Gestational Diabetes Support Group - Page 12

[MomtoXane]

Lifeguard - I'm so sorry you are having so much trouble with your levels. Have you tried herbal supplements? My type 1 friend recommended Blood Sugar Support by Nature's Way. I hope you're able to get everything situated very quickly.

Weight issues - I had hyperemesis earlier and lost about 15lbs in the first trimester. I've managed to gain it all back, but now they are saying I can only gain 10lbs more. I'm only 21wks, is that even possible? I'm not overweight or anything.

I tried getting ahold of my OB who saw me in my first trimester. He said that he wouldn't be comfortable taking me as a patient if I'm high risk. The other OB, the counselor, the endo and everyone my CNM is sending me to are on the other side of town. It's an hour drive I don't want to be making every other week for the next four months! I hate this. I hate waiting for the consult. I hate being told to just watch what I eat and not to worry.

[lifeguard]

I'm sure the herbal supplements would be good support but it is difficult to find reliable sources for such things down here. Probably complicated by the fact that the packaging is usually in spanish & I don't trust things I cannot read & verify for myself - lol!

I understand your frustration with being told what to do. I also find it incredibly dismissive every time someone tells me not to worry - as if it was that simple!

I am being admitted to the hospital tomorrow morning at 8:00. The plan is a couple of days but I'm not counting on that being what actually happens. I just have a hard time believing that after all the efforts we/I have put in that they will magically find the right balance that quickly. But we'll see. DH is awesome & has taken the rest of the week off to help take care of things at the house & spend time sitting with me at the hospital.

[brandyk]

Hello ladies! I've been back from NOLA for a couple of days. My sugar has been out of whack (high & low) for about a week now due to travel & in-laws being around. It really mucks with my schedule.

That being said, travel was easier than expected. I got a note from the NP to take water on the plane, put my 3L in a plastic bag, put it with my GD supplies, said to the TSA people "I have medical liquids to declare" and that was that. On the way there one of the screeners looked at my medic-alert bracelet and the way back they just let them through. If you have travel you might want to look into getting a dr's note! Remember that if you get stuck on a tarmac it is up to you to have the water that will keep your baby healthy. Planes can run out, etc. I would hate for that to happen to anyone! Baby kicked constantly during all the flights so I wasn't worried about her.

lifeguard - "at this point it is too soon to tell if at 39 weeks the baby will NEED to be induced." couldn't agree more. mine measured 2 weeks ago at 3.5 lbs. well, that's right on schedule. it's too far away to know anything except i feel hugemongous.

MomtoXane - I think you need some help with the diet. Your fasting usually goes down with good dietary control (although it does tend to increase the more pregnant you get). But the 223 tells me that you're eating way too many carbs probably.

Aviva - ditto i have it in my head that this baby will be here in about 7 weeks and save me any worrying. wtf - 7 weeks? excuse me while i go FREAK OUT.

i saw somewhere (maybe another thread) someone complaining about a first trimester GT screen. they do them that early when you have 2+ risk factors for GD (me, overweight, sister had it). mine was apparently borderline and i think i should have been tested again earlier because i would have avoided a bunch of weight gain in the middle that seems very attributable to the GD.

MTX - speaking of weight gain - i have gained 6 lbs since 24 weeks (i'm almost 32 now). all of it entirely attributable to what appears to be chronic dehydration (i've added about a gallon of liquid to my body weight). they just don't want you gaining UNNECESSARY weight due to the GD. not having your carbs controlled if you have GD packs on the pounds overnight. don't freak out, if your sugar is in control your weight gain should go normally.

So mamas, I have a fun but GD related question. What diapers are you getting for your babies? I want to do kissaluvs and GMDs but I can't decide orange or periwinkle edge. (i mean, i'm not going to have a 5 pounder!) trying hard to get some of these ducks in a row! thinking of skipping the KL0s and doing 1 doz pfs, a couple covers, and mixing in some 7th generation (i have the 250 credit @ amazon) for NB stage if it is only going to be 2 weeks or so.

[idefix]

Hi, can I join? I had slightly elevated readings after my one hour glucola, and since I refused to take the three hour (had to do it with my first kiddo and made me so sick), I am finger-pricking. This is week 4 on the diet. It was going well until I got sick. I am still battling that dang cold, and my sugar is hopping around, especially my fasting. So I cut back on breakfast and the snack, but was starving until lunch. I should have called earlier, because they told me to ignore my numbers for now, and just follow the diet. "You need to eat." I had no idea sickness could mess with the sugar numbers like that.

