Into the Insulin Resistance Nightmare

:My Journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

 27 Weeks 4 Days

I can't believe it's been about 10 weeks since I have had a post update.  Man, time has flown.  (Well...for the most part.)  Life has surely changed since my last post.  The pregnancy in general is still going great though :)  I've had many more doctor appointments in the last few months, but with 10 doc. appts. in the first month alone, they have actually slowed down during the second trimester. (Thank goodness!) 

Our last ultrasound was around week 25.  Baby Belle (middle name...but we might have her first name narrowed down now too)  was measuring in the 40% at 1 lb 10 oz.  She still looks great, they say, and we agree ;)  Still head down with her legs hanging out by her lil face. She is on the right side of my belly with the placenta on the left.  It's so funny because my lower, right side of my belly sticks out farther than anywhere else.  I guess, I just always thought pregnant bellies were perfectly round, haha, not so much!!  We are supposed to be getting monthly ultrasounds since week 20.  But we will have to wait about 6.5 weeks to check on her again since we will be at home during that time.  I will be close to 32 weeks by the time we get back.  I can't wait to see how big she will be by then :) (Well, I hope not too big...#diabetes.)

Now onto the not so awesome part!  I knew it was coming, but it sure hasn't made it easy.  The dreaded insulin resistance started kicking in big time around week 23.  I mean, I have been changing my basals and carb ratios ever since even before I knew I was pregnant, so it has always been hard work.....but nothing like this frustration!  I have had to change my numbers so many times during this pregnancy already that I can't even tell you exactly what my basals were before I was pregnant!  This is what a can remember pre pregnancy...

Basals (This is how much insulin I get every hour. Not based on eating.)
-between .25u to .60 depending on the time of day & month

Carb Ratios (This is what is called a bolus.  It is how much insulin I need for how many carbs I eat)
-1 unit for 26 carbs for 3 weeks of the month (1:26)
-1 until for 13 carbs for 1 week each month (1:13)
(As you can see, hormones play a big roll in messing with my resistance)

-My total daily insulin was on average of 12u-18u for the 3 weeks, and about 15u-20u for the 1 week depending on the amount of carbs and exercise each day. 

In the first trimester, things started changing a lot already.  My basals actually went down from pre pregnancy.  My carb ratios got split up into three different ratios for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Breakfast is definitely harder to control during the pregnancy than later in the day.  This is where I have seen my most resistance!!  During good times, my numbers will stay about the same for a week or two.  It gets harder when they start changing every 3 days or so.  You think you finally have the right calculations, and then out of no where, the highs or lows (mostly highs these days) start showing up.  Then you have to decide if it's just the food you ate, miscalculating how many carbs you ate, the timing, or if it's time to start adjusting your numbers again. 

Here are my carb ratios as of today...

Breakfast- 1:6
Lunch- 1:9
Dinner- 1:12

Huge difference from the 1:26 or 1:13 all day ratios that I had before.  My total daily insulin has already doubled!  Going from an average of 15u a day to now 30u a day.  I know it doesn't matter how much insulin I need to take to keep my baby safe, but I have always had a very low intake of insulin compared to most type 1's.  It's just hard some times to give yourself that much insulin when you are not used to it.  It's actually a good thing, and means the pregnancy is going normal.....a normal pregnant body would do this automatically.  I just need to remember that in the upcoming months when things continue to get worse.  My numbers have been pretty steady for about a week and a half, but now I'm seeing more high numbers.  It may be time to adjust.....again!  My endo says she would not be surprised if my breakfast ratios are at a 1:1 by the end of my pregnancy.  I can't even wrap my head around that.  Going from taking 1 unit for 26 carbs to having to take 26 units for that same 26 carbs just makes me shutter!!!  Ugh, I guess we will deal with that if/when it comes.  For now, I'm still dealing with these constant, yet unpredictable changes. 

My basals are starting to climb back up as well. These are more of a slow climb and not as dramatic!

