When You're a Parent With Diabetes

the long version

Finding the time and energy to maintain a healthy diet and exercise program is a challenge for any parent-but it can be a matter of life and death for parents with diabetes. Diabetes in pregnancy, if poorly controlled, can increase the risk of miscarriage, birth defects, and prematurity. Mood swings and personality changes during a parent's spells of low blood sugar can frighten young children. And even on good days, it can be difficult for a parent to remember to check their glucose levels in the haste of getting the kids off to school.From the psychological to the medical to the purely practical, Kathryn Gregorio Palmer guides parents with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes through the ups and downs of staying healthy while raising a family. Helpful for adoptive and stepparents as well as moms and dads, the book answers questions such as: What are the risks of being pregnant with diabetes? Will I have the energy to handle a rambunctious child? Where can I hide my juice boxes so the kids don't accidentally drink them all? A mother of two, Palmer blends her own experience with expert advice and tips from other parents to create a compassionate and useful handbook that parents with diabetes will find indispensable.