Gestational Diabetes Support Group - Page 7

[brandyk]

I'm dying here. pancakes or muffins!!!! i can't think about that any more.

i haven't been having fruit, juice, milk, cereal, etc for breakfast. i have been having steel cut oats and cottage cheese.

i am definitely not eating as many carbs as you. 30 for lunch/dinner, 15 at snacks.

my pre-preggo food logs look positively ORGIASTIC compared to the ones in the past few days. i have just been trying to keep my numbers low, which i can do mostly as long as i am eating bird like every couple of hours (this is very different compared to the standard diet, which was actually a lot of food but was making me crazeee). i am a fruit eater and am particularly bitter that i can't just eat fruit whenever the hell i feel like it. no human being should be subjected to a diet that is 75% fage yogurt and cottage cheese. it's great in principle (i love both!), but in execution, wow, it sure would be nice to chew something. i may never eat either again until the next go round.

dietician was unhelpful to me. see below. PLUS she wouldn't even believe the protein content of fage 0% until i looked it up on my phone and showed it to her. and she said that SHE EATS IT ALL THE TIME. sigh. she also wanted me to eat the same exact thing every day. for every meal and snack. i would go bonkers.

i had to stay home today for a furniture delivery (yay new couch i can sit on/get up from!). maybe it will be better tomorrow at work.

[avivaelona]

I swear dieticians just don't even have tastebuds or like food.

I'm a big fruit eater too, and I manage to make it work. Blueberries, strawberries, apples and yellow peaches don't seem to effect my sugar that much as long as I have protein with them.

I have to admit though that my diet is pretty much fage yogurt and cottage cheese with fruit because this whole pregancy I haven't wanted much else. (except for grilled cheese sandwiches and greens) Your dietician would love me because except for dinner which DH cooks, I eat the same thing every day.

[brandyk]

Originally Posted by avivaelona

I'm a big fruit eater too, and I manage to make it work. Blueberries, strawberries, apples and yellow peaches don't seem to effect my sugar that much as long as I have protein with them.

So far I have only had luck with canned fruit (no sugar added of course!). Perhaps this is because I refuse to eat half a pear, etc. It's just so sad to have half a pear leftover.

Today I felt my sugar spike about 2 mins before I tested after breakfast (156). 5 mins later I felt the sugar crashing really hard (tested again, 137). Of course I had to drive to work so I ate some nuts in the car because I had a container in my bag for work. That seemed to work ok. I am less out of it now, about an hour later. Time to eat again though for sure.

The Glyburide doesn't seem to have any effect so far. My numbers are the same as they were the couple of days before I started the pill. I would really like to see my fasting come down because this a.m. business just sets me up for a bad day.

[NicaG]

Originally Posted by avivaelona

I swear dieticians just don't even have tastebuds or like food.

I'm a big fruit eater too, and I manage to make it work. Blueberries, strawberries, apples and yellow peaches don't seem to effect my sugar that much as long as I have protein with them.

I have to admit though that my diet is pretty much fage yogurt and cottage cheese with fruit because this whole pregancy I haven't wanted much else. (except for grilled cheese sandwiches and greens) Your dietician would love me because except for dinner which DH cooks, I eat the same thing every day.

I need to rant about my dietician! She is just such a drag! I have to fax my bs numbers to her once a week. I usually have 2 or 3 slightly high numbers (like 123 pp when I'm supposed to be under 120). This week I had 1 high number because I ate out, and I underestimated the carbs in a tortilla wrap. So my dietician never shows any enthusiasm for my mostly perfect numbers. She just drones on and on about my "elevated" numbers and how I need to stick to the diet and watch portion sizes. Is this helpful or inspirational in any way? Grrrr.....

Also, it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in doctors or dieticians or anyone when I can take my bs 3 times in a row and get 3 very different numbers (varying by 10 points or so). With clean hands! So much for all the hard and fast rules (take the reading exactly 2 hours after your first bite of food, etc. etc.). I'm just sick of stressing out about the gd, enough!

I know what you mean about cottage cheese, seems like I eat it constantly. It's like a carb antidote--I always eat it to counterbalance whatever I really want to be eating, like fruit. If I never see another bite of cottage cheese after this pregnancy, it will be too soon!

