gestational diabetes

fisch

My wife was diagnosed with gestational diabetes two days ago. She is "borderline"; they recently changed the criteria and she now falls within the diagnosis curve.

She is struggling with the diet part of things - she hasn't started pricking her finger yet, her dietician appointment is next Thursday.

So until then - does anyone have any food/snack suggestions? Do you completely cut sugar, or can you still have things like milk? or thing with less than x grams?

It's kind of a whole household change, since my wife doesn't really enjoy watching others eat things she can't....I think we are going to have a hard time! We don't eat tons of sugar, and are actually very, very healthy eaters - however, until now I never realized how much sugar was in little things - like crackers, milk, etc.

Goobie

Tim is diabetic, and so is my dad. Not sure if the gestationa diabetes diet is different then what they follow, but it's basically pretty easy. Avoid things that are processed sugars (obviously) as well as simple carbs... white bread, white rice, white pasta will all raise your sugar levels then make them plummet. Whole grain options keep the blood sugar steady for longer. Fruits and veggies are pretty much unlimited, but avoid any of the "delicious" apples or Macs, they are WAY high in natural sugars. Grapes and watermelon are also nothing but water and sugar, and not a good choice. Milk should be avoided... cheese and yogurt are better options, but milk is so high in lactose! My midwife actually recomends ALL pregnant women take a cal-mag suppliment and cut out drinking milk in the last half of pregnany to help keep blood sugar levels more level and avoid a chunky baby at birth.

Google "diabetic recipes" and you'll see tons of options! Oh, and remember, fiber is your friend.. you can "ignore" 1g of sugars for every 1g of fibre in something (not that havig a bran muffin with a chocolate bar is the fix...)

mommylove

Milk is still something you want to eat, baby needs it and while it has sugar it actually also helps blood sugar levels remain lower if you have some at every meal.
Mostly with gestational diabetes carbs and starches are the bad food. So limit bread, potatoes, etc. for sure. Your dietician will give you a more specific meal outline at your appointment. You of course want to limit sugar in take, so check labels on everything as you'd be surprised how much sugar is in things you eat daily (ex. Cereal, jam, yogurt, fruit). You can do tons of research online about gestational diabetes and find meal plans. Do look for low sugar/reduced sugar options but BE AWARE of sugar substitutes like Splenda, etc. as they are chemically based and bad for you and baby.

Best of luck! My sister went through this so I know it's a tough road but so worth it to follow the meal plans as you of course want baby to be healthy as possible and not pass the diabetes on to them. You also risk having an abnormally large baby making vaginal delivery harder. And if baby cannot control his/her own insulin levels when born a NICU stay can even be possible. :-(

starfish2318

Its not as bad as it seems at first. Your dietician should explain that you basically count your "carb servings". A carb serving is about 15 carbs. For example, I do 2 carb servings for breakfast, 2 for lunch, 3 for dinner, and then I eat 2 snacks throughout the day that are 2 carb servings each. You can still basically eat anything as long as it falls within your carb range. You basically just become a carb counter. I would think if you eat healthy, you will have less issues than most. Milk is my friend, as is cheese. I don't really snack, but I now have to eat more often with the GD, so I will often have milk w/ fruit serving as a snack, or something like cheese and crackers. Ask your dietician for suggestions. Mine was really helpful. She went over lots of options based on what I told her I like to eat.

DP had it during her preg. too, and I did it with her. She is doing it with me this time. It's pretty easy to change the whole household dynamic for eating. It's easy to switch up some things for dinner too. Often I have to add a glass of milk for dinner just to get in my carbs.

Olivia was born at 8 pounds and healthy with no nicu time or anything after a GD pregnancy. It is more than possible to control it if you take it seriously. Right now Noah is in the 77% he is weighing in at 5 lbs. 15 oz. ish on an ultrasound. Doc says his guess would be about 8 - 8 1/2 pounds at delivery. Also, with GD she should get more ultrasounds to watch baby's growth, and my doc is delivering me at 39 weeks b/c I have GD.

charcoaleyes

I second what starfish said. I do a lot of label reading, and a lot of thinking about carbs. I have been able to control it with mostly diet, but i am starting to struggle more. Since i am not on meds, Dr. Does not have me doing extra tests ar delivering early. Yet.

Read labels. Chicken and fish are great. Salad is good, but look up veggies that are starchy to make sure you are not eating carbs. Cheese is good. It is daunting at first. But, once you start figuring things out it is not so bad. The hardest thing is going out to eat, because you can't read labels.

