Gestational Diabetes Check in

boxerbabylove

I could use some advice.

I know that the fasting numbers are hardest to control. My fasting numbers last week were all in the 80-90 range. The last few days however my fasting has been over 110 and I have no idea why.

My 2 hour post dinner numbers have been between 95-115 so I don't think it is my dinner causing the problem since I'm in the <120 range I'm supposed to be in.

My evening snack has consisted of a glass of milk and a handful of mixed nuts each night.

I'm wondering if when I'm testing is the problem??? I wake up to pee multiple times but at around 4:30am I am awake for a good 30 minutes if not more tossing and turning trying to get that last 2 hours of sleep before I have to get up for work. Should I test when I wake up at 4:30am every morning instead of at 6:30am when I actually get up for work?

This is all so frustrating. All my numbers during the day are fine. I even splurged on a cheesesteak for lunch today which was a "bit" over the 60 carb guideline but my sugars were fine and at 94 2 hours after eating it.

haziedaze

playingonadream said:

I could use some advice.

I know that the fasting numbers are hardest to control. My fasting numbers last week were all in the 80-90 range. The last few days however my fasting has been over 110 and I have no idea why.

My 2 hour post dinner numbers have been between 95-115 so I don't think it is my dinner causing the problem since I'm in the <120 range I'm supposed to be in.

My evening snack has consisted of a glass of milk and a handful of mixed nuts each night.

I'm wondering if when I'm testing is the problem??? I wake up to pee multiple times but at around 4:30am I am awake for a good 30 minutes if not more tossing and turning trying to get that last 2 hours of sleep before I have to get up for work. Should I test when I wake up at 4:30am every morning instead of at 6:30am when I actually get up for work?

This is all so frustrating. All my numbers during the day are fine. I even splurged on a cheesesteak for lunch today which was a "bit" over the 60 carb guideline but my sugars were fine and at 94 2 hours after eating it.

What kind of milk are you drinking at night? My nutritionist recommended higher fat snacks at bedtime. The nuts definitely have some, but if the milk is skim or lowfat you might want to try something else. One idea would be a piece or two of dark chocolate or doing whole milk. You could also try upping your protein some and seeing it that helps- like nuts and cheese. It may also just being your insulin resistance peaking as you get further along and in that case nothing may help. So frustrating!

Rrrrrachel

The when to test thing is a struggle. I'm generally up with my daughter around 6:30 (and many times before that but ykwim) but don't test until we're up up around 7:15.

sweetmelissa0707

Rrrrrachel said:

The when to test thing is a struggle. I'm generally up with my daughter around 6:30 (and many times before that but ykwim) but don't test until we're up up around 7:15.

This is it exactly! My DD is up several times at night, which turns into two hours of pregsomnia , only to be up at 645, but not downstairs until after seven.

Cecilbear

Hi ladies, popping in with a quick question for you. I passed by glucose test, but only by a hair, so my midwife suggested I make dietary changes. I did some Googling and found a site that says I should stay away from avocados and peanut butter. 

Is this what your doctors have told you? I'm hoping it's false, as both things are staple items in my diet. 

Rrrrrachel

I think that's bad advice. I eat both of those things almost every day and my nutritionist was not concerned.

Cecilbear

Rrrrrachel said:

I think that's bad advice. I eat both of those things almost every day and my nutritionist was not concerned.

Phew. Thanks again! 

Laroo0220

Cecilbear said:

Hi ladies, popping in with a quick question for you. I passed by glucose test, but only by a hair, so my midwife suggested I make dietary changes. I did some Googling and found a site that says I should stay away from avocados and peanut butter. 

Is this what your doctors have told you? I'm hoping it's false, as both things are staple items in my diet. 

I eat so much peanut butter and avocados a few times a week and my numbers have been great. Also my nutritionist looked at my food logs and complimented me on how good they looked so I think you're good,

Cecilbear

Laroo0220, thank you  

DaDish1002

I was diagnosed at my third trimester checkup. I am diet regulated. I pretty much made a meal plan for the week that kept me in my range and I just switch it up each week. I don't enjoy it but it is what it is. I just keep my eye on the prize...a healthy baby!

boxerbabylove

haziedaze said:

playingonadream said:

I could use some advice.