-between .35u to .5u an hour depending on time of day

I have 2 more doctor appointments before we fly home next week.  One with the OB just to check up and make sure baby is doing good, and we are safe to travel.  And one with my endo.  (I go every 2 weeks right now, which is nice since it was twice a week for awhile.  Entering the 3rd trimester soon though, we will start meeting weekly and at some point twice a week again to keep up with these changes.)  I have had my labs drawn every month to check my A1C, thyroid levels (I have a mild hypothyroid also), and blood counts.  My A1C's have all been between 5.4 and 5.7, which all are considered non diabetic. (Pretty awesome!)  Since my 10.1 A1C at diagnosis, I have not had an A1C above 5.7 and I hope to keep that up as long as I can!  But believe me, it comes with a lot of hard work!!  My thyroid levels started to creep up, so we increased my dosage slightly.  So far, it seems to be working.  I also found out that my platelets are always a little low.  They say it should not be a big deal, just interesting.  My last labs also showed that my white blood count and absolute were high, meaning a possible infection.  I get my labs drawn again on Friday so we will see if they are back down or still elevated, and go from there. 

Ending on a good note, 1 week from today we will be back home again in Indiana :)  We are so excited to be able to spend 3 weeks at home!  I am a little nervous about the plane rides.  I have been having a lot of sharp pains in my ribs lately (doc says from stretching, but I say it has to be a knife or something......it's painful) and I hope I'm not too uncomfortable being that I will be between 7 & 7 1/2 months pregnant on the two flights.  At least Ry always lets me have the window seat, so hopefully I can get some sleep :)

BABYMOON :)

:My Journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

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:17 weeks 5 days:

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We returned home from our vacation about 2 weeks ago. I must say, it was pretty amazing!! I'm so glad we decided to make this getaway happen! We were not sure if my doctor would let me go, but with a phone appointment and lots of monitoring, we were given the okay :) Before we found out we were pregnant, we wanted to go on a 29 day cruise in April from Sydney to San Fransisco. Unfortunately I would have been 1 week too far along to go on the cruise while pregnant. They will not let you on the ship if you will be 24 weeks along before you get off the ship. We were still able to visit a lot of the same islands of the longer cruise. We missed out on Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia :( I guess that gives us something to go for on our next BIG vacation.......which will be a loooong time away I'm sure! But we did get to stay in the overwater bungalows in French Polynesia. We would not have been able to do with the other cruise. They were so awesome! It was like something that you dream of, not something that you actually get to do!

The first part of our trip we flew to Hawaii and got to spend a lot of time with our niece Rayleigh! It was so nice to see my sister, J, and Ray since we only get to see them a few times a year. Three days later we got on the Ocean Princess for an 11 night cruise. We went to Kauai first. We went on a 2 week cruise around the Hawaiian Islands last year, so we figured out different things to do on the islands this year. We rented a car and visited Waimea Canyon (gorgeous), and Poipu Beach to snorkel (a very popular beach on the south side of the island). Then we cruised to Maui. We saw whales off the back of the boat while we were eating breakfast that morning :) We decided to go back to Black Rock, because we love it there. We did some snorkeling, shopping, and took some pictures by the banyan tree again (this tree really takes up a whole block)! Off to the Big Island that night. In Hilo we rented a car again. We went to the active volcano and the waterfalls last year, so we weren't really sure what we wanted to do this time. It was kind of a rainy day, so no go for the beach. We did a scenic drive around part of the island, and then went to a place that had hot springs. Well, it was supposed to have hot springs, but they were COLD :( Too much rain! So we didn't get in. Still had a good day though!

After leaving Hilo, we took off for the islands of French Polynesia :) 5 days at sea. Which isn't for everyone, but we love sea days too!! We did have some rough seas for 2 nights. We were on a smaller ship (about a third of the size of the big ships we are used to) so you could feel the rocking more and it was windy. Ryan and I both had a sick night puking, but baby had something to do with mine. About half way through (week 14) I started getting over my morning sickness for the most part!!! On first day at sea was our 4th anniversary and captain's night, so we got to really dress up. (Ry got to wear his new suit for the first time, and he looked pretty good!!) It was a special night. We had some great relaxing days by the pool and in the casino. Just being able to sleep in and be on no schedule is nice! We saw some pretty beautiful sunsets while at sea too!! They were remarkable :)