[brandyk]

Originally Posted by NicaG

I need to rant about my dietician! She is just such a drag! I have to fax my bs numbers to her once a week. I usually have 2 or 3 slightly high numbers (like 123 pp when I'm supposed to be under 120). This week I had 1 high number because I ate out, and I underestimated the carbs in a tortilla wrap. So my dietician never shows any enthusiasm for my mostly perfect numbers. She just drones on and on about my "elevated" numbers and how I need to stick to the diet and watch portion sizes. Is this helpful or inspirational in any way? Grrrr.....

Also, it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in doctors or dieticians or anyone when I can take my bs 3 times in a row and get 3 very different numbers (varying by 10 points or so). With clean hands! So much for all the hard and fast rules (take the reading exactly 2 hours after your first bite of food, etc. etc.). I'm just sick of stressing out about the gd, enough!

I know what you mean about cottage cheese, seems like I eat it constantly. It's like a carb antidote--I always eat it to counterbalance whatever I really want to be eating, like fruit. If I never see another bite of cottage cheese after this pregnancy, it will be too soon!

That is really disheartening that she doesn't applaud your efforts. I heard from the NP today (the nurse service called in to her to notify her of the high number) and I relayed to her the lecture re: 1 carb. She said noooooo don't do that because of the crashes. She agreed that more experimentation is in order. I really like this NP, mostly because she totally agrees with me (but I'm always right anyhow....).

Anyways GO YOU! You are doing the best thing for your baby by making the diet work for you and doing the best you can instead of just going off the rails. Certainly that deserves some enthusiasm!!! You know your body best and those sometimes elevated numbers are just feedback to take into consideration, right?

This week I think I'm moving to string cheese. I need to alternate or something.

[kamesennin]

Originally Posted by NicaG

I need to rant about my dietician! She is just such a drag! I have to fax my bs numbers to her once a week. I usually have 2 or 3 slightly high numbers (like 123 pp when I'm supposed to be under 120). This week I had 1 high number because I ate out, and I underestimated the carbs in a tortilla wrap. So my dietician never shows any enthusiasm for my mostly perfect numbers. She just drones on and on about my "elevated" numbers and how I need to stick to the diet and watch portion sizes. Is this helpful or inspirational in any way? Grrrr.....

Also, it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in doctors or dieticians or anyone when I can take my bs 3 times in a row and get 3 very different numbers (varying by 10 points or so). With clean hands! So much for all the hard and fast rules (take the reading exactly 2 hours after your first bite of food, etc. etc.). I'm just sick of stressing out about the gd, enough!

I know what you mean about cottage cheese, seems like I eat it constantly. It's like a carb antidote--I always eat it to counterbalance whatever I really want to be eating, like fruit. If I never see another bite of cottage cheese after this pregnancy, it will be too soon!

You have to be under 120 for postprandials? That's freaking crazy! Mine guidelines were 135 for after meals. Jeez. I think you are doing great. :

[kohlby]

I "passed" my 3 hour GTT last week. Well, passed in the GD direction at least. Instead I have a serious hypoglycemia issue. I had hypoglycemia episodes before my insulin resistance was detected. But they ended, according to what I felt not blood sugar testing, when I went on the diabetic diet. I didn't feel a hypoglycemic attack until 15 minutes after the test was done so I'm thinking it went lower than the 3 hour. It was a mere 28 at three hours. I guess I don't really belong on the GD thread anymore since I have the opposite issue for the time being. (I'm at very high risk for developing regular diabetes as well as GD and I likely had GD when pg with my daughter. I'm only 14 weeks pregnant now). I'll stick around for a few in case anyone has any experiences with hypoglycemia they want to share. I will be talking to my dr and getting a glucometer since I'm scared that I didn't feel a blood sugar of 28 and under 35-40 can cause seizures and coma.

