lua - re gestational diabetes

[northstar]

Hi lua, sorry you have gestational diabetes, is this your first pregnancy? I had undiagnosed gd with my first pg, and ds was very big. He got stuck twice coming out and we had horrendous problems during the birth! Due to this I have been monitored quite closely during this pg, 3 lots of glucose tolerance tests (lovely black arms, like an addict)
I am also veggie, although eat fish when i feel the need for extra protein. It's really hard to stick to the gd diet, i have been through good days and bad days, and you get so hungry when pg anyway. How far along are you?

Hi Northstar,
Thanks for starting a thread. I am 30 weeks, and had no problem first time around.
This is my second preganancy and it has been weird because they have not seen any sugar in my waters. But since I was meassuring very big for gestational age, I got a scan. There they detected I have excess fluid and a slighly bigger baby. Sent me for GTT just to be sure, and bingo!
I haven't seen a dietician yet, but am having trouble finding out what exactly I am supposed to eat. Someone told me not to get too much dairy, but how do I get enough protein without it???
I do eat an odd fish here and there, but would rather not eat more than once a week!
Have you been eating normally then? Is your glucose measure OK ?

Hi, sorry to hear this Lua, but I am guessing it is a reassuring explanation of the reason for your polyhydramnios...

Er, no not eating normally, especially for a pg woman! I have to keep away from sugars and fats, but it is keeping my readings down. I have a tiny monitor that i have to prick my finger and measure my blood sugar levels on 4 times a day, trying to keep the readings between 5 and 7. Because i was diagnosed so early ( or pre-diagnosed should i say) the gd doesnt seem to be kicking in iykwim. The dietician gave me a diet sheet that was VERY strict, am allowed 2 small potatoes a day, 2 small slices of brown bread, one piece of low fat cheese the size of a matchbox etc etc.........
Lots of veggies and salad, and fish is good. Eggs are ok in moderation. Small fist size portion of rice or pasta, as all carbohydrates are slow-release sugars ....
I tend to stick to this for a few days then have a pig-out day, but find that up to now my levels have returned to normal quick enough. I am 33wks and it is around now that things can quickly get out of control. My diabetes nurse was telling me about a lady referred to her at 34wks, she said it was too late to help her and her baby was way too big already. It did make me want to stick to the diet hearing this, and people keep telling me how neat i am keeping this time after ds which also gives me courage to keep going.
What's your next move now, to see a specialist nurse? Do you have the monitor? I would sort out the diet sheet pdq if i was you

HI Marina! Yes, In one way it is reassuring that I have diabetes since the outcome of polyhydramnios in these case are mostly positive.

Northstar, yes I do have a blood monitor. The first day I had to prick all my fingers until I got one good reading! I am getting better at it now!
I have two scans recently and will keep having them every two weeks. Baby is a big on the large size but not too bad. How is yours?

I know what you mean about really watching out towards the end. I had a really easy birth with DD and am terrfied the diabetes will make this one difficult.
Have they talked to you about inducing early?

Wow, your diet seems really hard! and I was complaining about mine!

I've found I lost 1.5lb in less than a week since I start watching my diet. That didn't seem right. But I am eating more than you! My blood have stayed between 5 and 7. So guess I am all right.
What are you doing to get enough protein in this kind of diet?

Oh i eat quite alot of fish atm, and often eat full fat cheese. I am good at filling up on veggies, lots of carrots and cabbage and turnips atm in soups and just for dinner, along with some tuna steak or white fish. I'm not really the best person to stick to very strict rules, I figure most of the other pg women are eating alot of chocolate, cakes and crisps so the odd full fat mouthful of cheese or butter wont really finish me off. I will immedietely cut back if my levels go up. I have canderel in my tea now, and I really like it. And the occasional glass of wine just to keep me sane (along with sparkling water). At least the good news is that this should disappear when baby comes along

lua, because you are diagnosed, and watching your diet the gd really shouldnt make your second birth harder. You will be scanned regularly and the babys size monitored, so they wont let things get out of hand. Second births are meant to be much easier. My consultant has promised me faithfully that this time will not be anything like the last - and he has convinced me not to go for a section. So he better be right!!!!!!!

Hi Northstar! How are you doing?
I had an impossible time with my glucose while in vacation. It seems like anything I ate made the sugar shoot upwards. Have you found that your state of mind affects your sugar more than what you actually eat??? I am getting this feeling....

Also, how is your weight gain? I was gaining pretty much the recommended, but now I am loosing weight!!!
I am worried I am not eating enough!

Sorry to butt in but I had GD with my second pregnancy too and just wanted to say sorry you've found yourself in the same boat. I had a nightmare trying to work out what i could eat. The diabetic nurse said carbs were fine but I found they made my levels go through the roof (the night I had white rice I phoned the consultant because my levels were so high - mind you I also did that the night I tested after giving ds a piece of donught, turns out I had sugar all over my fingers - duh! !).

