Health Expert Kelsey Bonilla shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/5868/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/5868/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/5868/index http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/149566/disciplined-diet Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:25:00 -0500 Kelsey Bonilla Time sure does fly by; it's been 5 months since I switched from pumping back to MDI.  Wow.  During the indulgent holiday season, I had a few moments where I missed the ease of being able to cover a big meal with my insulin pump.  However, I kept looking forward to the start of the New Year so I could put my new eating plan into action.    Now that my pregnancies and breastfeeding days are behind me, I have decided to... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/149566/disciplined-diet http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/146802/simple-optical Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:50:00 -0500 Kelsey Bonilla I didn't realize how timely my recent dilated eye exam was until I read the HealthCentral article regarding November, as Diabetes Awareness Month, being an appropriate time to get the annual check-up.  For me, my wedding anniversary just so happened to mark the time to have my optical health checked.   My husband and I have had annual eye exams together since we were engaged.  Our optometrist has Saturday hours so it's now a big... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/146802/simple-optical http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/145839/diabetes-attack Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:23:00 -0400 Kelsey Bonilla Last Sunday night I had a diabetes episode that left me feeling cranky and exhausted on Monday morning.  It was a completely self-induced event, which just heaps guilt onto an already icky experience.  Here's what happened: The kids were asleep and I was settling into the couch to watch some TV with my husband.  My blood sugar was 127 mg/dl after a dinner of salmon and roasted sweet potatoes (yum!).  I decided to have some... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/145839/diabetes-attack http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/145425/injections Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:52:00 -0400 Kelsey Bonilla It's been nearly a month since I took off my pump and as of now, I don't expect to put it back on anytime soon.  Here are some of the positive things I've encountered since making the switch:   1. Eating Healthier and Less   One of the commonly cited advantages of pumping is that you can "eat what you want."  In choosing not to pump, I've embraced the restrictions on what I regularly eat.  This means I'm eating meals... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/145425/injections http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/144890/insulin-vacation Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:29:00 -0400 Kelsey Bonilla One of the ideas I'd been mulling over in the weeks leading up to my endocrinologist appointment was taking a pump vacation.  I'd experienced several frustrating pump site malfunctions (the cannula kept kinking during insertion) that left me with stubbornly high blood sugars for hours.  It was maddening to have poor blood sugar control because of my insulin delivery system.  Also, after nearly five years of pumping, I just wanted... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/144890/insulin-vacation http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/144584/understanding Sat, 24 Sep 2011 14:19:00 -0400 Kelsey Bonilla About a month ago I had my first endocrinologist appointment since well before Mateo was born.  During the pregnancies, my perinatologist (high-risk OB) took care of all of my diabetes management with a focus on tightly controlled blood sugars.   In the weeks leading up to the endo appointment, I'd had a couple epiphanies I was looking forward to acting on.    First of all, I noticed that the blood glucose range I'd... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/144584/understanding http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/144073/management Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:02:00 -0400 Kelsey Bonilla I just changed my profile picture here at HealthCentral .  Following several unsuccessful attempts to crop my kids out of the picture (I'm not very tech savvy); I realized that it was entirely appropriate for my profile picture to include Sienna and Mateo.  After all, most of what I contribute here involves their pregnancies and they are the focus of my daily life as I continue to learn how to balance motherhood and diabetes... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/144073/management http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/143368/diabetes-burnout Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:35:00 -0400 Kelsey Bonilla Since the summer of 2006, my diabetes control has been quite good.  My A1C has stayed under 6.5% consistently and even reached as low as 5% during my first pregnancy.  After Sienna was born, I hoped that another pregnancy would be in my future, so my blood sugar remained tightly controlled.    But, now that Mateo has completed our little family of four and I'm likely done having biological children, I'm in the middle of a... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/143368/diabetes-burnout http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/132609/type-1-pregnancy Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:33:00 -0500 Kelsey Bonilla After Mateo's wonderful entry into the world, our joy was interrupted when the doctor announced that his blood sugar was low and he'd have to go to the neonatal intensive care unit for treatment.    Low blood sugar is a common delivery complication for babies of diabetics and even for non-diabetic mothers if the baby is particularly large at birth.  They checked his blood upon delivery and it was borderline low at 50 mg/dl... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/132609/type-1-pregnancy http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/130741/pregnancy-boy Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:57:00 -0500 Kelsey Bonilla Nearly a month ago, we welcomed our son Mateo John to the world!  He has completed our family and filled our hearts with so much joy.  Here's the story of his arrival:   As with Sienna's birth, I had an appointment for an induction about a week prior to my due date.  Dennis and I made the short trip down the street to the hospital around 5:00 a.m. while my mom stayed at our home with Sienna.  We checked in to a quiet... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/5868/130741/pregnancy-boy