Gestational Diabetes Group - Us vs. the Carbs

[RubysMommy]

Thanks! It's glyberide that they told me about. I really want to stay away from it if possible. I had 2.5 servings of carbs at lunch and I was under 130. Yay! It'll take a couple days to figure out what works best for me, but I'm definitely going to stick to the lower amounts of the recommended carbs and see how it goes.

 

[Amythyst]

Yes it will take some trial and error to find out what carbs your body doesn't like. I would stay away from "toast" at first if you're having problems keeping it where its supposed to be I would shy away from "breads". Remember to balance your protein with whatever carbs you eat.

Are they having you check after an hour or after 2 hours?

If its after 1 hour then making you stay under 130 is very strict! I have to be under 140 in the 1 hour range. I had my special low carb cereal for breakfast today and instead of using my low carb milk, I used half and half... number was 111 after eating, so that made me happy. The bread I use is 5 net carbs per slice, so I can also eat an egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I also bought some granola bars that are high in protein and fiber. I can eat those for breakfast too if I want something quick. I also bought some canned soups for lunches and stuff. I found some soups that have 9-13 carbs per serving. A lot of the cream based soups are lower in carbs and also ones that have meat in them. But of course, I can only eat a serving of that which is usually 1/2 to 1 cup. I also found a special brand of yogurt (called Siggi) that has lots of protein in it and low sugar. I think it has 12g carbs for the full container of yogurt. So, I like to eat those as well.

Personally, I have to stick to 1-2 servings of carbs when I eat. The dietitian also told me I could have like 2-3 servings per meal and that was just garbage. I do find though the more protein I eat with my meal the more carbs I can tolerate.

I am also able to go out to restaurants and eat as long as they have online nutrition information I can look up.

And Oneway, if you want cake..... then make cake!!! Tonight, I am making a devils food cake with butter cream frosting. I ordered it from my low carb website and its "diabetic" cake but it had really rave reviews. So, I'm going to try it. We went grocery shopping today and I also found an actual Pilsbury "no sugar" premade cake mix with a matching frosting. I had never seen them carry that before...so I bought that too.

I was also bad today and ate an entire cream filled doughnut! I ate one of my protein bars afterward to try and "balance" it a little bit hehe and my number was 129 when I checked, so that made me happy.

 

[Letsgo]

Hi ladies,

I've been lurking for a week since my GD diagnosis but picking up ideas. Still can't get in to see the diabetes nutritionist until Weds (my doctor was upset about that :/ ). Got my glucometer this week and started doing some testing to get a sense of where I'm at, then went to pick up more strips and lancets only to learn my doctor office never called in the script for them. So now I'm running blind for the weekend, got a fridge and freezer full of options and not sure what to do except try to be reasonable with food choices.

So far it seems my morning fasting number will be my problem. Without an idea of what my target should be, I was happy to see I didn't spike with things like spaghetti and meatballs for lunch, or that adding a yogurt to my morning granola bar snack didn't throw me off. I needed to add an iron pill into the mix a couple weeks ago and am trying to figure out the timing of that with all the snacking we are supposed to do. I've been taking it at night but now I wonder if I need to be getting a better snack in before sleep to take down the morning numbers. Less iron absorption with food (and had to drop taking it with OJ--boo! Nothing sounds so delicious right now) but I will manage.

I am trying to not get angry at what I see as poor medical care right now. Everything looks easier in retrospect--I should have asked to be tested earlier but I figured the doc office knows my age and my PCOS and previous use of Metformin, so....lesson learned and I can only move forward.

It's all a mental game right now until I get some more info. I have an ultrasound scheduled Weds to check for extra fluid before my nutrition consult. Baby is a wiggler so I'm trying to not be too worried that I am hurting him/her. I am upset that I may be unintentionally hurting baby while in this limbo. I also start fetal monitoring weekly this week (31ish weeks). Is anyone else doing that?

 

[RubysMommy]

Amythyst: I am only checking my blood glucose for fasting and an hour after each meal (4x a day) and they want it under 130. I won't be too worried about it unless I go over 140 now... Thanks! And thanks for all the advice.

 

[northern_me]

Letsgo- morning targets are under 5.3. Not sure what that is in the US system. If those are out of whack, insulin might be needed. They put me on insulin when I got a few scattered high mornings.

Here are the general targets: under 5.3 for mornings, under 7.8 for 1hr and under 6.7 for 2hr

 

[Amythyst]

Letsgo, hi there! I also have PCOS and have been on Metformin the whole pregnancy. I have been doing weekly monitoring since around 30 weeks. I'm so ready to be done with being pregnant! At least for this time!

My fasting number needs to be under 90 just as a reference. I wish it could be 95 (5.3) like Northern has to be, then I'd be golden! Seems some doctor's offices require a different range of numbers.

