Mari Walker

Our four-year-old daughter is very excited about becoming a big sister, and she’s maintained a very positive attitude about the new baby since we told her around week 12 of the pregnancy. (We didn’t tell anyone else before her, since it impacts her more than pretty much anyone else.) It’s good that we’re expecting another girl, since she suggested we just “pretend it’s a girl baby if we have a boy baby.” So far my daughter hasn’t been around many babies, but when she is she loves them. We also haven’t had much reason to visit the hospital, so we knew that the sibling preparation class at Woman’s Hospital would be a great idea. We signed up for the A Baby is Coming class a couple months before our due date. Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when published.)

As I am rounding the bend to the end of this pregnancy and my experience with gestational diabetes (and hopefully diabetes all together – unless I should ever become pregnant again), I find myself wanting a cookie more than ever. Both literally and metaphorically. I have worked very hard to maintain my blood glucose levels, and so far my readings have been well managed with diet and exercise. I can’t speak to the experience of insulin-controlled diabetes or how that changes things, but my experience with diet-controlled GD has produced an obsession with food and eating, although hopefully it’s improved my relationship to see food more as simply fuel. But I’ll be honest, I still have carb and sweets cravings and know it would be a slippery slope to falling back into the food-as-comfort attitude I’ve had most of my life. Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when first published.)

All pregnant women miss some foods and drink that are on the verboten list such as sushi, wine and cold sandwiches. I miss those things too, but I have an even longer list of “wish I could haves.” Here are just a few I’ve been thinking about. In addition to the raw fish aspect of sushi I can’t even work in a California roll because of the white rice that would spike my blood sugar. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. I also haven’t really been able to eat other Asian foods – Thai especially is too carb heavy, and I can manage Chinese if I just do steamed veggies and a non-fried meat dish (much less tasty than what I’m really craving – I’ll tell you that!). Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blo g. (Called Mommy-Go-Round when published.)