At the end of this month, I'll see my endocrinologist for the first time since leaving the hospital with that adorable little bundle of joy. Prior to getting pregnant, I started taking insulin and I'm still on it. When I see the doctor again, I'll have the opportunity to change things up. Now that I'm done breastfeeding, I can go back on oral medications and put the insulin behind me.

Today, I started questioning if I really want to do that. What are the pros and cons of oral meds versus insulin? The obvious is a pill versus a shot, but after 15 months on insulin, I really don't have a problem with needles. Insulin is natural and the only real side effect is low blood sugar. Most oral meds have much worse side effects, like upset stomachs, headaches and rashes, in addition to hypoglycemia. (READ MORE)

My son's baptism is this coming weekend and I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with the perfect menu. At first, I was thinking go easy, buy everything. Then I switched to the idea of save money, make it yourself. Now I've settled on buy some, make some.

What to make, and what to buy? I was going to buy a cake, then I thought it's a quick and easy bake, just pick up a mix and voila, its practically done for you. But then I realized the mixes probably have so many chemicals and preservatives in them, not to mention my arch rival white flour.

So I went online, hoping to find a mix at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and instead I found a recipe for a natural yellow cake mix, and I had all the ingredients in the house. (READ MORE)

In anticipation of my end of the month endo appointment, I have to go for fasting blood work this week. I'm dreading it. To me, this one of the most inconvenient things in the world for several reasons.

First off, it has taken years for me to get into the habit of eating breakfast. Now that I'm a regular at the breakfast table, I'm completely hooked on the most important meal of the day. I can't leave home without it.

Second, I don't think its safe for me to drive on an empty stomach. It's kind of like not drinking liquor on an empty stomach. It's just a bad idea. I'm low, I'm shakey, I can't see straight. I'm liable to curse at anyone who crosses my path, even if they do have the right of way. Granted, the doctors office is down the hill and around the bend, literally 3 minutes away. But still, I'm not fond of driving before eating. (READ MORE)

Did anyone catch the new TLC show, "I Can Make You Thin"? I saw the commercials for it and thought it sounded a bit wacky, but I wanted to check it out anyway. I set the DVR to record it, but it recorded Jon & Kate Plus 8 instead.

I watched part of the show as a rerun this weekend and I have to say it really does sound like such a common sense approach to eating. On the first show, he premiered his 4 Golden Rules, which are:

1. When You Are Hungry, Eat. This sounds like such a no-brainer, doesn't it? But I have to admit, there are plenty of times when I'm hungry and don't eat because it's not meal time and I'm "on a diet." I didn't see the whole show, but I have to guess part of this is if you aren't hungry, don't eat. And I'm sure many of us have eaten when we weren't hungry. (READ MORE)

He's the doctor. I'm the patient. He's a medical specialist. I'm a health writer. He's a diabetologist with 40-some-odd years of experience under his belt. I'm the diabetic who's lived with this disease every day for at least four years. But still, he's the expert and I pay him for his expertise, right? I should trust him, after all, he did earn it keeping me healthy through a diabetic pregnancy and ensuring my blood sugar stayed perfect throughout labor and delivery.

So when my endocrinologist asked me to humor him yesterday, I had to at least entertain the idea. All of my debating about whether to stick with insulin or try something else was in vain. My doctor has decided I don't need insulin after all. I don't need oral meds to stimulate insulin production either. All I need is to keep taking the metformin I started back on a few weeks ago. (READ MORE)

Patti LaBelle is on the TV singing about how a certain glucose monitor changed everything. "Back then, food was the enemy," she says. My mind flashes to a host of studies I've come across recently touting different foods as the "cure." I can't help but see the humor in it.

We all know diabetes and food are so closely linked that often it's hard to deal with daily diabetic life without feeling like you have a major eating disorder. And while these new studies shouldn't give anyone a license to eat with abandon, it's nice to see research money being spent investigating food and nutrition, instead of new drugs.

Here's a look at some of my favorite new finds: (READ MORE)