[brandyk]

Originally Posted by kohlby

I "passed" my 3 hour GTT last week. Well, passed in the GD direction at least. Instead I have a serious hypoglycemia issue. I had hypoglycemia episodes before my insulin resistance was detected. But they ended, according to what I felt not blood sugar testing, when I went on the diabetic diet. I didn't feel a hypoglycemic attack until 15 minutes after the test was done so I'm thinking it went lower than the 3 hour. It was a mere 28 at three hours. I guess I don't really belong on the GD thread anymore since I have the opposite issue for the time being. (I'm at very high risk for developing regular diabetes as well as GD and I likely had GD when pg with my daughter. I'm only 14 weeks pregnant now). I'll stick around for a few in case anyone has any experiences with hypoglycemia they want to share. I will be talking to my dr and getting a glucometer since I'm scared that I didn't feel a blood sugar of 28 and under 35-40 can cause seizures and coma.

Kohlby - that is really scary. Mine is not nearly as bad as yours but I think the general idea is the same - eat every 2-3 hours (or whatever the time interval that is right for you). Avoid the sugars because you will crash harder after eating them. I hope you get some really good advice from your doctor. And although the issue might be opposite I think it's the same management (although different concerns) as what you're already doing - the diabetic diet. So stay with us or at least give us an update.

[kohlby]

Originally Posted by brandyk

Kohlby - that is really scary. Mine is not nearly as bad as yours but I think the general idea is the same - eat every 2-3 hours (or whatever the time interval that is right for you). Avoid the sugars because you will crash harder after eating them. I hope you get some really good advice from your doctor. And although the issue might be opposite I think it's the same management (although different concerns) as what you're already doing - the diabetic diet. So stay with us or at least give us an update.

Okay! It doesn't take much convincing for me to stay! I figured I'd likely end up back on this thread in third tri when I got GD for real. (The odds are that I'll have GD then - though I'm definately not taking the 3 hour test again!) I've been trying to read up info on-line about severe hypoglycemia while pg and I haven't found much at all outside of a diabetic context. I'm trying to find out if me having dangerously low blood sugar levels can hurt the baby. I've only had one hypoglycemic attack knowingly all pg but still worry about it since 28 or below is really low. (And now I'm reading that waking up sweating in the wee hours of the morning is also a sign of hypoglycemic - which I've done for as long as I could remember without thinking it was a sign of anything).

[brandyk]

Originally Posted by kohlby

Okay! It doesn't take much convincing for me to stay! I figured I'd likely end up back on this thread in third tri when I got GD for real. (The odds are that I'll have GD then - though I'm definately not taking the 3 hour test again!) I've been trying to read up info on-line about severe hypoglycemia while pg and I haven't found much at all outside of a diabetic context. I'm trying to find out if me having dangerously low blood sugar levels can hurt the baby. I've only had one hypoglycemic attack knowingly all pg but still worry about it since 28 or below is really low. (And now I'm reading that waking up sweating in the wee hours of the morning is also a sign of hypoglycemic - which I've done for as long as I could remember without thinking it was a sign of anything).

I am glad you decided to stay. My NP said the hypoglycemia, which I had some issues with in Nov before losing some weight was a diabetes precursor/warning sign. I am going to be on the ball about losing weight once baby comes.

Just keep on your diet and make sure you eat frequently!

[rhysmom]

Kohlby - one of my doula clients had the same thing.... Everyone's right in saying to treat it, dietwise, with the GD diet and be very careful about too much sugar... Your body is doing the opposite than us, pumping out loads of insulin instead of us, who are getting it blocked! How frustrating! Now you need to get with a dietician or someone who can talk to you about treating your lows appropriately. Good luck!

NicaG - that stinks about your dietician. I'm really lucky that mine is great! And my GD counselor gave me the ok to add a little extra insulin on those special meals... I'm going to the UK next Wednesday and I am FOR SURE getting a real curry. I'm ok watching portions, but I know this will spike my BG level....so she helped me make a plan of attack so I can enjoy myself on this very special vacation.

BrandyK - sorry about the muffin/pancake talk! maybe you could try some lowcarb bread and make french toast with s/f syrup for dinner one nite? Make sure you get some protein in there. I know I can only have 3 pieces to stay under my carbs (and very little syrup) but it's worth it for me!!! And I'm making homemade blueberry muffins with splenda and 1/2 w/w flour/white flour. I do not put any topping on top (the best part - boooo!) but I can eat 2 for snack and stay at my 30g. if I make any of this stuff on my own I do lots better than anything I buy along these lines, inc. Weight Watcher products.