Ronna71

This is an interesting topic right now, as my 1 hour glucose test came back abnormal and I have to do the 3 hour test on Monday. GD is likely, unfortunately. Interestingly, I have only gained 3 total pounds this pregnancy, so I am praying that I don't have too big a baby - I am afraid of delivering a large baby - ouch! Anyway, I guess I'll know more next week, but I need to be aware of my diet right now. Good luck to you, I know that I am going to need it, too!

starfish2318

When I got diagnosed with GD, I had only gained 6 or so lbs. As soon as I got diagnosed, I didn't gain anything for about 6 weeks! Now some visits I gain, some I don't. And baby is up to almost 6 pounds so what I am gaining is alllll him. 77% right now at 34 weeks. He is measuring 5 days ahead, that's it. Hopefully you pass your 3 hour.

Chicken is definitely my friend! And eating out is about worthless -- I would rather eat at home now because I know exactly what I can have, shopping was daunting at first too, but now I have the hang of it. 4 more weeks of finger pricking!

RW17

I supposedly have it-- and the extra challenge of vegetarianism! Other tips--whole grain actually helps your blood sugars regulate, so don't just count carbs, you should also be having whole wheat (not just "wheat") bread, brown rice, etc. Protein right before bed will help with your morning fasting levels. It isn't just amount of carb bujt also the protein balance, so make sure to get protein with each meal. Finally--exercise! It actually causes your cells to absorb more =glucose so your blood sugar levels go down. I have had high readings, but have never had a high reading if I took a good walk (30-40 minutes) after a meal, even if the meal had some white pasta or maple syrup!

Breakfast-- usually a piece of twhole wheat toast with sugarless peanut butter or eggs or soy sausages. Sometimes half a banana. (Other fruits I've tried with breakfast have made the morning levels too high).

Snacks-- cheese with whole wheat crackers; veggies with hummus; almonds

Lunch-- often a big salad that contains protein or leftovers from dinner.

Dinner-- aim for proteins and whole grains. Like veggie-tofu curry over a little brown rice. Or egg and vegetable and cheese quiche. Or I made a "lasagna" using eggplant instead of pasta and with plenty of vegetables and cheese in it.

Before bed-- something high in protein. Cottage cheese seems to work really well. (I add in a little flavored yogurt). Even if have something low-carb like a tiny bit of ice-cream or fruit, I'll still sometimes have a fasting level above 90. so I think with the before-bed snack the amount of protein can matter more than the amount of carb.

Restaurant eating is really tough. There is a place in town we can get a veggie hummus wrap with a whole wheat wrap. I am also thinking maybe something like green beans and tofu at a Thai restaurant.

Ronna71

I am now formally diagnosed with GD. :-( I started testing my blood sugar 4 times a day, and the RN suspects that I might need to start insulin based on my baseline numbers. I see the dietician next week, so we'll see how things go. It hasn't been easy for me these last few days, but I guess I only have 9 weeks to go.

fisch

My wife started testing her blood sugar yesterday. So far her numbers seem very low. For example, when they should be between 120-135, her number was 91. Does this mean she's not eating enough?

We met with a dietician and she helped a ton. I was very glad I went with her. I'm thinking though that her numbers are so low that they may take her off of the restricted diet altogether!?

Thanks to everyone who gave good snack ideas. It's crazy how depressing eating the same things all the time can be!

charcoaleyes

It might mean she is not eating enough. I am struggling with that. I lost 2 1/2 pounds in two weeks, and my blood sugars were low during that time. My doctor has told me to eat more calories, and eat more meat (don't like meat). But, if I don't watch my carbs they can spike pretty badly. So, even though my blood sugar is low, I have to stay on a restricted diet.

I am really struggling with this right now. I am eating more than i want too, and eating meat i don't want to. I know i have to do it to keep baby and I healthy, but there is a lot of forcing myself to eat.

starfish2318

When I first started tracking my numbers, they were really low, like in the 50's a lot. It took me a little bit to get used to how you have to eat. You have to eat often and you have to eat protein for sure. I don't have an issue with eating protein and watching the carbs, but I also find it hard to eat as much as I need to. Its so hard to force yourself to eat when you don't want to eat. A lot of the time though milk works for my sugars along with a meal. I have to really watch the carbs because wow, especially in the morning my sugar will spike if I have breakfast type food, even if its within carb range. Most of my appointments since starting the GD diet, I have not gained. I have never lost, but usually don't gain. I am gaining every few appoints. now, but I get u/s and baby is still growing and is about 6 pounds. So he's gaining, but I'm not. 2 hours after eating, I was told I am to be under 120. I am usually in the 90's by then.

It can be difficult....but one of the possible causes of our 1st daughter's death could have been uncontrolled GD (even though DP was tested for it....I won't even go there). So its definitely something that if they have told her to watch, I would just in case. Monitoring it can't hurt, it can only help. They told DP w/ 1st pregnancy she was "borderline" and they didn't take action to control her sugars, told her it wasn't necessary. In the end we had a full term 39 week baby die....and I hate to think the GD was probably or could have been a contributing factor...everything else with Ella was fine so its hard to even consider because GD can be properly controlled.