Our first stop in French Polynesia was Bora Bora :) Words can't really describe the beauty of that place! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!! We had the perfect day while we were there too. The water alone will take your breathe away! You could see up to 4 or 5 different shades from deep blue, electric blue, sky blue, sea green, etc. in just one glance! There is a lot of shallow water around the island and around the motu's (the little private islands surrounding Bora Bora) that make the variations of color so abundant. While we were there, we decided to take a private boat tour around the island to snorkel in the coral gardens and swim with the stingrays and sharks!!!! First, the boat tour around the island was worth the $$$$. It is the best way to see this gorgeous place! The scenery doesn't get much better than it is here! Our stops along the way.....1st was the stingrays and sharks! Our guide stopped the boat in what looked like the middle of no where! Just a shallow part of the ocean. He got in with a bucket full of fish, and right away the stingrays showed up. It was like instant (you could tell they were used to being fed). Tons of them were swimming around all the sudden, and they were big! Then......came the sharks! The first one I saw came from under the boat, then there was another, and another. Ryan was itching to get in the water with the first sight of them. So, he was in with the under water camera pretty quick!! Me on the other hand, I was still a little in shock. I was taking pictures of all the stingray, sharks and Ry from the boat! After a while, Ry finally talked me into getting in. EEK!!! Not gonna lie, I was scared!! I mean, they were real stingrays and sharks out in the wild, not in some safe place where they were kept! Our only instructions were to not touch the sharks at all or the stingrays mouth! The stingrays were all over you if you would let them! I stayed close to the boat, trying to keep on arm on the ladder in case I needed a quick escape ;) I tried to not get too close to the sharks, but they were swimming around freely (there were probably a dozen or more of them around the boat at a time). Once we were there for awhile, the guide swam us out to the coral gardens for some beautiful snorkeling. There were not tons of fish here, but the coral was the most beautiful colors of coral we have ever seen........from pink, purple, bright blue and green, to almost any color you can think of! It was very pretty! On our way swimming back to the boat we came across a shark that totally freaked me out. It's one thing to be around them when the guide is by the boat feeding them, but a totally different story when you are surprised by one in the middle of snorkeling!!! Then we saw our guide grabbing something out of the coral with his snorkel mask. When we got back up by the boat, we saw that it was an octopus! Whoa.......we weren't expecting that one!! I got back in the boat (That was enough excitement for me!) The guide told me to get our camera, and then he put the octopus on Ryan's head! Wow! Ry said it was latched on pretty good. It was hard for the guide to take the octopus back! Lastly they took us to a deeper spot to snorkel with lots more fish! They gave us bread to feed the tons of different, beautiful fish. Overall, this was probably the best thing we did on our vacation! There were only 4 of us on the tour. The other couple didn't even get in the water much, so we got so much one on one time. The whole tour was amazing!! And Bora Bora was our favorite island :) Maybe, just maybe, someday when our kids are grown we will make it back ;)

After a little shopping, (Not much, because EVERYTHING in Bora Bora and the other islands of French Polynesia is ridiculously expensive. So expensive that it makes Hawaii look cheap! Just a normal tourist T-shirt that Ryan liked was over $50. Yeah, we didn't buy it.) we were back on the ship and off to Moorea that night. Since we were going to be coming back to Moorea for 4 days after the cruise, we weren't sure what we wanted to do here this day. We ended up going to a pearl shop on the other side of the island and then to a beach close by. We rented a kayak and rowed over to a secluded area where a lady told us there were sharks and stingrays. It was a private island where we saw many people from the ship on different tours. We got to see a few more stingrays and did some more snorkeling. We didn't see any sharks though (can't lie, I was not too upset). Then Ry had to row the whole way back pretty much by himself because my blood sugar was low and our bag, with snacks, was back on the beach. Sorry babe!

Our last stop on the cruise was Tahiti! This was always my dream place :) But, the more I read about French Polynesia, the more I learned that it was actually much less desirable than it's surrounding islands (Moorea, Bora Bora, Taha'a, ect). That is why we choose to take the ferry back to Moorea instead of staying on Tahiti after the cruise. The city of Papeete is much different than the small towns on the other islands. It was a big metro shopping area. We walked around for a while and did some shopping around the city. Then we took the ferry over to Moorea to check into our resort for the next few days!!

Moorea Pearl Resort & Spa was the resort we stayed at. It was beautiful! We were so excited to get into our overwater bungalow for the stay!! We had been seeing them for a few days now around the different islands. We moved to bungalow 4o2 after a brief stop in 420. I really wanted a bungalow with a view of the sunset. Since we were paying a ridiculous amount for the most expensive bungalows, I thought we might as well get one that made us happy! So Ryan got it switched for me......thanks honey, it was soooo worth it :) It was so nice to sit on our balcony over the water and watch the gorgeous sunsets every night (and we got some great pictures). Loved the glass floor to see the fish through the floor and the ladder right off our balcony into the coral for great snorkeling! For the next few days we hung out by the infinity pool, laid in the hammock, kayaked, snorkeled, rented a car to go around the island, sat on our balcony taking in the amazing views (we even got a show from a pod of dolphins right off our balcony one morning after breakfast), and spend a lot of quality time together. It was lovely! We are so in love, and a place like that makes it more special. We also talked about you a lot, baby. And, how different are lives are going to be when you join our little family. We love our life now, but we can't wait until you join it :)

