Gestational Diabetes

Mommy2016

I was diagnosed with early gestational diabetes. I did not have diabetes prior to becoming pregnant and I was told it isn't common to happen this early, but does happen to some people. I am now on insulin 4x a day and monitoring food like crazy. It's making me miserable, mostly because I don't want to eat as much as they say I need to and I was gluten and dairy free prior to pregnancy and that pretty much has had to go out the window because I can't find foods with enough of the carbs and proteins I need in the right amounts without adding these things.

Anyone else deal with this? Were there any things you did that made it more manageable? They pretty much scared me to death about what will happen to my baby boy if I don't get this under control so I am following everything to a T, but I'm making myself nuts counting carbs, proteins, and sugars. I appreciate any tips or advice you can give me. Thanks!

perry261

I had insulin resistance/pre-diabetes before pregnancy. I wasn't diabetic though. As soon as I was pregnant the doctor diagnosed me with diabetes and I started watching what I would eat. It's hard but I have done ok. Have you noticed when you sugar is the highest? Mine was highest in the morning at the beginning no matter what I ate. I would eat the less carbs during that meal. Now it isn't as bad in the morning and I can even eat fruit. For fasting I learned I had to eat a snack like ice cream before bed. I usually eat four scoops and at 2 hrs my sugar is under 120 and my sugars will be good in the morning. Any other snack I tried besides multi grain cheerios (which I are not consistent anymore) make my fasting too high. I do not take insulin though. I am diet controlled.

Mommy2016

perry261 wrote:

I had insulin resistance/pre-diabetes before pregnancy. I wasn't diabetic though. As soon as I was pregnant the doctor diagnosed me with diabetes and I started watching what I would eat. It's hard but I have done ok. Have you noticed when you sugar is the highest? Mine was highest in the morning at the beginning no matter what I ate. I would eat the less carbs during that meal. Now it isn't as bad in the morning and I can even eat fruit. For fasting I learned I had to eat a snack like ice cream before bed. I usually eat four scoops and at 2 hrs my sugar is under 120 and my sugars will be good in the morning. Any other snack I tried besides multi grain cheerios (which I are not consistent anymore) make my fasting too high. I do not take insulin though. I am diet controlled.

My fasting is the highest, by far! My after lunch and dinner are always in range (less than 120) and my breakfast varies. I was surprised they went to insulin so fast because my numbers (other than the fasting) are not that bad. I think part of the reason is my age (Over 40) and I have other medical issues. Thanks for the ice cream tip. I will try that. Last night I ate 2 slices of toast with sunbutter and cottage cheese and when I woke up it was 178! I hate eating before bed too, so this is taking some getting used to for sure!

perry261

It took awhile to have fasting be a good number. It is still one that goes wacky sometimes if I eat something different. It's hard but we can't control it. I was on Metformin already and so he let me stick to that and see what happened. I ended up ok enough to not need insulin so far.

ahk00

Maybe consult a nutritionist that can help you achieve both gluten free & low glycemic.

Mommy2016

perry261 wrote:

It took awhile to have fasting be a good number. It is still one that goes wacky sometimes if I eat something different. It's hard but we can't control it. I was on Metformin already and so he let me stick to that and see what happened. I ended up ok enough to not need insulin so far.

The doctor said Metformin is usually her first choice, but I had pancreatitis in the past (which she also said could be the cause of this sudden onset diabetes) and so since metformin forces the pancreas to make more insulin it was not an option for me.

Mommy2016

ahk00 wrote:

Maybe consult a nutritionist that can help you achieve both gluten free & low glycemic.

I did see one. She insisted that because I am not celiac that I add gluten back into my diet. I feel mixed about it because I know going gluten free helped me get pregnant and I worry that adding it in could harm the pregnancy, but I also feel like I should be doing all they are telling me to give my baby the best chance at good health. I'm just praying a lot right now that I am making the right decisions.

ahk00

I understand. Many prayers

RedHeather

The fasting number is the hardest to control via diet, so if those have been high, that's probably why they jumped to insulin so quickly.

Regarding diet, it just takes a lot of (very frustrating) trial and error. Once you figure out which foods work for you, you won't have to worry so much about carb-counting.

Mommy2016

ahk00 wrote:

I understand. Many prayers

Thank you!

Mommy2016

RedHeather wrote:

The fasting number is the hardest to control via diet, so if those have been high, that's probably why they jumped to insulin so quickly.

Regarding diet, it just takes a lot of (very frustrating) trial and error. Once you figure out which foods work for you, you won't have to worry so much about carb-counting.

Thanks! I have noticed certain foods work better than others. Hopefully I get this managed soon.

katoo

I'm late to this conversation, but am pre-diabetic and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes early in both pregnancies. The first one I started insulin at 14 weeks and the second one I started insulin at 5 weeks. I followed the diet to a T with the first--and I had also been gluten-free and mostly dairy free, however I confess to loving both gluten and dairy so I wasn't *that* upset to welcome milk and tasty bread back into my diet. My OB gave me a hard time about the weight I gained during that pregnancy, but I didn't really gain anything until I started the diet, and I worked out all throughout the pregnancy. The old school GD diet was just way too many carbs for my body to handle (or so I thought--gained the same amount of weight with number 2, but put most of it on at the end.) For number two I switched to a new OB and a new endocrinologist, and I was frank with them and told them that I intended to follow my normal pre-diabetes diet--3 meals of 30 carbs, and 2 snacks of 15 carbs. They were cool with it, when I told them I wouldn't do anything else. I did end up needing a bedtime snack though. Anyhow, I guess I could have made this much shorter by just telling you to tell your doctors that you simply can't eat that much. They can dial back your short acting insulin accordingly.

Also, as a pp mentioned, once you figure out how specific foods affect you, it gets much easier to manage. You get to a point where you can guestimate your carbs fairly accurately.

Mommy2016

Thanks! I'm doing okay with it. My fasting numbers are still bad, but all other readings are good. Hoping I can get the fasting under control soon.