Gestational Diabetes Support Group - Page 15

[happyhats]

Luckily nobody has discussed a c section with me, thank gods. Although I'm pretty sure it may become a strong option (at least in their eyes anyway) because of the possible two vessel cord and the gd combined. We'll see.

lifeguard, thanks for the heads up about nitrates. My biggest problem with food lately is that I don't really have an appetite, which equals I don't want to cook, so if I have protein rich items at my disposal I tend to eat more of them. Honestly, there are times I don't even want to look at food. It's not that I get nauseous, I'm just so disinterested (not to mention a little stressed thanks to trying to guess a diet, lol). I've been taking my vitamins but I still have a lot of fatigue the past couple days, which I'm sure is normal for being 33 weeks pregnant.

Cottage cheese, nuts, more veggies, more whole grains (I've been doing pretty well eating all carbs in moderation so I don't think I'll overreat on rice or anything but I'll keep that in mind), cheeses, more meat, etc. is on my list for tomorrow.

On the plus side I've been feeling more clear headed and WAS feeling more energized when I started this dietary change. I think it's mostly baby has been in odd positions and I wasn't getting adequate, comfy sleep that was throwing me for a loop.

[ruthmg]

avivaelona, thanks for the middle of the night tip! I'm going to try it tonight.

Hopefully I'll get this under control soon. Haha.

[brandyk]

really busy here ladies! here's some rambling notes

i haven't discussed delivery with my OB for a while... they (kaiser) are big on the GD babies before 40 weeks. which is fine with me, as long as she comes naturally. i have already told baby as soon as we land from the flight back from DC Nov 8, it is fair game and she can come sooner than later!

eggs are a cheap protein source. you can fry, scramble, omelette, souffle, hard boil eggs! note that a lot of diabetic protein bars have too many carbs for GD. i eat a lot of string cheese, greek yogurt, cottage cheese. if you don't have a diet plan in place, check out these exchange lists. http://www.revolutionhealth.com/cond...ists/printable

most people can eat 2 carbs with lunch, dinner, 1 with breakfast, snacks. i can eat more at breakfast depending on what it is that i eat. just cutting back on carbs is usually not enough.

milk spikes my sugar. i avoid it. except that today i ate some SF pudding (made with milk) before my NST. i was out of there pretty quickly.

if you have high numbers due to eating something that you didn't realize would spike, write a note on your log book so you can tell your dr/nurse that it was a dietary issue, not a hormone issue.

i called in on sunday to get my glyburide dosage upped. my numbers were just not good and i wanted to eat. i can't exercise any more. this sciatica is KILLING me.

[lifeguard]

I have been just ravenous for the past 12 hours - I even got up in the middle of the night & HAD to eat - that is very odd for me. But I've been having a lot of irregular contractions & backache so I'm really hoping things are gearing up & my body just wants a little extra nourishment to make it through. Interestingly I was expecting the early hour meal to raise my fasting this morning - especially as I tested earlier than usual by a couple of hours but it was ok.

I have been keeping very detailed records on an excel spreadsheet of everything that seems to effect or not effect my blood glucose, any time we have changed meds/insulin & anytime I'm feeling different. I figure for my next pregnancy we can skip some of the guesswork & go right to what works (yeah, I'm not so optimistic I will avoid GD next time around).

Keep your fingers crossed for me - I'm sure hoping the end is near!!

[superflippy]

Brandy, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble with milk! It's frustrating, because normally it's such a huge part of my diet and it's really hard to cut it out.

Lifeguard, (and everyone else, for that matter) I saw a great article on birth plans the other day written from a midwife's point of view: You Buy the Hospital Ticket, You Go for the Hospital Ride. The point of the article is not to get you down about the whole hospital experience, but to help you be realistic about what is and isn't possible, and to create a more effective birth plan. Skip to the bottom if you want for some suggestions of what ought to be on a birth plan (up at the top are a few things you might be able to leave off).

[lifeguard]

Thanks superflippy for the link. I must admit I had to read it twice 'cause the first time I found I was feeling defensive about what she was saying but she does have some very valid points. Unfortunately I am in a position of very little choice (unassisted was just not something we were comfortable with at all). I am also living in a country where english is not the first language so I will be using my (translated) birth plan as one of the primary ways of answering questions or explaining things. It is a reference for us (for the right words) as much as anything. I do like the idea of making nice signs for the door or above the bed - I think I will be doing that this evening. Good busy project for me & I can see how that would be really effective for those things that we feel are most important.

