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hehehehe...sorry guys but I have to have a bit of a giggle here...Us type 1 D's have a saying that goes something like change your smoke alarm battery , change your lancet!! ROFL....... Please don't take that as advice but in all seriousness as long as your aren't sharing them they do last for a while in terms of sharpness.
Oh and in terms of lancet devices some are infinitely better than others. The best one is called a softclix...it is dark blue and has the adjustable settings. The other ones that often come free with your meters are rubbish, painful and leave bruises unecessarily.
Someone mentioned low carb chocolate....generally it is a waste of time as the carbs that are there are actually high GI defeating the purpose of making it low carb in the first place. If you like chocolate, Dark Chocolate is naturally low GI and is perfectly okay for ALL diabetics to consume...in moderation of course!
Same goes for chocolate drinks....swap the milo for a dark chocolate substitute or a jarrah choc drink which has bugger all carbs in it.
Someone else mentioned artificial sweeteners. None of these are approved for pregnancy but this is mainly because not enough studies have been done. Stevia is the best non caloric sweetener as it is natural not a chemical and you can get it from better health food stores. Nutrasweet is okay in small amounts. stay clear of anyting that has sodium saccharin or sodium cyclamate in it as these have been linked to birth defects and miscarriage in some studies.
A great book for those who are learning about low GI is the low GI shoppers guide to Gi values 2008 australia and newzealand edition. It is pocket sized to fit in your handbag an I reckonis invaluable to have when doing the supermarket shopping to find the better alternatives. For example potatoes are generally high GI but you can get ones like waxy potatoes that are low gi and taste the same. Rice also is generally high GI but you can get doongara or basmati which are both low GI versions of rice. Pasta is generaly HIGH GI fullstop...... there are some brands that are better - the books tells you all about all the different brands on our shelves...it is really great and costs about $15 from any bookstore - I even think Big W stocks it.
Snow chickie what would have put your sugars up after lunch is probably the yoghurt. Did you check the sugar content...yoghurt is really deceptive. The sugars in the fruit would well and truly have been metabolised lunchtime so it wouldnt be that. Sugar peaks at 1.5 - 2 hours after a meal and then starts to drop hence why you do the 2 hr post meal test.Vaalia do a low GI fruit yoghurt but most othe brands are actually quite high in sugars or fructose.
Oh and a tip for label reading, in australia all ingredients have to be listed in order of amount from highest to lowest so if sugar, glucose, malt, fructose, lactose etc appear in the top 5 prolly not a good buy.
Here endeth the lesson for today!!
Happy bsls girls!
cheers
Mel
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Thanks for that melbel. Such a lot of info there.
I just did a search on CalorieKing and it says there are no carbs in diet jelly. So I'm going to make some up and have for dessert tomorrow.
If it truely doesn't have any carbs then at least I can have some in between meals when I'm hungry.
Does anyone else know much about diet jelly.
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diet jelly is all good...just check which artificial sweetener they use (see above).
oh and be prepared....too much artifical sweetner can cause the runs, especially if you are not used to it!!!
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Thanks again melbel. Will check on the sweetener.
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The sugar free choc I had was really dark - 70% coco - thanks for the info Melbel I might go and check out a few more dark choc's for when my mental health requires some!!
Snowchickie - Bread is my nemisis, I usually try and avoid having anything remotly sugary with it. Yet I can have potato and pumpkin with dinner and a yogurt afterwards and be OK in terms of BSL's. Ironic given I work in the bread industry!
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Ok the lunch part is frustrating me. My after breakfast and dinner levels have been in the 5.2 - 5.6 range but lunch has now been over 8 last two days.
Today I tried sandwich with low fat cheese (always have low fat), tomato and lettuce plus a mandarin but this time i used BURGEN Wholemeal and Seeds bread which is labelled LOW GI and when i read the nutrition info says that 1 serve (2 slices) is 17.3g of carb with 2.1g of that being sugar. Today my lunch reading was even higher than yesterday, 9.4!!!!
I also bought some Low GI multigrain wraps which says 16.6g per serve (1 wrap) and Low GI Tip Top 9 Grain Muffins which says 22g of carb with 2.4g being sugar.
