View Full Version : Gestational Diabetes - any more tips?
Hi,
I found out I had Gestational Diabetes last week and have been testing my BSL ever since. I went and saw the Diabetes Educator at the hospital on Tuesday to find out that the levels my ob gave me were slightly too high....but anyway, i've been eating really well and taking the advice from the educator - i don't get to see a dietician until next week...but my BSL's are really high first thing in the morning - I don't snack after dinner (we have dinner slightly late because i don't get home from work til after 7), and i'm snacking appropriately throughout the day as my educator suggested...any tips on keeping it down during the fasting period?
I had porridge for b/fast this morning (which i've had for the last week) and went for a 20 minute walk afterwards and my level is 7.6!!! it should be under 7.0! but other days, it's been around 6.0! it's just a bit crazy!
I'm really worried about my little boy (i know i shouldn't stress too much), but I just want to make this work out.
Anyway, if anyone has any tips, i'd greatly appreciate it :)
My BSL was 7.5 when I had the Glucose Tolernace test but I was told that was fairly normal... :confused: :confused:
Sorry, not much help!
Taylors_mum
06-07-2006, 10:54
A really good tip that no body gave me was to make sure you wash your hands REALLY well with warm water before testing. Any little bit of soap/make-up will make your readings higher. If they seem a little bit high the first time you test wash your hands REALLY well and test again... i bet you will see a difference.
I never had trouble with the fasting test.... maybe do a bit of exercise before bed... i know its hard cause all you want to do is sleep after work but every little bit helps.
Dont stress... it takes a bit to work out what your body can and cant take.
Feel free to PM me :D
Missytia
06-07-2006, 12:15
I was diagnosed with gestational Diabetes as well. It alsmost killed me coz it was over Easter and I couldn't have any chocolate:no:
My BSL were 'slightly' high too and initially I saw the dietition to control it by diet. I was doing everything correctly but my BSL wasn't coming down, infact, I think it actually went up a little bit. I was eventually put on insulin as I was told that I was focusing too much I was I should and shouldn't eat and that was keeping my BSL elevated.
After going on insulin my BSL came right down and so did my stress levels.
~Emmylou~
06-07-2006, 12:55
Totally agree with the handwashing tip - I have found this as well. It makes a huge difference.
My fasting bsl's are always good, mine creep up during the day so I have to be really careful by dinner time. So can't really suggest anything there.
How far along are you? It tends to get harder and harder to control the further along you get. I ended up on insulin with my dd as well, but by then I was willing to do anything just not to be worried about what I was eating 24/7. It's not so bad.
Hi, what are you eating at night-time? Does it have much carbohydrate in it? It is worth thinking about. I used to have meat and veges or salad, very little carbohydrates. Watch out for sauces and dressings. And then I used to sometimes have a low-fat yoghurt around 10.30pm after the 2 hour sugar test. I followed the diet very strictly but was just one of the unlucky ones and had to go onto insulin. It simportant not to starve yourself, just watch that what you eat is OK. Keep a food diary if you are not already so you can see if there are consistent patterns. I ended up eating almost the same thing for days in a row and getting different BSL's - so a one-off like your porride reading doesn't necessarily mean you have to change - try the same thing again tomorrow and see.
Otherwise, there is not a lot you can do about fasting levels being high. Try not to worry too much. Its not the end of the world if you need insulin, the main thing is that the sugars and your baby are OK.
There are quite a few people on Bub Hub who have had it so let us know how you are going with it all and we'll help whereever we can!!
Sue
Hi guys,
I'm 30 weeks tomorrow - yes, i think you're right - i'm REALLY stressing about what i can and can't eat. I think i've gotten over the fact that i can't have a chocolate or raid the lolly jar at work, but it's more the stress of figuring what i can and can't eat and then stressing when i KNOW i've eaten well, but the BSL levels come back high!
You know, I know this is really terrible, but I haven't told anyone about this - my husband of course and my bosses know because I'm off to more dr's appointments now. I'm kind of embarrassed by it? is that totally wrong?!?!? At first I thought it was all my fault, but then the diabetes educator told me that wasn't right. And now I'm just stressing that my little boy is ok, and I know it's not as bad as other pregnancy complaints, but I think it's still something to worry about?!? Am i just being too silly and an over-protective first time mum?
