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KellBell - CONGRATULATIONS... on your little girl.. So glad to hear you had such a positive birth experience.. Keep us posted..
KellyC - Do you have an "Edit Options" link in the User Profile? If YES then go into that and tick the box that says Enable Private Messages. Once you've done that let me know and I'll try again. If not then i might just post my email address on the forum.
hi all.... hope all is going well with you ladies. sorry i've been MIA over these last few weeks, but i ended up in hospital for the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy and was induced at 38w 2d gestation. we had a beautiful baby girl Isabel Kate.... born on the 4th march at 6.34pm following an emergency caesar. 7lbs, 9oz, 49cm long, hc 34cm. unfortunately Isabel was just too inquisitive and was trying to come out brow first and she ended up getting stuck on the spines of my pelvis, hence the emergency c-section. have recovered pretty well, but haven't done any bsl's post pregnancy, a little afraid to. I suppose the truth will be told when I have my check up at 8 weeks......:D
SnowChickie - I do have the edit options part but nowhere to select about recieving PM's - must be because I don't have enough posts. Sorry to be a pain! I'll have to start posting more often!
Congrats on your baby girl Vanessa xx
Hi Vanessa, and congrats on your little girl. Hope all is well with yo both now and you are settling in to mummyhood well.
Hi ladies
well i had my 6 week check up with my endo and the results of glucose test were fantastic!! 6.2 after 1 hour 5.9 after 2 hrs - so i am one VERY relieved mummy!!\
good luck to all of you still waiting to do the test or get results, im sure all will be fine!! :D
YAY gill. good on you... what a relief!
Good news Gill, it is such a relief isnt it!!
KellBell and Vanessa - Congratulations on your bubs.
Hi,
I just wanted to post to wish you all luck with your GD and bubs - I was shocked and quite upset when diagnosed with my DD2. I was really lucky and able to get good control of my BSL's with diet alone. I was under the care of a midwife run clinic and then once diagnosed had to transfer to a public obs clinic due to being 'high risk'. I was induced with DD1 and was quite distressed at the prospect of this happening again as I had some issues post natally that I was hoping to avoid this time around.
Initially the Obs were insistent that I be induced at 38 wks - however thanks to the support of the midwives in clinic and one of the Obs I was able to go into labour spontaneously. It was a fantastic experience and I thankfully delivered a 3.96kg baby with very little difficulty. I am really grateful that my wishes were able to be followed and that we were both healthy!
So good luck to you all - GD can be so stressful but the outcome can be so positive. Wishing you all great deliveries and healthy bubs!
:)
Hi Ladies
Just wondered if I can join you. I've just been diagnosed with GD, been on the controlled diet since last Thurs & am testing 3x a week. I tested Sat & got nice steady results of 3.7 1st thing & 5 for last test of the day. Was feeling pretty positive about it all until today. Anyone got any experience with low levels? I'm confused, been following it all really carefully & today came to test for 2nd time since starting the diet, the day started badly with a result of 2.8 (fasting) & then after breakfast was only 3.3. I thought I'd wait for the after lunch 1 as figured it would climb by then & got a result of 4.9 which is good. Had a mid afternoon snack of popcorn (which was measured & on my list of good snacks) then dinner was veg, tuna & rice, last reading of the night, 2 hours after dinner is only 2.8. I thought the rice (it was a big serve) would have kept it up but seems not. My dietician never spoke to me about low levels, I assume they weren't expecting any :lol: I'm going to call them in the morning cause I think something isn't quite working for me! I just had 1 scoop of icecream plus my evening snack of ryvita & an orange as I figured a reading of 2.8 wasn't gonna go up enough with the just the orange/ryvita.
Feeling a bit despondent as my diet before the GD was good, I'd only gained minimal weight & wasn't eating any junk food, 4 days in & its all going wrong:rolleyes: Any advice? I thought maybe I could have the max fruit allowance each day & maybe ensure I get fruit with brekkie, afternoon snack & evening just to try & keep the levels up. I would normally go swimming on a Mon but met a friend today instead, good job I didn't by the looks of my results!!!!!