I know that the fasting numbers are hardest to control. My fasting numbers last week were all in the 80-90 range. The last few days however my fasting has been over 110 and I have no idea why.

My 2 hour post dinner numbers have been between 95-115 so I don't think it is my dinner causing the problem since I'm in the <120 range I'm supposed to be in.

My evening snack has consisted of a glass of milk and a handful of mixed nuts each night.

I'm wondering if when I'm testing is the problem??? I wake up to pee multiple times but at around 4:30am I am awake for a good 30 minutes if not more tossing and turning trying to get that last 2 hours of sleep before I have to get up for work. Should I test when I wake up at 4:30am every morning instead of at 6:30am when I actually get up for work?

This is all so frustrating. All my numbers during the day are fine. I even splurged on a cheesesteak for lunch today which was a "bit" over the 60 carb guideline but my sugars were fine and at 94 2 hours after eating it.

What kind of milk are you drinking at night? My nutritionist recommended higher fat snacks at bedtime. The nuts definitely have some, but if the milk is skim or lowfat you might want to try something else. One idea would be a piece or two of dark chocolate or doing whole milk. You could also try upping your protein some and seeing it that helps- like nuts and cheese. It may also just being your insulin resistance peaking as you get further along and in that case nothing may help. So frustrating!

I'm drinking 1% milk. Maybe I'll pick up some whole milk and see if that make a difference. I appreciate the suggestion!

alysemci

fourthnlast said:

alysemciver said:

So if I eat HALF the amount of recommended carbs with protein and veggies I still hit 170+ every time. WTF.

Welcome to my world. It doesn't matter how little carbs I eat anymore, how much insulin I take, how much water I drink. My numbers won't go down. Fasting was 210 this morning and I took 100 units of insulin last night. Seriously ready to say fuck it...but I can't, because this won't go away even after delivery which has me in a totally bitchy/sad mood today.

Ya, I feel the hopelessness. My numbers go up around 290 sometimes. I can't eat any starches period and only a Fourth cup of fruit a day. Where I'm so heavily insulin resistant right now my specialist is worried this will stick around after the pregnancy. Her exact quote is she's "puzzled" and hasn't seen numbers so high on someone that had no sign of diabetes prepregnancy. My a1c was like 5.1 in sept

fourthnlast

mamrotu73 said:

Did any of your dr's mention a lower limit at any time? Mine didn't and I just now realized the omission. The way my numbers were during the 3-hour, I was high on the first two but then plummeted on the 3rd. So I'm wondering if I feel that same crash and test, is there a certain lower point where I should be concerned? Note: I have added this to my question list for my appointment Thursday and haven't felt off. I'm just curious mostly. New topic: DH wanted me to test his levels this morning after watching me. He was at 140... He had cookies for breakfast. I was at 69 (after eggs and a whole grain English muffin). I told him he is clearly twice as diabetic as I am and should lay off the cookies.

Anything under 60 needs a glucose correction is my orders. I have to start with a carb source of 10-15 grams and then check my sugar in 20 minutes and if it's still low, add another 15 grams.

Rrrrrachel

I was up pretty much all night with a puking kid. Maybe got an hours worth of sleep at a stretch and that was dosing because I was on alert for signs of puking. Expected my fasting bs to be through the roof this morning. It was 87. This condition makes no sense.

Laroo0220

nao618 said:

Rrrrrachel said:

I was up pretty much all night with a puking kid. Maybe got an hours worth of sleep at a stretch and that was dosing because I was on alert for signs of puking. Expected my fasting bs to be through the roof this morning. It was 87. This condition makes no sense.

I agree. It makes no sense!! I gave up a few nights ago and came home from work and ate a box of cookies, a coffee and some chips with hummus. Then DH and I went to dinner and I had an additional Vietnamese sandwich and some spring rolls and egg rolls. I expected it to be through the roof. At one hour it was 110. The next morning 77. It makes ZERO sense. But I told me doc to prescribe the oral meds bc I was getting yelled at weekly for the occasional 2-5 points over the 129 allowance (I still don't think 133 should be considered 'bad'), but what do I know? I am not the doc.