I'm stumped on what to try now for bread!! argh..
Whatelse do people have for lunch?? I've pretty much had sandwich/roll with cheese/tom/lettuce for majority of pregnancy so this i think is where the spike in my levels is occuring. Just not sure how to control it and should i continue experimenting with different breads or try an alternative for lunch?
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hmmm...i think you are right. I think you are just destined to have an after lunch spike because the food you are eating seems a okay to me. the only other option would be to try a zero carb lunch like meat and salad type thing with no bread and see if that helps. You don't "need" to have carbs at very meal as long as you have a balance through the day...just a thought. You can add healthy nuts like almonds and brazil and macadamias for extra protein too. (try to minimise the peanuts and cashews as they have a lot of fat). seeds like sunflower pumpkin etc are also good for an energy boost without the carbs.
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Grr @ breads.
I've found 9grain bread works the best with me. I'm not sure if it will for you or anything.
Thanks for the idea with the nuts and seeds, melbel.
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9 grain is what I am having atm too. Not had too much trouble with it.
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Snowchickie - I have the same issue with bread. Some of the options I have found are
Soup with only 1 slice of grain / wholemeal bread. If you buy a can you will see the carbs - although this is my reserve as it isn't too filling.
An egg (or 2) on one slice of bread grain / wholemeal bread, get some tomato and avacardo or spinich to add to the meal (all day breakfast cafe's are very handy at the moment)
A cafe near us does a warm roast pumpkin salad at the moment - which they make up fresh.
Vegi lasagne from a cafe with salad, just eat some of the pasta, not all if there are too many layers, but pick out all the vegi's. Just check it is hot.
One very desperate day I had a classic roast chicken pack from red rooster - 1/4 chicken with a small spud, carrot, peas and pumpkin.
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today i'm trying salad (lettuce, tom, cheese, carrot, capsicum, cucumber) with can of tuna in it. And half a Low GI Multigrain wrap (full wrap is 16g of carb) so i'm hoping the half piece might be ok. Seeing a dietician this afternoon. Hopefully level today will be good.
Dinner last night i tried small serve (1 cup pasta and 200g mine) of spag bolognaise with side of heaps of vegies. Got 7.7 after that.
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I have been busy the last few days so only just getting here now to update you all on my visit to FMC on Friday.
I saw the Medical Registra and she is a little concerned that my fasting bloods are a little over the mark. Not drastically but a little (still usually under 6). And seeing that as my pregnancy progresses there will be more demand on the insulin she wants me to take a long acting insulin (protaphane 6 units to start with) at night.
So I have an app on wed to get me all set up with the stuff.
Not that happy about it, but it's the best thing to do. She comforted me in saying that the lancettes hurt more than the insulin needles, so that's nice.
Also the dr there wants to induce me in my 39th week if I haven't gone before. So bubs will be born no later than 7th August now.
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Well it's almost Monday again and I have to say i've had a good weekend.
Since i began testing, last Tuesday night, I've only had 3 readings over 7.0.
I've discovered, with great surprise that i can eat:
- Weet Bix with banana & strawberry
- Beef Stiry Fry with hokkein noodles
- Tea with real sugar at snack time
- Vegie soup with salad (can add a piece of bread to this as only got 4.4)
- 1/2 cup porridge with banana & strawberry
- Homemade chicken soup with a multigrain dinner roll (Great recipe, easy to make, VERY filling and the best tasting soup I can remember in a long time. Let me know if anyone wants the recipe)
THE BIGGEST SHOCKS:
On Saturday I had a good friend's baby shower.
My after lunch bsl was 4.4 so I indulged and had a small cupcake (size of 20c piece), jam shortbread biscuit, half a multigrain sandwich with cheese and tomato and some fruit. My fabulous friend and her mum made sure there was diabetes friendly food for me to eat, and made sure there were plenty of huge strawberries for me the eat.
For dinner the same night we went out for another friend's birthday and I had chicken snitzel, with chips with vegies.. I thought for sure my levels would be out after dinner due to sweet things in the afternoon and then the restuarant meal and the fact that i had a few extra chippies as they were really good, but it was only 5.7 after dinner. I was SOOO happy.