BTW, my levels were 10.8 for the glucose tolerance test!!!!!
Taylors_mum
06-07-2006, 13:56
Its perfectly normal to worry..... i was always worried about bubs..still do for that matter.
I was also embarrassed... i hated it if i was out for the day and had to do my BSL in public...i would always go to the toilets to do it .. but i still felt like i was doing something i shouldnt be doing... iykwim.
I remember one day i was eating lunch with my mum and my much younger sister and she had a friend with her and there was no toilets around for me to use so i just did it at the table... and my sister got really excited (she loved watching me do it) and said to her friend "Oh watch this" and i totally snapped... felt guilty afterwards but she made me feel like a weirdo... haha... probably all the pregnancy hormones didnt help. Anyway towards the end of my pregnancy i didnt care who was watching when i did it... i used to sit at my desk and ***** away.. haha
Dont let it worry you to much and there are heaps on people on here for support if you need it :hugs:
bronny-jane
06-07-2006, 14:48
i have to do the 2 hour test tomorrow, i hope i dont have gd, im quite bad at looking after myself:o
Good Luck Bronny-Jane - I hope you don't have it too!
Hi, I know what you mean about stressing out, it took me quite a while to adjust to the whole gestational diabetes thing. When I told people, I'm sure they looked at me twice as if to say, you don't look like you have it!!
In some ways, it is a concern - it means you are at risk of having a big baby and that you have a higher than average chance of having pre-eclampsia and pre-term labour. But on the other hand, all these things can be minimised by good blood sugar control. So it is a great motivator. I used to get worried, but I would think, at least this is one pregnancy complication that can be treated.
And in the greater scheme of things, it is no worry once the baby is out and past the first day or two. (Sometimes if your sugar is too high then their sugar can be low when they are born so they have to have sugar tests for 24 hours).
And it is definitely not your fault, it is just one of those things. As is the severity of it - some people have a mild case, others need insulin. But there are treatments and one way or another, your blood sugar will be controlled.
Good luck with your adjustment phase! And let us know how you are going.
Sue
Thanks for your support guys - you've been a great help. This is just frustrating the hell out of me - i can't wait to see the dietician on Wednesday. I feel i have just been SO good, eating what has been recommended to me so far. I just can't understand how the same breakfast can have so many different readings!
I feel so terrible now - I just went out for Friday lunch. I wasn't going to go, but decided i'd get out of the office and socialise. We went to Wagamama (japanese), and i had teriyaki chicken and boiled rice - that was the best i could think of getting. They tell me on this 'meal plan' sheet that rice is good - i guess it's not basmarti rice come to think of it. Anyway, i'm feeling so guilty and horrible now - my reading was 8.7! Oh hell! I just can't win! I guess it WAS the rice and probably the sauce come to think of it. Why didn't i just stay in the office and have my salad sandwich!
I'm not so worried if i have to go on insulin anymore - i just want to do anything that would help get the BSL's down! And if insulin is it, that's ok. ARGHHH! Sorry for the whinge guys, but i have to get it out!
mama anne
08-07-2006, 17:19
i know what you mean about not minding if you have to go on insulin .... i keep having high readings after eating the same foods as other times that i have had low readings with .... it's just so frustrating especially when you can't figure out why!
as far as the rice goes, my dietician told me that a meal serve of rice is about 1/2 to 2/3rds of a cup ..... which is really not that much!
everyone gets told different things so i'm not saying it will be the same for you but just sharing ...
i've had a shocker of a week myself with the gd thing .... it's about my 3rd week i think and i still don't have the food thing figured out. dh and i were at a shopping centre, he asked me what i wanted for lunch ... i couldn't even think of what i was allowed if i wasn't making it at home.
i've also been at a conference all week and so have had to pack lunch etc .... does anyone know if you have a day or two of having raised levels if it can raise your fasting level?
anyway, hope everyone is having a good testing day and isn't too hungry ;)
Hi, it takes a while to get used to it all doesn't it.