Thanks for listening & hope to get to know you all better in the coming weeks.
Clare
30+2
Clare, I would give your diabetes educator a call tomorrow morning and let her know what's going on. They are low levels and I doubt they would have been expecting those from you, especially as you are only controlling levels by diet.
Do you have any idea what your levels were on your GTT that you had? Definitely worth getting this sorted with them straight away, because if you're getting low levels all the time you're not going to be feeling the best. In the mean time make sure you have some jelly beans or something on you just incase they get too low!
hi clare & welcome :)
:clap: gill, that's great news!
mak - that's another great story, it's so reassuring to read of all these positive experiences :)
i'm having a bit of a brain fade this morning & wonder if anyone can help me - i know that after my meal i can't eat anything until i test two hours later, but i remember the DE saying something about some drinks being okay, but i'm wondering which ones - obviously im not drinking any full sugar softdrinks at all, but i do have probably one cup of tea a day & some diet cordial or diet softdrink. should i be avoiding these during the 2 hrs or are they all okay to drink? i don't mean tea with a whole heap of milk in it or anything - just a plain green tea.
Sloane, I think those drinks are ok. Well I hope they are because I drink them in that 2 hours! lol Occassionally I have a cup of tea (with a dash of milk no sugar) about an hour after a meal and my levels are still good so I haven't worried about it. Or I will have a diet cordial. I can only drink so much water everyday!
thanks Megan - i trialled a green tea this morning & everything seemed fine so maybe tomorrow i might go all out & have a tea with a dash of milk :lol:
i think i'm finally working out my own personal quirks with my bsl - looks like rice is a no-no & i only ever eat basmati. bummer! my best meal seems to be steak with a baked potato & either salad or steamed vegies.
sounds similar to me! rice is completely out for me including basmati and simple meat and veg always give me the best reading in the low 5's usually. I can eat pasta though without a problem. It's interesting how everyone reacts differently to different foods.
Thanks for the replies girls, however things are not any better! I called my dietician this morning as was not happy with yesterdays levels, apparently she is away until tomorrow, I said the the receptionist I wasn't prepared to wait til then cause the levels were so low, when I told what they were she put me thru to an antenatal clinic (not mine) & I spoke with 2 nurses...honestly what they told me left me speechless, 1 asked me if my machine is working - like how do I know but given the midday reading was 4.9 I'd guess that it is working ok, then she passed me to this other lady who insisted I probably wasn't eating enough, I said I'm having the max serves of most stuff including 3cups of basmati rice with dinner last night cause I was desperate to get those levels up. She said I need to experiment more with my diet, I need to eat more & go & get a Snickers & try adding more chocolate to my diet????? Ok so I get that a Snickers would bring the levels up but I told her if the the diet they've provided can't give me more then the minimum levels has there been so mistake with diagnosing me with GD? Is that possible, I swear I am eating what they say, not sure if I'm making any mistakes, I've listed what I'm eating today which to me & everyone I've talked sounds more then enough food, yesterday was v similar but with the 3 serves of rice & stir fry veg for dinner. Trying not to get stressed but I am, not enjoying eating cause I'm not hungry & so worried that I'm eating too much or too little you know?
2 cups cereal, milk & tea & a banana
20 almonds & a cup of plain popcorn
1 egg mayo/salad (2 slices Burgen) sandwich & an orange
1 ryvita with cottage cheese & 2 sugar free cookies plus an apple
1 piece salmon, baked sweet potato & half a plate of salad with cheese
1 ryvita with cottage cheese & an apple (right before bed)
Anyone see anything I'm doing wrong here?
hi clare.
I am finding that a cup of tea. tiny bit of milk and no sugar is still enough to raise my levels so i have one after i test.
my DE said any caffeine drink can do that... so even diet coke will do it.
CAH, that sounds like plenty of food to me. I hope you can get some more answers tomorrow. As if you would know if there is a problem with your machine! You test, the number pops up so you assume it's working and note down the number. The ladies you spoke to obviously didn't know what to do with you by the sound of it. I would be asking tomorrow if there has been a mistake with your test results.