Then to top things off, i grabbed a loaf of Wholemeal Vienna bread from Baker's Delight today in another attempt at a sandwich (last two sandwiches have sent me over 8).. And today I managed a sandwich with this bread and only hit 4.4!!!!! I am so cheering.. I'm slowly finding more and more things to eat and it's been good so far. I'm still preparing myself for the next high reading during this trial and error stage but so far so good. So out of 17 readings, i've only had 3 over 7.0... I hope this is good...
Question: If I can keep my levels at this (i'm averaging in the 5 range) does that mean i should not require insulin??
This week I want to trial the "no added sugar" cordial and also Diet Coke. :)
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Sound excellent SnowChickie!!
I would assume that you wouldn't require insulin. However, as our pregnancies prgress there is an increasing demand made on the insulin, so things might get a little more difficult then.
Keep up the good work, your doing great!
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Got my Novapen and insulin today. The insulin wasn't cheap either. Oh well I need it.
The DE made me use a disposable syringe to show her that I could actually 'inject' myself without a problem. There was nothing in it and I didn't actually inject anything into myself, just pierced myself. Wow, I didn't feel a thing! Very surprised at that.
So I will check my bsl and give myself my first real injection in about an hour and a half.
Feeling much better about it all now.
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Just found a great list of food ideas with 1st choice, 2nd choice options and brand names for each category.
It is for diabetes in general and does have some foods listed that you shouldn't eat during PG but thought it was useful for ideas and brands we see on our shelves. May give you some options to try.
URL www.diabetesoutreach.org/des_shop.pdf
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Becci - Great hear everything went well with your insulin. xx
Snowchickie - Thanks for the info. I'm going to check it out.
How is everyone going?
I'm still plodding along, blah blah. Trying to think of new things to have for dinner that I can actually have. I'm struggling with it. :doh:
Has anyone tried the fruit loaf/toast before?
If so how'd it go? I've kinda been wanting to try it, but I'm not sure. Lol. I might just wait 5weeks and have it after the baby is born, just like juice and everything else I've been passing up on for the past 25weeks. I can't wait.
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Tennykins - I've been wondering about the fruit loaf also. We had a thick cut loaf of it in the house the week I got my GD diagnosis and the smell of it and not being able to have some was shocking. That link I posted to the list has a few fruit loaf listings in it. Just give it a try for breakfast and see if it affects your levels, if not then brilliant but at least you'll know. Personally I've really felt like some Chicken Twisties today.. I have a packet in the cupboard, wonder if a few would really hurt??
I've been struggling for ideas also, I just got a diabetes cookbook online so when it arrives i'll let everyone know if there are any good dinner ideas. So far the only dinner i've had a problem with is spaghetti bolognaise. I've had stir fry, steak/chicken with vegies, chicken schnitzel, homemade chicken soup (which I'm definetley cooking again as it was so yummy), italian chicken casserole..I'm going to give meatballs & spag a go over the weekend. Even lunch has surprised me, baked beans on toast was AOK, I had vegetable soup (which is actually quite nice) with salad and a multigrain wrap and again AOK.
I'm going to buy a few things from the list I posted earlier and see how they go. Give me some other options. I've even been having a sip of Diet Coke here and there during my snack and seems to be ok. Just been a sip or two so nothing dramatic.
Good question though - If your levels are good, is it ok to have these little things occasionally, like a little diet coke, or 1 x choc biscuit (i haven't had a choc biscuit yet but I've been tempted), or like half a handful of twisties??? Or does that run the risk of potentially ruining the good levels over time?
I saw my OB on Wednesday and he was really happy with progress. Has anyone lost weight with GD??
I haven't had a good week in other areas. On Wednesday I found out that the company I work for is being relocated to QLD and so unless I wish to move I've been given 4 weeks notice. I only had 6 weeks of work left but this has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. This will mean I'll be off work at 35 weeks PG. I am quite happy about the leave part but this will be the first time I haven't had a job (I started with the company straight after my final HSC exam and have been there almost 12 years now).... I also have a company car so in 4 weeks I loose that so last few days I've been arranging finance to get my own car, which I knew was coming but was not expecting to have to give the car back till early December due to long service leave & annual leave. Bit daunting and scary.. To top it off I have a cold so i have a sore throat, sneezing and blocked nose. Hubby said i've been snoring which I don't normally do.