Silke

[avivaelona]

Yeah that' why I'm having so much trouble Silke...had a cold it threw me off terribly and I haven't been quite able to get it back to normal. Stress and lack of sleep too can really mess with it. Cortisol is bad for blood sugar.

Which is also the good news...no insulin, more sleep was my endocrinologists recommendation. Going to give me two more weeks and see what happens because she thought insulin would be a bad idea given that my numbers are only intermittantly bad. Phew. I think. I was sort of looking forward to eating a big bowl of icecream and being able to just take insulin but that is probably very unhealthy thinking!

[idefix]

More sleep, huh? That's been a tad of a problem lately. Baby is so not following the bed time.

[lifeguard]

brandyk - I'm glad your trip went well.

It's pretty incredible with all the things that can make your blood glucose wonky (sickness, lack of sleep, stress) that more people don't have issues. Or maybe they do & it's just not caught. Makes me wonder if they've ever tracked the blood glucose levels several times a day for an extended period of time (months) on someone who is "healthy" to see how much their blood glucose actually does change.

I am in the hospital now & wishing I had said "no, I'd rather not". I feel like this is a complete waste of time - nothing has really been done that we couldn't have done via phone/e-mail with me at home & not bored to tears in a hospital bed. Plus, the doc kind of angered me this evening when he came in & asked if my diet today was much different then at home. Why will they not believe me that I'm following the freakin' guidelines I was given? In fact at lunch today I had to tell them I can't have juice!!!

Anyway, it does seem that the readings are starting to improve, but we'll see how tomorrow goes. Hopefully I'll go home tomorrow afternoon.

Avivaleona - I'm glad you don't need to go onto the insulin. It really is a pia & believe me I still cannot have even a little bit of ice cream.

For the diapers - I've just got 3 dozen infant prefolds (I made them myself). I figure if this baby comes out really small (unlikely) I may be forced to use disposables for a little bit but I think he'll be just fine with the slight bulkiness for the first few weeks. Maybe I'll regret that but newborn size just doesn't seem like it would last long if he's 8lb or more. My Mom guessed last night he'd be right around 8lb - that sounds pretty good to me!!!

[happyhats]

I'm pretty sure I have gd as well. I have taken two one hour glucose tests so far, one with fasting and one without. Both have come back high. I agreed to take the three hour test, because my doctor said he would work out a way for me to get to the lab during hours that worked for me and that the lab shouldn't have jerked me around, etc. I feel like it's best to get the most accurate results, which I've heard a three hour provides.

I'm still pretty aggravated and confused by the whole thing. I'm going to be reading up on diabetes and monitoring things for myself from now on anyway, just because I'd rather be preventative, ya know, and learn what sugar levels work for my body. Definitely if I ever get pregnant again I'll be doing my own monitoring early on rather than waiting for this test to tell me something.

I'm already at 32 weeks, so I will be at 33 to 34 before I know anything more accurately. It worries me that my past diet may have put undue risk or stress on me or the baby, kwim? If gd is such a problem shouldn't I have been tested for it before and been monitoring?

I didn't see my obgyn at my last visit and had a lot of problems with the np I did see, as I've posted before. Apparently the lab also decided to sit on my results for over a week when I tested high again...thanks, guys, I've been eating sugar like a junk food maniac, lol.

Right now I'm just trying to make sure I'm not eating a lot of sugar, both fructose or regular. I'm also trying to up my protein intake as I've heard that helps a lot. I'm planning on staying at home the day before the test so I can eat a decent amount and not be starving come glucose day. Other than that, I just have to sit back and try not to worry too much and listen to my body the way I have been.

[MomtoXane]

Diapers - I have newborn prefolds and infant size. My last GD baby was only 7lbs and it really helped having diapers that actually fit, even if they were for just a few weeks! The nice thing about nb kissaluvs is that they can last through several babies or resell for a decent amount. I went with pf and got 5 dozen so I wouldn't have to wash every other day lol.

Stress/Illness - Yes this totally applies to me! My highest readings have been after fighting with hubby or puking my guts out. Once I understood that insulin is a hormone and it's affected by all your other hormones, I felt a little better about my out of control numbers.