You are right, most rice eaten out is jasmine rice (which is bad for sugars) - I used to get Thai takeaway but cook my own basmati rice. As Mama Anne said, you can only have a small amount of rice anyway, so I used to get steamed veges instead of rice. The sauces can be quite sugary too.
When going out I would take the good old carrot sticks and raw almonds with me (you can eat as much as you like of them). It is hard eating out cafe style as most breads are not allowed. You can eith ertake your own soy & linseed bread (Burgen brand is low GI as are some others) or eat salads. Cheese and meat don't affect your readings (unless they are marinated in sweet sauce). Most fruit juices are a definite no-no when eating out as they are often sugary. You can get low GI (Berri brand have it on the label) for at home - but 1 serving is about 200mL I think. Eating at restaraunts is OK: just have the meat and vege type dishes or salads.
I'm not sure, but I think the varying sugard can be caused by fluctuating placental hormone levels (as this is what causes the problem in the first place). Insulin levels are usually lowest in the mornings so it helps to be vigilant about the first half of the day.
I started off having the 30g (which is not much!) of Guardian cereal with strawberries and low-fat yoghurt but after a few weeks it was making my sugars too high. I switched to omelette with cheese and ham with 1 slice Burgen toast and coffe with milk no sugar which was much better for the sugars.
Also be aware that diabetes recipes are often low-fat whereas fat is not so much of an issue for gestational diabetics unless you are overweight before pregnancy. So you don't have to eat low-fat unless you were already overweight before.
Hope all that helps.
Sue
mama anne
12-07-2006, 13:51
okay, another random question ....
has anyone experienced a particular food raising their levels more at different times of the day than at other times? eg more in the morning than at night?
Well, your body's insulin levels tend to be lowest in the mornings, so it would be logical that a certain food in the morning would raise levels more than the same food at night I would think.
This was certainly true for me with dairy and fruit.
Sue
OK, here's a bit of an update...just in case you're interested :)
I went to see the diabetes specialist at the hospital again and she said i needed to go on insulin because my fasting levels were too high, which was ok by me, and she wanted me to go see the endocrinologist at the hospital to get that sorted. After that appt, I saw the dietician who helped me a great deal with my food, so now I have a much clearer idea of how many servings I should be having at meals and snacks and a breakdown of the serving sizes of foods etc....excellent...feel great about that cause I now KNOW what I can have and how much of it i can have without raising my levels too much. cool! I can do this.
So, went to see my obstetrician and he looked at my levels and feels there is no real need for panic or concern. Levels are always going to be over the place in the first few weeks until you sort out the routine etc. So he says that if i hadn't seen the diabetes specialist, he wouldn't have questioned my BSL's for insulin. But I told him my concerns and because they wanted me on insulin, he didn't want me to go see the hospital guy, but referred me to another specialist he uses for GD....which is fine for me because they can work together and know each other, instead of ob on one side, hospital on the other side...if you know what i mean. I think my ob got a bit shirty about it all - but at the end of the day, I guess I am HIS patient and I am under HIS care - but at least he's referred me anyway and this new guy will make the decision about insulin.....
But of course, yesterday, I had GREAT readings, cause I was eating the right servings etc...I'm getting the hang of it!! So, after a bit of stress and panic, I don't think I should be worrying too much?
My hubby got really ****ty about the whole situation last night because he obviously wants what's best for me and the bub, but wants to make sure I get the best care he thinks its the diabetes people, NOT my obstetrician I should be listening too - well not quite like that but you know what i mean.
Any Thoughts?
Hi, I am not quite sure who is who that you have seen - have I got it right - a "diabetes specialist" - is this a doctor or a nurse? I am guessing maybe a nurse?
And thaht you have been seeing a private OB who wants to refer you to a private endocrinologist?
Please correct me if I have it wrong.
From my point of view, the best person to listen to would be an endocrinologist who knows about GD, and I would guess your OB would know one. That is who I would be trusting to make the decisions.
In my case, my OB referred me to a private endocrinologist. The fact that they were private meant that it was the specialist herself who I saw and who followed up on what was happening with my insulin and sugars. It was the specialist herself who I called to report my sugars to - in the first few weeks, I was calling every 2-3 days. I would read them out and she would adjust the doses. To my mind, this was much better level of care than an outpatient appointment in a public hospital every few weeks. Because the time is so limited to get GD sorted out, if it takes too long, well the baby is already there!
