If you’ve ever been or are currently pregnant, then you understand how your relationship with food can drastically change during this time. There’s morning sickness, intense cravings, bla bla bla — you know all this. I was expecting all that. What I was not expecting was getting diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GD). In case you don’t know what that is, it’s a condition that develops during pregnancy where placental hormones give the a-okay for the pancreas to take a little vacay from insulin production. This, in turn, causes high blood sugar levels and must be controlled by diet modification and sometimes insulin shots. If ignored, it can have negative and possibly life-threatening effects on the baby.
Given that I weighed around 125 at the time of the dreaded diagnosis (28 weeks), I was shocked to find out that I had GD. I was told I would have to check my blood sugar levels four times a day and count my carbs. Ok, no problem. Wait, y’mean I have to prick my finger to check my sugar levels? Crapbag. Wait, y’mean I can’t really eat shit that tastes good and that I crave? Double crapbag. I spent the next 12 weeks of my pregnancy being obsessed with cupcakes. I never really cared for cupcakes or cake before but when I was told I couldn’t have any, it became a VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM. I constantly thought about cupcakes, talked about cupcakes, dreamed about cupcakes, looked at pictures of cupcakes, imagined the smell of cupcakes…I basically wanted to have sex with cupcakes. I had a sickness. There were moments of severe weakness, where I would weigh the importance of my baby’s well being with the importance of satisfying my strongest. craving. ever.
I told my husband to remind me during labor that when this was all over, I’d have my beloved cupcake (oh, right, and a baby, too). Now I understand why they have shops solely devoted to cupcakes with names like Saint Cupcake. Cupcakes truly are saints. My love of them hasn’t faded since I gave birth and I suppose I have GD to thank for my new-found religion, Cupcakism. Anybody can join — all you have to do is believe in the power of the almighty cake in the shape of a cup.