anyone else with gestational diabetes?

[Shakshuka]

I saw from searching that there used to be some threads but nothing current.

I've just started monitoring my blood sugars and it's hard going. I was shocked that my numbers were as high as they were because I was only borderline on the gtt. I thought I was eating pretty low carb already and I already have trace ketones so don't want to cut carbs further. I'll have to do some tweaking!

Anyone else going through this?

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Hi there - this thread is a little old. [[https://www.mumsnet.com/pregnancy/gestational-diabetes
If you want to read more about gestational diabetes, we’ve got some information here]]. MNHQ

[SmallBee]

I'm not currently but I was when I was pregnant last year. It really isn't easy when everyone else can have cake & you can't!
Baby brain means I've forgotten most of what I did but I do remember I downloaded an app called MyFitnessPal, which you can also use on a laptop/PC. It's great for checking what carbs etc each good has, it has a daily log you can fill out which'll help you monitor your intake.

Good luck & remember once your gorgeous baby is here you won't have to worry about any of it.

[Shakshuka]

Yes, using my fitness pal to log food. I'm finding the unpredictability of it hard. My breakfast and lunch numbers have been fine but my dinners have been sky high. Need to find a combo which works.

[VioletWillow]

It's not just the carbs but the giant hit when you sit down to a meal, so try a smaller meal and a couple of whole grain snacks a little earlier, that's what my diabetes nurse suggested. Avoid juice, keep an eye on what yoghurt has in sugar wise, and drink plenty of water. A walk after dinner will help stabilise the numbers a little too. Good luck! When do you see the clinic again? They might put you on an evening dose of Metformin if the figures are high, as others say it is all temporary :)

[Shakshuka]

I don't touch juice or have sweetened yoghurt so it's not that.

I also did my 20 minute dvd workouts before I tested after dinner.

I thought it was only the carbs which pushed up blood sugar?

This is really worrying me, I'm only 29 weeks and its only going to get worse :(

[sisterofcaleb]

Ah it's a pain OP, I am 36 weeks into my second GD pregnancy.

What kind of things are you eating / numbers are you getting? I find I have to really stick to low GI stuff now generally. But I could try and give you some ideas if you were happy to share a bit more.

Yes it's only carbs that push your blood sugar up, but I think the other poster meant that eating large meals rather than little and often means you eat a lot of carbs at once.

Try not to worry too much, it is hard whilst you are figuring it out but you will get the hang of it. I know easier said than done!

[Shakshuka]

Well, Thursday I had turkey schnitzel (which I breaded with ground almonds, not breadcrumbs), red pepper, broccoli and half a cup of sweet corn (15g carbs) and 6 dark choc covered almonds (15g carbs). I got a reading of 9.2 at 1 hr.

Yesterday I had that barilla plus pasta (30g carbs) with a turkey mince sauce (homemade, no added sugar) with kale and a chia seed pudding I made (chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla and stevia) plus some raspberries. I got 8.8 at 1 hour.

These seem really high for the amount of carbs?

[sisterofcaleb]

Hmmm wow seems like you are on the case with some alternative grains etc! And you sound like a great cook ;)

So the fasting, breakfast and lunch readings are all fine just evening bit too high? (these reading are not disasters by any means but they are over the limit obv)...

If that is the case then maybe your hormones are particularly high in the evening or something. Maybe the clinic will say meds would help. How do you feel about that? If you really want to avoid, and it is just later in the day, then how about you just play it mega safe in the evenings? So for example I wouldn't eat sweetcorn as there are so many other nice veggies that are very low carb. And I would probably eat my main and then test after an hour and then might have something sweet depening on my numbers. You can always test again an hour after the sweet so you know what is going on. I pretty much just stick to very dark chocolate (85%). Also, did you know that eating fat with carbs lets them into your blood sugar more slowly? Those meals are pretty low fat I wonder if that is not helping.

My safest carbs are sweet potato and brown rice. If I wanted to have a really low carb meal blitz I would stick with eggs or a salad with loads of nice bits (lunch was chicken caesar including artichoke, avocado and parmesan, yum!).

[Shakshuka]

I'm not a big fan of sweet corn and only added it because the meal seemed too low carb and I didn't have any other carbs that I could just heat in the microwave!

