How to Control Sugar Cravings During Pregnancy

One of my many problems is this uncontrollable LOVE for sweets. Sugar is the love of my life.

Unluckily, diabetes runs in the family. My maternal grandmother died of complications from diabetes, my maternal aunts and uncles are diabetics, and yes -my mom is diabetic. It's no surprise that I am also a diabetic and most probably, my two older sisters are diabetics waiting to happen too.

We are a clan of good cooks. My mom, my aunts, my sisters and I are all good in cooking, whether it's pasta, traditional Filipino dishes or desserts. Now, there's this belief, "When you love to cook, you love to EAT" -- and EATING is what our clan does best. ;-)

Obviously, our love for food is the main reason why our blood sugar is up the roof. We also have poor self control when it comes to controlling our appetite for carbohydrates and sugar. My cousins are all pasta addicts while I have a major weakness for anything S-W-E-E-T. Cake, ice cream, candies, chocolates, these are all staple food in my party list -- and I consider desserts as my "weekly" self reward.

Dear Lord, I am craving for this right now...

Upon knowing that I am pregnant to our second child, my husband demanded that I see an endocrinologist/diabetologist to ensure that I am not suffering from gestational diabetes like in my previous pregnancy four years ago. You see, my husband dislike the idea of spending money on blood glucose test strips and insulin injections - plus me whining. He hated the fact that he would need to constantly remind me to check my blood glucose, inject insulin and CONTROL my sugar cravings.

Checklist: Newborn Essentials and Other Basic Needs for Baby

The bucket list...

I am now on my 34th week of pregnancy and like most excited mothers, I am in a stage where I can't stop moving around to fix things. Aside from constantly putting the crib sheets and pillows on and then removing it again (it might get dusty) then deciding to put it on again the next day, I am finding it hard to resist the need to check the baby's list to see if I am still missing some items.

I've been bugging my ever supportive husband (much to his dismay) to go to the mall almost everyday to check the purple stroller, the purple comforter, the purple this and the purple that -but like any one living on a strict budget, buying all those things I want for my baby is out of reach, so I have no choice but to be practical and buy ONLY the things that we should prioritize first.

To help fellow OC (obsessive compulsive) mothers, here's a list from Baby Company of all the things we need to prepare for the birth day of our little tummy passenger/s (the ones in green are the items which I think are important, as the rest of the items you can buy when baby is a little older):

10 Tips to Prevent Bad Hair Days

A "bad hair day", according to the Urban Dictionary is "a day when everything is going bad. It has nothing to do with how one's hair really is, it's just that everything is going wrong. The term "bad hair day" derives from how psycho one feels because everything is going all wrong on a particular day!"

OR it may literally mean having your crowning glory behave like sh*t. Let's admit it, when we find our hair unmanageable, we often end up ill tempered.

Fortunately for some lucky women, they get the bouncy and shiny hair of their dreams during pregnancy... but for some unfortunate pregnant ladies (as if morning sickness, mood swings, extra pounds, countless new zits and dark underarms aren't enough to torment us), dull, sometimes frizzy and lifeless hair is the result of that sudden boost in hormones.

Tips on Surviving Unemployment

Being pregnant and unemployed is one of the most stressful combination. I mean, worrying about where to get the money to pay for my doctors' professional fees and how to pay for the hospital bill once I give birth is a total headache, especially since we've spent most of our savings buying meds for my gestational diabetes, prenatal checkups and ER bills (I've been in and out of the hospital due to asthma). Unfortunately, my husband is not earning much and I've earned basically nothing for the past months due to my [unpaid] sick leaves/absences. To top it off, my husband and I are in serious debt.

So what to do? I know that our situation might sound hopeless, but rather than mope around and drown in self pity, today, I decide to swallow it all up and ACCEPT that I am unemployed but NOT helpless. You see, I like to believe it's all in the mindset. So starting today, I'm going to set a personal goal: to survive.

Get up and make things happen!

Mrs. Unemployed

And so yesterday, I finished up working with my company of 4 years. I wouldn't say I was happy about it, after all, it provided my family bread and butter since 2011, but I was somehow relieved from all the dramas and stress at work. Though I am now officially part of the 7% unemployed folks in the Philippines, is now a PAL (n: palamunin) by profession and due to give birth in a months time, I think I don't have much choice but to enjoy this "career" for a while.

Now I can take my OB's "bed rest" advice more seriously.