Lastly, we flew back to Hawaii for 2 more nights before we headed back to California. It was a big surprise to us that our little nephew, Rylan, decided to arrive 7 weeks early!! So glad that he was doing good. We got to spend a little time with him in the hospital too. He is so precious!! We also got to spend a little more time with Carrie and Rayleigh during our stay. 3 weeks later.....and we were on a flight back to California :( I was sad it was over, but sooo happy that it happened! And, I couldn't be too sad because I was so excited to see you, baby, the next morning and make sure you were still doing okay (and you are doing great, thank you Jesus)!! Overall I was very pleased with how my blood sugars got along during our trip! I was still doing everything I was doing before, but time changes, new foods, carb guessing, and varied exercise can make things a little unpredictable (like diabetes isn't already unpredictable, right?!).

What an awesome way to spend our last BIG vacation together as just mommy and daddy!! We are so thankful that we got to experience this time together! It was such a special time that we will NEVER forget :) Sorry this post is so long.....it was just that amazing :)

12 Weeks!

:My Journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

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:12 weeks 3 days:

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We are almost through the 1st trimester. Yay! Unfortunately I'm still feeling nauseous everyday. Some days are just in the afternoon and evenings, but lately it's been spreading to ALL day :( I've been trying different medicine and vitamins, but nothing seems to be helping too much. I eat every 2-3 hours (more for blood sugar control, but heard that helps with nausea too), I tried the Sea bands, have a prescription for Zofran, trying 100mg of Vit B6 (currently), and also going to try the Scopolamine Patch for the cruise. I was hoping the nausea would be mostly over by the time we left for vacation. Doesn't look like that is going to happen. I will be 13 weeks we when get on the ship on Saturday. I will be saying goodbye to the 1st trimester and hoping it takes this sickness when it goes!! Soon I will be saying hello to my 2nd trimester and welcoming some of the best times during pregnancy (hopefully)......2nd trimester don't let me down :)

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So, I took a 12 week picture last Saturday. You can't really see much yet. (The pic was in the morning, and I think I look bigger at night!) I feel like I have already grown more in the 3 days since the picture too!

I can't believe we are leaving for our "Babymoon" tomorrow morning! A whole 3 weeks just to celebrate you baby (well mostly). We will be celebrating Valentine's Day, our 4th Anniversary, and most importantly, YOU :) This is a trip I have always wanted to do, but never really thought it would be possible. Well your daddy is making my dream vacation come true. 5 nights in Hawaii, 12 day cruise around the Hawaiian Islands then around the French Polynesian Islands, then 3 more nights in an overwater bungalow on Moorea!!! This will be our last BIG vacation before you join our family. Mommy & Daddy love each other very much, and we always want you to know that. We are very excited to be able to spend this time together in some of the most beautiful places on earth. Since you won't remember going to all these places, we will take lots of pictures to show you later :)

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These are all the diabetic supplies I need to take with me for our vacation.

These are all the meds I need to take with me for pregnancy.

Phew, that's a lot of stuff! My carry-on will for sure be full! I'm going to try to pick up some queasy drops (sugar free) today if I can find them. I also have all my log sheets to keep track of too. I will be having 1-2 phone appointments with my Endo while we are away. Then we have a OB and Endo appts on the morning after we get back!

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(Sorry for all the ":" The enter bar is no longer working once I upload a picture. Not sure why, so I'm using : for time being.)

God Gave Me You for the Ups & Downs

:My Journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

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11 weeks 6 days

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I knew this was going to be hard, but man this is going to be a lot harder than I thought! This was my thought, as I was sitting in the chair at my first endocrinology appointment since being pregnant, listening to her go over all the guidelines for a type 1 diabetic pregnancy. This was a new endocrinologist for me. My regular endo is located in Fort Wayne, IN. It worked fine seeing them 2-3 times a year. But now I would need to be going a lot more often (up to 2 times per week, EEK). So I did some research, and found the best endo around the Bay Area. Too bad he was booked until 3 months later. I knew I could not wait that long! The receptionist recommended another Dr. in the office, so I went with her. Since I was in Indiana for the first few weeks after we found out, I was almost 7 weeks at my first appointment.