How is everyone else's week going?
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diet coke has SFA calories so go for it...just watch the caffeine as with normal coke. try sprite zero, solo sub zero etc...they are all good. for a fruit toast, bakers delight does an apricot delight which is low GI..you can get them to toast slice it.
i just got the latest diabetic living mag in the mail as I subscribe and there are some yummy stews and pasta dishes I am going to try. oh and a pumpkin and sweet potato soup that sounds pretty good too. oh and for the sweet tooth a rhubarb and apple crumble...all low gi stuff
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My week has been ok so far.
As for the good levels and having some not so good foods here and there, I know I've been doing that. Lol. I think I'd go insane if I didn't.
I switch between Coke zero and diet coke. The zero sprite is nice too.
With the weight gain/loss dealio... I lost weight at first, then I it didn't show I'd gained or lost any, which I think was cause I'd lost my own weight, but the baby weight was replacing what I'd lost ( if that makes sense )
I've only just started to show some gain in this last 2 weeks at my OB appointments.
I'm pretty happy about it.
Sorry to hear about your job and I hope you feel better with your cold.
xx
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hello Every one
:)
snowchickie79 I have lost weight with GD still think I am as long as baby ok I dont mind as long as it stays off after I have her Ill be happy
Have to make my booking in a ppointment heading up to Nambour any one know what they are like for GD bit nervous I was very well looked after in my old hospital so a bit nervous to how it will go now
what levels do they start to get fussy with mine are creeping up after breckfast to 8 or 9 the odd 10 fasting is ok mostly, lunch does be fine but Im on insulin at lunch time Im trying to leave it till two hours after I eat to test as it was 1 hour back in ireland
I have to say I dont feel so deprived here in Australia food taste so much better as in fruit and veg Im in heven so plain meat and two veg taste so good instead of bland used to depress me so much at home.
only 10 weeks and 4 days left now and hopefully GD will be gone for good
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hi all
Glad to hear everyone is going well - my levels are OK - and I haven't had to put the insulin this week (week 35 supposedly a hard week to get through). Today is my last day at work, so I have been a bit busy.
When I needed something diferent for dinner I found the wholemeal tortilla's and made soft taco's. Each tortilli has about 17 grams of carbs and SFA sugar (so I had 2). Add in the mince and heaps of lettuce, tomato, avacardo, and some cheese... my levels were fine after this, but check out any sauce you add..
I lost a bit of weight at the start and have only just gained it back, all bub's, I know from measurements and my clothes that it is not landing on my butt. On the upside the GD diet I decided to share with my husband (we are in this together) has got 2 kilo's off him!
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Way to go with your husband losing weight too!!!!
If only my DP would do the same.
When I found out about the diabetes, I felt so alone, he didn't change his diet to help me through it at all, he didn't even do any exercise with me either (even though he needs to lose weight).
It was the perfect opportunity for him to get healthy and all that for himself aswell as helping me cope with it all.
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tennykins - Same here, two days after i found out, hubby cracked open the last of our cadbury easter eggs from easter and into the fridge it went. Not a good move.
Question: I'm a bit stressed at the moment due to work issues and being given 4 weeks notice, I also have a cold which is making me feel crappy. Last night I got 4.8 for dinner which was great, this morning i had my normal porridge with banana & strawberries. I didn't have a tea with it but my level came back at 7.6 which way high. Normally with this bfast I get early 5 range. Would it be that i'm sick, or the stress, or was it probably just the banana was overripe?? I seen that banana is medium GI but it has to be just ripe to be medium GI otherwise i'm assuming it jumps to high GI. It really didn't help me this morning in terms of how i'm feeling (sick and worried) so i'm wondering why the high reading with the normal breafkast i've been having.
What do you guys think?
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Could be just cause you're not well and stressed.
