Wow - sounds like you are doing absolutely everything you can!!! Hang in there - you are a great mum and looking after that bub of yours wonderfully by the sound of it. It is hard work and all the worry about food and the weight of the baby can go your head in - so I can relate to the worrying. As others have suggested it may be worth giving your DE/Endo a call and checking in with them - to reassure yourself you are on track.
sloane - I used to have a cup of tea at morning tea after I tested (with milk and sugar) and also at my afternoon snack again with milk and sugar and it didn't raise my levels. I was lucky enough to meet a type 1 diabetic at work and she really helped me steer towards the foods to suit and told me that tea generally doesn't do much towards your levels and she was told she could drink tea normally however having read what myson wrote I guess that actually doesn't apply to all. It is very unusual how each person reacts differently to different foods and really makes the whole thing that whole much more difficult.
CAH - It sounds like you are certainly eating enough food so that shouldn't be the problem. Have you tried ditching the test strip pack you have and putting in a new one and seeing if the levels stabilise? If they remain the same then the pack is ok and you can use again but if they are different then might find you got a dud pack of test strips. I know my glucose meter could let me run a test on it to check it was working so maybe have a look in your book to see if yours has that.
I also had trouble getting blood out and found the best way was to run my hands under really warm water and then massage the finger I was going to use for about 20-30 seconds before doing the test. In the end I used 3 fingers in the same spots to get my blood and those 3 fingers served me for almost 8 weeks without pain. Make sure your hands are dry when you test otherwise I did find the blood would run down the lines really quickly. If it hurts on your pinky finger but you find it has a good blood supply simply turn your pressure gauge down for that finger. I only ever used the 2 or 3 setting for any fingers and always turned it to 2 for the pinky finger.
Like you, I also questioned my diagnosis as I only had 3 slightly high readings my entire PG and at the end I was eating cake and all sorts without raising my levels. I was even eating foods trying to spike my levels at the end just to see if I could and I didn't.
About retesting - yes Megan is right is does just depend on your situation with endo/clinic vs OB/midwife or whatever options you have. I had to email in my levels each fortnight to my endo and if they saw something they didn't like then they simply asked me to go in (never had to thankfully) but my meter also had the option to view my average across all tests so I could also give them that during my appointments straight from the meter so my endo knew my average (obviously if average was completely different to what your levels had been they'd know you'd fudged some levels).. So I didn't have any further blood tests for the GD but you will have to retake the 2hr GTT test once baby has arrived (about 8-12 weeks post birth) plus they may get you to do some random tests during your labour and also during your hospital stay.
Happy testing ladies - remember the end is in sight!
Ah so wet hands would cause blood to spread that makes sense, not that I have wet hands but I would have sweaty hands! I have a needle phobia, long story but basically I had a traumatic experience losing my 1st pregnancy, followed by 2 years of fertility treatments, am now left with a pretty bad fear of needles. So this is a really big deal for me & I am quite teary, hot & sweaty when I test! If I get another good week of levels I might ask if I can reduce the test days to just 1-2 a week as I think what this does to my blood pressure is probably more harmful then the levels!!
Thanks for the tips, this morning I spent a couple mins just with my hand hanging down & then rubbing the finger tips, got a good bleed although it did spread across my finger so it may have been a bit thin, read was 3.4 so even if you had a 1 to that its a good level. Think the diet is working as it should.
Just about to test again, can feel myself getting worked up already Hate this!!!
CAH, you should be able to take your machine in to test whether it is working properly... The nurses at your ob's office or the DE should have the test solutions there and that would tell you if it's the machine, or a dud diagnosis.... I hope it's the latter!
Thanks for all the support so far girlls, feels like all I've done is moan since I joined!! Anyway I think I cracked it, change of needle & following all the advice you've given I managed all 4 tests yesterday with plenty of blood !!! Results were good 3.5 before brekkie, 4.9 after got a 5.9 after lunch & then top read of the day was after dinner at 6.9. I did have 2 serves of rice with dinner just to see what happened & it seems things went a bit more as they should this time.
What a relief! I put on a top this morning that was getting tight & its loose again so looks like I may have lost some weight since starting this diet!
Sounds good CAH! I lost 2.5kgs in the first week after being diagnosed and have been pretty much the same weight ever since so I am actually lighter now than I was at the beginning of my pregnancy!!
My levels have started to calm down a bit. Every week for the last 4 or so weeks my endo has reduced my insulin before bed. He seems happy with how things are going. After having so much trouble with my fasting levels for ages and now all of a sudden they're low and I have to keep dropping my insulin. After doing this since 17wks he told me this week I was a professional and what did I think he should do with my dosage. I told him what I thought, and that's what he did! lol Maybe he should be paying ME!
I've just been diagnosed on Friday with GD and am having a little freak out about it. Tomorrow is my appointment with the doc to discuss treatment etc - I cant wait because I am doing my head in googling all day and night!
My reading after the 2 hour test was 8.2, not exactly what I would have considered high but the nurse they consider anything over 8.0 to be GD. I found out the result on Friday afternoon and since then I've been avoiding sugar - not that its much different from my normal diet actually. I am surprised to get GD because I do eat pretty well, and am not much of a bread, pasta or rice person.
Anyhoo, just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I'll be back on tomorrow night to tell you ll what the doc said.
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Hate this!!!
!!! Results were good 3.5 before brekkie, 4.9 after got a 5.9 after lunch & then top read of the day was after dinner at 6.9. I did have 2 serves of rice with dinner just to see what happened & it seems things went a bit more as they should this time.
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