Oh Pregnancy... - Oh Joy!
I'm not gonna lie guys, being pregnant can be really unfun. I do like being pregnant most of the time...I love the feeling of a growing baby inside your belly, people are really extra nice to you, Bob will never say no to my request for a back massage, and of course, the prize you get at the end is awesome. I like being pregnant maybe 75% of the time, but the other 25% of the time, it just kind of sucks. I run out of breath really quickly, I have trouble sleeping, I've peed in my pants more times than I'd like to admit, and my body eventually just can't keep up. When I was pregnant with Ruby, I developed gallstones and had to have my gallbladder removed soon after she was born. And yesterday, I found out that I have gestational diabetes. Which means little to no carbs and no sugar until this baby comes out. To a person whose day is based around what I'll have for dessert, it was a pretty sad thing to hear. So, here I am all-of-a-sudden having to go on a diet, while pregnantthe one time your body wants just a little bit more to eat and needs a little bit more energy to get you through the day. Yes, I am super bummed. But I know it's for my own health and the health of our baby and that I have to get on track with this new plan even if it wasn't part of the old plan. So, friends, if you have any amazing protein-based, veggie-based food or recipe suggestions for me, I am all ears. Or if you've had gestational diabetes before and have any tips for me, I need all the help I can get! {Photo by Bob Cho. I tried to find a photo of me with a "thumbs down" but had no luck.} Continue reading >>
Gestational Diabeteswhat Ive Been Eating
When I first found out I had gestational diabetes, I spent a remarkable time on the internet trying to figure out what on earth I would now eat. I had this meal plan that included numbers of carbs and protein, but I struggled to try to picture what breakfast would look like or what exactly a snack with so-many carbohydrates and a source of protein could be that wouldnt sound gross right before going to bed. I was really grateful for this post that showed what real food could actually look like! Of course, follow your actual doctor or dietians instructions rather than me (aka, some chick on the internet). But thought it might be helpful to pass along what has helped me! A few things I have learned along the way: It takes a while to figure out what works: I had to work through three or four different kinds of breakfast before I found one that worked for me on a regular basis. Later on, I realized that some things that worked initially needed to change as my sensitivity increased. It was hard to be patient along the way, but if possible be gentle on yourself. Technology helps! If it wasnt for my hour-long timer on my phone, i would never remember to test blood sugar. This is actually true, because those times I say oh, Ill test right when I do such-and-such instead, I invariably forget. It was a real help when I stopped trying to remember times in my head and trust my phone to remind me. I also strongly recommend a food scale to help with measurements. There are some foods that are hard to count for carbs, and the scale makes it much easier! Finding the happy balancebetween easy to count, easy, and actual food that has nutrition. It took me a while to figure out exactly how much work I could put in on a regular basis for food preparation. Originally, I made chicken breast Continue reading >>
My Experience With Gestational Diabetes
Explanation of gestational diabetes & personal reflection of what to expect if you are diagnosed during your pregnancy. Not to worry, it’s can be managed! When you’re pregnant many people love to say “Now you can eat for two!” or “Your pregnant, this is the time you can eat what you want!” Unfortunately, these words of wisdom are not entirely accurate. Every mom-to-be dreads the glucose tolerance test, which involves ingesting a high concentration of glucose (a form of sugar) mixed with water to see if you have gestational diabetes. It’s a grueling test because you have to sit in a doctor’s office or clinic for a few hours while they take blood samples before and 2-3 times after you drink the solution. Before the test, you have to fast for 8 hours and this alone makes mamas pretty aggravated but then with the drink solution you have to deal with a sugar high! Waiting for the results, you cross your fingers and hope that the last 24-28 weeks you’ve had a balanced, healthy diet. I knew that I had increased my carbohydrate and sweet intake more than before I was pregnant, but I was hoping the test would still be negative. Unfortunately, when I got the call from my doctor who then said I had gestational diabetes, my first reaction was guilt. How could I have done this to my baby? Gestational Diabetes 101 I want to make sure I disclose this up front, I am not a doctor, I’m just sharing my experience with gestational diabetes. My daily pregnancy routine consisted of exercising five times a week and eating healthy on most days. However, I knew I could have eaten healthier in the last trimester, but I didn’t (those darn cravings and ravishing bouts of hunger!). As I learned more about gestational diabetes, I realized that our bodies change so much during p Continue reading >>
Gestational Diabetes - Any Tips Or Advice?