I know when I had a cold a few times my levels were different then the usual.
I'm sorry I can't help anymore.
Hopefully it was just a one off.
xx
I can't believe your husband did that with the easter egg. I would have been soooo sooo mad.
I was suprised with Easter. I had some easter eggs, a few more then I know I should have, and I was having ice cream here and there too. It was the recommended one, but still. Then I had to have that Hbac1 BT. I was so worried about the results.
Turns out they were fine. They were 6.0. I cried with relief I was so worked up over it. lol.
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Hi guys. I've had two mornings post insulin now. The first morning was 5.9 too high, and todays was 5.3 so just under. I was meant to see the dr this morning but he's sick so don't see him til next thurs. I could have seen someone else today but thought it can wait.
I lost 1kg in the forst week on the GD diet, but most of that week I had no idea what I could eat so I wasn't eating too much. Now I've been the same weight for the last two weeks, so loosing it in myself I guess. Tummy's getting huge now.
I made a yummy veg, legume and pasta soup the other night and was naughty and had two lovely slices of pasta dura bread with it and my levels were fine. I'm wondering if the bread is made with a different wheat so makes it ok? Soup was lovely so will be making that again. Something I can have for lunch too.
Going to be a little naughty tonight and have some microwave popcorn (I need the butter fix lol) as we are having a dvd night on our NEW LOUNGE SUITE!!! Yay!
Have a great night everyone.
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snowchickie - I had some really bad readings when I had a head cold and stress does not help - hope you can relax a bit on the weekend and that will bring the numbers down.
My hubby didn't get much choice re the diet since I do all the shopping and most of the cooking. If he decides he wants bad food then he can have it at work for lunch and not in front of me!
Becci - hope tommorow mornings reading are better.
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hiya
well, i'm back. some of you might not remember me but i had GD on insulin with my little boy isaac. I had him on the 23rd of July.
I'm pregnant again due around the 20th of Feb. My question is - ladies if you had GD on insulin with a pervious pregnancy did you have it again with the next and was it better, worse or the same as before. Oh and when did they test you for it?
i dunno if i can go through the injecting four times a day, hypos and finger *****. i'm nervous about it, but when it gets down to it i will.
angel
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Hello All,
My levels have come back down thankfully.
My lunch yesterday was in the mid 5 range and then last night I went for dinner, and tried Pad Thai with a side of vegies. I figured if i was gunna blow my reading I'd at least enjoy the meal so I ate quite a good portion of the Pad Thai and my level was only 5.8.
This morning I had weet bix with sultanas and got a 4.7 so all ok. I'm thinking it was the banana but who knows.
I just had lunch, I had multigrain wrap with tuna, corn and capsicum and a mandarin. See what that comes back as, i haven't had this combo before so be interesting.
On the other hand we just bought a car!!! Got a Holden Commodore (2003 model) so now have our car situation sorted in plenty of time for end of work in 4 weeks. Got a good price with low Km's and got extra rego included so we are happy. Nice big car for baby to go in and heaps of room in the back seats for car seat and also in the boot for the pram. :)
Anyway I'm off grocery shopping now (oh joy) so chat later.
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Angel - I had to check the date for a sec there, I thought you had only just had bubs lol not that there is a problem with that lol
Can't help you with your q, But am very interested in the answer. We are planning on trying for our next one early in the new year. Have until October (my 35th b/day) next year to get preg with next bubs or that's it. I am currently on insulin at night, so would liek to know what happened with others.
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With subsequent pregnancies you have statistically have a slightly increased risk of getting GD again. As to whether you need insulin or not that is so individual. It is like how all pregnancies differ from each other...the stress that each baby places on the pancreas is diff so it is really hard to tell.
One thing that is a bonus is that with modern knowledge of the past 5 years or so, if you know you are at risk you can follow a low GI diet throughout the pregnancy and that has shown to help lower the stress on the pancreas overall and may help prevent you from getting full blown GD.
Low GI does not have to a PITA. If you look at the recipes in the diabetic living magazines etc what you can eat is awesome food and really is a diet that everyone should follow for good health.