Edited spelling errors. On mobile.

That's crazy that you were getting yelled at for the occasional 133. My limit is over that even (140) and I had a few higher numbers (132 and 141) and my nutritionist was super happy with my numbers and said I didn't even need to come in again. Weird how they are all so different.

sweetmelissa0707

I had an f$&@ you diabetes treat tonight. I ate a cupcake after dinner. Brought me to 131 at my two hour. I know I shouldn't have done it, but this bare minimum carb existence is killing me! Back on the wagon in the morning.

Israfel

Hi Ladies-- Just got Diagnosed with GD :-( Super sad...
I see the nutritionist and midwife on Mon to talk about all of it.

In the meantime, how bad is it REALLY if I finish off all the icecream and chocolate in the house this weekend?

sweetmelissa0707

https://www.rodalenews.com/how-lower-blood-sugar?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Rodale-_-Content-Health-_-BloodSugarLevels

This was on my Facebook feed this morning. I've found that berries (raspberries and blackberries, specifically) when added in with my smoothies seem to keep my numbers in control even if there's a banana and a splash of OJ in there as well. Guess I'll be adding blueberries to the list as well.

Laroo0220

sweetmelissa0707 said:

https://www.rodalenews.com/how-lower-blood-sugar?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Rodale-_-Content-Health-_-BloodSugarLevels

This was on my Facebook feed this morning. I've found that berries (raspberries and blackberries, specifically) when added in with my smoothies seem to keep my numbers in control even if there's a banana and a splash of OJ in there as well. Guess I'll be adding blueberries to the list as well.

Agreed. I've been doing a lot of blackberries. My favorite is a little bowl of them with whip cream. Yum

haziedaze

Yes! Lots of berries here too. I've also been finding that when I use coconut oil as my fat source at night my fastings are a lot lower. 2 nights ago I had 2 string cheeses and some pineapple and was 94 in the morning. Last night I had these pecans https://sherigraham.com/trim-healthy-mama-caramel-pecans-s and a half cup of truvia sweetened greek yogurt with 3/4c of blueberries and raspberries, I was 84 this morning. Another night I had skinny chocolate (cocoa powder, coconut oil, truvia) and plain pecans and was 84.

sweetmelissa0707

I often have Greek yogurt which is high in protein, string cheese, Greek frozen yogurt. I'm usually just under 90, between 86 and 88 most days.
Eta, not all of those at once but one of those. If I do the string cheese, I have fruit or some other carb.

Rrrrrachel

My fasting seems to be better f I eat dinner before six and then stick to almonds for bed time snack around 8:40-9:00.

haziedaze

Melody*W* said:

I just can't seem to get a good hold on my fasting numbers! I've tried a good protein and carb balance right before bed (almonds, cheese and milk) and tried eating in the middle of the night when I sometimes wake up starving (graham crackers with peanut butter at bedtime, cheese and a glass of milk at 4am - tested at 7:30am). Always 95-99. I have yet to be below 90. I'll try to incorporate the berries into the mix! What do you do for protein, peanut butter? How do you use coconut oil (never cooked with it)? Any other bedtime snacks I should try?

As I was saying in my post, I've come to believe some fat is key because it slows down how the carbs are metabolized. The "carmel" pecans I posted are super easy and have butter and coconut oil in them. You can also put coconut oil in a smoothie. Oherwise make sure your cheese is full fat or try whole milk instead of skin/lowfat. Worth a try!

haziedaze

Oh and this isn't just my own experience, it was also what the nutritionist suggested. She actually said small amounts of dark chocolate were ok because of the fat, that would be a nice bedtime snack as well.

christinanoelle

It really is a guessing game for me with nighttime snacks.. Friday I had half an apple with pb and last night no snack and my fasting was lower..
Also, I have a cup of skim milk in the morning with an English muffin and cheese or peanut butter and that works for me.. It's a little lower without the milk but I'm still under with it @mrsell maybe try almond milk? I tried and it's definitely an squired taste but could work with coffee maybe?

