Diabetes, pregnant and terrified

[DarthTater3]

Hi, I’ve recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and on metformin & haven’t really got my head around it all yet. But I’m now very early stages of pregnancy as well and my blood sugar just seems to keep creeping up. I do have medical support but I’d really like to hear from others who have had diabetes and been pregnant. I’m terrified of ending up on insulin, terrified of pregnancy complications, don’t know what to eat (waiting on an appt with dietitian). Any and all advice welcome…but please don’t freak me out any more than I already am!

hi! I’ve had three gd pregnancies and it’s not too bad!
this website is useful https://www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/
I ended up on insulin each time- but lots of people don’t! if you do end up on insulin it’s very mangeable. I found keeping everything low carb easiest.

Most things raises blood glucose, protein & fats, carbs etc.
keep low carb as possible, swap out white bread for wholemeal, white pasta for brown pasta, etc. try and limit yourself on the sugar and treats.
Drink plenty of water to flush out the high glucose levels.

Eat fresh vegetables in abundance. Think salads, big ones, soups, consider pulses instead of animal fats, so be mindful of how much cheese, bacon, meat you eat.
Careful not to go high fat when lowering your processed carbs. Eat nuts and seeds, but focus on increasing your fibre more.

I found out I had GD at 26 weeks and did end up on insulin, it wasn't a big deal and the insulin worked to keep my sugar levels in check.

Diet - Look up low GI recipes and recipes on diabetes.co.uk , there are also some really good Facebook groups.

Basic rules are:

• be careful with carbs, especially simple carbs like pasta and white bread. The more complex the better, so dark nutty breads like rye, whole grain.
• pair carbs with protein - egg on toast, apple slices with peanut butter
• lean protein and good fats are your friends, they will not raise your blood sugar and will keep you full - dippy egg with asparagus spears, full fat Greek yoghurt with blue berries, Longley farms full fat cottage cheese (if you've not had it before it's the best cottage cheese ever!!) on ryvita, bolognaise with green beans or asparagus or brocolli instead of pasta.
• 20 minute walk after a meal does wonders for your sugar levels.
• try to have a solid 8 hours at least where you do not eat anything, so no snack late evening. This gives your body a break from the glucose spikes to recover.

I ended up weighing 1 and a half stone less at the end of my pregnancy than at the beginning and felt great.

DD was induced at 37.5 weeks because she was a big baby, think she would have been even without the GD because DH and I are both decent sized, but she was perfect, no sugar problems, healthy as a horse 8lb11oz and we were both home about 14 hrs after she was born.

Thanks so much everyone. Off to buy some Longley Farm cottage cheese, ha ha! I eat pretty healthily already (although will take all of your advice on board too!) and have found some lovely rye bread in the coop and whole grain seeded crackers which are yum. It’s just a lot to adjust to I think and now I feel responsible for another life as well. I was fine until pregnancy. Would it be the hormone changes suddenly making my blood sugar go crazy?

Yes hormones play a massive part in diabetes. My son is type one and it goes crazy when he's growing, or gets upset, or even excited!
Beware of the weather too, hot weather can have two effects either make you low or make you high it all depends on the person.

Can I recommend diabetes UK - they have done lots of stuff on pregnancy over the years

Also insulin isn't that bad! Insulin is natural occurring in your body so can't harm baby abs can help you have much better control if it comes to it

@FatAgainItsLettuceTime you weren’t wrong about the Longley Farm cottage cheese! I’ve never liked cottage cheese before but that is lovely 😋

Late to this thread, but being on insulin is much better than having high blood sugars. And as @kelsaycobbles says, it's naturally occurring in the vast majority of the population – if it helps think of it as replacement therapy, your body isn't able to produce something it needs to function correctly so you have to add it yourself.

Thanks so much to all who have replied, every message has really helped. I’m feeling a lot calmer about it all now. No insulin yet. My diabetes nurse seems to think it’s inevitable that I’ll need it eventually so I’m feeling a bit more prepared for when I do :-)

I was GD in my third pregnancy (and second, undiagnosed). I didn't eat carbs, tested my blood and the baby was born at the lightest weight of all my babies and I was lighter when I had her than when I got pregnant. My point is, it's very controllable.

I also often wonder if this is why DD3 is so slim having read about genes that can be turned on by the pregnant mother's diet. So if there's anything in those theories, it could be good for baby to be exposed to healthy foods that don't spike blood sugar. Of course this could be a coincidence.

Glad you enjoyed the cottage cheese, besides Diet Coke it's the only branded item that I consider to have no suitable alternative.

Hope you're eating well and seeing that GD isn't a disaster, that it's manageable and that you can still eat plenty.

If you're feeling deprived of treats at all you could make up a bowl of full fat Greek yoghurt with raspberries, blueberries and strawberries mixed through it. You can freeze it, making sure to whip it up every hour or so while it's freezing to keep it light and fluffy and you have a delicious bowl of 'ice cream' that's GD friendly.

Alternatively croissants are on the lower side of the GI list as is nutella because of all the butter in the croissant and the nuts in the nutella so every now and then you can warm through a croissant and add chocolate goodness to satisfy a craving.