Learning to Read the Numbers Without Losing Your Mind

In the first week after Xing's diagnosis, we were both obsessed with the numbers. Every blood sugar reading felt like a pass or fail test. If it was under 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) one hour after eating, we'd breathe a sigh of relief. If it was over, we'd spiral into panic and guilt.

"What did I eat wrong?" Xing would ask, scrolling back through her food diary.

"Maybe it was the apple," I'd say. "Or the rice. Or maybe you didn't walk enough after lunch."

It was exhausting. And it wasn't helping.

What Happened

The turning point came about two weeks in, during a follow-up appointment with the diabetes nurse. Xing had been meticulously tracking every reading, and she showed the nurse her logbook with a mixture of pride and anxiety.

The nurse looked at the numbers, nodded, and said: "These are good."

"But I had a 8.2 on Thursday," Xing said. "That's over the limit."

"One high reading doesn't matter," the nurse said calmly. "What matters is the pattern. Most of your readings are in range. You're doing brilliantly."

Xing looked at me, then back at the nurse. "So... one bad reading is okay?"

"One bad reading is normal," the nurse said. "Even people without diabetes have blood sugar spikes sometimes. You're not aiming for perfection. You're aiming for good enough."

That sentence – "good enough" – changed everything.

How It Felt

For Xing, it was like someone had lifted a weight off her shoulders. She'd been treating every reading like a judgement on her worth as a mother-to-be. A high number meant she'd failed. A good number meant she was doing okay.

But the nurse's words reframed it: the numbers weren't about success or failure. They were just data. Information to help us make better choices, not a moral scorecard.

For me, it was a relief too. I'd been walking on eggshells every time Xing tested her blood sugar, bracing myself for the emotional fallout if the number was high. Now I could see the readings for what they were: useful, but not definitive.

What We Learnt

Here's what we figured out about blood sugar readings over the next few weeks:

Patterns matter more than individual readings. One high number after a meal doesn't mean disaster. What matters is whether most of your readings are in range most of the time.
Context is everything. A reading of 8.0 mmol/L after eating a bowl of pasta is different from a reading of 8.0 after eating a salad. The first one makes sense; the second one might mean you're getting sick or stressed.
Your body isn't a machine. Some days, the same meal will give different readings. Hormones, sleep, stress, and even the weather can affect blood sugar. It's not always about the food.
Testing is a tool, not a punishment. The glucose metre isn't there to tell you off. It's there to help you learn what works for your body.
You can't control everything. Sometimes you do everything right and the number is still high. That's not your fault. That's just gestational diabetes being a pain.

Real Dad Tip

Stop treating every high reading like a crisis.

I know it's hard. When you see a number over the limit, your first instinct is to panic and start troubleshooting. But here's the thing: panicking doesn't help. It just makes everyone stressed.

Instead, try this:

If the reading is high, acknowledge it calmly. "Okay, that's a bit higher than we wanted."
Ask: "How do you feel?" Sometimes a high reading comes with symptoms (thirsty, tired, headache). Sometimes it doesn't.
Look for patterns. Was it the same meal that spiked yesterday? Or is this a one-off?
Adjust if needed. Maybe next time, have a smaller portion or add more protein.
Move on. Don't dwell on it. One high reading is not the end of the world.

The goal isn't perfection. The goal is learning and adapting.

These days, when Xing tests her blood sugar, we don't hold our breath. We look at the number, note it down, and move on. If it's high, we talk about why it might have happened and what we can do differently next time. If it's good, we don't celebrate – we just carry on.

The numbers are still important, but they're not everything. And that's made all the difference.