Gestational diabetes breakfast tips

[Gestationaldiabetesannoyance]

My first morning and after breakfast sugar results are always too high. I don’t understand the breakfast reading as I get a high reading after eating exactly what I had a few days ago that gave me a low reading.

i have cheese and a cracker before bed to try to help fasting one but still high each morning. Am on metformin from today but wondered if anyone has any tips in the meantime.

also related the baby is measuring very big. Will they induce me earlier than 39 weeks?

Is it high before breakfast or after breakfast?

Before breakfast- don’t eat before bed, metformin will help

after breakfast, you want something low carb. Also your insulin resistant may continue to increase for a few weeks which is why you could get away with eating something last week that you can’t this week. Sometimes even with the perfect diet, your blood sugars will be high, and that’s when you need medication. It’s not necessarily anything you’re doing wrong

So your reading before bed is okay? I seem to recall I used to have a very small snack a couple of hours after dinner but my readings were fine at bed time. I think that if your readings are still high when you wake up, that's probably a sign that the problem simply can't be controlled with food so clearly you do need the meds.

Having said that, what are you having for breakfast? The nurse told me that one of the problems with GD is that with regular diabetes they give you months to get on top of it but with GD you don't have that time. But you still need to figure out what are your personal triggers. For example, tomatoes always gave me a spike - I had to avoid them completely for the rest of my pregnancy.

I used to have sugar free jelly and squirty cream at night. A nice treat but practically sugar and carb free.

The cracker is a bad idea before bed, you want to give your body as much time as possible over night not having to process glucose so you don't want to be putting carbs in right before you go to sleep.

If you need a snack before bed make it protein/fat only. Something like a boiled egg, chunk of cheese, couple of slices of chicken.

What are you eating for breakfast?

My worst ever reading when I had GD, even worse than the time I had chip shop chips, was a muller light. Realised afterwards that they have more than a tablespoon of sugar in one pot of yoghurt.

Good breakfasts are things like

• egg - scrambled, fried, poached, omelette, boiled
• full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts or berries
• bacon, mushrooms and beans

All the above will fill you up without raising your sugar levels.

Ultimately if your fasting level (reading first thing in the morning before any food or drink) is above the acceptable level you'll need medication, sometimes metformin is enough but you might need insulin. I did and it was not a bad thing. It was painless, easy and it solved the problem. It is not a failing to need medication, you have done nothing wrong your placenta is just being a pain in the rear and buggering up how well your pancreas works. You can't control that you can just treat it.

My worst reading was when I made jam on toast for my kids and forgot to wash my hands before taking the reading.
The thing nearly exploded 😂

My GD dietician said the evening snack didn’t have any evidence to support it bring down morning sugar levels so only to have it if I was hungry.

For breakfast could you do eggs? Scrambled with a piece of toast? Or porridge made with milk and some nuts. Crumpets and peanut butter?

For big babies I always think Evidence based birth has great info for big babies. My first baby was 10 pounds 2 and he was the most straight forward of the deliveries. I moved lots stayed at home until really into labour (although we did a few trips when i was in early labour).

Oh and they might induce you. They don't like going over 40 weeks with GD as placental failure is a higher possibility, also size can be a factor. DD measured big so I was induced at 37.5 weeks, she was born weighing 8lb 11oz so would have likely been a right chunk if I'd gone to term.

Induction was fine if a bit boring. They put in a pessary then I waited around for 24 hours in a boiling hot hospital with not much to do. They were all a bit busy the next morning so took a while before I could get all the checks and a decision in next steps but eventually at around 1pm the decision was made to break my water manually. After that I went for a bit of a walk and contractions started. Officiallyin Labour by 2pm and DD was born at just after 6pm. Had some gas n air during the last hour or so of contractions then Miss Thing decided she was in a rush and one big push had her out, much to the surprise of the midwife who was convinced I wasn't anywhere near ready to push and baby must have just changed position a bit. They like to take 3 sugar readings of baby so we stayed overnight but I was in a taxi on my way home at about 8am the next morning.

I found the Gestational Diabetes UK website and Facebook page really helpful for food and meal ideas when I had GDM. I'm a midwife and I learnt SO much more from GD Uk than I have during my years in practice.

Also, have a read of In Your Own Time by Sara Wickham or follow her social media. In her own words 'We know that 94% of large babies won’t have a problem, and we as yet have no evidence that induction is beneficial or that it will reduce the chance of your baby having shoulder dystocia. Despite this, if your baby is deemed by ultrasound to be big, you’re likely to be offered an induction'.