Gestational Diabetes - any tips or advice? I just got diagnosed with GD at 29 weeks. Third baby and never had any issues up till now. I'm worried as my diet is pretty good, I don't eat much sweet stuff but I do tend to eat carbs and have now found out they turn to sugar so could be my problem. Has anyone else been through this or have any good tips for healthy easy snacks to eat? Honestly I'm pretty devastated - really not what I needed right now : ( I was just diagnosed myself and I joined the gestational diabetes board on this app. There is a lot of tips and support there. I definitely recommend. I don't have much advice as I am barely going to meet with and endocrinologist this Thursday. Best of luck to you. Keep your head up! I was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago and had no risk factors except I'm 35. I was devastated but had a lot of people tell me there was nothing I did wrong and it is just the placenta/hormones causing insulin resistance. I ate well but did eat a lot of carbs as I'm a runner. The diet has been a little hard to get used to but now I feel more confident in my food choices and you start seeing patterns for what works for you and what doesn't. I discovered that even though a small apple with all natural peanut butter or cheese have the right amount of carbs and the right carb to protein ratio I absolutely can't eat that as a bedtime snack only during the day or my fasting numbers are too high. It takes a little creative thinking but it is doable. My go to meals are quiche, fajitas with just two tortillas, 1/2 a small baked potato with chicken or beef and I try to have every couple of days a carb smart fudgesicle. I don't eat other sweets and only drink water so that fudgesicle is amazing!! I eat a lot of light yogurt, kind bars plus string cheese or a Continue reading >>
- Advice to walk after meals is more effective for lowering postprandial glycaemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus than advice that does not specify timing: a randomised crossover study
- Women in India with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Strategy (WINGS): Methodology and development of model of care for gestational diabetes mellitus (WINGS 4)
- Best Breakfast Tips For Gestational Diabetics
What I Ate When I Couldn't Eat Anything: Facing Gestational Diabetes As A Food Lover
What I Ate When I Couldn't Eat Anything: Facing Gestational Diabetes as a Food Lover Whether food is your comfort, your hobby, or your profession, gestational diabetes is tough. Here's what you can eat. [Photograph: Shutterstock ] In the first few months of my pregnancy, friends often asked me how I was dealing with life without wine, beer, and cocktails; without buttery pieces of toro at my beloved neighborhood sushi bar; without the various other foods most people avoid when they're carrying a baby. Early on, none of those things mattered much to me; I was too sick to crave much more than mac and cheese. Coffee and wine started to taste oddly bitter and flat to me, but it didn't seem that awful to wait 40 weeks to get back to enjoying them. My local bar always managed to serve me some creative alcohol-free concoction. (Pineapple juice and savory Cel-ray? Highly recommended.) I took advantage of California's citrus season, buying pounds of floral Oro Blanco grapefruits and tangerines for making fresh juice. Fruit never tasted better: I sent my husband on wild goose chases for out-of-season mangoes, and celebrated the early arrival of local strawberries by eating a pint every day. And I had ice cream: pints of salted caramel at home, cones of Bi-Rite's insanely rich buffalo-milk soft serve during walks around the park. In challenging moments in those first few months, Max reminded me that "at least it's an excuse to eat all the ice cream you could desire." (I never did convince him to ship me some homemade pints of this crazy chocolate number from New York.) But in mid-March I found myself undergoing a hazing ritual pretty much all pregnant women experience: you show up at the hospital with an empty stomach, get your blood drawn, and then chug a bottle of extra-strong Continue reading >>
Gestational Diabetes? Advice And Info.
