Gestational diabetes - December 2023

ceclarlinetlo

The tummy bug has come to our house. I know so many families that this has hit in multiple states and no one in those families has been spared. My SIL had to go to L&D for fluids. WTF will I do for food? The typical BRAT diet is all simple carbs 😫

cmill828

@ceclarlinetlo oh no! I'm so sorry you're getting hit! Can you do brown rice or quinoa? Maybe wheat toast? I know every body is different, but I've been able to tolerate brown rice and wheat bread okay without it spiking my sugars. Could try that?

cmill828

@hedgepig Thank you for the tip! I'm looking for a solution to high fasting sugars (like 100-120) early in the morning. MFM suggested a late night, low carb snack and Magic Spoon sounds like a great option. 

hedgepig

@ceclarlinetlo Ugh, that's the worst! The recommendations I have seen lately are basically that if a food sounds appealing, then go ahead and eat a little (it doesn't have to be a traditional BRAT food). But that probably doesn't help because you're still going to want those easy, simple carb foods. Protein shakes? I'm drinking the Fairlife ones and they're alright. Yogurt? Smoothies? Oatmeal? (I found some high protein oatmeal that's pretty good). Whole wheat toast with butter or peanut butter? Grilled cheese with whole wheat bread and tomato soup? Cheese and whole grain or almond crackers? I also had some brown rice ramen noodles the other day that were pretty good and didn't cause me to spike (a small portion at least). Good luck, I hope it passes quickly!

kmw611

@ceclarlinetlo I’m sorry your sick! I hope it passes quickly. I feel like in that situation eat as best you can but also if toast or something carby is the only thing working for you then that’s what you need to eat while you’re sick. Also don’t be surprised by weird numbers while you’re sick apparently it can do weird things. My numbers were way high the day I had a migraine and I ate the same meals I’ve been having. 

m2b2024

@ceclarlinetlo - that would be so hard!! But yeah, any kind of nourishment is probably best! I hope you recover soon!

I am learning so much from all of you, still trying to learn my patterns and what impacts my numbers. I find I get pretty frustrated and down on myself when I am out of range, but I also am still learning what works for me and what doesn't.

fabfarmmama

Got the phone call this morning that I didn’t pass my 3 hour, so I’m officially part of the club with you all. I had a good cry because I felt terrible after my 1 hour for a day, first attempt at my 3 hr I threw up and felt terrible for 2-3 days and felt pretty confident about how my 3 hour went yesterday. 

Did they tell you your numbers? They didn’t tell me any of my numbers for my 1 hr or 3 hr. 

I’m really not looking forward to my GD education appointment because thanks to HG I have a really complicated relationship with food. 

ceclarlinetlo

@fabfarmmama so sorry you are a member of this club. I can only imagine how overwhelming it is in combination with HG 💜

cmill828

@fabfarmmama oh no, I'm so sorry you're here, but we welcome you! I've gotten into the habit of checking my patient portal like a madwoman after every test since they usually update the numbers there first. Is that something you can do? Even if they used a third party like labcorp, you should be able to check your numbers there. I was also dreading my MFM appt for GD education, and it turned out to actually be really validating and informative! It was encouraging and I learned some really helpful tricks. Hopefully it goes the same for you .

cmill828

I called my pharmacy this morning to refill my glucose test strips and found out that Insurance has already changed their formulary for the new year and my supplies are no longer covered by insurance, even though I have multiple refills left. So now the OB has to submit a new prescription so I can get all new supplies under a different brand name. I'm down to only a few strips left, so I'm hoping they can get it all figured out today before everything shuts down for the holiday. So heads up if you need a refill soon, you may want to check on it sooner rather than later! This is through Carefirst BCBS. 

ceclarlinetlo

@cmill828 oh my gosh you have to be joking?? I mean I know you aren’t but how is that legal? There are still 3 days left in 2023. 

cmill828

@ceclarlinetlo I know, isn't it bananas? Even the pharmacist was like "I've never seen them do this", I guess because it's Friday and they're preparing for the Jan 1 to be on a Monday so they preemptively did it? Either way, how annoying. 

m2b2024

@cmill828 Ooo good tip, I should give my pharmacy a call!! 

kmw611

@fabfarmmama welcome, I’m sorry you have to join us though. It’s not really so terrible so far just annoying trying to adjust things. 