Three cups of rice? I'm so jealous ;) I can't eat half a cup without my numbers going over!
Thanks for the replies. I was going to call the dietician today but this mornings readings were 4.9 before breakfast & 4.9 after! I did test at 6am then got ready for work, drove to work & then has breakfast so levels would have dropped between time of 1st test & eating, so I think I'm doing ok today! Bit concerned that I may not be getting true readings cause I'm finding it hard to bleed. For some reason I don't get a nice blob of blood mine either doesn't bleed much at all or it comes out & spreads across my finger in the grooves so I literally have to mop it up with the test strip or test 2-3 times to get 1 result. Not ideal really. Needle is def going in deep enough, I have a friend who is a nurse & she seemed to think this is normal & that some people are difficult to obtian blood from. I'm taking baby asprin cause this is an IVF pregnancy, do you think thats thinned my blood a bit too much? I've also found that only a few fingers work, the others the needle breaks the skin but nothing happens :lol: OMG I am a freak! Ah well at least the levels are healthier today, curious to see what they show up as later this afternoon.
CAH, I have noticed when I have trouble getting enough blood and it takes a while to get it onto the strip that my readings are always low. I always do it again and make sure I have plenty of blood and the reading is usually 1.5-2.0 higher than the original one. This happens mostly in the mornings when my hands are a bit cold, so I always try to make sure I have nice warm hands before I *****, and squeeze the blood down from the middle of your finger rather than from the end.
CAH - I'm sure you are already doing it but it is much easier using the sides of your fingers (if that makes sense) - I had the same problem but found it easier on my pinkie and ring fingers for some strange reason....
Keep up the hard work - sounds like you are doing a fab job.
Oooh tried the little finger today & worked a treat but man its hurting now, so looks like I can use ring finger, sometimes index & the little 1 if I'm feeling brave... but only on the left hand cause the right hand doesn't seem to play the game at all. This afternoon the reading was 5.9 I had a fritata for dinner with some veg & a couple serves of baked beans, just used 1 small potato in the fritata. Sadly I haven't been able to get a reading tonight, tried all my fingers & couldn't get any of them to bleed enough, I tried rubbing them, sitting on them to warm them up & dangling my arm down for a few mins before. I was getting really stressed & then I just thought s*d it, I'm doing the diet, so far none of my reads have gone thru the roof & the stress of all this is probably worse for me & her then any bl**dy sugar read!!!!!!!! I'll try again on Fri but I'm pretty sure things are ok. Do they retest you at all or just trust the figures you provide? Just wondered if there is a double check at any time just to make sure you are doing things right.
Mak I def only use sides of fingers, seems to hurt less there. Feeling a bit of a failure but I don't think its worth getting upset about this, I've not had any weight gain in last 7 weeks so she is hardly a bloater :lol:, at least at this stage anyway!
I think it depends if you are sent to an endo as to whether you may be re-tested. Every month or so my endo sends me for a BT which gives him my BSL averaged out over a period of time. Just gives them an overall more accurate picture. As you said though, your levels have been good and I wouldn't stress yourself out about it because that can send levels up as well.
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.
Take care and be kind to yourself! :)
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 :rolleyes: 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!:D
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 :clap:!!! 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!
Hope you have a good weekend.
C
x
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!
Evening girls,
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.
BD, welcome to thread and sorry you're here at the same time!!
My reading after the test was 8.4 so not that high either. I was diagnosed at 17wks and have been on insulin since about 23wks. However, my levels have been really stable and my dose is being reduced each week and I am really on the countdown now.
I would imagine you will be given a machine to test your levels which you will do for a week and they will monitor you regularly from that. You'll learn what foods send you over the limit just through trial and error, so that first week or two can be a bit all over the place.
Good luck with your appointment tomorrow. :)
Hello ladies
Been a while but I've been so busy with baby prep and catching up with friends before bub arrives!