The turkey was fried and coated in almond flour so not low fat.

They told us in the diabetes education class that mornings are the most difficult for pregnant women so my evening numbers surprise me.

I know the numbers aren't crazy but the carbs in the meals weren't high and I exercised after the meal as well - and things will only get harder. That's my big worry.

If I have to go on meds I will - I'd rather not!

[Shakshuka]

I'm going to try moving ny carbs more to lunch. Good idea!

[crazycatwoman]

I'm half way through my second GD pregnancy and have found my tolerances have changed this time round (I can have one weetabix (sainsburys own version) and milk in the morning this time round - had to have a poached egg on toast last time).

I too have to be really careful in the evenings. I have really cut down my portion size (re pasta/potatoes to about the same as my 2.5yr old) and if I have pudding it is only a couple of spoonfuls of a fromage frais that I have found with very low sugar - but if I think the main meal might be a bit heavy on the carbs I will wait an hour for pudding if I really want some.

I eat any fruit at least an hour clear of everything else or it throws me over (even a very small amount).

That being said I can eat the same thing two nights running and one night be fine and the next night be sky high!

I also find that if I eat later my sugars are generally higher. It really is trial and error unfortunately.

[hubbahubster]

You need more fat. I found eating avocado with meals really worked.

[Shakshuka]

Hmm, not so sure my meals were lacking in fat. Like i said, turkey schnitzel was pan fried and covered in almond fkour and the choc almonds were pretty high fat (73% cocoa). And chia seeds are full of fat plus i added grated cheddar cheese on top.

But worth a try i guess. Ive been having avocado more with breakfast and lunch to up the fat content with healthy fats.

[Shakshuka]

That should have said i added cheese to the pasta, not my chia seed pudding (bleurgh)

[sisterofcaleb]

I am making the most of the fat! Eating liberal amounts of full fat greek yoghurt, avocadoes, cheese etc. Not sure what my heart looks like but I have put on barely any weight the whole pregnancy and my husband has lost quite a lot so there must be something to be said for this low GI stuff.

Do you have enough ideas to try for now OP? You will get there working out the best patterns for you, it is disheartening when you try really hard and that meter creeps up over 7.8 :( I should have said do you always make sure your hands and really clean? That can make a big difference to readings. And also that you are not dehydrated. You aren't really meant to squeeze the blood out either but my fingers aren't too happy to yield so I don't have much choice!

Hubba how are you? You are a few weeks ahead of me I think so you must be there or nearly there??? What is your celebration meal going to be... mine is Dominos pizza and champagne (probably after some cheap white bread toast and marmite ;) )

[Shakshuka]

Not watching fat is a definite plus. Its funny that a lot of the generic dietary advice still focuses on low fat. Like having a snack of low fat greek yoghurt which is horrible on it's own but sooo nice when it's full fat.

Ive been washing my hands but also squeezing the blood out - but at the diabetes education they said that's OK.

Just had about the same lunch as i had for dinner last nigjt as an experiment to get an idea if its the timing which is the problem.

[hubbahubster]

sister am feeding two-day-old DC2 right now ;) her sugars were all fine in hospital (despite me going off the rails with cake and choc in the last few weeks) and I have beer and Brie waiting for me once DC1 is in bed... Oh and a chocolate muffin...

[Shakshuka]

Hubba

Congratulations! Do you mind me asking how much she weighed? My last baby was over 10lbs which i really want to avoid (increasingly suspect i had undiagnosed gd in my last preg)

Enjoy your beer, brie and muffin!!!

[Shakshuka]

Just tested - 7.6 and i didn't exercise unlike last night.

So now at least I know that my problem is in the evenings and I need to eat fewer carbs then. I thought the opposite was true! They told us mornings are usually harder.

[Shakshuka]

I should add I'm in the US which is why I'm only having my lunch now!

[sisterofcaleb]

Wow congrats hubba what lovely news :) cheers to healthy happy babies and mums who can eat muffins!! Really thrilled for you.

Haha I did think it was a bit late for lunch OP. Sounds like you are making good progress with working out what suits you best. I have monitored since 10 weeks this time and find it goes a bit up and down with time but I know my approx equilibrium, which gives me confidence.

