Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #4

[Jewel]

Becci - That's great to hear! When I started testing I was on 3 to 4 times a day, at different times that my Educator told me. Now I do it at least twice a day whenever I sort of feel like it. Lol.
Good luck with your appointment tomorrow too.

Niamh75 - The range of levels I go by are;
Before meals is between 4 and 6. The 2hrs after meals is between 4 and 8.
Oh, I forgot you were in Ireland still.

xx

[Becci]

I have to be under 5.5 before breakfast and then below 7 two hours after.
i have only just started so still getting my head around what I can and can't have. I'm going to start a diary today and write in what I eat, how many serves of carbs it is and what my bsl was. That was whaen I get a meal that doesn't affect me I can repeat it. I can also see what meals have been affecting it too much. With my pregnancy brain I think I'll get too confused with it all other wise.

[Jewel]

Good idea with the writing it all down.
Good luck with it all.



I'm finding lately I want to eat the things that don't work for me very well. Lol.
I hate it!
I'm so over this. Haha. I hope after I have this bubba that things go normal and the pg just made it all worse.

[Becci]

I know. I think I'm going to be the same soon enough. It's all new at the moment so not bothering me just yet. But give it a week or two....
Especially when I have my baby shower....But one night shouldn't hurt me too bad, I hope anyway.lol

[Niamh75]

Hi Girls how are you doing ,

had to ring the hospital on Friday with my blood sugar readings and they have added another injection so on two now one before bed and one at lunch time ild say when i go in on Tuesday they will add another one for the morning i can see how they are going up

do you ever find the diet just doesn't work I had brown bread and a cup of tea low fat milk and butter and they were over 7 after an hour

The diet is hard isn't it think im a bit over whelmed by it today got to me a bit this is how its going to be for the next 3 months

does any one know if they let you go to your due date or in duce you early if you are on insulin

Thanks Niamh

[Jewel]

Niamh - Sorry to hear you're on more insulin.
I've found a few foods I can't have. Lol. It's so frustrating too.

As for the inducing and stuff. I'm not on insulin or anything, but I do know my OB won't let me go over my due date. He also said the other day that if my BSLs do start to rise towards the end, I may have to be induced early or something.
I'll have to ask more questions about it as it gets closer.

Becci - If you've been going really good with your levels, then one night should be alright. I found you can't just be so so strict the whole time or else you'll just crack and eat something real bad. (or maybe that's just me. Lol.)

[Becci]

Yeah that's what I'm worried about too Tenny.
We went out for snitzel night on Friday night and I had my usual meal just didn't have the ice cream we normally have afterwards just to see what my level would be like. It was 7. So on the border. At least I know I can have that every so often and it's not going to be too bad for me. At this stage anyway.
Had a great day yesterday. But I was quite good with my diet too. My highest reading was 5.3 and that was my fasting. My fasting was 5.3 again this morning but I didn't get up until 10.30 so it might have been a little lower if I had risen earlier maybe?

Hope everything works out for you Niamh.

[Petals]

Good luck Becci - I wrote everything down at the start and once I found that even the most unprocessed carbs (wholemeal or cape seed bread, special K or Weet bix) would send me over then it was time for insulin - although I hope it does not get that bad for you!!

Niamh - my Ob said that due to being on insulin they will look at inducing at 38 - 39 weeks, due to the risk that the placenta will not last the distance beyond that. I am working on making it as late as possible in the 39th week!

Sorry to jump in without introducing myself - I am 33 weeks pregnant and have GD. Tried to control with diet for one week, but couldn't tolerate any carbs (no matter how low in GI) in the morning so quickly ended up on insulin. My OB is saying it is just a sensitivity rather then a weight or lifestyle issue so hopefully it will go away once baby is born. The only time I find that the diet really gets to me is when there are office birthday cakes, and a banana does not compenstate for missing mars bar cheese cake!!

[Jewel]

Hey Petals.
Welcome to the GD section.
Hopefully the time flies by at the end and you can push your induction to as far back as possible.
Good luck with your insulin and everything else.


xx

[Niamh75]

Hello

feeling a bit better now about it all

Tennykins Im thinking with going on insulin now Ill deffo be induced early I was the last time I was give two choices a induction on the Wednesday or a c section on Friday so i picked the Wednesday and it went great so not to worried about it as long as all is ok with the baby .

beccie Thanks I should be fine hormones I think LOL

Petals hello this is my second pregnancy with insulin and it does go away so dont worry about it thanks for the information I had a feeling it would be like that alright esp with going on insulin now im 27 weeks today and been on it a week . and you are so right a piece of fruit is just not the same as a nice mars or cake LOL all worth it in the end though just have to keep reminding my self that

has any one noticed they are losing weight and what the story with keytones bit confused by them

[Petals]

Hi Niamh, I lost some weight at the start and with what I can eat I am struggling to gain it back. no ice cream, cakes, white bread products, lollies, chocolate etc does cut the calories a bit! Add in some heartburn making it necessary to keep meal sizes reasonable (or else none of it stays down) and my calories are not huge. At least I am not losing any more and from some measurements that the gym took mid 2nd trimester it is from my hips, thighs and arms, not the bump. It does not seem right to me, but the endo didn't seem worried when I mentioned it and the OB was happy with things last week and he did a quick U/sound.