I'm still on Metformin (4 tablets a day) and Diabex (3 before bed) which ARE nasty on my stomach. Especially the 3 doses of Diabex! I'd wake up at 3am or 4am suffering from diarrhea. Not to mention heartburn and indigestion! Metformin seems to be doing me good IF I take them HALFWAY through my meal. Unfortunately with Diabex, that doesn't seem to work. Sometimes I'd take them before supper and try to only sleep 3 hours after (which doesn't happen most times) and it'll work. Very nasty that one!
Last checkup with my endo (last Thurs) and he's happy with my levels though I do battle with diarrhea, indigestion and heartburn nearly every night! He asked if I'm able to handle it. I was SO scared if I said no, he's going to switch me to insulin jabs!! So I said, if I find it too much to handle, I'll give you a ring and tell you about it! :D:D
I do have a question though. I hate milk. But it does help with heartburn especially taken with Diabex before bed. So I mix half a cup with a teaspoon of cocoa powder. My endo is totally against it. But my levels doesn't shoot up to an alarming rate.
At times I'd take a gulp or two of Coke or soft drinks, or a couple bites of cake or other sweets in between meals and my levels show good numbers. Should I be worried? I mean could it be because I eat them at snack time and not as desserts after meals? I feel like I'm cheating my numbers sometimes.
I just reached 36 weeks. Could it be because my placenta's not growing anymore? Am I putting my baby at any major risk? My 34-week growth ultrasound scan showed baby's at an average size though my ob does mention the high possibilities of inducing me at 38 weeks anyway. Which I've no problems about, since I'm so sick with these tablets and can't wait to see bub!!
Hope everyone's doing well!
Thanks for the lending ear ladies =)
Hi BD, welcome to the thread, have only been here a week & a bit mself so I know just how you are feeling right now! I also spent hours googling but basically you'll be given a rough diet guide & have to test your sugar levels, if you look back a page or so you'll see just how much fun I've had with that!!! I do seem to have got it right now though, thanks to the advice from everyone on here. My levels were 8.4 so not thru the roof & to be honest since I started the diet/testing they haven't been particularly high so I guess I've been lucky (although something odd happening today, def higher then they have been!!). Hopefully as you are just over you'll be able to control them with diet alone, something I also hoping for.
Megan you sound like a real pro with the insulin now, if I need it I'll know who to ask for help :D
Smudgy You do sound like you are doing things tough, thankfully you've not got too much longer to go although I'm sure it seems like an eternity to you! Why would they induce you if the baby isn't bigger then average, is it cause of your ailments do you think? Got me worrying now, I just had my antenatal workshop & really don't want to be induced!!! Sure these classes just make you worry more :lol:
Had no probs with the testing again today so once again thanks for all the great tips, my fasting level this morning was 5.1, the highest I've ever had 1st thing in the morning, no idea why as I've been good all weekend. I haven't been v active across the weekend though, felt rough on Sun & was in the class all day Sat so maybe thats made a difference. Have managed to keep it between there & 6 so far today & forced myself to go swimming after work which might help! Was soooo tired though, felt like I was moving my arms & legs but not getting anywhere, in fact this tall guy got out as I started swimming, he was just kind of wading waist deep, the current he created swept me to the side :lol: I did chuckle to myself, what a weakling I am!!!
C
Megan - Hi :) 8.4 doesn't seem so high to me either. But its great that the insulin is working for you.
Cah - Thanks for the kind welcome! I've read through a few off your recent posts - man, sounds like its been tough for you! I wonder what is in store for me the next few weeks??????
Saw my doc today and he has referred me to a Diabetes Educator who I will be seeing tomorrow arvo. Dr G said he really hopes that I wont gain anymore weight through this pregnancy - but I didn't think it was too bad? I was 69 to start with, and am 84kg now. Is 15kg at 31 weeks really that much? We talked testing myself, possibility of insulin injections, and also about the "very real possibility" of inducing me at 38 weeks! I am a little nervous about all this, but I am trying not to get ahead of myself. I am looking forward to the appointment tomorrow so I can get more info and start testing I guess.
