Gestational Diabetes Questions!

[Momto4monkeys]

I just have some questions and I don't want to wait until Tuesday, when I see my dietician again, to ask.

If you can help, that would be awesome!
If the questions are repetitive in any way I apologize, but I'm a bit scattered brained by all of this. I want to do the right things right out of the gate, and not wait around.

1) Do I time my snacks and next meals based on the time that I finish the snack/meal, or at the beginning? So lets say I start breakfast at 8:30 and finish at 8:45....do I eat my snack at 10:30 or 10:45?

2) Am I allowed to eat something in between snacks and lunch if they won't affect my blood sugar? A small piece of chicken, or some veggies for example?

3) The recommended carb servings on my meal plan...are these what I NEED to eat, or is it just my maximum limit? Can I eat NO carbs if I choose to?

4) If I don't eat my limit of carbs during a meal, can I apply the extra to a different meal or snack?

5) Should my bedtime snack be 2 hours after dinner or right before I lay down to go to sleep?

6) (kind of like #5) Based on my breakfast today, I am expecting to eat dinner around 4:25-4:35. That's fairly early for me. Do I have a snack 2 hours after dinner and then a bedtime snack right before bed? I don't normally go to bed until about 11pm or so.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[dae114]

Hi, I had GD with my son. He was born healthy sept 2012 and my GD was controlled through diet alone (i was 25, 105 lbs at 5'3" and 20 weeks pregnant and didnt necessarily fit the gd profile, though). Everyone's experience is different and really the best way to gauge your eating is to check your sugars after meals, you will figure out what works for you pretty quickly. But here are my answers.

1. Time from the start. Honestly, though, 15 minutes won't be a big deal in most cases.
2. In my experience, I could eat something free of carbs in btw meals and snacks with absolutely no issue. My nutritionist never mentioned doing this, though.
3. You can eat fewer carbs than your max allotment per meal, yes. I wouldn't recommend avoiding carbs altogether very often while pregnant with GD, since your sugars may actually get too low. Again though, when you start tracking your sugars you will begin to see what works for you individually. Definitely do not exceed the recommended amount.
4. Definitely do not add carbs to your meal even if you at less at a previous meal. No rollover carbs
5&6. I can't really answer this one because I never did the bedtime snack thing. It was never mentioned to me and my blood sugars were always fine without one.

Have you started checking your blood sugar yet? Also, it seems really complicated in the start and then you kind of get into a routine with it and it isn't so bad. I had a very easy case of it though, I think.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!