In the end I found some american GD sites and found them much more helpful - sorry I don't have links to hand but will check them out later for you. The only prob with those sites was they measure the levels differently but they do give you a really clear idea of what you can eat. Basically anything with high levels of fat or sugar were a no no for me - i think I ate lots of fish, veg and small portions of potatoes. I dropped fruit and fruit juice altogether because again levels went nuts.

On the plus side, after I had DD I found that I had actually LOST weight from my pre-preg size because I was eating so well!

Hi Zippy,
You are not butting at all! Thank you for your input.
You are right that I probably will be in better shape after this pregnancy than my first. The thing is, that I am vegetarian and not exactly full of reserves.... (size 12 before pregnant, gaining average weight), so I keep getting worried that I am not eating enough.
Did you ever got any indications about how much calories you should have been eating? Or did you keep track of protein intake, etc?
Sorry, to keep asking a million questions, but I wont see a nutritionist for anothe week and a half!!

Mmm. Good questions. I don't think I did keep track of any of that stuff.

TBH I found the dietician a bit useless (no offence to any dieticians out there - it was just this particular one). For the first couple of weeks I managed to keep within my limits but I was really, really hungry and when I told the consultant that, he put me on insulin - which I wasn't chuffed about but at least I could eat later at night etc. I would try eating as much as you can of veggie proteins (I imagine pulses etc shouldn't cause problems), loads of filling veg - and just go light on unrefined carbs and the olive oil bottle. If you've got any info on the GI diet (I think there are some threads about it) then there might be some good advice in there about what's low in saturated fat and sugar - I think that diet works on slow absorbtion rate principles which I THINK is the same as 'diabetic' diets. Sorry not to be able to give more solid advice - I'm out the early part of this evening but I will def try and track down the website I used to work out my diet.

If you are feeling hungry though, and worried about weight loss then I would def press to see someone for advice sooner - 10 days is a long time to wait.

Try this in the meantime - hope it works, not very good at links!

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Sorry Lua - I've hunted high and low for the site that I used to get diet info and it seems to have disappeared. If I come across it anytime soon, I'll post it.

In the meantime do some googling for some general guidelines and keep pricking your finger while eating as much as you can. Don't let yourself be hungry - fill up on piles of veg/soup if necessary. Re dairy stuff - I did eat quite a bit of cheese, but remember that milk made my levels high which was awful because when pg I was ADDICTED to hot milk at bedtime. But once I went on insulin I was allowed my bedtime milk again - almost made the injections worth it (but not quite )

I'm away for a couple of days but will continue the hunt for good sites when I get back - and do press for a more urgent appointment - for your mental health if nothing else . Happy eating.

Zippy - thanks very much for all your effort. I have been bugging the hospital, and they agree I shouldn't be loosing weight. will probably manage to see the dietician tomorrow!
Hopefully she will give me some clues.

Hi, I am feeling really sorry for myself today, had a gp appointment yesterday and she is really annoyed with me for not being stricter with my diet. She says that baba is TOO BIG and I'm only 34wks+1. HELP!
I am getting worried now, and trying to be good. I want my easter eggs and ice-cream. Have been referred back to the diabetes consultant at the hospital, now he will probably be annoyed with me too. And my obstetrician.............. I feel like a naughty child

Hi Northstar! Sorry to hear you are feeling low ! I do know how you feel!! Being good through easter was sooooo hard! In the end I broke down and ate one tiny little piece of chocolate , only to have blood at 7.6 later on... It's amazing what a bit of sugar can do isn't!!! I am actually more mad at the fact that 2 white bread toasts would do the same thing! I seem to be extremely sensitive to white flour, but I had an appt. at the hospital today and their cafeteria don't serve a single healthy thing !!!

So how big is bubba, did they gave you the percentiles? My Dr. told me if it is not above 90% percentile is OK....
Are they going to give you insulin? My dietician said she would if I like to eat more.

Lua - just wondering how you got on today. Are you any the wiser?

Northstar - don't beat yourself up - just chuck the easter eggs in the bin (gulp) and then you can face the consultant with a free conscience

Hi Zippy,
Last scan shows that aby is growing steadily but not ot of control (despite the fact that I lost 2 lbs.)Fluids were also close to normal. So I was pretty happy!
I think I've learned my main problem is white flour! Weird but is the one consistent thing that shots my glucose up. I decided to eat more and so far I don't see a problem unless there is white flour involved... So hopefully I will prove my not so helpful dietician wrong - she told me she think I will be in insullin sooner or later!

Hi Lua - Great news about the baby I''m glad you saw the dietician even if she wasn't that helpful. I think if you keep pricking you get a good idea of what sends your levels up - as you have obviously been doing re white flour!

Don't worry if you have to go onto insulin. I completely freaked when I had to go onto it - I'm a bit needle phobic and no matter how much everyone said 'ooh, it's just like a pen' it looked like a bloody great needle to me! The first time I had to inject I completely freaked - and actually put it off till the next morning cause I couldn't face it. But honestly, it's just a little jab and becomes really routine after the first couple of days. If I can do it, anyone can It's worth it just to scoff more grub!