@cmill828 how annoying! Hopefully you get it all sorted before the holiday!

fabfarmmama

Who did you meet with for your education after you were diagnosed? I met with an NP today and was basically just given information on paper and she highlighted 1 or 2 things in addition to telling me I need extra growth scans and extra NSTs and that I’d need to come into the office weekly to review my numbers. She didn’t even look at my numbers today which have been well below the thresholds the past week using my normal diet and activity levels. I was under the impression I’d get to meet with a dietician or nutritionist who’d do more than give me some packets and pamphlets with info. 

ceclarlinetlo

@fabfarmmama so I was already seeing an MFM and she went over a lot of it with me. Then a home health nurse (that my OB referred me to) came to my house to go over things. I am a little surprised she didn’t look at your numbers that you had from the last week though. 

fabfarmmama

@ceclarlinetlo I’ve been very unhappy with most of the nurses who I’ve seen from downplaying my HG, to forgetting to send scripts to pharmacy for the Dr, to forgetting to upload lab tests to patient portal, and then today contradicting what they were saying vs what was on “education” paperwork and telling someone involved in conventional ag to only eat pasture raised/ grass fed meat doesn’t sit well with me. 

The extra growth scans and NSTs are fine with me as long as it’s just a couple and doesn’t have to be every time…but the having to go weekly to review numbers seems excessive to me being that for the last week my numbers have all been really good (without having made many changes to diet or activity level from what I was previously doing) except my fasting being 1 point below the upper threshold yesterday. I’m just feeling very frustrated because I’ve learned more in the past week from an app I found for tracking and a mom friend who opted out of glucose drink and tracked her numbers than at what was supposed to be an education appointment and like they care more about getting me in the office more times and like I’m just a number in a one size fits all system to make more $. 

ceclarlinetlo

@fabfarmmama I would be very frustrated with that kind of care too. It’s weird to me they want you to come in every week just for going over numbers. I send my numbers in via patient portal once a week. I will say though, they did tell me at that first appointment that as pregnancy progresses the fasting is the hardest to control. I failed my 3 hour by one point at the 2 hour mark. My fasting number and 3 hr were great. When I started tracking at 27 weeks my fasting was consistently in the high 70’s low 80’s and now at almost 34 weeks I’m lucky to be in the high 80’s but usually it’s high 90’s or low 100’s. 

I personally am going every week for NSTs and BPPs, but I was seeing an MFM before I had gestational diabetes because I was already considered high risk and going weekly starting at 30 weeks was already the plan. I’m not sure what everyone else has to do though. 

m2b2024

@fabfarmmama- that sounds frustrating! At first I was told I would probably be referred to MFM, then later my OB said she would only refer if I was needing medication, I'm sure every doc/clinic is different. For my nurse education appointment, it was mostly just going through the monitoring equipment and being given some basic education, I started crying, and luckily the nurse was very patient with me! Then I had a phone appointment with a dietician a week later to review my numbers and any dietary suggestions. I also just send in my numbers through an online portal weekly, and currently have biweekly appointments with my doc, but again, I'm sure every situation is different. 

m2b2024

 

kmw611

@fabfarmmama that sounds incredibly frustrating. I send in my numbers weekly via the portal like @ceclarlinetlo said and have had no mention of extra visits, nsts or growth scans. That’s wild to jump straight to constant tests and visits. My fasting numbers have been consistently in the 90s😫 and my dr completely brushed it off when I asked for advice on how I might lower that further before it gets out of control. The difference in care everyone is getting with their gd diagnosis is crazy.