Due May 2009 We're Nesting and Napping, Squeezing and Holding

[FiKelly]

here we go

Grumpy OMG I cannot believe that bum cream thread - that has to be a wind up surely??!

Spangle cds are back with me if you want to borrow them - I don't think i still have your address so if you text it to me, I can whizz in the post this weekend which gives you about 6 - 8 weeks worth of hypno training!!

Looby I'm sure you'll be a FAB mummy, if you eren't interested or bothered you wouldn't be on a site like this. It'll be the best and most amazing thing you have ever done and no doubt you'll love every second!! x

DP moaning on and on today about the state of the house - not dirty just untidy at the moment but then he has done SOD ALL to help in last week whilst I've been doing all the nursery runs, chasing a toddler and feeling huge, puffed and knackered. Finally he has cleaned the kitchen and suggested I keep it at a certain level of "maintenance"....WHAT???!!! Told him where to go using short jerky movements... bless him

Looby here is a sample of what I've found works for me. I think I've said before that my GD is a lot worse in the morning, so basically the only thing that suits my blood sugar then is bacon. I eat a lot of bacon!

Anyway, here is a selection of things which I have found work for me.

Breakfast:

Bacon and 2 v small slices of wholemeal bread. If I buy an uncut loaf the slices are usually too thick and send my blood sugar up, so a sliced loaf is better. Or make your own and leave out the sugar!

Cooked breakfast...yes, honestly! Have baked beans, as they lower the overall GI content of the meal and release the sugar more slowly (or something!) but go easy on the fat content. I buy Heinz reduced sugar and salt beans.

Porridge - might work for you, but doesn't for me. In theory it should, but I like it with milk which is high in natural sugar. I also like it with dried fruit, which again increases the sugar content. So I avoid it. Check the sugar content of all the cereal you are tempted by, as they tend to be fairly high, although cornflakes and branflakes are fine.

Snacks:

I've snacked on things like apples and cheese together, hot cross buns, carrot sticks and hummus, crisps. I tend to get quite hungry sometimes so I do snack.

Lunch:

I usually have an omlette or soup. I really ought to make my own soup but usually share a Covent Garden soup with DS. Things like beans on toast, poached egg on toast are all fine. I also like a seeded wrap (check the label for the lowest sugar) with cottage cheese, salad and protein like smoked salmon or tuna.

Evening:

My GD tends to be a lot better in the evening, so I've had (for example):

spag bol (go easy on the pasta serving)
steak with salad or veg
jacket potato with greek salad
fish pie (go easy on the mash potato)
Home made chicken curry with basmati rice (basmati rice has a lower GI than any other sort)

We went out for a meal the other evening and I had a 2 course meal of bubble and squeak with poached egg followed by roast duck in plum sauce, and my blood sugar was fine, so you can still go out and be merry!

I drink lots of water, but you'll need to avoid fruit juice. I buy Robinsons barley water with no added sugar if I fancy something other than water.

Avoid anything marketed at diabetics, as diabetic food tends to have a laxative effect! I have found a chocolate bar in Sainsburys with no added sugar, which was lovely, honestly. I ate a few squares to satisfy my addiction craving, but have now found the lovely ice-cream I mentioned.

I've mentioned before about fitting in exercise, it really does help control your blood sugar. Just 10-20 minutes a day will help. If you go onto insulin then you won't need to be as strict, but I've continued to be strict out of stubbornness really.

If you want any more ideas let me know!

Cor blimey llare fab advice there girl! Andalso the hr stuff - you're an angel in disguise

thanks llare

so I can still have my cooked breakfast on sat mornings then. We usually have bacon, home produced egg, tomato and a couple of spoonfuls of baked beans.

I didn't realise the that milk had a high sugar content. If I didn't have cooked breakfast was going to have shreddies with semi skimmed milk and splenda. Am I allowed splenda?

Sorry for all the questions

Just wanted to say thanks for the advice on food - I agree that it takes time for food to become familiar - and i do sometimes follow your approach belgian where i try and make sure there are other things on the plate i know DD will eat so she wont go hungry (shes skinny enough as it is)- its just so frustrating to cook things you know wont get eaten...and that when she tries things she does mostly like them (pesto and xmas pud spring to mind). Its more annoying though when there are things she used to eat and she wont now (e.g. eggs). And I gave her some hot cross bun the other night - she will eat raisins on their own, but proceeded to remove the raisins from it until i took it away for messing. grrrrr.