Rrrrrachel

Not tolerating milk in the morning is very typical according my nutritionist.

sweetmelissa0707

Milk in the morning definitely throws me off.

Laroo0220

My typical bedtime snack is an apple with peanut butter. My fasting numbers are always really good with that. Usually in the 70s and low 80s

Laroo0220

Well just had a salad, some French fries and at least 8 big bites of frozen custard for dinner. Damn u culvers. This # should be great

haziedaze

I had cookies with lunch (which was a chx quesadilla on low carb tortilla with guac and salsa). I was 94 1 hr later... maybe I should eat cookies every lunch!

Laroo0220

Yeah my # was 114 so bring in the ice cream I guess!

Rrrrrachel

I got taken down hard by a stomach bug today. I don't recommend it as a combo with late pregnancy, let alone gd. I expects numbers to be neurotic for a few days.

Laroo0220

Rrrrrachel said:

I got taken down hard by a stomach bug today. I don't recommend it as a combo with late pregnancy, let alone gd. I expects numbers to be neurotic for a few days.

Boo. Feel better. That does not sound like fun

fourthnlast

MrsEll said:

Anyone else have trouble with milk in the morning throwing off your post-breakfast number? The two times I've incorporated a half cup of milk into my breakfast, my number an hour later has been above 140. I'm going back to no morning milk tomorrow, and hopefully that will help.

Try a different type of milk, I use Almond or Coconut because it's lower in carbs.

christinanoelle

Rrrrrachel hope you feel better soon! Being sick can definitely throw your numbers off! 

@jbug88 I don't know if this will help but my nutritionist told me to subtract the fiber from the total amount of carbs to get the amount of carbs per serving. So if one serving has 41 grams of carbs but 5 grams of fiber than one serving would be 36 grams of carbs for me.. 

manders803

For the dream field my nutritionist told me to count it as a one serving of carbs. Split the difference I guess.

newter135

Rrrrrachel said:

I got taken down hard by a stomach bug today. I don't recommend it as a combo with late pregnancy, let alone gd. I expects numbers to be neurotic for a few days.

Oh no!!! Feel better!

DaisyJanie

jbug88 said:

I'm sorry if this has been asked or discussed already - I skimmed most of the pages and didn't see it anywhere. Does anyone use the dreamfield brand pasta? My nutritionist recommended it, the box says there is 41g of carbs per serving, but only 5 are "digestable." She didn't tell me how to count the carbs per serving. Do I count the full 41? I don't believe that it could be as low as 5 carbs ?

I love Dreamfields pasta!! I'm really not sure exactly how you're supposed to count those carbs - the nutritionist did not go over different types of carbs acting differently, even though I know they do. Anyway, I eat it all the time for dinner and my numbers are never bad after it, in fact they're usually only 90 or 100 after a big plate of it. 

Whole wheat pizza crust is the same for me, if you look at the label it's the same amount of carbs as white pizza crust, but I can only eat maybe 1.5 slices of regular pizza, I can do 2-3 slices of whole wheat and my numbers are good. 

haziedaze

jbug88 said:

I'm sorry if this has been asked or discussed already - I skimmed most of the pages and didn't see it anywhere. Does anyone use the dreamfield brand pasta? My nutritionist recommended it, the box says there is 41g of carbs per serving, but only 5 are "digestable." She didn't tell me how to count the carbs per serving. Do I count the full 41? I don't believe that it could be as low as 5 carbs ?

I really like Dreamfields, used it with my diet plan pre-pregnancy. Tastes normal. My nutritionist said to count "net" carbs in foods like that. I found some low carb tortillas with 6g net carbs each that are great too!

christinanoelle

I found these at the grocery store yesterday:

https://www.fiberone.com/products/bars/protein-caramel-nut

https://www.fiberone.com/products/bars/new-protein-peanut-butter

I have been craving sweets and chocolates and these really help curb the craving! They are also high in protein and fiber which I thought was great Just thought some of you might enjoy an alternate snack option