Less (Sugar) is More

A week ago today, Jude and I met with a nutritionist and a staff nurse at Baptist Hospital's Diabetes Clinic for a consultation due to her gestational diabetes diagnosis. The nutritionist provided us with a lot of helpful information on foods Jude should and shouldn't eat, taught us how high carbohydrate foods can raise Jude's blood sugar level to unhealthy levels, and gave us a sample diet plan to follow. Very, very helpful information. The staff nurse taught Jude how to prick her finger (which she has to do 4 times a day) and check her blood sugar level.

We left the Diabetes Clinic around noon and ate lunch at Bread & Company, armed with the knowledge we needed to help Jude select a meal low in carbohydrates. Thus began Jude's 10-week journey down the low carbohydrate trail. So far, she's eating a lot of chicken, chicken salad, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, cheese, toast, etc. Oh, and peanut butter - she's eating lots of peanut butter. She's avoiding all juices, fruit in the morning, potatoes, pasta, potato chips, etc. Generally, excessive amounts of carbohydrates are bad and protein is good.

The really, really great news is that for the past week, her blood sugar level has been within the normal range for a pregnant woman on every occasion except for two. Both times when her blood sugar level tested high, she had eaten a chicken wrap sandwich (Subway, etc.). So, now we know - no more wraps! She's doing fantastic overall and we're very relieved, needless to say, that her blood sugar level has been where it needs to be.

This morning, as part of the "Pregnancy Empathy Plan," I pricked my finger and checked my blood sugar. Actually, I had to prick it twice to get a drop of blood out of it. My blood sugar was fine and I didn't even pass out. Now, that's a real surprise.

What's in a Name?

One of the more interesting things Jude and I have realized is that the older you are when you have a child, the harder it is to find a suitable name. Not to agree on a name, mind you, but to find a name. Many names that might otherwise be perfectly fine won't work, for the simple reason that one of us is carrying baggage around attached to a name as a result of a past relationship, incident or unpleasant memory.

We're having a boy, so certain names are off limits because I don't want to be reminded of one of Jude's ex-boyfriends every time I tell my son to stop pulling the cat's tail. Similarly, crushes she has or in the past, has had, on celebrities or public figures eliminates other names . . . no Matthew (Broderick), no Fred (LeBlanc), no Matt (Damon), etc. You get the idea.

Then, of course, there's the fact we have different ideas about what would be a appropriate name for our son. Early on in the process, Jude mentioned she liked biblical names. "Great," I said. "Me, too. Like Malachi, Ezekiel or Jeremiah." "Uh, no," she replied. "Like Luke or Mark." Wow. Jude also rejected, out of hand, "Psalms" and "Moses."

No one believes this, but we haven't selected a name yet. When friends ask if we have decided on a name, I remind them that Jude and I are the type of people who pack the night before we are scheduled to leave on a 10-day trip. Seriously. Also, we do agree that as silly as it may sound, we want to actually see our son first, before we decide on a name for certain. I mean, we don't want to settle on "George," then see our son for the first time after he is born and realize he looks more like a "Henry."

Theoretically, we have a list of possible names, although we haven't really started compiling an actual list. We do agree, however, that either one of us can exercise veto power to exclude a name from the list if that name, for whatever reason, is just not palatable. With that in mind, Jude has vetoed "Phinneus," "Huck," "Earl," "Tater," Woodrowe" and "Theodore."

I find myself thinking about names a lot, these days. Especially in church . . . and when I'm driving . . . and when I'm trying to sleep . . . and when I'm running. In other words, most of the time.

Child Birth Education Class

Tonight, Jude and I attended our third (of six) child birth education classes at Baptist Hospital. Running late, as usual, trying to get home from work, then to the hospital for the class. Rush, rush, rush. Still, it was nice to arrive, sit down in one place for a couple of hours and spend time with other couples experiencing the miracle of pregnancy and child birth for the first time, just like us.

First, we broke up into groups (men and women) and brainstormed about what the men could do to help the women during labor and delivery. Among the more clever answers from the men were - 1) whatever she says; 2) give her jewelry; 3) don't eat in front of her; and 4) don't pass out. Probably the best answer from the women was the most simple - listen. That's the one I've got to remember. Well, that one and "don't pass out."

Next, we saw a film on epidurals and medically assisted child birth. The film showed not one, but two, actual child births. I hope I'm getting less squeamish, because tonight I didn't feel like I was going to have to run from the room during the film. I must admit, thought, watching an anesthesiologist perform an epidural was more than a little scary to me. That's one helluva long needle.

We finished up the class with about 10 minutes of quiet time, while Jude lay on our mat and practiced breathing. Very relaxing, with soft music in the background and our teacher hypnotically instructing the mothers to think about their "happy places." Mostly, I thought about baby names.