Feeling much better about GD diagnosis
I met with the diabetes educator today (and zerf, you were right--she's a chatter! I told her that I "know" you and that you had talked me down about the diagnosis).
Anyway, my biggest fear was the finger pricks, and I was so relieved when I tried it to see that I didn't even really feel it, and it certainly wasn't painful. The first one didn't produce enough blood, so she had me do it again, and that was also painless (and the number was good, although it wasn't the right time to test)..
We went over diet and exercise, and I feel like I can manage. It won't be a lot of fun and I will miss my Ben and Jerry's for the next 10 weeks, but baby's health is more important than triple caramel chunk.
I'm just adding those kind of sweets to my looonnnggg list of foods that I will savor as soon as the kid is out. Right now it includes beer, raw cheese, lunch meat, caffeinated soda (although I tried a sip of diet coke yesterday and it was gross). So now I'll add cupcakes, ice cream and chocolate chip cookies to the list. All I'll want for Valentine's Day (which will be after baby is here) is a red velvet cupcake from Georgetown Cupcakes.
Re: Feeling much better about GD diagnosis
Just did my first post-meal reading, and it was 76, which is below the ideal 90-120 range. I had a pretty healthy serving of mashed potatoes and gravy, too. Hmm. We'll see how dinner goes.
Glad you're feeling better! I guess you'll have to have more mashed potatoes next time
By the way, just in case the diabetes educator didn't mention it... one tip on getting enough blood from the finger prick is to wash your hands with very warm water beforehand.
I had mashed potatoes again at dinner and had a turkey sandwich (although on multigrain sandwich thins) and my #s were still fine. It is interesting to see how it goes.
Thanks for the warm water tip - I tried that and it definitely helped! I was starting to worry that I'd end up with only one finger that would work, and now it's worked from two fingers at least. It was in the paperwork and the educator might have mentioned it, but it was kind of an overwhelming appointment!
I found that I could have dark chocolate w/o it affecting my numbers - look for the bars that are about 75% dark chocolate or more...my other favorites were:
- Breyers low carb ice cream
- Skinny cow ice cream sandwiches - made w/splenda
- Sugar free pudding
- Mini bagels (less carbs than a full bagel)
I also had a protein shake before bed which helped keep my morning numbers in range.
Good luck!
You'll learn quickly what you can eat and what you can't. Potatoes in any form really spike my sugars but I've been able to handle white rice and white wheat bread (Nature's Own) with no problem. I'm so jealous of your potato success!
Other fun stuff to help you out:
-Dreamfields pasta. This stuff is the BOMB if pasta sets you off. Only 5g of digestible carbs per 1/2 c. They carry it at Wheaton Giant.
-Horizon Organic Choc. milk - the individual servings are great for an afternoon or bedtime snack. Just under 30g carbs and 8g of protein so you're set.
-Bagel thins are good too, in addition to mini bagels. Thomas's brand has about 12g carbs per half bagel thin.
-Vita muffins muffin tops. These have been a godsend for breakfast. I got so sick of "scrambled egg, 1/2 english muffin or bagel thin" routine, and I found these recently. They're in the frozen organic section, and the chocolate ones are really good. They also are the flavor lowest in carbs.