My after lunch and after dinner readings are low. My first reading (the fasting one) and after breakfast are pretty consistently too high. Hoping metformin helps but did nothing today

Thanks all for the tips. I’ll give yoghurt a go for breakfast I think. I’ve been having 1 slice wholemeal toast and peanut butter but reading is 8ish. I’ll stop the evening cracker with cheese to see if this helps (consultant said actually having this is a good idea). They have mentioned insulin got a midwife appointment next week so imagine that’s the way things will go as they’re a bit worried by how large he is.

i almost hope I am induced before 39 weeks being honest, feel like I’m growing a really huge baby and have no control over it! Also not comfortable!

I had a double breakfast as I found I couldn't tolerate much in the morning, except some full fat greek yogurt, nuts and some blueberries. That I could tolerate.

Breakfast two was scrambled eggs in butter with added cheese and a single piece of toast.

Once I found out what worked, I didn't vary, and had the same 5 meals per day, high fat, high protein, low carb, every day for 6 weeks. (And had the same experience as many and didn't gain any weight at all in the last 12 weeks of pregnancy despite eating massive amounts of calories and having gained 10kg in the first 5 months!)

I really recommend the GD Facebook group, the advice in there is invaluable. The NHS advice is not good eg I think it recommends having cereal for breakfast, what an absolute joke. Like you I found it the hardest one to get right.

Admittedly I haven’t read Sara wickhams book but there are risks involved if GDM is uncontrolled and baby is growing large, does she cover diabetes specifically when it comes to induction?
100% agree with the sentiment around inductions for big babies, but it’s different if diabetes is involved

They induced me at 39 weeks and DD was measuring perfectly, so I think if your baby is already too big then yes, I can't see why they wouldn't induce you at 37 odd weeks.

I had an elcs at 38 weeks (and lucky I did, because baby was 9lbs!). I found breakfast hard too, and never had time for eggs. I think lots of people struggle to tolerate bread in the morning.

I would really recommend the GD UK facebook group for support and recipe ideas.

Especially if you’re struggling to control your blood sugar levels.
I managed to keep my blood sugar levels in line without medication and baby’s growth evened out. Despite this, they kept a very close eye on me and booked me in for an induction at 40+5 but I went into spontaneous labour at 40+4.

Might push to be induced before 39 weeks, although not sure how that works…? I know the measurements are not always accurate but he was estimated over 5lb at 32 weeks (just over a week ago now)

definitely now thinking for breakfast I’ve been ambitious having a slice of wholemeal toast ! Hoping yoghurt sorts that one out but the fasting one is still high so I guess insulin will be needed.

For breakfast, I would have Greek yogurt and a few berries with this sugar free syrup. Then a pint of water and my vitamins.

I used to buy frittata ready made from the supermarket and have a small amount of that with some cheese. It was quick and easy and kept my numbers low.

It is standard to induce at 38 weeks where I live if you have gestational diabetes (West mids). I had to take metformin too as diet changes did not help. I found my blood levels were perfect within days of starting metformin. I didn't have to worry so much about what I was eating after that and I didn't need insulin.

Be aware that you will be monitored during labour and if your sugar levels drop or shoot up, you will be hooked up to a glucose drip on a sliding scale. I had this as my bloods dropped to 3.7 while I was being induced. My baby was small, 5lbs 6oz but perfect. No issues since (except I'm now pre diabetic as gestational diabetes means you have a greater risk of developing diabetes later in life).

The facebook group was invaluable to me also. Snack at night should be protein/fat only.
I did carb free for breakfasts and the consultant was impressed with my numbers. Its the hardest one to keep down isn't it!

Eggs, veg, bacon/sausages.

Greek yoghurt with berries and chia seeds

I really like cottage cheese piled on a piece of sourdough with paprika, garlic salt and some cucumber.

The sourdough might give you a spike but shouldn't be as bad as wholemeal bread and will be balanced out by the protein in cottage cheese.

Also, grilled mushrooms and scrambled eggs was a good one

It’s a few years since I was in your shoes but one thing I recall was the phenomenal difference a little bit of exercise made to my morning readings. If you have some light hand weights try a few bicep curls etc, nothing too strenuous just after you eat and see if that helps.

I had greek yogurt with of nuts and a tbsp of oats. I couldn’t have anything in the evening, even something high protein would mess with my fasting levels. I’ve never been one to crave lots on the evening though - so think it’s just how my body is. It needs that long ‘fast’.