In the first week of trying to manage my sugars I ended up with Keytosis (or however it is spelt). It shows up in your urine, and was explained to me as the body breaking down protiens and tissues for fuel, as there are not enough carbs. There are some radical diets based on this theory (tony furguson is one in Aust) however, it is not a good idea when preg as it can product toxins the body needs to deal with. As every bread and cereal (no matter how low in GI or wholmeal or seedy it was) had a tendancy to put me over I was avoiding them, and thus the decision to use insulin, was made, so I could eat some of them. They still give me the worst readings, potatoes, pumpkin and corn are no where near as bad for my readings.

Thanks for the welcome Tennykins!

[Jewel]

I was losing weight at the start, only a few kgs, then the scales didn't show I was gaining any more weight, so i bascially was at the same weight. We put that down to me losing my own fat, and the baby was just making up for what I'd lost (i hope that makes sense. Lol.)
Now nearing the end, I've put on like a kilo here and there, but then last week I'd lost some.

With my first pg with DS, I gained a heap of weight.
So the only good thing with this is that I'm healthier and I haven't gained any of my own weight. lol.

I was showing a little sugar in my urine some weeks, but lately I've had none. No one said anything about it being bad, so I just assumed it was all ok.

xx

[Becci]

My bsl's haven't been too bad in the day time, it's just my fasting one in the morning.
Anyone have any ideas as to what I can do to bring this down?
Obviously I would really like to avoid insulin if I can.
Was wondering if it might be that I'm fasting for too long overnight? From about 9pm to about 9am. Maybe I should try getting up earlier and see what happens.
Any thought?

[kirsten74]

Hey Becci, I had the same thing happening to me. The endocronologist explained it all. Long story short, nothing you can do will bring those morning readings down. This is the reason I ended up on insulin the last time as no matter what I did, nothing would bring them down under 5.5.
Sorry.

[Becci]

That's ok Kirsten, was just hoping for some miracle lol.
Can I ask you what type of insulin you had to take and when?

[Niamh75]

Hi Girls,

Just back from my appointment have to increase my night time insulin to 8 now but very thing else is fine still have a trace of keytones and lost a little more weight but baby is great and growing so its all me

Petals think ill make sure I dont get that as I have heard it can be bad for the baby I have a feeling Ill keep losing weight it does seem to be all me and it wont do me any harm have a bit spare lol just as long as my baby is ok though

Tennykins sugar is a sign of GD I think

Becci thats waht was happening to me my fasting was just getting higher and higher so on Insulin i went Im taking 8 insulatard at 10 pm and my lucnh time level was rising so on 2 of the novarapid if that helps

[Jewel]

Yeah, the sugar is from the diabetes.

Ugh, I'm so sick of this testing and food and all that jazz.

[snowchickie79]

Hello all,
Just wanted to drop in. i've just found out, like 1 hour ago, that i have GD.
I'm devastated!! I had my 2 hour test yesterday and got a 9.2 on it. Fasting was 4.2, 1 hour was 9.6 and 2 hour was 9.2. I remember the hour after drinking the glucose that my heart was racing but second hour felt fine. Apparently not though.

I'm very confused though because I've been faxed a diet plan to use till i see the endo next Wednesday and the food is what i already eat just many more servings! I don't eat junk food, don't eat sugary food, no cakes or treats, so I just don't understand how this still happens.

Secondly I don't see how a diet which is almost the same as what i am doing now is going to help the situation and more and more i am concerned i'll end up on insulin. Having a big "needle phobia" is not helping the situation. A blood test is an effort for me..

This is what i'd have on a normal day:
B'Fast: Weet bix with sultanas or Just Right with added Bran + skim milk
Lunch: Multi-grain or Wholemeal sandwich with tomato & cheese with mustard
Dinner: Lean meat (either beef, chicken or pork) with vegetables/potato or spag bolognaise or a stir fry.
Snacks: If i get peckish then i'd have a piece of fruit or some diced mixed fruit or maybe a cracker like Vita Wheets.

I don't eat deserts, don't eat lollies. Have 1 or maybe 2 cups of tea with 2 sugars & skim milk per day. Might have 1 x small glass (250-300ml) of unsweetened fruit juice a day and the rest is all water.

I know I must sound like a drama queen and trust me the tears have been free flowing for the last hour or so but i just don't understand how this happened. The only thing I can think of is lack of exercise. Prior to being PG i used to play touch football and attend pilates/yoga classes. I've always been slim but now i find exercise (walk the dog around the block - about a 20 minute journey) makes me tired, my sciatic hurts and i'm getting lower back pain so I haven't been as active. I would have to assume that the exercise is not the culprit here but i'd really love something to blame for this because i'm absolutely stumped on how this has happened.