[avivaelona]

Lifeguard you are definitely in the home stretch! Looking forward to hearing you had a wonderful birth soon

[thepeach80]

I just wanted to thank you guys for all your help (even though I've never posted here before and don't officially have GD). My fasting numbers were being a little too high this week and I didn't know what to do. 1 hr after eating last night my #s were 90 (bedtime, I've been in bed early lately) but I just had eaten so I didn't eat again. I got up at 1:30 to pee and checked and they were 107. I was hungry so I ate and I woke up w/ 93 this morning. : So, I guess I need to try the snack before bed thing and see if that helps bring them down, then I should be fine b/c my other numbers are o.k. (122 after eating here and there). I'm doing this to avoid drinking the glucola. I've always been hypo and never had to worry about this, so this is a new ballgame for me!

[thepeach80]

Hmmmm....132 after lunch. Great, I wasn't expecting that and now I'm sad. This is so new to me, I hate new things.

[superflippy]

Peach, I've always been hypo, too. I wonder if that has something to do with it?

I also woke up in the middle of the night last night and ate a snack (handful of peanuts and a cheese stick). This morning, my fasting was 86! That's one of the lowest I've had this pregnancy!

I don't think the metformin is working. Numbers seem the same as always. Higher, even, because this week I've been staying with the in-laws and I'm coming down with a cold. Stress + illness + break from eating routine = high blood sugar.

[Swandira]

Just jumping in to check my assumptions. Is it true that stress hormones can actually affect your blood sugar? I had a high fasting reading the other day (97), and my readings are usually in the low 80s! It was actually the day after I had an ultrasound and they told me the baby was huge (despite my so-far excellent glucose control) and I was pretty much freaking out all day and couldn't sleep all night. Since then it's been completely normal.

I had no idea that anything but your insulin resitance and food intake could actually affect blood sugar! Feel free to educate me. I have never actually been diagnosed with GD, but seem to be borderline insulin resistant during pregnancy, although most of my daily readings are excellent.

I agree on the bedtime snack thing. My fastings will go up to 87 or 88 (high for me) if I don't have a snack before bed!

Nealy
mama to T, 5; L, 2; and EDD 12/20/08

[MomtoXane]

Last month I got in a huge fight with hubby and was crying for over an hour. My BS reading was over 220!! A couple hours later things had calmed down and my post-dinner number was only 117. In case you didn't know, insulin is a hormone and it is influnenced by your other hormones. Stress hormones and pregnancy hormones make it especially difficult to control.

The more I hear about diabetic medications the more inclined I am to prefer insulin. It provides a very predictable response and is very easily adjusted.

The first few weeks are the hardest, I hope things work out for you! I'm very anxious to finally be getting in to see the diabetic counselor on Monday morning. I'm hoping she gives me some useful information.

[thepeach80]

Susanna, have you been on the metformin your whole pgcy? A friend gave me some stuff to look at about taking it during pgcy b/c I think I might have PCOS and have terrible milk supply and I know it's been known to help. I was told by a friend that being hypo puts you at a higher risk for GD when pg? Don't know if it's true, but I have a HUGE family history on both sides of pre-diabetes and some type 2. My mom and her mom are both pre-diabetic so I'm sure it's just a matter of time for me, I'm not getting any younger. I'm going to try to really lose some weight after this baby though to try and at least postpone my dx if not skip it entirely. Maybe it is just stress, until this week things looked good. I'm curious to see what my DR will say on Monday, it's driving me crazy not knowing how he'll react. I tried to get help last pgcy b/c of my low blood sugar and no one wanted to pay any attention to me and the dietician wasn't helpful, I'm sure high #s get a lot more help.

[Sage_SS]

hey all.

So I thought that my GD test coming back high was just a fluke. I've barely been able to get my blood sugar tests above 3.1 -3.6. Once I managed to get it to 4.9 but that was right after eating a brownie.

So I haven't been worried about it since it was clear to me that I didn't have GD. Well I was wrong. Now my numbers are way too high, I just checked and I'm 12.2. How dangerous is it to be that high? Is there something I can do to bring it down? Earlier today it was 10.1. I had an orange and some fruit juice.

Ugh, I don't wanna have GD!! All the foods I'm craving right now are full of sugars and carbs!!! No fair!!!!

[Swandira]

Sage --



Sorry you're having a hard time with this. The nice thing about GD and insulin resistance during pregnancy is that when your glucose is on the high side, it's seldom a medical emergency at the time, unlike with other disorders of pregnancy, like high blood pressure. However, our babies adjust better to life on the outside if they're not accustomed to very high glucose levels in the womb, and our own bodies work best when our glucose level is pretty stable, although most people don't spend enough time being pregnant to do themselves any real harm.