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Not gonna lie, I did not love my endo during my first appointment! Actually when she stepped out of the room to get some more booklets, I told Ry this wasn't going to work and I needed to find a new endo right away. Well, the appointment went on (for over 2 hours) and things got better. And I do like her now. She is just a get to the point, by the book kind of doctor. At first it was overwhelming, but now I'm grateful at how diligent she is. Her goal is to keep baby and me safe too! I was just so used to managing this disease on my own, that it was hard to hand over a little control to the doctor. She did her understudy at UCLA and still uses all their guidelines. I must say, they are pretty intense! She said it was normal for the main doctor there to call his type 1 pregnant patients everyday to make changes to their insulin needs. Holy Cow....Everyday?! The goal is to have my blood sugars between 70-120 at all times. On the lower side for fasting and staying under 120 after meals. I'm pretty much checking my blood sugars every hour that I'm awake and twice in the middle of the night,about 15 times a day. (So much for getting good sleep before the baby arrives) She gave me loads of material from UCLA that states what to do when you blood sugar is this number, or this number, or this number. I'm eating every 2-3 hours to keep my blood sugars from crashing after meals and keep my carbs more spread out. She gave me a log sheet to record everything on. Starting with morning blood sugar, check for ketones, what I eat for every meal/snack, how many carbs, what my blood sugar was at 1 hr post meal, 2 hr post meal, etc, and over night checks. I also add exercise since that adds another curve in the mix.

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This is a log sheet I found that is similar to mine. Not identical, but you get the idea!

I started out with appointments twice a week. Then once a week. Now we are looking to go once every week and a half, if things are going ok. And this is supposed to be the easier time with your blood sugars. Oh 3rd trimester, I can't even begin to think about your and your insulin resistance right now! I have already made numerous changes to my basal rates and carb ratios. First few weeks I needed more insulin (being sick might have been involved in the increase), then about 9 weeks in they started to lower, which is normal for the 1st trimester. I have been dealing with a couple lows a day, but nothing too serious. Eating every few hours help catch the lows before they drop too low! My endo is great with me changes my ratios on my own, which is awesome.......because I would have anyway!! This disease is so personal, it's different for everyone. I do my best at adjusting my rates by what my numbers are showing. Then during my appointments, we analyze everything and try to make more tweaks if necessary! It's rough going over almost every number from the past week. It kinda makes me feel like I'm failing, even if I'm actually doing really well. (Which my endo continues to reassure me of how great I am doing.)You just want everything to be in range every time. Hello changing hormones, you make that impossible! The hardest for me right now (besides the guilt of highs) is finally getting your basal rates and carb ratios right, and then a few days later.......they are no longer working. Back to the drawing board trying to figure out what needs changed now. It's going to be a challenging process that's for sure, but it will all be worth it in the end. You are worth it baby :) And we get to see you today! Woohoo!!!!

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When I think about how wonderful Ryan has been through this whole process, it reminds me of the song, "God Gave Me You," by Blake Shelton. I can be a mess when my blood sugars are not where I think they should be. I feel angry, upset, sad, and guilty! And I'm not so fun to be around during these times :( Ry, I'm so thankful for your support and understanding!

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"God gave me you for the ups and downs

God gave me you for the days of doubt

And for when I think I lost my way

There are no words here left to say, it’s true

God gave me you"

I'm going to be a Mommy :)

:My journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

11 weeks 3 days

So Ryan and I have been talking about becoming parents for a few years now. It was always something we knew we wanted to do, but when was always the question. The longer we were married and the more freedom we found with traveling, the harder it got to actually start the process. Last fall we finally made the call that maybe it was time. I'm 28 now and with type 1 diabetes already making me a high risk pregnancy, I want to be done having kids before I'm 35. So that only gives us a few years. Not sure how many more we are planning on at this point, but just in case :) Right now, I'm overjoyed with one! We will see how my body (& and sanity) can handle this pregnancy and go from there!