I really appreciated the fact that if my sugars were high (and the endocrinologist was really strict) - I had to ring her if the 2 hour sugars were above 6.5 and we would discuss it. It meant that my doses were well controlled and I am sure that helped me go from a baby who was initially predicted to be 4.5 - 5kg but was actually only 3.5kg when born. She came and visited me daily in the hospital after the birth and checked my sugars etc.
Does any of that help? Its just my opinion, I hope I don't offend anyone.
Sue
Sorry to be confusing....
Yes, I'm seeing a private OB, but having my baby at a public hospital. The Diabetes people I have been seeing are at the hospital - I basically went there because Diabetes Australia put me onto them as I was confused about it all....so, the 'specialist' I have been seeing is only a diabetes educator - not sure how qualified she is, so she wanted me to see a endocronologist at the hospital to put me on insulin. But my OB wants me to see a private endocronologist.
I think I prefer to see my OB's endo guy because this is the person he usually deals with, not the hospital people...so in my opinion it's all a team effort and they can work together as they would have with other GD mum's.
Hope I'm making sense now :)
Ah, I see...
Yes, it is unfortunately an area where there are some differences in practice - some people are stricter than otehrs with sugars etc. So I would go for the provate endocrinologist. Reason I was asking is that of course, only the doctors can prescribe the insulin, and I have had friends going to see the diabetic educators - they have to see the D.E. first who then has to ring the doctor abut the insulin etc...all gets confusing. If you have the option, I'd see the private guy/girl!
Life is already complicated enough. It sound great that your sugars are better - I hope you get to hold off on the insulin!!
Sue
Isn't it confusing. I recently got an ob for backup (as I'm booked into the birthing centre, and they'll exit me if the GD gets too bad). He said the diabetes educators at the hospital worry too much, and as long as I don't have regular readings around the 9 or 10 mark, then everything is fine.
It seems ridiculous that everyone gets such different advice.
By the end of the day trying to organise a nice tasting meal that hubby, ds and I can eat (ds has allergies) is a bloody nightmare and I'm really over it!!!! Thank goodness I only have 6 weeks to go. If only dh could cook, or if only I could eat takeaway, but everything is loaded with fats and sugars......aaaagh :banghead:
Ah Wattle - that made me feel SO much better!
I was kinda thinking my OB was being a bit 'lazy' by not worrying too much. He has referred me to the head of endocrinology at western sydney health which i feel good about, but he was still reluctant to refer me as he didn't think they were high enough. And admittedly, the high readings were due to the food - it wasn't as if i'd had a salad sandwich and my readings were high after that (except the fasting levels were quite high).
So I'm thinking that he is doing the right thing - and funnily enough, now that i've seen the dietician, I KNOW what to do, and my readings have been really good. Yes, I think the DE overpanicked slightly! I think I trust my OB more who has delivered thousands of babies and I'm sure a good amount of those were GD mummies.
He also said to me that some women pass the glucose intolerance test at 28 weeks, and then think, great, eat what I want...and not knowing it, they're sugar levels go up because they're eating whatever. He says I still have a good chance of having a normal delivery because we're controlling it. I'm having to go for an ultrasound next week for the fetal growth - just because I have hypertension and he wants to check the size is all OK....I'm trying not to be paranoid about that too, but he says it's routine because I've had higher blood pressure than normal!
I know what you mean about just wanting take away. We're going away this weekend with the in-laws and they eat anything and everything - I haven't told them of my GD, so we're making the excuse of 'cravings' for taking our own food, but I'm sure I'll make good choices now when we go out for meals!
Good luck!
You know I was just thinking about that last night Natski. I wonder what 'normal' womens sugar levels are during the last few months of their pregnancies. I know that last time I ate lots of chocolate icecreams and fatty foods and thought it was fine because they were pregnancy cravings.
I wonder, even though I wasn't diagnosed with GD, if that was actually worse for bub than what I'm doing this time around with the occasional reading over 7. Perhaps not, just a pondering I had.
