Just a headache?

I had a really bad headache the other night, and I couldn’t figure out why. I kept testing my BS, convinced that I was either high or low since I had this unexplained pain in my head. Finally, after a few normal tests, I arrived at a simple explanation—it was just a headache. As a PWD (person with diabetes), I find myself constantly patrolling my own body for any sign of something being amiss with my blood sugar, and sometimes I forget that other forces besides diabetes can also impact how I’m feeling. It’s hard to turn that line thinking off, and I’ve started wondering about how this mindset will impact a pregnancy.

I’ve spent so much time thinking about and preparing for how my diabetes is going to impact my pregnancy, that I have forgotten to take the time to really consider how the pregnancy will impact me (yes, I am separate from my diabetes, although sometimes its hard to remember that). I didn’t think, for example, that I may be sick to my stomach, regardless of what my blood sugar is. I may get hot/uncomfortable at night without being high or low. I may be utterly exhausted, even if my numbers are and have been within a perfectly healthy range. I may have food cravings that are completely independent of a low blood sugar.

In some strange way, it’s exhilarating to think that my body will be communicating with me in a whole new way that is not necessarily driven by the fact that I have this thing called diabetes. I’m excited that I’ll have the opportunity to listen to my body and evaluate what is going on without my very first thought automatically turning to the numbers on my meter (although, who am I kidding, that will still often be at least in the top 2). It will be like finally, something in my body will be stronger than the diabetes, and while pregnancy won’t always produce the most welcome symptoms, it will be nice to know that diabetes doesn’t have absolute control all the time.