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November 2019 Moms
purplefan1
member
Gestational Diabetes Support
purplefan1
member
This thread is to provide support for the people diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. Please use this thread to provide support, encouragement, and a place to complain if needed! Would love to see recipes, tips, and tools that people have used or are using to navigate this diagnosis successfully!
Re: Gestational Diabetes Support
I tend to have go to meals and find myself eating the same things over and over because I get used to how my numbers react to those meals. Any one else find they get in a routine with the eating or do you try to wing it and make it work?
@purplefan1 I absolutely find I fall into a routine with my low carb eating. I'm a creature of habit when it comes to my eating habits in general, so when I restrict myself to low carb it's even worse. Last time I would literally eat the same snacks and meals that gave me good numbers and rarely deviated from them. Winging it doesnt work well for me when it comes to counting my carbs and protein so I like having an idea of both before I actually eat a meal.
I've tried to vary my diet some this time and see what keeps my numbers low and what isnt ok so far. But I still make the same meals at home and order the same things when I go out for the most part because I know they are "safe".
I’d love to trade recipes and support! I found with my daughter it helped keep me healthy and I’ve been trying to focus on that with this one.
Sending you all love and support!
How about you?
@amyjay23 eggs galore! My staple breakfast for both low carb and GD is scrambled eggs, a couple slices of turkey bacon, avocado, and a piece of toast. I also like fiber one bars for a "treat". I use benefiber in my drinks to up my fiber intake as well.
I definitely found that drinking more water and taking walks after meals helps keep my numbers in check. And my night snack of cinnamon graham crackers and natural peanut butter helped some with my morning number.
I gotta say, when my doctor told me that a high protein snack before bed would help my morning numbers I didn't hate it! Ha! It's common for me to be found eating peanut butter straight from the jar. Whoops. My daughter has even started asking for "peanut butter pops."
I'm all about the protein bars. Aldi has a brand I like called Elevations. I also really like the Think bars. I may have to try adding benefiber in... that's a great trick!
For me it seems like it's my fasting numbers that are hardest to keep as low as they are needed. My diet and exercise routine does a pretty good job of monitoring my daily numbers, but that darn somogyi effect elevates my morning number. I am currently on 10 units of insulin before bed, but I know I'm going to have to increase it soon. I was around 85-90 fasting numbers, then once I hit 24 weeks its been in the hi 90s and low 100 ranges. Boo!
I go back in 4 weeks for my second glucose challenge so we will see what happens then. Im already working on trying to get in the habit just so the diet change doesnt feel like such a shock as it did last time!
Last time we went with Glyburide, but recommendations have changed. My daytime numbers have been good. It is just the fasting numbers that gave me trouble. Your second time through you have a higher likelihood and your numbers tend to rise faster.
Morning numbers are the most influenced by the placenta and the hardest to control. Finding the right bedtime snack can help,but sometimes you just need the insulin.
Every OB has different thresholds they work with, I think it is interesting. My OB seems to gave stricter guidelines than most. They want blood sugar at under 120, 1 hour after meals and morning numbers under 92. My OB medicates if you consistently have morning numbers over 91 and don't respond to lifestyle changes in a week or 2. 🤷♀️
For me this time the diet has been more challenging because I have so many food aversions. Luckily my after-meal numbers are great, but it is a challenge to eat. Right now I have aversions to eggs, chicken, peanut butter, and cheese. It doesn't leave a plethora of protein options as beans spike my glucose numbers. I do a lot of forcing myself to eat.
Meal options:
Breakfast: peanut butter toast, avocado toast, eggs, crustless quiche.
My OB bars dairy as your first meal, so I usually wait for mid-morning snack to have whole fat yogurt and nuts. Icelandic yogurt or Greek yogurt work well.
Trader Joe's has a protein enhanced pancake mix that has worked well for weekend fun with the toddler.
Lunches/dinners-
Meat/veg/small carb is my go to combo as plant based proteins spike my blood sugar.