I want to go out to dinner with dh tomorrow night. I don't know where to go though - I can't have Italian (pizza and pasta etc send my levels soaring), asian is usually loaded with sugars even though there's lots of vegies, anything with sauces sends my levels up too. Any suggestions? Am I just worrying too much?
Go out and have a great dinner!
We went to an italian dinner last week and although I desperately wanted pasta, I chose to have the fish of the day - grilled fish with veges and a few baby potatoes - it had a sauce on it, but it was fine. I also went out with some friends last night to a pub - I ended up having bangers and mash with a plate of steamed veges. I didn't have all of the mash, but I did have some of it - my levels after dinner were 6.0 - I was so excited.
You know, normally I'd always go for the pasta or the meal that I really really wanted (pregnant or not), but it's amazing how much willpower you can have. Just choose the right thing. Pasta is always hard because there's always so much of it. I had turkish bread twice last week and my levels skyrocketed - the dietician on tuesday told me that turkish bread is always too high. Maybe try doing a half hour walk before you go out for dinner?
Another great 'junk food' idea that I do that doesn't bring my levels up are BLT's (we have BLT Friday's!!!) - home made BLT's - multigrain bread, no butter, lean bacon with tomato and lettuce and some dijonnaise mayo - you can add a well cooked egg and some cheese too if you like. All up, the bread is the only serve of carbs, and you get some other goodies like veges and dairy. The bacon's not too healthy but it's a great treat and it makes you satisfied!
I hope you have a great dinner - I know, I'm worried about the weekend with my in-laws, but I know i'll make the right choices. Even 2 scoops of low fat ice-cream is only 1 serve (15g) of carbs. Has your dietician given you a list of the serves of most good foods? that's what has helped me immensely!
good luck!
I also suffered from gd and found diet and excercise to be a grat help complex carbs such as pasta , rice, cereals, bread even apples are very good for your sugar levels although they say you should have 12 portions a day my levels were 9.5 and i was able to manage it well with a controlled diet. hope all goes well.:thumbsup:
OMG I'm soooooooo excited. I went out to a really nice Chinese place down the road, ate lots of really yummy stuff and went home expecting to be walking for the next 3 hours on the treadmill due to a really high reading.
Well, I have just tested and I was under 7. Whoooooo. :smiliedance: Can't believe it. Sometimes I just seem to look at a piece of boring old toast and my reading goes really high. How weird is that.
I'm so impressed I can even have one square of dark chocolate with my cup of tea now. Yayayayayay.:laughing:
That's AWESOME wattle! Congrats!
What did you have exactly? It's amazing how different we all are though - I went to chinese/thai too with my in-laws - had very little rice and thai prawns with cashew nuts with veges and basil - the sauce was very little and mostly chilli paste. I DID have a curry puff and some fish cakes though. My reading was 8.4! Woah!
Then yesterday, I had a toasted s'wich for lunch at a cafe - poached chicken and aioli sauce with spinach and bacon....reading was 7.7! But my OB says readings between 5-8 is good after meals. I guess it was the white bread and it was slightly thicker than normal so had a few more carbs.
But readings for the rest of the weekend were great...it was very hard to test secretly (I haven't told anyone about my GD except hubby and bubhub...but that's another story), and to say no to biscuits and ice-cream and dessert when my in-laws kept having them and offering them to me!!! But I got through it...yay!
Yes it was great Natski. I had
Entrees:
1 spring roll in sweet/sour dipping sauce
I san choy bau (mince and veg in a lettuce cup)
1 pork dumpling
Main:
Sum See noodles - noodles with some vegies in it
Combination meat dish
I didn't eat as much as I usually might - there just isn't enough room any more! I guess there wasn't too much sugar or carbs either - I purposely stayed away from the deep fried stuff other than the spring roll.
I drank about 2 litres of iced water over dinner too, I'm sure that helped. I find really cold water helps bring my levels down quickly.
If I have a high reading, a brisk walk on the treadmill for 10 mins or so really helps bring down my levels too. Do you have a treadmill? I hired one for 3 months, and it's great. It's much easier if you can watch a bit of telly after tea and do a walk than rug up and go out in the dark to exercise.
yeah, I drank heaps of water too - I think it might have been the sauce that I thought was OK...oh well, but not to worry.