I had GD as well. It was temporary. My doctor referred me to a diabetic counselor so I could better understand the diagnosis and get a meal plan. I was required to test my blood sugar daily (4 times/day) and log my carb intake. I shared these results with my doctor at each visit and we made adjustments as needed. It was frustrating at times, but once I found what foods worked for me I just ate the same things repeatedly. Unfortunately, I was never able to fully control my fasting sugars (first thing in the morning) and I needed to take glyburide once per day at the minimum dosage to get my fasting sugar where my doctor was comfortable. Post baby, the baby was checked three times in the hospital to ensure she was not diabetic. I immediately went back to a "regular" diet and was checked several times to ensure my sugars were acceptable. My doctor checked me one last time at my two week post partum follow up and I was given the all clear. Honestly, the diagnosis was a blessing for me. My overall weight gain was 16 pounds through my pregnancy (I was overweight to begin with). And without any real effort post partum, I've lost almost 40 pounds. Being forced to get my diet under control was a huge benefit for me. The diet was not what I expected. I was on three meals and three snacks a day. My doctor wanted me to have a carb and protein at each of these times. I was surprised at how many carbs I was instructed to eat. I had assumed being diagnosed with diabetes would mean to cut all carbs. I was very mis-educated about diabetes until I was forced to deal with it. @Clementine: I just got a GD diagnosis last week. I still haven't seen the nutritionist yet, but my sister (Type 1 diabetes) has been helping me with a meal plan. Less carbs, less sugar, more protein. I have definit Continue reading >>
- Advice to walk after meals is more effective for lowering postprandial glycaemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus than advice that does not specify timing: a randomised crossover study
- Women in India with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Strategy (WINGS): Methodology and development of model of care for gestational diabetes mellitus (WINGS 4)
- The Best and Worst Diabetes Food Advice I've Seen
Gestational Diabetes Meal Plan
You are here: Home / feeding kids / Gestational Diabetes Meal Plan DOWNLOAD MY GESTATIONAL DIABETES MEAL PLAN Diagnosed with gestational diabetes? It can come as quite a shock, but youll get through it! When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I failed both the one-hour and three-hour glucose tests, and was subsequently diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was very surprised to say the least. I went into a frenzy of figuring out how this happened, what I needed to eat (and not eat), how it would affect the baby, and anything else that I could worry about at the time. I know quite a bit about type-1 and type-2 diabetes, but didnt have much experience with gestational diabetes until it happened to me! Now that I have lots of practice and personal experience, I hope that I can help you eat well through your diagnosis. Heres some helpful background info about gestational diabetes from Mayo Clinic . Disclaimer: This post and the gestational diabetes meal plan ideas are just that IDEAS to help you navigate! As always, run everything by your Doctor. Breathe: The upside of being diagnosed with gestational diabetes is that you can now make sure your glucose levels stay within a healthy range good for baby and good for you! And the diabetes will most likely be over in a matter of months. Stress can affect blood sugar levels, so dont stress about this, and find ways to minimize the stresses in your life. Meals, snacks, and food will take up a lot of time, so maybe its getting help with housework, childcare, working less, etc. (Easier said than done, I know.) Youll go see specialists. Write down all of your questions and concerns they have all of the answers! After my gestational diabetes diagnosis, I was referred to both a Doctor and a Registered Dietitian who specialize in Continue reading >>
Gestational Diabetes
In moderation for sure with the fruit! For one of my snacks I like to do a few strawberries and a stick of string cheese. And certain fruits have a higher carb count than others, so the lower ones are easier to work in obviously. As long as you pair it with a protein and don't go crazy you should be okay. I'm probably a little too lenient with my snacks, but I know my sugars aren't that bad and I don't have to test after my snacks lol. If I had serious trouble keeping my numbers low then I'd be better, but I know they're not that bad. And yea, I feel like my numbers are super strict, it kind of pisses me off how strict they are honestly. For my fasting number, I was told somewhere between 8-10 hours. My OB literally told me, "you should be eating your snack between 10 and midnight" since I wake up between 6-6:45 depending on the day. Umm...seriously dude?? I'm pregnant, which means I'm tired. I was told "after 10 hours the body goes into starvation mode and raises your blood sugar" by the dietician I saw for the education. I'm bad and make sure I take my fasting number during that time frame, but then breakfast is still usually more than 10 hours later... Ugh I'm sorry your rules are so strict. I was able to get into my Diabetes educator today. I honestly feel a lot better than I did. I get one more snack than I thought and more carbs than I thought which is going to help a lot. I was feeling so miserable these last few days trying to be careful. It's obviously not the dream way I wanted to spend my first pregnancy, counting carbs but it is nice to know there is some leniancy. Oh she also told me 8 to 12 hours for fasting numbers which I thought seemed more doable! Glad you got in to see your educator! It definitely makes a difference once you know for sure what to avo Continue reading >>
- Women in India with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Strategy (WINGS): Methodology and development of model of care for gestational diabetes mellitus (WINGS 4)
- Leeds diabetes clinical champion raises awareness of gestational diabetes for World Diabetes Day
- Gestational Diabetes: The Overlooked Form of Diabetes