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hiya
sorry about that - i had to update my signature because it was still counting down for isaac, who i had 11 months ago :)
thanks for that information Melbel & Becci. I was on such high levels with Isaac - it's concerned me that it will happen again. All the other ladies i have talked to were on very low dosages of the same stuff.
i can't remember if i posted it in my last post. My dosages on the night before i had isaac were 22,20 & 26 units of novorapid. THen before bed 82 units of protaphane.
Food shopping is this friday so i will be starting the low gi diet on monday week. And i hope to start gloucse testing as well.
interesting stuff...
angel
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So there is an increased chance of getting GD in other pgs after you've had it once, yeah?
Interesting stuff.
Good luck with your low GI diet and the testing, Angel. Hope it all goes great!
hope you have a H&H pg and the GD stays away for you this time.
xx
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Hello All,
Angel - Make sure you keep us posted on your progress, I'm in my first PG and very interested to see if and how to approach subsequent pregnancies and avoiding GD.
My weekend has been good. I went out on Friday night for dinner and managed a good helping of Pad Thai with some vegies and was mid 5 range. Then this morning I tried 2 slices of Fruit Loaf and again yep in the mid 5 range.
I have quite a few more things to try this week so I'll let you know how I go in case others are curious.. I say the more food ideas the better really. The Fruit Loaf I got is the Mighty Soft (Buttercup) Fruit & Spice.
Does anyone know where to get Buckwheat Flour? I have a recipe for diabetes friendly pancakes that uses it but I couldn't find it during my grocery shop this week. I got Wholemeal flour but no buckwheat.
Chat soon.
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Hi Angel - Congrats on your pregnancy!!
Although I am only on my first pregnancy, I asked what would happen next time, they said a 60% chance of getting it again and that they would test at 12 weeks and if clear at that stage, again at 26 - 28 weeks. (that assumes I get the all clear at the 6 weeks post this baby test...)
My levels have been pretty good so for the past few days so it seems that I have a good balance of food and insulin for the moment. Have an Ob appoitment on Wednesday, so will see what he has to say.
Congrats on the new car snowchickie!! sounds great.
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petas - thanks about the new car. Should have it by about Thursday. :)
Had another triumph tonight with shepherd's pie. I didn't eat alot of the potato topping but was still very yummy and had with a few slices of bread and vegies. :) hhhmmm
I had some low readings today so I thought I'd give dinner a real go. My bfast & lunch today were both in the 4 range. After dinner was 5.2. See how I go tomorrow now having said that. :)
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My levels have been great the last few mornings, so hopefully eberythings settles down for the time being.
SnowChickie - do you have a healthfood store near you? or have you tried the healthfood isle at the supermarket?
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Hi all
Day 2 of Maternity leave for me, so I went and had my legs waxed and now need to get some of my volenteer job done.
Becci - the heath food isle of our supermarket is full of gluten free things that are full of sugar. The only good thing I have found is the "well naturally" dark chocolate with no sugar and not may carbs. Snowchickie - hope you can get a better selection.
I saw some wholemeal crumpets yesterday and I was tempted they had no sugar and only 16 grams of carbs each, but what can you put on them? I doubt that there is a sugar free honey anywhere...
hope everyone is still getting good readings!
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My fasting bsls have been doing really well the last few days.
However, I checked my bsls after a late brekky and it was only 3.4! So had a couple of biccies that I baked yesterday and then a mutigrain roll with lean chicken and light cheese. Checked my bsl with in 20 minutes of having the biccies and it had risen to 4.6. Phew! Just took my 2 hour bsl and it was 6.3. On the higher end, but at least it wasn't through the floor!
I was feeling a little lightheaded, but was in the middle of cleaning out the bathroom cupboard so just thought it was from bending down, etc.
Will have to keep an eye on them I guess.
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Hope you're all doing well.
Same ol' stuff for me. I
'm so over this right now but I need to get really strict with things again.
If I make it to at least 38weeks with no insulin needed, then I'm home free and won't need any for the rest of the pg, cause if my levels do rise then I can be induced from 38wks+... well that's what my OB said today... So 2 weeks.