Here are the conversions of Northern's numbers:

90 ~ 5.0
95 ~ 5.3
140 ~ 7.8
120 ~ 6.7

 

[AmeliePoulain]

My fasting number - morning or otherwise - needs to be under 6 - which is 108

I'd be concerned personally if I was getting high 5's regularly. Fortunately my morning fasting is OK usually, sleep disruption and illness are the worst culprits for messing it up.

Letsgo - with my first baby my GD wasn't diagnosed until 36 weeks, no real help with it until 37.

My daughter came out little and perfect - no issues because of the GD except a huge placenta and quite a bit of amniotic fluid., but that didn't cause a problem.

I sooooooooo wish they had low carb bread in the UK, they must do somewhere but it isn't in mainstream shops, I had a look in a healthfood shop and couldn't see any either.

Also, does everyone else get on ok with 'diabetic' food - like fake sweets and cake mixes and icecream? All of them seem to really spike me whenever I have tried (the chocolate and sweets give me stomach ache) but in the past when I have tried icecream, cake and sugar free custard they all gave me highs and made me feel ill

 

[kayleigh1985]

I really don't know if I'm doing this right, can't wait until I have an appointment with the dietician so they can give me some ideas. Does this sound ok to you?

B - cheese, tomato, mushroom omlette
S - 2x satsumas
L - chicken and tomato sandwich (hovis nimble bread 8g carb per slice)
D - chicken breast with roasted carrots

Am I ok to have some gravy with my dinner? Am I eating enough? I know everyone's different as to what they can tolerate but without having spoken to a health professional yet I just don't have a clue whether I'm on the right path!

 

[Christina86]

It sounds okay. It seems like what I ate in the beginning. I slowly added more carbs to see what would happen but I think at first I was afraid of getting too close to the allowed amount.

This is what I had yesterday:
B- an egg mcmuffin and 1/2 a hash brown from McDonald's. Bad I know but we were on the road. (Was at 127 2hrs after and I sat for the full 2hrs!)

L- we went out to lunch after my parents arrived. I had a burger with no bun and put it on lettuce with tomato and onion on top and some pickles with ketchup and tomato and I ate 10 onion rings. (Sat again 2hr drive home from airport area and I was at a 78 2hrs after)

D- salad with grilled chicken and a slice of garlic bread. Was at 84 2hrs after.

I had an ice cream bar (regular) for snack before bed.

My numbers have been all over the place the last two weeks. Yesterday was the best day I've had in a while and I slept amazing the night before!! I haven't been sleeping well. I was so tired last night I slept straight through. We will see what today brings =]

 

[kayleigh1985]

Looking at what you had yesterday I feel like I'm being too cautious! But without a testing kit yet I'm just not sure so like you say I feel afraid to eat too much!

 

[northern_me]

Everyone is different though. My diet has to be much closer to what you ate than what Christina ate. I don't know if I'm hyper sensitive or what but I can't eat that stuff!

Omelettes, salads and protein with vegetables is my mainstay. I can add a slice of low carb bread but I can't add two to make a sandwich. Fruit is basically just off the table for me.

 

[Christina86]

Looking at what you had yesterday I feel like I'm being too cautious! But without a testing kit yet I'm just not sure so like you say I feel afraid to eat too much!

But it can also be a hit or miss and depend on the day. There are many mornings I'll Have oatmeal for breakfast but my numbers two hours after fluctuate. Same oatmeal. Made with water. I had it four days in a row once and my numbers were 85, 115, 71, and 136.

For snacks I have issues with pretzels however I am able to eat a regular size Hershey bar and be perfectly fine. Usually I eat a lot of cheese and veggies for snacks now though.

I am attempting a bagel again but I got a mini bagel instead of the regular size one so I'm going to see what that does. I check in 20 min. 1/2 the carbs. I can not eat fruit but did get unsweetened applesauce for 1/2 the carb count yesterday and am testing that out also.

It's for sure a hit or miss and everyone varies.

 

[Amythyst]

Amelie, to answer your question - In the past, I have been able to tolerate diabetic sweets and I just made cake last night. However, after eating it with some of the low carb ice cream I eat every night, I was just over 140 last night. :/

In fact, my numbers have been just over 140 for almost all my meals the past few days. I'm not sure what's going on. I may need to take a step back and go back to my super limited carb intake. I had been adding carbs with success lately but I dunno it seems to have changed a bit the last 3 or 4 days. I had been daring to eat more potatoes and last night I made nachos with my flaxseed chips but was still over 140 after an hour. So, I wasn't too thrilled to see that stuff. Maybe I have finally "peaked" since I'm almost 38 weeks. I'm also back on my insulin at night.

Question: where do you guys stick yourself with your insulin needles? I have always done my stomach but now that I'm big and my stomach is very tight, I'm having a lot of trouble sticking myself and pinching enough skin. It also has been kinda hurting when I stick the needle in.

Luckily, the torture should soon be over!

