gesituational diabetes... 130s readings

[designermama]

I have been on my diet for gestational diabetes for a week now. My fasting numbers have been great, as well as 2 hours after breakfast and lunch. The problem is after dinner. Im supposed to keep my reading under 120, 2 hours after dinner. I cant seem to get my dinner numbers right. I think if I try harder I can get it under control with the diet, but will the doctor want to do something like insulin or medicine with numbers in the 130s?

 

[eventerjj]

They might put you on insulin for those numbers 2 hours after dinner. It's hard, but try cutting just a little bit of food out, especially of it has carbs. What are you drinking with dinner?

Eat a lot of veggies, drink a lot of water and spend some time up and moving around. I know it sounds silly, but something like dancing to a few songs really can help bring the sugar down. I struggled a lot with dinner for a while but was able to keep enough days between bad readings to get the hang of what to eat without going on insulin.

 

[d_b]

I'm guessing if you give your doctor or nutritionist a call they will make some suggestions before putting you on medication, that is what my doctor would do but it depends on the doctor. What carbs do you eat with dinner? I can only have maybe 1/4 cup of rice (usually I just don't eat it), only have a small amount of pasta if we're having it, and I don't eat bread at dinner or have anything sweet like fruit after. I have to avoid premade tomato sauces since most have added sugar. Do you have an afternoon snack to make sure you're not too hungry at dinner time?

 

[designermama]

I think I should be able to get it under control before I see the doctor on the 15th. I usually eat a meat and some veggies. The nights it is higher, I usually have some kind of starchier side, 15 carb serving, but maybe I will just have to cut those out completely at dinner. I am realizing theres not a lot of wiggle room for this. Another reason I think it is higher is because the time that I eat lunch to the time I eat dinner is too long. I may have to push my afternoon snack back a little bit so that I am not needing to snack again when I get home to keep from falling out!

Thanks for the input!

 

[eventerjj]

My best advice is to cut out, find what works and slowly add back in. I am completely ok with fruits, but others are not. White breads and high fructose corn syrup are my killers for numbers. Also definitely snack! I usually eat my afternoon snack around 3 and then maybe a few more carrot or celery sticks and what is left of my huge daily apple around 4:30 before the gym with dinner around 7:30. Also skip on milk, it has a lot more sugar than you would think, but cheese is a great snack! Cheeses like cheddar and Monterey Jack or Colby Jack don't have to stay refrigerated 100% of the time, so they make good carry along snacks in cheese stick form.

 

[designermama]

All I drink is water. In the morning I may have a cup of light vanilla silk soy milk, im lactose intolerant to a degree to this sits better with me. So far I've been able to tolerate it with meals without affecting my sugar. Tonight I had one slice of thin crust 4 meat pizza and a large salad with cheese and light Italian. My sugar was 91 just a minute ago

 

[eventerjj]

Yay! A few more days like that and they will look at it like a learning process, which it is. My spreadsheet of numbers was all over the place at the beginning and now I get the random high ones when I push it too far just to see what I can eat

Veggies, water and exercise are the greatest for staying diet controlled. My doctor highly recommended starting meals with salads to fill up and then eat the protein/carb portion.

 

[AmeliePoulain]

In my pregnancy with my second daughter my evening meal had to be totally carb free, my body just gave up by the evening!

I could eat the same meal at lunch though and be fine.

How do you get on with carbs at other times of day?

 

[Harley Quinn]

If possible, you could try going for a walk after dinner. That usually helps my numbers go down.

 

[designermama]

I am not sure I could go carb free for dinner. By the time I get home from work I am so hungry I can barely function. And then I would be scared my fasting numbers would rise because of it. They are still under 95, but I have noticed them creeping. I think I am going to have to start a bedtime snack.

I have been so tired lately, that a walk after dinner sounds exhausting, but it does seem like I am going to have to suck it up and do something.

All of my other meal times are usually fine. Lunch is only over when I think I can eat fast food and stick to this diet at the same time. I have realized that just isn't happening for me. I thought I did great for lunch a few days ago and it was high. I could tell too because my heart felt racy and my mouth was so dry. It was only 131, but I could tell. I had the same thing the next day for lunch minus the chips (I thought I had some carbs left over for serving of chips the 131 day…) and it was 114.

Still learning! I go back to both the Maternal Fetal Medicine Doc and my OB today so I will hear something about these numbers I am sure.

 

[eventerjj]

A bed time snack is a must for me! Usually I do peanut butter and celery, or sometimes just peanut butter on a spoon, but until 2 weeks or so ago, the bedtime snack was the difference between being on the low end of fasting numbers and being over fasting numbers.

For lunches, I can still do fast food if I need to, you just absolutely cannot do French fries. A hamburger from Burger King or chicken nuggets has been okay for me and I am lucky enough that a 6 inch Italian BMT sub on wheat, with cheese, lettuce and tomato and a tiny bit of mayo (no chips, no cookies) still keeps me around 100 2 hours after.

Also don't feel bad about a small healthy snack at the end of work, even if you are going to eat in an hour. It is when you get hungry and your numbers drop, then you eat a lot that they spike and you have a harder time staying under goal numbers.

 

[designermama]

Thanks! At the doctor yesterday she said my numbers looked beautiful! Even though I had most of my dinner numbers in the 130s. She said to keep doing what I am doing.
Last night I had a Quarter Pounder with Cheese from McDonalds with a side salad. Two hours later I was at 119 Glad to know I can do that again. I love my junk food.

 

[mhk425]

Remember that the baby NEEDS carbs! You should NOT be cutting out all carbs in a meal. (Dinner should be 45g-60g of carbs.) If you can't get in your carbs and still get decent numbers, insulin isn't the end of the world. I was on insulin starting at 33 weeks, and of course I was terrified/upset at first. However, it really reduced my stress once I realized how much it helped. Oddly, dinner was my worst meal too. BTW, I had numbers in the low 120s when my doctor put me on insulin, so I know I definitely would have been put on in the 130s. Remember the end result of all of this garbage when things get frustrating!