Hope everyone is well :)
blonde doctor - welcome & hope the appt goes well with the DE today.
i know i felt much better once i'd seen the DE - it made me feel more prepared :)
CAH - hope your levels are still behaving themselves!
megan - how are you going? not long to go now!!
smudgy - sorry, can't help with that one! altho both the endo & DE said that sugar is okay in small amounts. i have a teaspoon of milo in milk before bed sometimes.
afm, had my endo appt today - she said my levels were a little on the high side sometimes (between 7-8) & she'd normally put people on insulin but because i'd noted the food & have now stopped eating pasta & rice (& because it has happened mostly at the end of the day) she's happy that i'm 'sensible' and doing the right thing...so another week without insulin. feels a bit like a waiting game though!
i also asked the ob today about hospital policy regarding inductions at 38 weeks for GD patients. she said they prefer to let someone go to term but it's decided on the basis of each individual. she's sending me for a growth scan in a couple of weeks as a precaution because of the GD & that i'm also on BP medication.
Hi ladies,
I am new here, this is my 2nd pg (late m/c last year) and I got diagnosed with GD about 3 weeks ago. I am coming up 31 weeks pg now. So far I am just trying to manage the GD with diet alone - don't want to resort to insulin unless desperate (needle phobe!!)
I am hoping some of you can help me with something...
Up until this week my BSL have all been fine, but for some reason this week my after lunch results have started creeping up. I haven't changed what I have been eating since I started the changed diet so can't understand why all of a sudden my lunch seems to put me over.
I live in the ACT so the max BSL I am allowed is 6.5 after meals, which I was told was stricter than the other states and this week I have been getting around 6.8 sometimes as high as 7.3 after lunch.
My lunch consists of either a toasted sandwich (Molenberg 10 grains and seeds or Bakers Delight Low GI white bread) with 1/4c baked beans, cheese and Marmite, plus a poached egg on toast with Marmite & tomato sauce and if I am really hungry a small tin of tuna.
Or
2 sandwiches (same bread as above) with cheese and tomato...
I am a big eater hence the huge lunch (compared to what I have read in some previous posts!)
My fasting BSL is usually between 3.9 and 4.5 and following brekkie around 4.6 and after dinner it drops from in the 6's to around 5.7.
Sorry for the huge post!!... I am getting there...
My question is, does anyone have any suggestions on what I could eat for lunch instead of bread (which is obviously not my friend anymore) but still be filling enough for the little piglet that I am!? :lol: Also without taking forever to prepare!?!
Also has anyone else noticed that sometimes you can test more than once and the results can be different by quite a bit, like around .5 difference or more? Is my machine faulty?
Thanks so much, and I look forward to getting to know some other GD sufferers! :D
Hi Ladies,
Another newbie to join this thread! I had my ob appt today where I was told that following the 2 hr gtt, I have GD. I think I'm definitely still in a fair bit of shock but am now equipped with a glucose monitor and all kinds of paraphernalia and hoping I'll be able to manage it with diet.
I'll have to take some time to read back through the posts, but am just so glad there is a thread to talk to other GD'ers as I wrap my poor brain around all of this new info ;)
Look forward to getting to know you all...
CAH: Glad to hear things have settled down.. Remember to watch the weight loss. If you are loosing weight then you need to eat more to keep up your energy levels..
blondedoctor: Welcome to the thread. Sorry it's not under better circumstances but trust that you are in a supportive environment where you can ask lots of questions. I'm past GD now but still pop in to see how everyone is going and help if I can as I know how stressful it can be, especially when you are first diagnosed. Remember to ask lots of questions.. Your reading was not too high - my 2hr reading was about 9.4 from memory and I was completely diet controlled but everyone is different and you will soon find out how different everyone reacts to food.. I was like you and very surprised to get GD as I am very healthy eater etc. Ultimately doesn't come down to diet but more to how your body deals with the extra load from baby/placenta - as my OB told me - there was nothing I could have done differently to prevent it..
smudgy: Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling the best with the tablets. Have you considered maybe making the switch to insulin so that you can at least enjoy the last part of your pregnancy without the terrible side effects from the tablets? I cannot speak from experience about insulin but from what I've read I haven't seen anyone say that the insulin injection is more painful than the finger testing.