Lifeguard - I remember being bored to tears in the hospital last time! I had hyperemesis and made at least 6 trips for bloodwork and IV fluids. You'd think that "bedrest" would be relaxing, but there is only so much tv you can watch or books you can read! I really hope they let you go home soon and your levels start behaving better.

Happyhats - Don't stress yourself out about how your diet has been, it won't change anything. Just focus on eating better now and doing the best you can with the knowledge you have. I failed the 1hr at 10wks and refused the 3hr. My PCP wasn't worried about diet and monitoring so early. Now however it's more important to control BG in the latter half to reduce the risk of delivery complications. That's why they tend to test around 26-28wks. I hope everything works out for you!

Has anyone studied or read much about the Glycemic Index? Foods are given a value of 1-100 indicating how they affect BG. Pure glucose has a value of 100. So the higher the value, the faster/higher your BG will rise after eating that food. Each serving is based on 50g of carbohydrates. Like cooked potatoes have a value of 80 and milk averaged about 30. It's better than carb counting because it gives a more realistic reaction on BG. Here is the list of top low GI fruits:
Cherries 22
Grapefruit 25
Peaches 28
Dried apricots 31
Pears 38
Apples 38
Plums 39
Oranges 44
Grapes 46
Kiwi 52

Last night I had steak for dinner and I was trying to figure out a veggie. It was easy when I looked up the GI. Just 1/2c of cooked carrots contain 3g of carbs and have a value of 49. Where as 1/2 of canned sweet corn contain 15g of carbs and have a value of 57. Just something to think about when you are trying to work out your diet plan.

My appointment with the high risk OB is Mon afternoon and I'm hoping he can get me set up with a new monitor and test strips. The diabetic counselor was supposed to call me last week to set up an appointment for next week, but I never heard back from them. When I had GD last time, the counselor wasn't much help at all. This time around I feel so much better informed and prepared to deal with the GD diagnosis properly. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

[lifeguard]

happyhats - I'm sorry you're have a frustrating go with your care providers. You may be testing a little bit later than is usual but unless they have reason to suspect you might develop GD they generally do not test until 24-28 weeks. Stop blaming yourself for your past eating habits - just continue to focus on a good diet now. You may or may not have developed GD regardless of your eating habits earlier in the pregnancy.

I am sitting in the hospital right now - definitely regretting agreeing to being admitted. We are not doing anything I couldn't have been doing at home & I'm bored & uncomfortable.

[happyhats]

I know they test around 24-28 weeks, I'm more upset by the fact that I asked repeatedly about if I should change my diet or monitor myself and was repeatedly told no, but at the same time told that I really needed to do more testing and told how bad gd could be for my baby. This last test came back at 186, and they sat on it for a week rather than telling me so we could proceed. I'm sure that I'm just being hormonal and overly worried, but I feel frustrated at them and at the same time frustrated with myself because I've studied up a lot on prenatal health but not much on gd.

I know that other people on here are facing much bigger problems than I am, and so I'm grateful that my dd seems to be doing just fine and I seem to as well.

Other than the few changes I've made now, is there anything else I should be doing? I'll be hitting my library this weekend hopefully for some more info. I feel as if I should be doing more than eating a little better and upping my protein, but again I'm a worrywart.

[lifeguard]

happyhats - I really feel like we've gone through a lot of the same emotions. I knew I was at risk for GD & I did a LOT of reading & prep for & about pregnancy. But you know most of what is out there that I came across before I started specifically looking for info on GD downplayed it significantly. When I was diagnosed I went through every book I have on pregnancy (I'm a reader & have a pretty good library - lol) & not one of them had any real detail or real information on it. All of them pretty much said "GD can happen but you'll work with your doctor & it'll be control through diet & exercise." Well the info was pretty much useless to me & WRONG!!! I write this from a hospital bed as we try to get my levels right & it angers me that I wasn't more prepared & that the information available is so inadequate.

Good luck with your library search. I wish I could recommend some reading for you but I literally took out every book in my library back home about diabetes & found very little specifically on GD. The bookstore was not any better. What I did find is that a lot of the info on diabetes diet & control can be helpful. But as the goals for GD are stricter than that of type I or II some of the information about balance was not as applicable as I would have liked.

