An Insight Into My Gestational Diabetes Journey:

For all those who are wondering why a food blogger sharing a personal story in her very first blog post, let me tell you that my gestational diabetes journey was the life changing moment that encouraged me to start this blog. Well, I am not one of those moms who spent her maternity days in happiness and joy surrounded by all positive feelings, good food (it really does matter), and enjoying everything that she craves for. While it seemed so in the beginning, there came a time when I felt slammed under a pile of grief when the results of my glucose tolerance test came, and having gestational diabetes was confirmed.

After months of trying to have a baby, when SG and I found out about my pregnancy on a cold and frosty morning in March, there were no words to describe our joy. That one moment when the nurse asked us how we would plan to spend the next 37 weeks, I experienced a bit of the greatest feeling on earth: the joy of motherhood. From then on, we had planned a lot for our sweet little girl.

When You’re Not Ready..

Just like any other appointment, SG and I visited my ob-gyn for a routine weekly check-up on my 37^th week. The next day was Thanksgiving, and we did have a massive shopping expedition planned for the Black Friday. After the consultation and ultrasound in the high-risk unit, my ob-gyn just walked in and asked me to get admitted in the evening. It was quite shocking for both of us. While the feeling of seeing our newborn was entirely exciting, the fear of complications during delivery engrossed my cheerful mood. It was because I had gestational diabetes. With no dilation and no effacement, I had to get induced to deliver the baby that evening.

A Bit From the Beginning:

The last few months of my first pregnancy were not so easy to deal with, considering the amount of physical and emotional stress I was going through while having gestational diabetes. Considering my high GTT results, both SG and I were not sure how to keep my glucose levels sane. Frustrated and disappointed, I spent hours in finding low-carb recipes online and came across a plenty. There was everything from a mushroom pizza to a Cajun cauliflower pilaf. But, I didn’t find anything such as low-carb Indian comfort food recipe and any of those simple and quintessential, home cooked meals that we like to eat every day.

Bit more about GD:

I could foresee it each time during my high-risk ultrasound. And after every prick, I felt the fear, disappointment and emotionally heavy. Feeling saddened, worried and helpless were not the actual state of mind. There it was, the age-old friend of us: FEAR, confronting who was the most difficult thing for me at that point. After some trial and error, and lots of tweaks and changes, I created a real good diet plan that actually worked for me.

Every day was not the same, but most of the time I was successful in keeping my glucose levels under control. Some weekly ultrasound scans gave excellent results, while a few showed high amniotic fluid around the baby. Oh well! This changing graph seemed not so good for our baby, and hence, the doctor decided to get me induced to deliver the baby two and half weeks prior to the due date.

To be continued..(Don't forget to come back later to read the part-2 of My Journey With Gestational Diabetes)

Gestational Diabetes Craving and a Recipe Very Close to My Heart:

Pregnancy comes with its own features, as they say. All through my pregnancy, I craved for frozen custard, tasty Indian desserts and loads of Indian snacks, especially the carb-rich ones like Pani Puri. SG and I waited till my 23^rd week GTT to know if I am diabetic. And with a hope that I won’t fail the GTT, we both planned to enjoy a pani puri dinner after the result comes.

However, things were very different from the day we found out about my gestational diabetes. Counting carbs, walking after every meal, checking blood sugar before and after meal and keeping the levels under control became our primary priority. In all those days, I always craved for pani puri even knowing the fact that I am not allowed to eat those. My body wasn’t even able to process the sugar from a small apple, forget the carb-rich pani puri I was craving for. It was a strict no-no for me.

That's when the thought of creating a low-carb pani puri came into my mind. The recipe I am going to share with you all in the next article is a low-carb version of pani puri, which is totally safe to enjoy in moderation or in abundance, if you ever crave for this spicy, tangy and lip-smacking Indian street food.

Don't forget to check our next recipe article and part-2 of My Journey With Gestational Diabetes, and thanks for stopping by. See you later..

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