Living with Gestational Diabetes

_funrungirl
_funrungirl Posts: 145 Member
edited November 21 in Social Groups
It has been about 3 weeks since the docs told me I had gestational diabetes (GD). At first I was very upset and worried, but after talking with the dietician and my doctors I feel much better. The dietician told me to keep my carbs around 30g per main meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner. This has been much harder than I thought it would be, but I'm working on it. I'm also tracking all my food, which I haven't done since before I got pregnant.

Sometimes it sucks because I want to eat something that I know will make my level spike, so I stay away. Cheesecake for example. My SO's aunt made an amazing cheesecake! I had 1 slice and boom! My levels were way up an hour later. Which meant I had to watch my SO eat some of the other slices. I did satisfy my craving with one bite from his plate, but what I really wanted to do was eat the whole damn thing!

Right now I am checking my levels 4 times a day (totally sucks). He said if my levels stay constant through the next visit he might drop me down to checking 2 times a day. I really hope so.

A weird thing happened at the doctor. When I got on the scale I had lost 2 lbs! Because I am me, I started freaking out. Pregnant women are supposed to gain not lose but doc said it was fine and expected after adjusting my diet. He said just switching from simple carbs to complex carb can do it.

Does anyone else have gestational diabetes? How are you doing with diet and blood levels?

Replies

  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    I passed my glucose screening, so no GD, but I've been battling increasing insulin resistance since I turned 30 (family history of type 2). I suspect the only reason I passed (125 both times- at 10 weeks and again at 28) is because I eat LCHF. Feel free to check out my diary (I keep it open). During pregnancy I am more apt to indulge (and this week was my b-day, so there was cake, lol), but overall I keep my carbs to fewer than 120 g per day. I've been doing that for a couple years now, so I don't find it very difficult, and I love how filling the food is - no going hungry! I also love how nutrient dense the food is, especially at 37 weeks, when I don't have much room for food in the first place. Ditching the carbage leaves more room for foods that have far more going do them nutritionally! Try keeping a journal of your meals along with your readings and see what spikes you. Some people find certain grains are worse than others, or maybe fruit is just gonna be off the menu. Tracking will help you identify what foods spike you the worst and that will tell you what to avoid. Generally, ditching most of the grains, starchy veggies, high sugar fruit, and sticking to full fat dairy (rather than low fat/fat free versions) will prevent the spikes. Basing your diet on meat, eggs, fibrous veg, low sugar fruit (berries, tomatoes, avocados, stone fruit), seeds and nuts, and if you tolerate dairy, full fat dairy products (tho even whole milk is pretty high in sugar - cheese, cream, butter, and full fat plain yogurt are better choices), will keep you and baby nourished, full and satisfied, and will prevent spikes in blood glucose. Check out low to moderate carb diets (not very low carb/keto - it's not necessary and would be too restrictive for pregnancy I would think). There are lots of delicious meal and snack ideas out there that will allow you to manage your glucose without deprivation. And, yes, there are low carb cheesecake recipes to be had! Good luck!
  • _funrungirl
    _funrungirl Posts: 145 Member
    @tflag1620 - Thanks for the advice! It is a lot easier to hit my numbers when I'm at home. I was at a conference last week struggling to eat well. It didn't dawn on me until after I could have asked for diabetic meals!
  • Thanks for the advice. I need to retake my glucose test tomorrow because my levels were too high. Hopefully all come back fine, but I will be doing a such research as I can just in case they don't.
  • As much*
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