Thanks for the info ladies , and I hope you're all having a nice weekend.
Well I picked up my monitor on Fri and have started testing my BSL's. My endo confirmed that if I DON'T get high levels, we can't assume I don't have GD, just i'm eating well enough to control it. If i DO get high levels, then they'll assume I definitely do have it.
So far, I've got:
Fri: 5.2
Sat: 6.1, 9.1, 7.3
Sun: 3.9
Soooo I dunno if that 9.1 means they're gonna say yep that really does look like GD or not, or whether they'll wait to see if I get more high-ish scores. Also, I'd had a big nap (2.5 hrs during the day) then didn't have lunch till 3pm... would that have been likely to make it higher? Cos i thought I had a pretty good lunch! (chilli with mince, kidney beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, sour cream, smll serve brown rice & some corn chips).
They also told me my BSL's should be between 3.5 and 7.5... but that at Monash Med, they say under 6.5.... What were u guys told? Then they said if I get more than 3 or so high scores in a week they'd put me on insulin. Interestingly, they didn't seem to have that much of a dietary focus which surprised me. They don't normally send to a dietician unless the person seems to need it or has other dietary probs (like me lol)... but I think they thought I had a reasonable idea of low GI foods (got them fooled ha!). They also said that testing must be exactly 2 hrs after the start of a meal... so do you find you've missed them sometimes? Or would you just do it later? (Becci, noticed you said you'd missed some, but you knew you were doing ok normally - and induction next week, wow that's getting close for you!).
Snowchickie79, I'm having either grainy rye bread, porridge or a muesli bar thingo for brekkie. Asked the endo about feeling crap in mornings, and he thought it was just PG not GD...
anyway thanks again and sorry, more questions.. sure i'll run out eventually! tehe.
Belfie
Belfie - Your lunch sounds lovely and nutritious but it could have been high in carbs. Dairy is carbs too so the cheese and sour cream contribute to that. Brown rice while it's great for fibre is high GI (basmati is better) and the corn chips would have contributed too. Not sure how much of those you had but it could have contributed to you high level.
I was told initially to have my fasting bsl under 5.5 and my 2 hour under 7. Now that I'm getting closer and bubs is measuring big they are more strict and I have to be under 5 for fasting and under 6 post meals.
The reason they say exactly two hours is that's when you sugars peak. So if your half hour either side of that say, your not getting an acurate reading. Sometimes I have forgotten to take my reading right on two hours so will take it asap. If it's still high then I know that that meal wasn't a good one for me. If it's really low then I know it was probably ok.
Initially I was very strict with myself taking my readings. I would even set an alarm so I didn't forget to check my bsl. Now that I have become used to it, and know that my lunch time meal is ok (I seem to get that one right) then I just make sure I take my fasting and post dinner. Plus these depend on my insulin so I need to be up with them. I should be testing more often but I don't . Naughty I know. If I have something I don't normally have at lunch then I check them, but I have a couple of typical lunches that I have and I know that I get good readings from them so don't stress about them now.
Once I was put on insulin I was warned about levels below 4 as that is considered a hypo. If you are getting levels that low regularly after a certain meal then you may be able to afford to have more carbs at that meal. Give it a go and check.
The worse thing is everyone is different. And you will be different now to in a few weeks time, as your body has more demand on the insulin.
Apparently week 35 is a shocker of a weeks normally. For me that was a really good week. Nothing went wrong.
Don't worry about asking too many q's. We all did when we were first diagnosed too. It's the only way really to get it all sorted. Give yourslef a few weeks and you'll be the one giving advice to a newly diagnosed person too!
I struggled around 36weeks. It turned out fine in the end, but it did seem like a tougher week then the rest.
I had to aim for between 4 - 6 before meals and 4 - 8 after. Just the usual nothing specific.
Ask all the questions you need/want, Belfie. It's all good. I was full of questions when I first found out. This place helped alot.
We're here to support and answer anything as best we can.
I'm just hanging around here like a bad smell, so don't mind me.
thanks Tenny & Becci and Tenny, I'm sure you wouldn't be a bad smell! In fact, I'm sure you've got a lovely baby smell near you!!
I'm puzzled (well about lots of things really!). But in particular, I wasn't told to take any fasting BSL's, just the 2 hours after each meal. Did you all have to do fasting BSL's as well?
Mind you, I'm not sure if the DE thought I was a bit of a "pretend" (yeah, cos I'm doing this for fun! ), cos she didn't even make a follow-up appt, and then the endo got really confused that she hadn't and made me make one with her (for this Fri). She just said to call her if I got any high levels. So now I dunno if I should just wait to see her on Fri to tell her how it's going, or call her? I've only had one BSL (9.1) over 7.5 so far (and a couple over 7). And I haven't had any more under 4 either.