I find a small portion of regular pasta more satisfying than a larger portion if the protein enhanced kinds. If you aren't picky about mushy pasta the pea-protein and chick-pea pastas can be good options.
IDK, I mostly just add in extra veg at meal times and eat a small portion of whatever grain/carb we are having.
Bedtime snacks - I am a bug fan of a small scoop of whole fat ice cream and nuts. It feels like a treat and it serves well for morning numbers. Vanilla Haagandas has a good carb/protein/fat balance for slower digestion.
Oh, and Dave's killer bread has a thin slice bread that is fairly low carb, same with Ezekial bread.
Thanks for the meal ideas. Unfortunately most of my go-tos are the foods you are having aversions too right now but I’ll share any tricks as I come across them. I’m definitely going to try that ice cream!
Lots of love to you!
My OB asks for 92 or lower fasting and under 120 1 hour after the START of a meal.
@angieeeeee have you tried the ole xtreme wellness wraps? I think they are delicious, 50 calories a wrap, 16g carbs but also 11 grabs of fiber making net carbs only 5g.
Other tips that truly helped me: Drink lots of water. And make sure to drink a full glass of water after a meal. And whenever possible, get up and go for a walk after meals. So at lunch at work, cut your lunch about 10-15 minutes short and go for a quick walk, even around a conference room or the building. After dinner, take your partner or pet out for a quick walk around the neighborhood. Movement helps the body utilize the carbs you took in.
Keeping a journal while you do this is helpful. Making notes on which meals helped your numbers stay solid versus which ones rocked your numbers for whatever reason helps. And it gives you a place to vent should you just get frustrated.
Oh! And wash your hands before using your glucometer. It can really throw off the number if your hands are dirty or have residue on them. And if you happen to be getting sick you might notice your numbers off. Just note that and if you send in your numbers weekly, just let them know. I ran a high temp one week and my numbers were stupid for a couple of days because of it.
Dont freak out at a bad number or two. They are looking for trends. Just see if you can pinpoint anything you can adjust and ask for help. I had to ask for tips for my evening snack because my fasting numbers have always been hardest for me and their tip was graham crackers and peanut butter. That helped start to keep my fasting levels better but those remained the ones that were wonkiest for me. They are there to help so ask for the help if you get stuck or frustrated.
A little overwhelmed, partially from other life stresses unrelated to this, but I know I got this
I have an appointment today to go talk to the person and find out all the fun stuff about checking my sugar and shit. They had originally scheduled me for 1230 which was gonna mean I had to come BACK to work after and work til 5 or 6 to make up my time. But luckily the doctor called today and said that "1230 doesnt work for her, can I come in at 3?" I wanted to say no just because its ridiculous that they can reschedule me for their convenience but originally couldn't offer me a 3:00 appointment. But I also didn't want to come back to work lol and a 3 appointment means my 8 hours are done at 2 so I am golden.
I find it really depends on the food. Whole wheat bread doesn't spike my blood sugar, but beans do something awful. Even if it is a meal well under the recommended carb count, if it has beans my numbers go way up. Brioche also spikes my numbers but ice cream is fine 🤷♀️ I think that us why they have you keep the food journal, so you can see those patterns.
One thing that surprised me, re:washing hands, if you use hand sanitizer before testing don't use the scented ones! The body shop scented ones always skewed my numbers up.
Which I just realized... I ate 4 slices of pizza for lunch (yay for free pizza safety lunches!). I'm sure that's gonna look terrific.
Also, what IS the deal with beans? I was the same way, beans are a no go for me. I should look more in to what their problem is. Stupid beans. Ice cream was a no go for me except for those skinny cow ice cream sandwiches. Those worked well for me.
Sugar lwvels were high in the morning but seem to drop thought the day. So idk, I guess I'll keep playing with my food and see what happens.
Fasting number this morning was 106. Still high. Again, late dinner (ate an hour before I went to bed) so no bedtime snack.
Hope you're all feeling well.