Through this whole process I really think that I have gone through the traditional grieving process & I think that is normal. The anger was the hardest for me to get through 'cause I was trying so hard & felt so alone. It just felt like nothing was working & that made it really hard to stay on track.

I have found that by becoming more proactive & assertive (something I struggle with) with my doctors that I feel much better. For example the endo keeps bringing up induction & c-section but the OB doesn't see it as being necessary & assured me we won't go that way unless something changes for the negative. So today when the endo starting talking about induction/c-section dates I cut him right off, told him the conversation with the OB & ended the conversation. I felt SO much better 'cause the talk of induction really worried me.

We did change my insulin again today. He's taken me off of the NPH & put me on a 24 hour flatline insulin (I cannot recall the name at the moment). He said it is not normally the first choice for pregnancy but he thinks the peaks & valleys of the NPH is what has been causing my big peaks in blood glucose levels. So far today since I started the new insulin I've had the best readings ever & not one has been too high. Tomorrow morning's readings will be the real test & then i should be able to go home.

Totally off topic: but the crib & dresser/change table that we had custom made was delivered today - I can't wait to see them!!!

[happyhats]

I hope you'll be able to go home soon and get to see that crib and dresser set before there's a baby to go with it! Hang in there, and lots of love to you!

I'm glad that you can understand where I'm coming from. It seems so counterproductive when on one hand gd seems so downplayed and yet at the same time they say, omgod, you need more tests now! This could be a huge deal! But we won't tell you anyway to be proactive!

I think in the past couple days I'm learning just how much sugar my body needs before I feel icky, and sticking to that. With that and eating more total carbs and protein I hope I will be fine. I'll be happy to have my next ultrasound so I can see baby and hear how much she weighs and know for sure she's doing a okay in there.

[hockeylover]

Hi all! I'm just jumping in here since my OB told me today that I'm borderline GD. I'm just starting 27 weeks and I'm pregnant with twins, which I'm told is VERY common to be GD. I was negative when I was pregnant with DD. Obviously, my 1 hour test wasn't good so I had the 3 hour test this past Monday. I go the results today and at the 180 threshold, I was 187. A few points over the 160 (2 hour) marker and then back to normal. While it's borderline, she has to tell me that I'm over. She's sending me to a GD nutritionist next week and fully expects that with some altering of my diet, I should be fine. I was a little depressed about the news today but I'll be ok.

So I'll try to catch up with the posts here so I can learn a little bit. I didn't pay any attention last time, since it didn't apply. Hopefully, it'll be something I can control easily.

[superflippy]

happyhats and hockeylover, here's a site that I found very helpful last time when I was diagnosed with GD: http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/gd/gd_index.html

MTX, where did you look up the glycemic index of foods? I've been using the USDA nutrient database (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/) to look up carbohydrate content. Is there someplace similar to get GI info?

Y'all, dh did the nicest thing for me this weekend. He made a really low-carb dinner of salmon, broccoli rabe, and smashed cauliflower with cheese so I could have a little bit of ice cream for dessert afterwards and still stay within my carb limits (45g). My blood sugar stayed within limits, and I felt so much happier being able to eat something I missed. We're not going to do that too often, but just knowing that I can have something like that every once in a while makes me feel less down on life.

[lifeguard]

I'm home from the hospital now & the change in insulin seems to really have made the difference. My blood glucose has been in the acceptable range pretty consistently & for the first time I can actually see a reaction to specific foods (before it was just high after everything I ate so there was no way to tell if anything specifically triggered a higher reading).

I feel so much less stressed about things now. Yesterday I put away all the baby clothes & things in our new dresser/changetable (they were delivered while I was in the hospital) & today I packed the bags for the hospital.

[happyhats]

Well, if all goes well tomorrow we will be doing the three hour gd test. Yippee! LOL. I'm set though, I've been eating better and making sure my fasting is when I'm asleep and then we'll get up and go straight to the hospital. I was going to go to the lab today but I've had brackton hicks off and on all last night and today and really didn't feel up to sitting in those hard chairs for three hours, lol. Also, I've just been trying to watch myself in case these turn out to be the beginning of the real deal, lol.
Thanks for the website, I'll be checking that out now.

edit..I read that site and I'm still sooo confused. I get the limiting of carbs and the upping of protein, and the cutting out of sweets, but they don't give me any proper examples of good foods that fit that description. They just keep saying, don't eat this, don't eat that, abstain, etc. Ack. Well, hopefully the dietician can give me more info if I need it. And also, hopefully I don't even have it. I read that 85% of women that fail the one hour pass the three hour, eek.

