Questions about Gestational Diabetes
Hi Ladies!
Last week my blood tests came back from my glucose tolerance test, and I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I have zero risk factors (besides being over 25), am overall healthy, am petite and was normal weight before pregnancy, have normal blood pressure, no history in my family, have gained only about 10 lbs during the pregnancy so far, and am 27 weeks today. So I'm on an extremely strict meal plan - scheduled meals at specific times throughout the day, counting carbs, no sugar (even fruit at times), a tiny amount of dairy, and testing my blood 4 times a day at specific times. At times it's hard for me to feel like I'm nourishing myself enough, much less the baby. Doctor says I will probably lose weight...I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that that's ok?! Anyone else had a similar experience/stresses/frustrations? Much appreciated 
Re: Questions about Gestational Diabetes
Same with me on the ice cream.
I have found that I have to eat MORE than I want to. Pregnancy has killed my appetite and I have lost 14 pounds overall. I gained 5 with the first week of GD, but that was while making myself actually sick from forcing so much food into me to get 60g of carbs at every meal, but those 5 pounds were gone two weeks later. Then I was told I could go down to 45g, which has been better. No restrictions on sugar, fat, etc. Just looking at carbs.
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Sorry about your diagnosis - GD is no fun. Your profile sounds identical to mine. I weighed 114 pre-pregnancy and gained about 16 pounds by the time I was diagnosed. No other risk factors or family history other than me being over 25 (I'm 28).
I'm allowed 30 carbs for breakfast (no fruit allowed until after breakfast), 45 for lunch and 45 for dinner. All snacks are supposed to be 15 carbs or less. So far my numbers have been good, but I've had some high readings here and there that concern me. For me, I cannot eat anything with white flour in it, even if the carbs are well below my limit (white bread/buns, white tortillas - all out). My dinner numbers are the highest of all my meals, so I have to limit myself to a serving of meat (chicken, steak, pork chops) and a simple side of veggies. I have to limit my milk intake, but can have all the cheese I want (in fact, that is one of my go-to protein snacks). I've lost about 4 pounds in 3 weeks, but the doctor isn't too concerned.
Good luck and hang in there!
Yeah, it was really shocking for me to find out just how much I need to eat! My first meal of the day needs to be 15-30 though, and I've found that the lower the better since that's my body's worst time, it seems. For my second meal today I had 49g and my number about 40 minutes after eating was only 96 (we had to go somewhere and I wanted to see how it was, if it was low enough I was just going to accept it and not take my meter with me).
I agree with the numbers they want me to see after meals because it's pretty in line with the research. I just disagree with the fasting numbers; even ACOG recommends below 95, I've seen 90 in a lot of studies. One doctor freaks out on me every time, but a different endocrinologist was on duty for my last appointment; she looked at my numbers, nodded, and moved on. She made NO comment about all of them being in the upper 70s and 80s instead of all below 80.
The other doctor thinks I am just afraid of insulin. I have no issue giving myself shots; my lower arms are covered with tattoos and I have a very high pain tolerance. I am still pushing to be put on blood thinners, but that's a whole other issue. I'm an extreme worrier and I would rather take a ton of precautions than just ignore something. However, I won't agree to insulin until my numbers start going "out of control" as determined by the hours and hours of research that I've done; I still have access to journal databases from grad school, so I've been able to look through a ton of research studies. My desire to avoid insulin until/unless necessary is due to the fact that the second you are put on medication for GD, you've secured a one way ticket to a lot more interventions. If insulin in necessary, then it's fine; I don't feel it's necessary for me at this point, so I don't want to sign on to something that will open me up to interventions that are not warranted yet. Especially when another endocrinologist was perfectly satisfied with my numbers.
blog! thescenery.net
I am in the same boat as you. The only risk factor I had was that my grandpa has type 2 diabetes. I am 36 weeks and have been able to control it with diet and exercise so far...I bet you will be the same!
After my initial consultation with the dietician, I started eating the recommended amount of carbs and lost 3 pounds the first week. They sort of freaked out because I didn't really have the weight to lose. So, they had me start testing my ketones every morning. They might have you do this too. You just pee on a stick basically and it shows whether your body is burning carbs or fat. I was told that being pregnant, they don't want me burning fat. They ended up having me eat more carbs for my last 2 snacks of the day to help this. I was also encouraged to eat lots of good fats. So, for example, I get a decaf, sugar free Br?ve instead of a latte (since it's made with cream instead of milk.)
In my experience, it takes a few weeks to figure out how your body works, but once you do, it becomes much easier. Good luck!!