Gestational Diabetes Group - Us vs. the Carbs

[AmeliePoulain]

Had GD appointment at hospital today, all fine - the midwife said in all honesty, although she can't promise it, she would be shocked if my numbers got a whole lot worse as given this is GD pregnancy number 3 she said normally women reach their 'worst' point earlier - but hold at that level until things improve at 34-36 weeks.

I hope that is true.

I am super happy to be gaining some weight as last pregnancy I struggled with that.

Baby still being a minx and oblique breech/transverse.

 

[oneway]

Amythyst, maybe you can try taking 5 units of insulin instead of 10. I think it's a trial and error game at this point. Today I had my first ever below target low of 3.8. My meter actually told me that it was below target. So I am wondering if I should adjust my insulin or wait for a few more low readings before I do.

 

[Amythyst]

I think it depends on what kind of protein you're eating. If it's also higher in fat, it delays your spike. Pizza effect, I've been told it's called. It delays your spike but holds it higher for hours. Cheese is famous for this.

I dunno, I don't see a spike later on ... I check at 1 hour mark but I also do random checks all the time just to see where I am before I eat anything.

And if I eat a real piece of pizza it certainly does not "delay" anything... I notice it right away! I made the mistake of eating a piece of my husband's pizza a few weeks ago... spiked me right away.

 

[AmeliePoulain]

I've never noted a 'pizza' effect ever. 1hr, 2hr, 3hr testing...

I think diabetes is so different from individual to individual it is hard to know without a lot of trial and error what does and doesn't work for you.

 

[northern_me]

My diabetes nurse told me if I'm eating a meal like that, to delay my insulin and split it into two doses of 60/40 to cover the delayed and continued spike. Here's an article.

https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/foods-strange-tricks/

 

[Amythyst]

That is quite interesting Northern... nobody ever mentioned anything like that to me and same as Amelie, I don't seem to have that problem. I do agree everyone's diabetes is different that's for sure. Which is why some of us need meal time insulin and some of us don't.

 

[oneway]

Do any of you know your HBA1C numbers? This is a measure of your blood sugar over a long period of time, like 3 months. It gives a good indication of overall blood sugar control and is useful to find out if you have undetected high peaks like the one described in the "pizza effect". Mine was 5.6, which they said was very good for the third trimester. I am curious what your values are?

 

[Christina86]

I spoke with the nurse at my OB's office yesterday. I am really curious as to what my doctor is going to say on Monday about my numbers. Most of them are really good but they have been staying pretty high recently which is unusual. I was over this morning fasting and I was at 155 2hrs after breakfast. I was also over after dinner last night. It's so odd. Esp. since some of the high numbers are with the exact same meal as I have had previously.

And my fingers are starting to hurt from poking myself 4x a day.

 

[northern_me]

Christina GD progressively gets worse as the weeks go on for the most part. My numbers are way higher now than when I first got diagnosed.

 

[oneway]

My fingers now have puncture holes that are clearly visible. I have to look at them to work out where the skin is unbroken. If I poke myself where there is already a hole, it hurts like crazy and it also bleeds a lot. And I agree with northern_me. It gets worse as the weeks progress, especially for us insulin types, but seems to stabilize and improve after week 36. So there is hope!

 

[AmeliePoulain]

I did 6 x a day for 20 weeks with DD2 and lost sensation is small patches of some fingers - the same fingers are now very scarred after 6 x a day testing since 12 weeks for me this time.

They don't do the HBA1C test here as I was told it isn't reliable in pregnancy - I'd love to know my number though!

Christina - based on how I felt looking back my GD didn't truly arrive with DD1 until I was 32 weeks.

 

[northern_me]

Yeah I'm testing 6xs a day too and I have to keep reminding myself to moisturize my fingertips because they're getting so calloused.

I haven't had that test done either. I'm sure my average is probably somewhere around a 9!

 

[AmeliePoulain]

My monitor tells me the average of all my readings the past 7 days, 14 days and 30 days. That stands at 5.2. Obviously if there was some crazy hidden peak thing going on it wouldn't take account of that...but honestly I think I am very aware of when my sugar is high, I feel quite ill if I go over 7 - which I know is abnormal as over 7 would be fine post meal. I think I cut so much out my body gets very sensitive to the fluctuations and I become symptomatic when my sugar isn't that high at all by most standards.

Are people celebrating Shrove Tuesday/Pancake day? I made ground almond pancakes - literally just ground almonds, egg white, egg yolk, double cream and a tiny bit of vanilla essense. I did 2 little savoury ones with cheese and then 2 'sweet' ones - I cooked a few cherries so they were all juicy and then put a lot of whipped cream on them, hehe. It felt like a real treat but there isn't anything bad in them at all.

 

[oneway]

It's good that you are trying to find substitute recipes and experimenting in the kitchen. It will help keep you sane through this crazy journey. I think that would have helped me too. My eating is quite joyless and I stick with the few things I know won't raise my sugars too much. The addition of lentil chips was the one pleasurable thing in my diet lately. But I am in the home stretch now. Just 12 more days to go. What I look forward to the most is not sweets, but the freedom to eat things like oatmeal without worrying about my sugars.

 

[AmeliePoulain]

I was much like that with DD2, Oneway. I lived on cheese, hummus, carrots and endless omlettes. I ended up really negative about food and found the hard times harder.

I've enjoyed 'low carb' substituting this time. I eat a lot of courgette that has been spiralised instead of pasta, a lot of it is that I want to eat something similar to the rest of my family too!

I've perfected my 'fake' mashed potato and both my daughters prefer it to real mash now.

 

[northern_me]

We'll be doing pancakes. I'm going to give myself an extra unit of insulin to account for it. The insulin sucks as it is frigging around with my VBAC timeline but sometimes it is helpful.

 

[Christina86]

Christina GD progressively gets worse as the weeks go on for the most part. My numbers are way higher now than when I first got diagnosed.

I did not know that. Interesting.

 

[Christina86]

I am curious as to what changing my diet around is doing to my weight. I had 2 people today tell me that I popped more but it looks like I lost a bunch of weight. I'm not sure if that is good or bad.

I also got so busy today that I forgot to eat lunch..... and snacks..... so I haven't eaten since 7:30 this morning. I have been drinking an awful lot (already at almost 100oz of water today) though. I am debating if I should eat a small snack, a smaller meal, or wait the 2 hrs until my husband gets home. Shockingly.... I don't even feel hungry.

 

[northern_me]

Have you weighed yourself? I'm at 9 consecutive weeks now of no weight gain whatsoever.

 

[northern_me]

I want nothing more than to dig my teeth into an orange right now. 25 more days of this crap.