I also think it's weird that the DE didn't seem to care about monitoring what I ate! Isn't that the whole point? To me it seems really odd that they might put me on insulin & not be checking what I'm doing? I could be thick as two short planks for all they (or you ) know! They seemed to have a "don't get too stressed" about your food focus, which I guess is a good thing, cos you want to still eat enough. Plus i have only put on 6kg with this PG so far, which is probably a bit less than I expected (so saying, I was a smidge overweight when I got PG).
I was also wondering about the "time 2 hours from START of eating". I'm a really slow eater. So how does that work? wouldn't it impact? Also, what if you're out for dinner and you have an entree (not that I can usually fit that much in)... I've assumed I count the 2 hours from the start of my main meal. So does that mean you wouldn't be able to have any dessert for 2 hours? (assuming your levels are good enuff to have dessert!! )
Becci, I always forget that dairy is carbs too - so that's a good reminder. I stuffed up this morning & realised my 2 hour test meant I'd be doing it on the train... which I really didn't want to do! Have to avoid that in future! Spent the weekend being a bit up & down (hmm PG crying - it's the best!) but i'm sure that's just due to the adjustment to everything, plus i have a headcold
Talking to my Dad last night (he's interstate) and he's convinced what they've told me is all wrong, cos it's not like what he does for TII diabetes, but I said I'm sure it's different with GD and so he eventually settled down. I think he just worries - it's what Dad's do.
Anyway, hope you're all having a great week! I have the day off tomorrow - thank goodness I can't wait. Trying to work f/t, getting tired, changing diet, fitting in extra appts & having headcold is a bit more than I really want right now!
With my testing times and all that jazz... when I first started my Diabetes Educator marked out the times she wanted me to test so they could get an idea or my levels throughout the days, so after a few weeks of going by the times she set, and things were going great, I could choose times I wanted to test myself.
I always tested in the morning, then either 1 or 2 times during the day.
I guess I just wanted to see what my fasting levels were all the time, even though I couldn't change them. Lol.
I always tested about 2hrs after I finished, since I eat slow too. Worked out ok for me.
Best to check though, if you're worried.
I haven't seen my DE since like Feb, so I must have been doing it fine.
I hope you feel better with your cold. They're so awful in pg.
If you're worried about the high level you got, then call her, but if you're generally going ok with your levels and they're not high, I'd wait until your appt on friday.
Belfie - I was told to test my fasting as this was the main level that I was having trouble with. So if yours was ok they're probably not worried about it.
I also test 2 hours from when I finish my meal. Like you said if your out for dinner and having multiple courses it would be too hard otherwise.
As for me......
Had drs app this morning and I'm 1cm dilated. Drs still keen for me to go in tomorrow night as he's not sure if the hospital drs will still want gels or not. At least if I go in at night all my options are open. I agreed, plus it's easier for us to get there for 6.30 pm rather than what time early on thursday morning.
So tomorrow will be spent finalising my bag and giving some house keys to my friend to she can feed our animals while we are in hospital.
Not sure if I'll get on tomorrow, so I guess the next time I chat I will be a mumma (again!). Will post an announcement asap.
Good Luck Becci - hope it all goes smoothly for you and we hear your baby news soon.
Belfie - everyones DE / Endo /OB does things differently and they will add to the stress by confilcting each other!! I didn't need to do fasting levels at the start, but did need to do them while on insulin. My DE didn't even return calls unless I left a message that there were a lot of high levels and she thought more insulin was the answer. Yet I had to see the endo every 2-3 weeks.
There were a few times I had to pull the car over to test and once I had to do it at the hairdressers, although you will soon get into the habit of planning 2 hours ahead - gets you in the habit for when you have to think where you will be for when bub's needs the next feed!
For the first couple of weeks I wrote down what I ate - when the DE saw how few carbs I was eating to get OK levels, (and what happened when I went near bread and cereal) I ended up on insulin.
Tenny - hope all is still going well for you and bub's!
, and I hope you're all having a nice weekend.
and sorry, more questions.. sure i'll run out eventually! tehe.
), cos she didn't even make a follow-up appt, and then the endo got really confused that she hadn't and made me make one with her (for this Fri). She just said to call her if I got any high levels. So now I dunno if I should just wait to see her on Fri to tell her how it's going, or call her? I've only had one BSL (9.1) over 7.5 so far (and a couple over 7). And I haven't had any more under 4 either.
which I really didn't want to do! Have to avoid that in future! Spent the weekend being a bit up & down (hmm PG crying - it's the best!) but i'm sure that's just due to the adjustment to everything, plus i have a headcold 
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