[avivaelona]

drat drat drat, I'm still really struggling despite two days of good sleep. Its still borderline highs, but I think its just going to keep going up if I don't do something.

[gabysmom617]

Originally Posted by happyhats

Well, if all goes well tomorrow we will be doing the three hour gd test. Yippee! LOL. I'm set though, I've been eating better and making sure my fasting is when I'm asleep and then we'll get up and go straight to the hospital. I was going to go to the lab today but I've had brackton hicks off and on all last night and today and really didn't feel up to sitting in those hard chairs for three hours, lol. Also, I've just been trying to watch myself in case these turn out to be the beginning of the real deal, lol.
Thanks for the website, I'll be checking that out now.

edit..I read that site and I'm still sooo confused. I get the limiting of carbs and the upping of protein, and the cutting out of sweets, but they don't give me any proper examples of good foods that fit that description. They just keep saying, don't eat this, don't eat that, abstain, etc. Ack. Well, hopefully the dietician can give me more info if I need it. And also, hopefully I don't even have it. I read that 85% of women that fail the one hour pass the three hour, eek.

Yeah this confused me too.

Things that I like to eat right now: Whole wheat bagles with cream cheese.
Carbsmart popsicles. (Dunno what's in them. : Hopefully not too much aspartame. But they really do hit the I-NEED-CHOCOLATE-COATED-ICE-CREAM-NOW!! pregnancy cravings without sending my sugar through the roof.)
Beans with chicken and cheese. (Ok, so my husband works at Taco Bell. : I scrape the chicken and beans off the burrito and eat it alone. Hits the spot!)
Just most baked meats and vegetables.
Scrambled eggs with cheese and a meat in them
I can drink tea, but what I do is put half a glass of tea and fill the rest of the glass up with water. I only do that very occassionally, when I just feel I gotta have a real "beverage" with a meal.
I haven't tried the "Stevia" sweetener yet, but my nutritionist recommended it over aspartame or succralose (sp? ) because it's natural. I plan to order some online because I don't know where else to find it.
Nuts! I'm always munching on peanuts or cashews
Small amounts of dark chocolate, very occassionally.
Fruits with the skins on it. Pears are my favorite


Things I have to stay away from: Fruit juices and soft drinks. Diet doesn't send my sugar through the roof because they don't have carbs, but I don't like to do too much soft drinks at all. Most fruit juices and soft drinks send my sugar straight through the roof.

Large amounts of cake or candy, large desserts. If I've had a really good low carb dinner, I can have a very small sliver of dessert just to take the craving edge off.

Sweet cereal with bananas. Yeah. Sent my sugar up today. Lesson learned. Crispix did it, and this morning it was cream of wheat. I think I'll try it later after I get the stevia to sweeten it.

Anyhow, that's what i've learned so far, with my limited cooking and meal imagination.


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But I really just popped in here to let you all know that CVS brand lancets suck eggs, man. That is all.

[skinnyhungrymom]

I'm soooo hungry, I don't know what to eat!

So, I'm looking for anyone that can help me.
I had to do the 3 hour GTT last week, but I'm already 31 weeks along, and I fear it's too late to fix anything. My numbers were not good, and I haven't been able to get a hold of the dietary specialist to help me with my diet.

Here are my concerns: I've only gained 20LBS in the past 31 weeks. I have a quite small frame. I'm worried that this GD is going to keep my weight down when I really wanted to gain some more weight for the little one brewing inside of me. Second, I don't drink soda (never have) and I don't eat fast food. I also don't eat candy or sweets so this is all very surprising to me. I've cut out my "apple a day" and the lemonade I'd drink when taking my IRON. But that is really all that is sweet in my life. I also never eat pasta. So what on earth am I supposed to cut out, what am I supposed to change? How can I see results and make sure that my little girl doesn't end up gaining too much weight. If I've only gained 20lbs, can she be gaining all the weight??? I guess I'm still learning about this, but I'm so hungry, and I'm desperate for advise.

Please - anyone?