[hubbahubster]

Thanks all! She was 7lbs, delivered at 39 weeks (ELCS, not related to GD - she was breech plus low placenta!). And my readings in recent weeks were on the high side so I was a bit concerned about size. But the delivery team actually guessed she'd more like 6lbs 5oz as she looks so dinky.

My first DC was 6lbs 13oz at 39 weeks (low placenta again...) despite scans at 38 weeks putting him at 8lbs. Hmmm... So GD does not always equal huge bubbas.

It's the carbs v fats balance you have to strike, at least IME - and a fair bit of trial and error. For instance, white pasta was fine for me, but white rice was a no-no. Soya and linseed bread was brilliant at giving me low readings, white bread was rubbish.

[Shakshuka]

7lbs is great! I look at my dd2 who's 7 now and I feel so guilty that she was 10lbs and now at higher risk of type 2 diabetes herself :(

They don't have the Burgens bread here. Such a shame, I remember I liked it a lot the few times I had it.

There seems to be no logic to my blood sugar readings. I had a mid-afternoon snack of half a banana, some greek yoghurt and natural peanut butter. Then before dinner my reading was high, 5.9 when it should be below 5.6. So I had only baked salmon with veggies and salad. I also had a handful of chilli and lime nuts which was super-spicy so I had two big glasses of water. I then walked the dog for 30 minutes. And my one hour was 5.1.

Does that make any sense at all? I know my dinner was low carb, i walked the dog and drank a lot of water, but still, that seems weird.

I guess I should have some carbs with my evening snack (here they say you should have 3 meals and 3 snacks - is the NHS advice the same?) so I don't get ketones in the morning.

Sorry for the endless posting on my blood sugar and food! I'm boring everyone around me by constantly talking about it!!

[sisterofcaleb]

Do you have to monitor before and after every meal plus in the morning? 7 times a day? Your poor fingers!! That is a lot. I suppose it keeps you on the straight and narrow. I wonder if they really know what the "norms" are for monitoring that closely though. I suspect not.

I am a bit anti-establishment, this time I haven't even gone to the diabetes clinic I am just monitoring it myself. So I am not the best person to take advice from. But to be honest I didn't find the dietary advice very useful from the hospital. I just eat when I am hungry (I tend to find eating lower GI means I want to snack less). I don't eat stuff that has high or very readily digestible carbs in. So I wouldn't eat banana for example, I would just eat fruits that are low carb. Berries are going down a treat and just the right time of year here. Before I eat something for the first time I look up the GI value and GL and if it seems low I will go for it. If it is high I won't, even in small quantities. These are my own rules though which seem to keep my numbers within targets.

I can tell you are worried about ketones though which isn't a concern I have had as I never had any show up in my urine. But as I say, most things have a liberal dose of fat in them so I wouldn't imagine my body needs to be using much of my fat stores!

You are figuring it out. 5.9 isn't very high especially after a banana and 5.1 is great. Enjoy it!

[Shakshuka]

Fasting counts as pre-breakfast so 6 times - still a lot! If you're well controlled, you can drop the pre lunch and pre dinner but in the beginning they like to see what's going on.

I knew th banana was high gi but I thought it'd be ok with the yoghurt and peanut butter. Lesson learnt.

The crazy thing about all of this is that I didn't even fail the gtt. I was borderline but under. My doctor wanted me to just repeat it at 32 weeks but I felt uneasy so she referred me to diabetes clinic. I'm really glad she did or I'd have merrily gone on eating what I wanted and doing untold damage to the baby. I was pretty sure my numbers would be low at this stage though.

I'm going to try dropping the bedtime snack. I feel like a cow being fattened for slaughter and my fasting number was a bit higher than I'd like.

[Gwlondon]

Do you eat a snack mid morning and mid afternoon? I think that sometimes helps. Sometimes too few carbs can make things go funny.

Actually, I used to sometimes have a snack before I went to bed to help my morning reading. I think overnight your liver releases sugars if your blood sugar goes low.

Also does your doctor ask for a two hour post meal check? Mine does, but last time I only ever tested 1 hour. Just wondering out of interest.

You sound like a great cook!!