Regarding the milk - have you tried some milo instead? Or even warm milk actually tastes different to cold milk. I used to have a cup of warm milk with a few biscuits (RICH TEA biscuits - Low GI and yummy - I still eat them now as a snack) before bed. I used to have the occasional bit of coke or a cake and no problems. You cannot completely cut sweet stuff out and towards the end I was having a small piece of plain cake or a few biscuits without problems. You won't hurt the baby and bub would be fine with a small amount of sugar.
blondedoctor: The average weight gain during pregnancy is said to be between 9kg and 13kg but everyone is different. I have a few PG books which actually gave average weights for the baby/placenta/fluid to show where the weight gain comes from. The OB and DE would be wanting to watch your weight as it may not be you who is gaining the weight but in actual fact bub which puts you both in a higher risk of requiring an induction and/or intervention. Good luck with the DE appointment and let us know how you go.
sloane: Glad to hear your hospital doesn't have an automatic induction policy for GD. Mine didn't either and I was allowed to go into labour myself (11 days early) and did not require intervention. My OB had told me he wouldn't induce me unless medically needed and because my GD was under control he'd even let me go over my EDD if everything was ok.
navywife: Welcome to the thread navywife. I'm a needle phobe also so right there with you on that front. I hated the idea of doing the finger testing but it wasn't too bad once I got the hang of it and really didn't give me much pain at all.
Regarding your food question.. Have you tried a different bread? You can find that a food that was ok last week is no longer ok so you could try using a different bread. I found the bakers delight (wholemeal vienna) was the only bread I could have.
Yes your BSL level sounds more strict - I had to keep mine officially under 8.0 but anything over 7.0 I had to let my endo know about.. The other thing I would have suggested would be the quantity but as you say you are a big eater so I'm not sure what I could suggest. I used to have a sandwich with tuna/salmon with cheese and tomato plus a piece of fruit for lunch and just varied it around that. You could try substituting some of the bread for some fruit or a huge side of vegies. I used to top all my meals up with huge quantities of vegies to fill myself up and that always worked. I was rarely hungry while I had GD. Also I went through a huge amount of strawberries. My Endo told me they were my "free food" and I could have as many of those as I wanted so I was going through about 4 punnets a week of them. If I had a sweet craving or was hungry I'd snack on a few of those.
Have you tried a Low GI soup, essentially a wholemeal pasta based soup)? I used to have a soup with a side of steam vegies (from the microwave)..
Yes the testing thing is normal. The glucose meters are not 100% accurate so you will get some variance on testing. I used to test once, then test again to double check and get a different reading. Need to be sure you wash your hands before you test as if you'd handled food you could still have sugars on your skin from the foods which will give you a higher reading etc. Just test once and use that reading or you'll be testing 40 times a day.. :)
jenushka: Welcome to the thread..
Recommend you read back through our posts as there are plenty of good tips and ideas to go through and they will certainly give you a good place to start things. Can be daunting at first but you will get the hang of it and then things will feel a little easier..
Hi everyone,
I was diagnosed 4 weeks ago, am now 28+4 and so far controlling my levels with diet. I have been quite strict with my diet and that gets frustrating, but the results have been good. I really want to eat cake or something, but am so afraid of the consequences. My morning levels were quite high before so I was put on insulin in the morning which only made the levels higher again - I think it was psychological cos I really didnt want to have to start injecting! I also was quite bad at doing it and most of it ran out. So we went back to the diet and it's been ok only in the last week I've noticed that the morning levels are getting higher so it looks like I might have to inject at night or maybe again in the morning. Pain in the proverbial!! Does anyone have any tips on getting low morning levels? I'd like to avoid the insulin as long as I can.
I'Ve also lost a bit of weight since changing my eating habits, I only hope I'Ve not lost too much. Going to see my midwife today, so will find out then.