 

[oneway]

That's too bad Amythyst We were all rooting for you. It could be the last three weeks. It's hard to guess what exactly is going on with GD. My numbers have definitely gotten better after breakfast since week 37 but NOT after dinner. I have to take 2 units of rapid just before dinner no matter what my pre-dinner reading is. Once it was 3.8 and I thought I did not need insulin but it was 7.2 after.

I poke my thigh for the slow acting kind. It is hard because I have bruises on my legs and I bleed sometimes if I don't hit a patch with fat. It is harder with the rapid because that goes in my belly and I feel that hurts lots more!! I also have trouble pinching any flesh and I poke myself where everywhere I can grab half an inch. I have bruises on my tummy too so I am just prone to bruises.

The bright side is that it is only another 2 and half weeks for you, hopefully. And I have 7 more days on insulin before baby comes.

 

[AmeliePoulain]

Lots of to you girls at the very end.

I have to say I feel more well in myself this pregnancy than last from a GD perspective. I peak wayyyyyyyyyy high and then crash down to 'normal' quite fast. I think when I did 2 hour testing last pregnancy - I had to be under 6 at 2hrs- that I was probably going quite high at 1hr and I'm really sensitive to the 'sugar high' feeling so that might have accounted for feeling so awful.

My GD is without a doubt 'worse' this time. I can tolerate much less but some how I've managed to gain a more normal amount of weight and stay more healthy and less hungry. I really hope 32 weeks + doesn't have anything horrible in store...

 

[eventerjj]

My fasting numbers have been hell the last few days. I blame the dr I went in last week and he said if fasting numbers continued to creep up I would need meds. I have only had one good reading since then, but I have also only been getting about 3 hours of good sleep a night. The rest is wake up every hour and taking time to fall back asleep.

Everything else has been great! Any good suggestions for night time snacks that might help the numbers? I am at resorts for the rest of the week and have limited selection, which isn't helping...

 

[northern_me]

Is it possible that this is getting better?! I had pasta for supper and forgot to take insulin. Ended up with a 5.3 reading. I ate something yesterday too that I thought would kill my numbers and it was fine too.

 

[Amythyst]

Is it possible that this is getting better?! I had pasta for supper and forgot to take insulin. Ended up with a 5.3 reading. I ate something yesterday too that I thought would kill my numbers and it was fine too.

LOL Northern, be careful thunking that... I thought so too but even this evening when i had plain wings for dinner that usually put my number at like 105 - it was 126 when i tested and i was 20 minutes late testing. When I checked at two hours it was 109. And this was from eating nothing but chicken and some ranch dressing for dipping.

I often wonder if they should make us check our numbers at one and two hours afterward. What if my one hour number is too high but my two hour number is just fine. If i was only checking at two hours everyone would think things were peachy keen. Thats how they test us for GD... If you take the three hour test and even if one of your numbers is high, then you have GD. I sometimes also test myself at one hour and then check again like five or ten minutes later just to see the difference in the numbers. Sometimes its crazy what a five minute difference does. The exact one hour might be slightly too high but the five minute later one is just fine. I feel like this sugar testing stuff is so subjective... What if conversely i am only checking at one hour and those numbers are fine but my sugars go up at two hours but i never check those? All just hypothetical stuff but it just makes me wonder.

 

[AmeliePoulain]

Is it possible that this is getting better?! I had pasta for supper and forgot to take insulin. Ended up with a 5.3 reading. I ate something yesterday too that I thought would kill my numbers and it was fine too.

LOL Northern, be careful thunking that... I thought so too but even this evening when i had plain wings for dinner that usually put my number at like 105 - it was 126 when i tested and i was 20 minutes late testing. When I checked at two hours it was 109. And this was from eating nothing but chicken and some ranch dressing for dipping.

I often wonder if they should make us check our numbers at one and two hours afterward. What if my one hour number is too high but my two hour number is just fine. If i was only checking at two hours everyone would think things were peachy keen. Thats how they test us for GD... If you take the three hour test and even if one of your numbers is high, then you have GD. I sometimes also test myself at one hour and then check again like five or ten minutes later just to see the difference in the numbers. Sometimes its crazy what a five minute difference does. The exact one hour might be slightly too high but the five minute later one is just fine. I feel like this sugar testing stuff is so subjective... What if conversely i am only checking at one hour and those numbers are fine but my sugars go up at two hours but i never check those? All just hypothetical stuff but it just makes me wonder.

I asked my consultant this question about 1hr, 2hr testing last time.

He said that really there is so much about GD they dont understand - and they dont know if it is the peak of the number that causes issues or how long the number stays high.

I know that time they were interested in how quickly i got back to normal but not the same hospital care about the peak.

He also said the other main issue they really dont understand is why even if your numbers were perfect the entire pregnancy the placenta still would - on very close inspection - not be 'normal' - there is a reason that the very fact of having GD affects the placenta. But they don't know why.

 

[babifever]

How much insulin is everyone taking nowadays?

AM: 18 cloudy - 12 clear
PM: 10 cloudy - 10 clear