Yeah, we have a treadmill - but it WAS in the gym room which is now the baby's room! and is now packed up in the study in a pile of junk that needs to be cleaned up as soon as hubby gets his time off work!!! haha! But I have been walking alot - to the bus in the morning, after lunch around the city. I go see the specialist on Wed so I'll get more answers from him about the levels. Tomorrow is my ultrasound so I will also have more of an idea of bubs size!!!!
Oh dear, evil sauces. Rice makes the levels go up a lot too.
Hope all goes well with your appointment. :fingerscrossed: Bub is the perfect size.
mama anne
18-07-2006, 12:10
i had my weekly endochrinologist appoinment today, then had my obs appt .... tried to find out about induction.
they told me a few weeks ago that because of the gd, they won't let me go overdue in case of bubs getting too big
so today i tried to find out about when the induction would actually be if it happened .... but i didn't get much info out of them.
obviously every hospital has different policies on this .... but wondering if anyone has been induced because of gd, when this actually occurred? like in week 39, week 40, start of week 41 .....
~Emmylou~
18-07-2006, 12:16
mamma ann -
I had GD with my daughter and was public, they told me they wouldn't let me go past 39 weeks.
As it was she came of her own accord before that.
With this pregnancy I'm seeing a private OB who said that he wouldn't go past 38 weeks.
The general feeling tends to be that when problems occur its usually from week 39 onwards, as the placenta starts to wind down so they like to have bub out before then. Also because of the size issue as well.
HTH.
mama anne
18-07-2006, 12:31
thanks emmylou :)
can i ask how early your bub came first time around?
i'm kindof wishing (i know we all are in one way or another) to go earlier rather than be induced ... not too early .... but i'd much rather deal with the timing of labour happening naturally than be induced ....
That's actually a great point - I need to ask that of my OB next week! I asked him what are the likely chances of me having to have a caesarian and he said I have the same chance as everyone else to have a normal delivery because I'm controlling the GD. But we didn't really go into how late we'd go 'overdue'!?!
I have my endocronologist (sp) appointment tonight so we'll know if I need insulin or not now - my levels have been really great now. My fasting levels are still high, but only .1-4 above what they should be...
Also, had the ultrasound yesterday, bubs is slightly larger than average, but all round a good size - so he's not too small because of the hypertension and not too large yet. He'd be 4 pounds if born today!
Hi Girls. Natski, sounds like you're getting on top of things - great news. Fingers crossed for your appointment.
Recently I have been testing differently and it's made a HUGE difference to my readings. Not sure if it's a coincidence or not.
I wash and dry my hands really thoroughly, then when I put the strip in the glucometer I just rip the packet open and slip it in. Then I remove the other half of the packet, and then test. (I use an Optium machine). I don't know if all the brands of strips come in little separate packets, but my readings have been heaps lower since I started doing this.
I'm thinking that even though my hands were clean before, still a little bit of soap residue or something must have been on my fingers and raised my levels.
So...... it's worth a try.
~Emmylou~
19-07-2006, 14:02
thanks emmylou :)
can i ask how early your bub came first time around?
i'm kindof wishing (i know we all are in one way or another) to go earlier rather than be induced ... not too early .... but i'd much rather deal with the timing of labour happening naturally than be induced ....
She came at 36w4d - my water broke but then I didn't go into labour on my own so I did end up being induced, she just chose the timing instead of the hospital ;)
She weighed 7lb3oz though and had no problems at all so it all worked out well, I think she was just "cooked".
The induction was fine, but yeah I would also rather go naturally...I have my fingers crossed for this bub :)
I was told I wouldn't be allowed to go past 39 weeks, and ended up having an electicve c/section due to baby's size and head size. (The scan at 35 weeks said he was 3.4kg so they predicted he would be 4-4.5kg at 39 weeks).
As it turned out he was 3.5kg at 39 weeks exactly. His head was on the 98th centile (husband's fault!!).
I think that it would have been a bit trickier with the insulin etc if I had had to be induced. But I look back and wish I hadn't had to have a c/s - it took weeks to recover!!
I think I read somewhere that the rate of stillbirths in mothers with diabetes goes up after 39 weeks, that's why there is that cutoff.