Oh and for portion control (not a problem in this house since my 2 boys (DS and DH) inhale every leftover) You could make a batch of muffins and freeze them, only defrosting what you will eat at a time. That worked for me when I was eating for one!

[Munchkingirl]

Well you guys seem to have so many more people "helping" with your management. I have only had my midwife and she doesn't have a whole lot of clients with it. I saw a dietician once. I have learned way more on here than I every did in rl through 4 pgs. Fasting #'s are still sporadic, but it has only been over 100 twice, so I am not going to stress about it anymore. Mornings have always been a problem for me, so like everyone else has said it just takes some more creative ideas. I have had a longer bout of nausea with this one, so eating "dinner" hasn't been super appealing, but that usually works for lower #'s. The rest of the day is fine as long as I am good. I am going to focus less on this (in a healthy way) since the last babes were all "normal" weights and none showed signs of being GD babies. I am always late (7 days to 14 days), so they are bound to be a little bit bigger anyway.

Side note: I was wondering if the normal #'s for kids should be the same, lower, higher as/than an adults "normal" #'s? I would like to check them periodically....just in case. Thanks

[avivaelona]

Why do you want to check your kids? I don't think I'd get so obsessive about that, do you have concerns about symptoms?

Kohlby stay, most of the ways you treat hypo glycemia are the same anyway, and it means being just as focused on remembering to eat and eating well.

I would say to the unhelpful dieticians that they are being unhelpful. I'm not sure why some docs seem to think that so many of us are cavalier about this when the truth is most of us just obsess way too much about it.

[brandyk]

Hello ladies! Hope all is well your way.

Munchkin - it looks like the lack of all the people "helping" works just fine for you!! Unless your kids are very obese I don't think you're supposed to worry about their blood sugar before puberty. It is supposed to be higher and over controlling it can cause brain damage and all that stuff. Just feed em healthy and ask your doc if you need to worry about them.

Last week I made SF cheesecake and topped with SF cherry pie filling. yum yum. I will very likely make more this week.

They were out of string cheese at costco this week so i got a block of cheddar that DH will have to cut up for me. I am like a small child and like everything cut up or I won't take it out of the fridge to eat. too hard! Thank goodness starting in June he will be a SAHD. baby & I will never want for cut up foods

They doubled my glyburide to 1 pill (2.5 mg) before bed last night. My fasting was down to 93 this morning. Breakfast is still killing me and I haven't fixed it yet. Except the other day I had 2 boiled eggs, 1 ww mini bagel & a crapload of cream cheese and it was under 140. I think it might have been the addition of a bunch of fat. Still playing. All my other numbers are fine and I can basically eat mostly normal starting around 4pm or so. Last night I was listening to my hypnobabies and forgot to snack so it was really low so I spent all night eating. I have had less crazy sugar highs since I've been on the pill so I feel better.

[Munchkingirl]

No I wsan't trying to be to worried about the kids, but hubby is a dessert kind of guy (reeaall supportive of the gd) and the kids ofcourse want that kind of food. We limit those things to certain "yummy days" a week so I really am not worried. The only reason I asked is because ds age 4 always asks if he can do his blood too and I let him the other day. He is a trooper and my more independant one so the prick didn't even induce an "ow". We had been out all day and had a bad/quick meal of ramen (don't throw things at me, it's not often and I didn't eat it) and I checked his blood at around 50 mins after eating and it was 155. If that was me I would be in trouble and that is the only reason I asked, but generally he is active (we have acreage and he loves to be out), not overweight, and they usually eat what I make with daily veggies and fruit. So, anywho....those were just my meanderings. Thanks

[lifeguard]

This thread has been really active - lots of good info! Thanks!

I got my diagnosis almost 3 weeks ago just 2 days before I left the country to come home to Canada for a 3 week trip. I bought my monitor here when I arrived & have been basically winging it on my own, doing lots of reading from the library & trying to get a grip on things. I couldn't see the endo or dietician before I left (only a day isn't enough time to get an appt). I've also been pretty limited on internet access (haven't been on in 2 weeks!).

I am on the glyburide. I take it in the morning (others mentioned the evening). I have found if I take with breakfast like the ob directed I get a big spike in my bg but if I wait 45 minutes to eat breakfast I'm fine. For lunch it doesn't seem to matter one iota what I eat - my readings are always good.