Braxton Hicks Yes gosh I had 2 hours on and off of painful BH today.

Gees was going to write loads but just had an arguement with dh. I'm a harridan. Going to bed.

pulapula

DD2 likes Nursery raisins but not raisins at home.

We made some chocolate cakes together the other day - she ate the raw mixture happily but didn't like the cooked cakes. She didn't like 'cooked chocolate'. We made them because she had nagged and nagged.

Dandy - I looked into the Sanctuary - but they are closed at the mo to treatments etc because they've had a fire . Also, lots of their thingies tend to not be do-able after 28 weeks. Ggrrr.

Llare - I think MN should give you a halo!

Not sure Looby as I've never had it. I've just had a quick look at the nutritional information on the back of the Shreddies packet, and it says that per 100g, 15.5g of the carbs turn to sugar. According to my dietician, that rules out Shreddies, I'm afraid. Cornflakes are better, with 8g per 100g turning to sugar.

Milk is fine, don't want to mislead you, but obviously when combined with cereal it does raise the sugar levels. So better to have it with a cereal with less sugar, like cornflakes or porridge. Milk is great for you in other ways. You may well be fine with cereal in the morning, but I really struggled.

Don't worry about the questions, I had loads when I was diagnosed and I tried all sorts of things!

Evening all! So much talking again, apologies for not mentioning every bit of conversation - I'm shattered this evening and going to bed very shortly.

Looby - good luck dealing with the various things happening at the moment, that's a lot. Glad your DH is supportive.

Re food and children's eating. This is going to sound daft (and maybe insensitive to those who's children don't eat much), but how do you know how much a child should eat? DD is 2 next week, and we've always taken a kind of BLW approach to food. However, there are some days (not all, but most!) where it seems like she doesn't stop eating,or asking for food. What do you do? We try to make sure that what she eats is balanced, but the quantities seem vast sometimes for someone so small! I am I worrying about nothing?

thanks llare looks like its bacon and egg for breakfast

I'm off to bed as I'm shattered. think LO has other ideas tho, having a rave in my belly.

Night all...

DS used to eat a lot and now he doesn't eat enough to keep a bird alive! I swear he ate 3 grains of rice and a chunk of chicken yesterday evening, and only ate a slither of green pepper because we persuaded him that it was the piece that he had chopped. On the other hand, he drinks gallons of milk and breastfeeds a lot. Not sure what to do really but keep the snacks flowing. He's a grazer, really.

I forgot to say about the Sanctuary - some friends bought me a day voucher as my 'giving birth' present after I had DD, and we all went together (5 of us). We did have a lovely day, and the treatments and facilities were great (although I wasn't pregnant at the time so not limited) BUT it was very busy. We had to go on a Saturday and it was seemed quite crowded, I think I would have liked it more if it had been a little bit quieter.

Loving the idea of a pedicure - might try to convince DH that it's necessary as I can't reach my feet easily and it's very nearly Birkenstock season.

flippineck

Both of mine follow similar patterns of eating all the time - constant grazing - for a few days and then maybe eating very little.

DD1 is about to turn 11 and just developing hips etc. She has been an out and out beanpole up until now, if she didn't eat through illness she looked like a skeleton very quickly.

DD2 is 4 and a little taller and sturdier but still by no means fat.

You just know by looking whether they're overweight, they can seem to eat an astonishing amount, just remember how much growing they are doing.

And obviously, make sure they're eating the right things (not chicken dippers, chips and beans )

flippineck - my DD used to eat an amazing amount when she was 2 (and younger). She used to be a 2 or 3 weetabix for breakfast girl, and could eat what you might consider adult portions. Make the most of it for now, and don't worry (if its balanced and generally healthy) as I'm sure your DD burns it off (if shes anything like my DC). If mine are hungry I always give them more til i think they've had plenty...

Dandy - mind you, I did enquire a few weeks ago - they may have re-opened by now. Saying that, I was wooshing about their website, and thats when I called them - and thats when I found out about the closure. I've been a couple of times before, and really like it (agree flip that it gets v busy) - however, the woman on the phone was very snooty with me. Pah.