Sue
MummyCharmzy
19-07-2006, 17:32
I had insulin dependant GD as well as pre-eclampsia in my 3rd pregnancy and had a scheduled c-sect at 38weeksand 6 days. I was told this was the latest i was allowed to go.
my daughter was 3.3kg
Hi guys
Had my endocrinologist appt last night - ok, so I went home and cried again, but I'm over that now.....
He doesn't want to rush into putting my on insulin just yet - so that's a good thing, and also good that he's agreeing with my ob.
BUT.....after the dietician at the hospital last week telling me to spread out my food and make sure i snack 3 times a day - which I was doing, and making them good carb snacks too, the endo told me to CUT OUT ALL SNACKS!!! Arghhh! I think I'm going to go hungry....but I have to be positive and I can do it. Instead of having my b'fast at 7.00 this morning, I had it when I got to work, so hopefully I can spread out my meals better and not get so hungry.
And he says that I have to do much more exercise (have been doing exercise, but not EVERY single day - too buggered) - so now I'm upping the exercise to EVERY day (doesn't help with my elephant ankles), and he also wants me to do some weight training because that helps the bsl's too! woah.
I will do it though, I've gotta be positive!!
Hey there Natski, sounds like it's not quite the news you were hoping for :( but at least you're not on insulin at this stage - which is great.
It's so hard to keep the positive attitude going all the time isn't it, especially with those rotten preggo hormones. However, not too much longer to go. I have been a bit slack with my treadmill time lately because it keeps bringing on braxton hicks :eek: I really will try today though to make a better effort to exercise.
No snacks? Aaaaaaagh. Not even healthy minimal carb snacks like carrot sticks and celery with hommus? I find they get me through the day if my levels are high and I'm hungry. Can you drink a cup of tea?
Hey Wattle...
Yeah, I get a few BH when I exercise too - I get scared of them (first pregnancy), so use them as an excuse not to do so much! The carrot/celery with hommus sounds great....if I get too hungry, I'm going to go for something like that. I can't starve and I can't starve the baby too.
Admittedly, I was having a lot of carb snacks (crumpets, milk, yoghurt, fruit etc.) - but all within the amount the dietician gave me - 2 serves per snack. So, if I get hungry, I don't think it will hurt to have what you've suggested....I'm goint to buy some veges and hommus at lunchtime now!!!
Cool. I don't see how it can be any good to go hungry or for bub to be hungry.:confused:
I like 'Chris's' Hommus the best, there is a low fat one I think. Salad should be fine too, oh and olives are low GI. A tin of tuna also works well for me - I mix a little no fat natural yoghurt with it and lemon juice (both great for lowering the sugars) and have it in celery sticks.
Actually I put loads of lemon juice on nearly everything now as it is really effective in dropping my levels. I think vinegar works well too, something to do with the acidity.
That's a great tip wattle - i'll try a bit of lemon in things....pity we can't have lemon meringue pie...oops!
Hi, I used to spread my carbs out over the day, and had 1 serve at snack times. Snack times were always immediately after the 2 hour BSL, to give my body time to digest it before the next meal.
I also used to eat no GI things as snacks, like raw almonds and carrot sticks, which don't affect the BSL, neither does hard cheese or meat. I would have a small tub of low-fat yoghurt or 1 piece low GI bread as an official snack. I only had small serves of fruit as it affected my BSL (except strawberries and raspberries which hardly affect it at all).
My endocrinologist said it was important to have snacks and spread them over the day.
Its amazing how different the advice is, isn't it.
Oh and I did like putting lemon or lime juice in water as water got a bit boring after a while.
Sue
Hi guys,
Just checking in to see how everything is going. Good news is I am getting my fasting BSL's down below 5.5 YAYAYAYAYAY:smiliedance:
Since not snacking, it's been working - again, funny how different doctors/professionals tell you different things! If I get hungry after my BSL readings I snack on the carrots & hommus and a few nuts like sue & wattle suggested. But not doing the whole 2 carb serves of snacks that the dietician suggested!
YAY! Hope everyone else is going well!
Great news Natski. I bet you're feeling much better about those good results.
Keep up the good work.:D
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