We were able to see our lil cupcake (fyi: Ry is not so fond of that name) for the first time when we got back to California. We were home for a few weeks for Christmas when we shared our surprise with our families!! We found out we were pregnant 2 days before we flew home :) When we went in, I had figured that I was a little over 9 weeks along. The doc said the baby was measuring a little smaller at 8 weeks 4 days. When he said that everything looks great, it was like the best news we could ever hear. My blood sugars had been hard to control in the first few weeks, and I know how dangerous that can be for the baby. It is such a scary feeling! So seeing that precious boy or girl on the screen for the first time, I could not help but cry tears of joy. Everything was in the right place and baby had a strong heartbeat of 160. We actually got to see the tiny heart beating. That just put me over the top. I don't think I could have been more happy at that point. What an amazing feeling!! We get our 12 week ultrasound this Friday (in 3 days)! I feel like I have been counting down the days since we left the doc last time. I don't want to rush things, but I can't wait to hear that baby looks great again, see how much he/she has grown, and maybe hear the heartbeat this time. I don't understand how people can see that and think that we could do that. God is so much bigger than we can even comprehend. How amazing He is!!

Be back soon to fill you in more about how the diabetes is coming along with this process. Definitely ups and downs (to be expected). It's just so hard because I want to be perfect........yeah, I know it's not possible. I just want to keep baby safe! And yes, I'm working very hard at it! Well just wanted to let you know how thrilled we are to be parents. We love you baby so, so much already. But you already know that, we tell you everyday ;)

JDRF Walk for the Cure & San Diego Zoo

So Ryan and & I have been wanting to head down to Southern California for a long time now. It just never seems to work out. When we missed the JDRF Walk for the Cure in the Bay area, we took the chance to go to the one in San Diego! It was like a two for one. We finally made plans to head down south. While we were down there we wanted to visit Los Angeles also. So we spent 2 nights in S.D. and 2 nights in L.A. It's over an 8 hour drive down to S.D. and easily over 10 if in traffic. We did a pretty good job of missing most of the traffic.........L.A. held us up a lil, but not too bad!

The Walk was held in Balboa Park in S.D. It was such a beautiful place! And the weather...wow, it was warm by 8 am :) We had a great time on the walk and all the activities going on before/after the walk. We got a lot of free stuff/food! (subway, chick fillet, tiger bars, lunu bars, fruit, bagels, drinks. I also got a free meter and some info on the Dexcom CGM that I've been wanting) There were soooo many people there. Estimated between 4,000-6,000! And raised over $700,000. That is great considering this was just 1 of the 13 walks held in California alone! They have several walks in every state. Some of the groups had really cute shirts supporting their lil ones with Type 1. (Addison's Army (in pink camo), Catelynn's Crew, etc.) What a great experience for our first walk! Sadly we have no pictures because we left the camera in the car :(

On to the San Diego Zoo!! Since it is so famous and in Balboa Park where the walk was held, we decided to spend the rest of the day in the S.D. Zoo. We knew it would be expensive, but Holy Cow.....$74 for 2 people seems a lil much! But we were there and decided to go ahead and do it. It was huge! The passes came with a bus tour and the sky lift. We got a map and decided to just start walking from one section to the next. I think we saw almost every animal in that place, well except for the ones who were hiding ;) We walked for like 5 hours! It was great. We did take the sky lift from one side of the zoo to the other and then back at the end. We were going to do the bus tour at the end, but by that time we were pretty much ready to go! We had already seen it all :) We took a TON of pictures at the zoo! Good thing I finally remember to bring extra batteries. (I seems to always forget that) All the different and exotic types of cats are always my favorite.......who would have guessed, right?! But man, those monkeys were total hams as usual! They are starting to become my favorites also! Here are just a few highlights of the S.D. Zoo!

Pretty Kitty

Baby Giraffes

Big Rhino

Huge Elephant

Baby Panda we had to wait 1/2 hour in line to see!

Love this guy!

And my favorite of the day!

We stayed around and watched him for a long time.

He was so fun :)

Biggest Loser Doctor gets a big thumbs down!

So I love the Biggest Loser, and always have! But I'm getting a little tired of some of the misleading information they are sharing with the public. When the doctor was talking to each contestant about the medical conditions they have and are at risk for...........of course diabetes came up. First of all the doctor did not specify that he was talking about Type 2 diabetes (he just says diabetes.......like there is only one type). And then he proceeds to say. . . . "Diabetes is curable." REALLY?! That is the information you give to the whole world watching. Like the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes isn't confusing enough to the general public :/

FYI: Type 2 diabetes is the "diabetes" the doctor was talking about. Type 2 diabetes is curable for some people with diet and exercise. But unfortunately the doctor did not specify this as Type 2. Type 1 diabetes is NOT curable! Although I wish it was :)