It's so reassuring and encouraging to read your stories/experiences. Pregnancy Diabetes is more common than I had thought.
Good luck to everyone xx
Evening all,
Hil444, Janushka - Welcome to you both! I am a newbie too and just getting the hang of all this too.
Navy wife - Welcome! I work from home so my food choices are usually easier than those of you working in an office or somewhere without a kitchen. I'm not much of a bread eater and the things I usually have for lunch are:
* big green salad, some chopped cheese, a few boiled eggs with a splash of olive oil
* scrambled eggs with mushrooms and tomato and spinach
* microwaved potato with mushrooms, spinach, chickpeas (anything really),sour cream and cheese
* spinach and rice soup
* pumpkin soup
As Snowchickie said, maybe a change of type of bread might do the trick too? Good luck
Snowchickie - Thanks for the kind words of support. Its been a really stressful so its great to have an online community like this to go to. :)
AFM - Well, after my visit with the diabetes educator, I am now testing my blood sugar levels 4 times a day and if if goes over 8.0 more than twice a week they want to put me on insulin. I am a little stressed about this because the small country hospital where we are booked in won't take me if I am on insulin, and I'd have to go into Adelaide instead which is over 2 hours away. I really don't want to do that because apart from the distance from home, I wont have my doctor (whom I love!) , or any of the midwives that I have come to know through the prenatal classes. So I just really have to keep my sugar levels low. Its frustrating because I think doctors carry on a bit much about it, but now I'm kinda stuck in the system and have to follow through, if you know what I mean.
I am still confused why my readings are so high. Today for example, for lunch I had a big green salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, some chopped cheese) a few boiled eggs with a splash of olive oil with one slice of multigrain toast and I got 8.2! Seems crazy, but I'm guessing I'll need to cut out all carbs to stay within the limits the doc wants. Its silly because I wouldn't normally have the bread with the salad, but the diabetes educator said I had to increase my carbs to three serves a day!!! I don't think I'll be doing that again!
Hope everyone is going well :)
Hi Guys
Just thought I'd update, had my check up last week & they are really happy with the levels I've been getting. As for the blip when I had those really low levels in the 1st week they said its apparently normal & sometimes the new diet is just a shock to the body & takes a few days to adjust. So, for now I've escaped the insulin, have to go back in 3 weeks time. I also had a check up with my obs & baby is fine, she is still head down & isn't looking abnormally big or anything, in fact as I suspected I had no weight gain again so thats nothing for 8 weeks now. Belly is def getting bigger so she must be gaining whilst I'm losing, have only gained 10 kilos in all which midwife reckons is pretty impressive - funny cause in "normal" life I gain weight just looking at a cake, guess this diabetes diet works for me then!!
Blondedoctor I hope you can control your levels & don't go over the 8 limit. Not sure why your levels are so high after lunch, when mine jumped last week I knew it was the type of bread I'd eaten as had run out of Burgen, also Pumpkin soup is on my no go list, guess different clinics have different diets. For me a serve of carbs is equal to 1 cup of popcorn & I've found if my levels start doing a wobbly a cup of popcorn keeps them steady rather then spiking them like bread does, would popcorn & a big salad be a better combination.... probably not taste wise :lol: What are your 1st morning levels like, are they going wrong with breakfast maybe? I've found that museli works well, normally I can chuck a banana on top but some days if I wake with levels in the high 5-6's I have to leave out the banana or I can't get back on top of the levels for the rest of the day. Its so hard, its like a game isn't it, add this & take out that, what a headache!!
Oooh I found some nice icecream desserts that for me at least don't send my levels rocketing - not sure if allowed to say on here, made by Skinny Cow, hope that was ok! There are 3 or 4 flavours & they are made with low fat stuff & no added sugar, its so nice to have something that tastes sweet although I've been limiting them to just 1 a week so far.
Got a 3D scan a week Friday so that will be interesting, def be able to see how chubby she is then! Had my hair done today & my hairdresser is going away in May so next time I see her I'll be a mummy, how weird is that!!!!
Clare
32 + 4