I'm not familiar with the units of glucose you're using. I'm using milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood, which is what most US glucose meters read. I see you're in BC, though; perhaps Canada uses a different system?

When I'm really craving sugary stuff, I like sugar-free Jello. I find creamy peanut butter fairly satisfying too. That's just me, though. And remember that most dietitians are not really concerned about our fat intake much during the third trimester, so non-carb fatty stuff (like cheese is fine.

Fortunately, pregnancy is not forever, and you'll be more able to handle some sugar here and there when you don't have pregnancy hormones messing with your insulin response.

Nealy
mama to T, 5; L, 2; and EDD 12/20/08

[thepeach80]

12.2 is 219.6 for us.

http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/converter.htm

[avivaelona]

I had an orange and some fruit juice.

Sage don't have an orange and some fruit juice together, that is a huge amount of sugar, you need to have protein with stuff, and cut out the fruit juice for now. Eat smaller amounts of what you crave and mix it with protein. The infection and the hospital level bedrest and possibly some of the pain meds will all mess with blood sugars and are probably why you are having trouble right now (not to mention stress!).

Honestly unless you think you are going to make it several more weeks after all, I wouldn't worry too much about keeping your blood sugar way low. If you go in the next couple of weeks it really won't be long enough to affect growth if your numbers are a bit borderline high, but you do want to keep it down within reason...12.2 is too high. The risk is not immediate with numbers like that, but that the baby can have blood sugar issues after birth and that's not so good.

If you get that high a reading again, eat something that is high in protein with no carbs...some unsweetened peanut butter, some cottage cheese, something like that. That kicks more insulin into production and will bring it back down, also drink a bunch of water. High sugar dehydrates you. Oh and for anyone else reading this and wondering take a relaxed walk...walking helps lower insulin resistance (not an option for Sage right now!)

[Sage_SS]

I have no choice but to go into the diabetes clinic on Monday for a lesson. In the meantime my OB has given me Glyburide. Its just for a few days, they said they'd probably put me on insulin on Monday.
When the nurse called back she said that over the course of the last couple of days my numbers have been too high, now at 12.2 they were dangerously high. Right after she said that I realized I hadn't felt Lucien move in a while so I spent the next ten minutes sick with worry and horror frantically pushing all over my belly trying to stir him. He finally kicked me back... phew...

On Tuesday of this week my numbers were 7.8 - 8.6, and that was on the diabetic diet at the hospital. 7.8 is the lowest its been. After the 12.2 result I had a cheese string and drank 3 huge cups of water and it went down to 8.6. I didn't eat anything, just drank water for an hour and retested and it was 9.9 again. Ugh...
I am so, so hungry. I've barely eaten today. My appetite hasn't been satisified for days already. On top of that because I've been drinking so much water I've had to get up like 8 times to pee and now I'm in a ton of pain. I can't win for losing it seems.

[Sage_SS]

Still haven't eaten and now I'm at 10.8. I think my pancreas has just given up completely.

Plus I'm starving so when I eat, its going to go up higher.

[Muj]

I'm very very new to this GD stuff, but from what little I know Sage, being hungry is not good. Someone with more experience and info tell Sage to eat and why! Something like no food = ketones = toxic. A GD diet usually consists of eating three snacks and three meals a day, well my GD diet does , so please eat, I can't sit here and think about you being hungry, miserable and pregnant. My regular lunch number are a 7.4ish and today I was going in to the endo and was nervous, though I did put up a good front, and my numbers came up to 8.9, on the same exact meal as the last three days. So really, stress of any kind does affect your numbers too.

Call me weird but I tried out Bran Buds today and they're actually not bad. I totally cut out fruit juices, chocolate, white rice, breads and pasta and lost 4 pounds in the first two weeks of my diet- I am gaining weight steadily now though and feel like I'm eating much much healthier.

Unfortunately I am joining the insulin bandwagon, so congratulations to me. I haven't poked myself with that scary needle yet, tomorrow morning will be my first, wish me luck!

Thanks everyone, lifeguard, momtoxane for your replies to my first post, I needed to come to terms that my numbers were high before I started on insulin, and in the past week, after much salads, brown rice, boiled egg and walks in this crazy wind, I suppose I have and it's the first time I haven't cried after coming home from the endocrinologist. Oh and dh was with me this time, so maybe that helped too I also have hope that baby will come as naturally as possible so yay! Feeling positive trumps, well, feeling sucky.