Author: Diana Barreto

Hi! My name is Diana and I am here to share my story with diabetes. I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes at the age of 20 and then at the age of 29, I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. I am sharing past experiences along with current ones!
Pregnancy with Diabetes

Hospital Day 1 – Birth Story continued

Diana Barreto

Monday, July 24, 2023

As soon as the nurse told me I wasn’t leaving until I was delivering my son, I texted my husband to tell him and he replied back if he could be with me as at this point, he was still in the waiting room. I then asked the nurse and she said they were going to be admitting me and he could meet us in the hallway.

I wanted so badly to let my parents know but they had just left for Mexico a few days before and I didn’t want to worry them so I decided to not say anything for now.

I then had to text my friend to let her know I wasn’t going to be there for my goddaughter’s baptism and explained why. She was the sweetest and understood and sent me pictures afterward.

We got situated in the hospital room and I remember feeling sad, confused, worried, anxious and upset.

  • Sad – I felt sad that I wasn’t going to be there for my goddaughter’s baptism. I felt sad that I needed to cancel the maternity photo shoot that was scheduled to take place in less than two weeks. I was sad that I wouldn’t be home to decorate the nursery and go through all the baby clothes, toys, towels, etc.
  • Confused – How was I going to stay in the hospital for 6.5 weeks? How/why did my water break? What does that mean for me? What does that mean for my son?
  • Worried – I still had one week left of work and was scheduled to see patients the rest of the week and had unfinished notes. How was I going to finish my notes? What are my remaining patients going to be told? How am I going to know how to do labor as I never took any classes? How do I tell my parents?
  • Anxious – How was I going to stay in the hospital for 6.5 weeks? How was labor going to go? I didn’t take any classes as they were scheduled in two weeks so how am I going to know what to do?
  • Upset – I felt upset that I wasn’t going to be there for my goddaughter’s baptism. I felt upset that I needed to stay at the hospital. I was upset that I wasn’t prepared for this.

I decided to let my little sister know and I asked her what she thought about telling our parents about me being hospitalized and she suggested I say something as they would want to know. I knew she was right but needed confirmation it was the right thing to do.

I text my parents and of course my mom was worried. I told her I was okay, Xavier was okay and we were just waiting. I convinced my mom to not fly back and that I would keep her updated daily.

I convinced my husband to head home as he worked the night shift and we had two dogs at home that needed to be taken care of so he reluctantly went home.

The nurses were super nice, personable, informative and reassuring and that was extremely helpful.

I remember they were checking my blood sugars almost every hour until I told them I had a pump and my own CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) and that I can just tell them what my blood sugar was without them needing to poke me and they were very grateful about that as they also didn’t want to keep poking me once an hour! So that was cool!

It was my first time being admitted to the hospital and my first overnight stay in the hospital. Never thought this would have happened to me but I am grateful for the mindset I had all along:

Whatever happens, happens. I need to just go with the flow. A birth plan is just a plan. I need to hope for the best and try to prepare for the worst.

Pregnancy with Diabetes

My Birth Story – Part I

Diana Barreto

Story time!

It’s Monday, July 24, 2023 and maternity leave is set to start in less than two weeks. I am excited as I have started to wrap things up at work and I am looking ahead to focusing on organizing the baby’s nursery, washing the rest of the baby clothes that are 0-3 months, setting up toys, putting away baby clothes that are 3 months and up, etc.

I get ready for work as usual (I start work at 9 am and I am working from home) and go to use the restroom and notice some clear liquid on my underwear. I don’t think much of it and just notice it and then start work. About 2 hours pass and I need to use the restroom and notice some more clear liquid again. I then google it and per google, it could be watery discharge which is normal. I decide to keep working. It’s now lunchtime, 12:30 pm, and I use the restroom again and more clear liquid. I decide to let my husband know and how it’s been showing up since this morning and he suggested I call the nurse advice line just to be cautious. [He later told me he knew what it meant but didn’t want to worry me].

I call the nurse advice line and speak with the nurse and she goes, “It’s probably nothing but if you’d like, you can go to the hospital just to make sure.” I let her know the hospital where I am supposed to delivery is about a 30 minute drive and she said it wasn’t anything emergent and I should be fine to go to my designated hospital. I thank her and tell my husband what she said and he replies, “I think we should go.” I give a little push back and he continues to lightly insist so I give in and say, “Okay fine, we’ll go. I’ll let my job know that I will be out for the rest of the day.”

I teams message my medical assistant and clinic manager and I start packing up. For whatever reason, I decide to take my hospital bag with me which had been packed a week ago. It also happened to be the baptism of my goddaughter so I remember telling my husband, “after the hospital, we can go straight to the baptism.” I take the gifts that I had bought and put them in a bag.

As we are getting in the car to leave, my husband casually says, “I think we should go to Pomona Valley Hospital, it’s closer.” I reply back that the nurse said it was fine and that we can go to Queen of the Valley. He makes a slight scowl and starts the car. As we were on the freeway, I said, “Okay, fine, let’s go to Pomona Valley.”

We head to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center and I check in at the OB floor as earlier instructed. They then triage me and place me in a small room. I am texting my husband every step of the way as they had him wait in the OB waiting room. I decide to not text my parents and sister just yet as I was convinced it was nothing and we’d be leaving shortly. Mind you, my parents were in Mexico visiting family.

I am attended by a resident and I let her know whats been happening and what the nurse said when I called the nurse advice line. She says okay and tells me it’s probably nothing. I then see her talking to who I assume is the attending and then she comes back shortly after and says they’re going to do a pelvic exam.

They do the pelvic exam and the cotton swab they take out is black. I look at the resident and ask what it meant (I don’t remember feeling concerned). The nurse then said it means a rupture of my membranes. I don’t fully capture what that means and I ask if I can leave soon. The nurse says no and leaves. She then comes back and I ask again how much longer until I can leave and she goes, “you’re not leaving anytime soon.” I ask if I will be capable of returning to work tomorrow and then she stops and looks at me and says, “You can’t go home. You need to stay until you deliver.”

My son’s estimated due date is September 7, 2023.

To be continued….