The first week & a half I was a mess. I cried every single day about this. I was soooo stressed & monitoring my bg just made things worse 'cause I obsessed about every reading trying to figure out exactly what caused the changes but not finding any real patterns.

But when I sent a week's worth of readings to my ob he seemed pleased. I feel much better now although my readings are still not as low as he had orginally outlined. But they are within the guidelines laid out by the Canadian diabetic association.

I have one more week before I head back & then I should be able to see some of the "specialists" & hopefully I'll be able to get a little tighter control.

Is it just me or is the "big baby" thing blown a little out of proportion?

[brandyk]

Munchkin - the #s for GD are first of all lower than for regular diabetics & regular people. And waaaay lower than for children. As far as I know it is totally normal!

My FBS this morning was 76... I didn't do the middle of the night test so I don't know what is up with that. all my numbers the rest of the day were more on par with the past few days. i didn't test it twice but maybe i should have.

lifeguard - the NP (specialist) said I am taking the glyburide at night to deal with the baseline BS readings. so perhaps a slightly different perspective/way of doing things although i'm sure it all pretty much works out in the end.

i did feel last night about 30-45 mins after i took my pill a very slight wave of nausea. i am not prone to it (and haven't been nauseated the whole pg) so i think it must be due to the pill.

i am still doing several more snacks per day and less food at meals. it works well for me. i like to snack anyhow! tonight i made turkey/cottage cheese/oatmeal meatballs and had those with a half serving of pasta (the high protein/fiber kind) and 1 serving of sauce and some veg. yum. so you can see i don't include the milk & fruit with dinner but i will probably have a pudding after i check my BS. post dinner it's like a smorgasbord around here. but it seems to be working right for me.

[Sage_SS]

Gah! So here I am, with you guys. My OB called yesterday and told me my results came back high. Phooey....

I'm 28 weeks and this is my fourth baby, I've never gotten it with the others. But I found out WHY I got this time while researching what gestational diabetes is.
Two years ago I had severe, chronic pancreatitis. It took 11 months before my pancreas started to heal and by then so much damage had been done.

It would have been REALLY nice to have gotten a heads up from my stupid OB. If he would have told me that the chances of getting GD this time are much higher, I'd have watched my diet more closely.

Some of the symptoms I've been getting are incessant thirst, a feeling like I'm drugged or drunk, and a HUGE growth spurt in the last 4 weeks (6 cm!!)

My OB wants me to go in for the 3 hour test but I've told him no. Not unless he can get someone to come to me to do it. He is starting to really, really tick me off.

So watching my hubby take all my snack food out of my room yesterday instilled this deep fear that I'm going to starve to death. I can't just snack all day on veggies, I need food. Meals. My mom is bringing me some kind of chicken, egg, cheese, bacon and pickle salad. I'm so hungry.

I'm concerned about the size of this baby. I have big babies to begin with. My first was 10 lbs. My second was 8.4 (3 weeks early) and my third was 6.4 (6 weeks early). I really, really, really do not want to have another c/s. My last was a c/s because she flipped breach.

So hello.. this is me.

[brandyk]

wah. i just wrote you a bunch sage and i lost it. poop!!!

anyhow, i'm sorry that you're here, but hopefully we can get you through feeling like crap to doing better (although it seems like you already have a big challenge with bed rest). refer to my top post on this page & the change to my last post. things are going WAY better for me and i feel so much better.

i promise once you figure everything out that you will not feel hungry. now that i'm on medication and my BS is under control I can eat again. not profligately but I can eat. that's kind of nice. my BS barely reacts to nice balanced meals now. before it was all over the place and it did NOT feel good.

i am so grateful to everyone here that got me through the last couple of weeks. we can get you through too!

[Sage_SS]

Thanks Brandyk! My mom brought me a ton of snack foods yesterday. I'm trying to enjoy them even tho they're all sugar free and low to no carbs, but some just taste like chalk.
She's been on the Atkins diet for about 5 years now, which is quite similiar to a diabetic diet. She's got lots of tasty recipes so I'm looking forward to some cheesecake on the weekend.

I still have to get the finger poker but I was told I have to keep it below 7.5. Is this the same for everyone else? What do you do if it is higher?