymous said...

As far as leaving the baby at they gym, I did it when mine was 8 weeks. I felt a tad uncomfortable but they were great. She mostly slept in the car seat and if she began to cry too hard, they'd come and get me. I just planned gym trips around nap times.
By the way, I lost an additional 10 lbs when I *finished* nursing at around 13 months. And walking totally takes care of the blood sugar issues. But I don't feel like I'm acutally working out unless I get the heart rate up there. Sounds like you are doing well though.

Penny Ratzlaff said...

I don't have any advice about leaving baby L with someone you don't know because I was never able to do it with my own 2. I was too afraid of what might happen. There are some very not nice people in the world and I didn't want to take any chances. Sorry. I know that doesn't help.

I did weight watchers after Riley was born to lose my pregnancy weight. It worked well.

I went on it again a couple of months ago to lose a few more pounds and gave up pretty quickly. I do enough measuring and counting with Riley's food. Doing it with mine too was just too much.

eu said...
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Nicole P said...

Hi L -

Glad things are well. So good to see an update here.

Re: weight loss. I'm right with you on the sweat = better workout front, though I'm not sure I have any good advice given I've never been in the position of needing to use the daycare at the gym. For now, I guess, walking would be a good start.

A1C - very good!

Hope you stay well. How is the other project coming along? The one you emailed about?

David Stefanini said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ottoette said...

I can't help with the babysitting either - Kimo has only stayed with an old friend (once), Grandma or daycare. Maile hasn't stayed with anybody yet (5 months now!).
I have calmed down about the breastfeeding - I am doing the best I can and Good Start will fill in the rest. I'm sure I will get all wigged out about it again, but for today, all is well.
I read something interesting about metformin being used for milk supply in PCOS moms but I have never heard of a type 1 taking it for any reason.
Your weight loss is doing great. All things in good time!
60 mins of moderate walking IS an awesome workout. Just do it!

christina(apronstrings) said...

hey watson had her babies. details on my blog. ; )