I'm off to bed - busy few days ahead, so may not check in for a while - someone let me know where the new thread ends up - we'll need one soon!
SnM x

Thanks for the reassurance pula and grumpy, it's good to know she's not the only one. She'll eat 2 weetabix at home and then demand toast when she gets to the childminder's house! At the moment she's a lot like her dad, tall and slim (lucky girl!) so I guess I shouldn't worry. I just don't want to end up with problems later either with a plump child or food issues , iyswim - my family have strange attitudes to food (banned stuff, secret comfort eating etc) so very keen to avoid that.

flippineck For young children they say you should look at their weekly intake rather than daily, because they do tend to have days were they barely eat and days where they don't seem to stop. My dd definitely used to do that. I just let them eat until they're done. If it seems like they didn't have all that much and they ask for something after dinner, then I let them have some fruit. Like grumpy said, they're growing so in proportion they might eat more than us. I know my ds eats loads more than me, but all healthy stuff, more or less.

grumpy my ds is the same as your dd. He likes school rice, but not my rice I've heard that it's quite common for children to like different foods at home and at school.

Anyway. We've enjoyed our film and now it's bedtime.

For all those wanting a spa thing in London - I had a "mother to be ritual" at the Elemis day spa in Mayfair a couple of weeks ago and can recommend it - complete and total relaxation. It involved a full body massage (they have you on a cleverly arranged mound of cushions and go down one side then the other) and a facial which was just complete bliss - felt totally glowing afterwards (only problems is as soon as you emerge onto the busy London streets and wrestle with the tube the relaxation goes straight out the window!!).

Looby sorry about GD and your mum - my mum had the most critical and un-maternal type of mother, but because of that she was literally the most amazing mother to me I ever could have wished for - full of love and affection. So having an awful mother can sometimes be a blessing in disguise - you have a template of exactly what NOT to do - I'm sure you'll be a great mum! And good luck with the GD.

My granny's 101 and was pregnant with my dad in London during the war, and whenever I ask her about her memories of being pregnant/ any problems she had her answer is "I was too busy dodging bombs to even think about being pregnant", so when you think of things like that we're so lucky to live at a time when we're fully checked up on and cared for so well!

Looby Sorry about the GD - welcome to the club! I am ABYSMAL at keeping track of my diet, plus I bake all the damn time so there's always sweet stuff around but I've had three normal vaginal deliveries with (admittedly fairly big) healthy babies. I'm measuring spot on this time and my sugar levels have been more or less spot on. The reason? The best fiver I've ever spent on the GI diet guide. It's absolutely fantastic, even if you're not losing weight because it actually lists exactly what's good for you. GI means glycaemic index, it's basically a table of foods that will slowly raise your blood sugar level and sustain it versus foods that will rocket your blood sugar and make you unstable. Remember everything in moderation!

Grumpy Hello!

flippineck I'm very much of the opinion that kids eat what they need. If your LO is asking for more food then it could just be growth spurt time? Or maybe (s)he (?) is running off a lot of extra energy just now with the weather being so nice? Just remember that extra calcium is always put to good use during growth spurts so yoghurts/cheese/milk are excellent for snacks and will give bone growth an extra boost.

I can't remember who it was who was saying about introducing new foods? The best thing I've found with our lot is for us all to eat the same meal together - that way the kids see Mummy and Daddy eating what they have and there's no fear factor. I would also mention that although my DSs will pretty much eat anything, DD is a picky little bugger and I've had to get crafty with her veg otherwise she'd eat nothing. My favourite cheeky trick is to steam up loads of green veg (brocolli, peas, spinach etc) and puree it, freeze it in batches and use it to make pasta sauce. She'll eat it fine when it's mixed with other stuff (and it makes a yummy lasagne sauce!) and I know she's getting her greens

I've had a mental busy week this week and I'm KNACKERED and sore. I did get a fantastic phone call from my boss last night to tell me that the legislation has changed with regards to sick leave and maternity leave so my work can't force me to go on maternity leave until I get to 36 weeks! I'm only entitled to maternity allowance this time round, so the extra few weeks on sick pay is extremely helpful.

Hope everyone is OK. Quick question - how long after sending off for Health in Pregnancy grant did you receive it? Still not seen a penny of mine and I sent it off about 4 weeks ago, I think. x

hi all.
MsG, i sent my HIP grant off 6-7 weeks ago and haven't heard anything. Perhaps they're waiting till after 1 April?

Oh my GOD I think I just pulled a muscle or broke my back or something. Why did I think it was a good idea to try and cut my own toenails?!