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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Gestational diabetes HELP

4 replies

Em23012 · 23/11/2023 16:09

I failed my glucose test :( and I'm very upset about it

I have an appointment next week to sort out me doing my blood sugars every 4hours but I've already started changing my diet, I've reduced my carbs and also pairing carbs with fat or protein but I'm struggling to eat enough

So far I'm only able to have around 1,200 a day and I feel so hungry and weak but I'm also lost on what I can and can't eat and I just feel guilty for eating :(

Anyone else have any tips?

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LolaJ87 · 23/11/2023 16:27

Ok first take a deep breath. You're getting yourself all tangled up and it's understandable, it can be very upsetting, but this is very manageable.

You need to be eating 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner, bedtime snack. This will help keep your blood sugars stable and get enough food into you.

Breakfast is always the trickiest. Eggs are best, but I struggled to stomach them while pregnant. One slice of buttery toast and a pot of kvarg was one I found to work well. Make sure to include 1 portion of carbs (a slice of toast, 20g jumbo porridge oats, an apple) at breakfast.

Nuts are an amazing source of calories and pair higher carb foods well. So for snacks you could have some apple and peanut butter, or even a small piece of chocolate with some almonds.

Lunch is 3-4 carb portions. So a sandwich and a yoghurt maybe? I was obsessed with ham and cheese toasties. The cheese really helps to pair carbs. Mozzarella salads with rocket, tomato, balsamic and a few wholegrain crackers was another one I couldn't get enough of, eating a whole ball of mozzarella.

I always had something nice for my afternoon snack. I like to bake, so enjoyed using some of the recipes from gestationaldiabetes.co.uk. The brownies freeze really well! I loved the little almond cookies. It's a great website in general for getting your head on straight.

Dinners are easy when you get the hang of it! Yes you have to have less carbs but when else in your life are you going to be encouraged to have high fat meals? Massive bowls of creamy curry or chilli con carne with sour cream and avocado. You can still have rice, just a bit less (100g cooked I think was my guidline).

Bedtime snack will depend what suits you.

Basically, once you figure it out you'll be right as rain. I was eating about 2,500 calories a day, was never hungry and my skin was amazing. I'm out the other side, no diabetes. You'll smash this.

WeeSleekitCowrinTimrousBeastie · 23/11/2023 16:32

You haven't failed anything.

Please don't change your diet until you've met the dietician.

1,200 calories is not enough for a pregnant woman to eat.

You will get advice and help at your appointment.

Mushroo · 23/11/2023 16:39

Join the gestational diabetes Facebook group and check out the website. It’s so so helpful!

As a general rule you still need to eat carbs, but make sure they are paired with fat and protein. I personally can’t really handle bread, but rice and noodles tend to be ok. You can experiment a bit once you get your kit.

You definitely shouldn’t be feeling hungry or limiting calories. For example, yesterday I had:

  • homemade almond flour raspberry nut muffin (the recipe was a gestational diabetes one) with full fat Greek yoghurt and seeds.
  • Sausage, feta and squash oven bake
  • Afternoon snack of nuts
  • dinner was Salmon thai coconut curry and rice.
  • Post dinner snack - one small square of dark chocolate with nuts
  • Pre bedtime snack (I’ve found a late snack really helps with fasting levels) babybel.

Other good meals for me have been ramen, steak and veg, chili bowls with loads of cheese and guac etc.

It’s really overwhelming at first and I had a good cry. But honestly it gets easier and you can eat quite a lot. Just make sure the carb isn’t the focus of the meal - the focus should be the veg, fat and protein.

(Having said all that, I’m counting down the days when I can have a large focaccia sandwich with all the deli meats and cheese!!)

Em23012 · 24/11/2023 17:35

Thank you! I'm on the Facebook page now, now that I'm starting to come to terms with it I can see things a little clearer! I'll get my monitor on Monday so that will help, I'm definitely finding the 'never eat a naked carb' easy to remember :)

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