Gestational diabetes
Looking for any advice on gestational diabetes. Since having my roux-en-Y I have dealt with hypoglycemia and I just can't wrap my head around the fact that my sugar is high! I am going for class in the near future, but could use any advice I can get in the meantime. For the time being I am doing my blood sugars 4 times a day and lowering my carb intake. I didn't have this with my son and even though I am a nurse, I feel almost clueless in how to balance it all. It scares me to think of having to have a csection or induction for a large baby or having a baby needing special care after delivery due to blood sugars. Thanks in advance!
I may be in the same situtaion. I just got a letter saying they want me to take the 3 hour glucose test. Apparently I didn't pass the 1 hour. I had lap band so we shouldn't have issues with that test. I passed it fine with my last pregnancy which was after the band, but I have gained weight since. I'm really nervous about it too.
Tami "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me!" Philippians 4:13
The hardest part for me was the fact that you can't lower your carbs too much. The Endocrine Nurse told me I have to get in a minimum of 160g of carbs a day. There was no way I was getting in that much before and after I found out my sugars were high then I cut out even more in an effort to lower them. This was apparently the wrong thing to do. You'll have to test your morning urine for ketones and if they're present (as they were in mine) you have to evaluate your carb intake and make sure that you're getting enough. Once I started increasing my carbs then the ketones disappeared. I was on Metformin for PCOS and stayed on that until week 16 when I had to start Insulin to control my Blood Glucose.
As far as advice goes, I've had to switch my main focus when eating from Protien to Carbs. We worked out a plan that I need to try to get in 20g for Breakfast 45g for Lunch and 60g for Dinner. This leaves 35g to be worked in as snacks between meals. Also a bedtime snack is very important as your liver will dump glucose into your system if your blood sugar goes too low while you're sleeping. So try to eat a snack that has carbs and protien at bedtime.
This website should be helpful: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/gest_diabetes/
I was 16 months out from Gastric Banding when I found out I was pregnant and I just had to have some fluid taken out of my band to help me be able to take in all the carbs I need to in a day. You may have to eat many small meals to be able to get in all the nutrition you need, I'm not sure since we had different procedures. Is there a nutritionist at your surgeon's office you can talk to? Make sure to use all your doctors. Between my surgeon, my OB, and the Endocrine offices I feel like I have quite a team helping me to get through this. Good Luck Mama!!
As far as advice goes, I've had to switch my main focus when eating from Protien to Carbs. We worked out a plan that I need to try to get in 20g for Breakfast 45g for Lunch and 60g for Dinner. This leaves 35g to be worked in as snacks between meals. Also a bedtime snack is very important as your liver will dump glucose into your system if your blood sugar goes too low while you're sleeping. So try to eat a snack that has carbs and protien at bedtime.
This website should be helpful: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/gest_diabetes/
I was 16 months out from Gastric Banding when I found out I was pregnant and I just had to have some fluid taken out of my band to help me be able to take in all the carbs I need to in a day. You may have to eat many small meals to be able to get in all the nutrition you need, I'm not sure since we had different procedures. Is there a nutritionist at your surgeon's office you can talk to? Make sure to use all your doctors. Between my surgeon, my OB, and the Endocrine offices I feel like I have quite a team helping me to get through this. Good Luck Mama!!
(deactivated member)
on 10/22/11 10:08 pm - Woodbridge, VA
on 10/22/11 10:08 pm - Woodbridge, VA
I have dug and dug in actual studies and scientific/medical journals, and I have found NO actual evidence supporting that eating low in carbs during pregnancy or even being in ketosis (as inflicted by low-carb, not having ketones and being at risk for other issues like ketoacidosis, which is different and very dangerous) is actually dangerous or harmful. There is lots of anecdotal evidence to the contrary, but I can't even find anecdotal evidence to support it. If it were as dangerous as some try to make it sound, then all babies born before all civilizations had access to grains and fruit year-round (plus proper cooking methods for things like grains), and all babies born to mothers with major nausea or morning sickness throughout their entire pregnancies (these women often end up in ketosis unintentionally due to vomiting) would have been brain damaged, and that's simply not the case.
I believe you are doing the absolute right thing by lowering your carb intake, as high levels of glucose and/or insulin HAVE been proven to be potentially harmful. At the same time, don't be afraid to eat fats as well since going low in both carbs and fat means you're eating primarily protein, and excess protein can also be converted to glucose by the liver via gluconeogenesis, so you don't want to basically be eating just a ton of protein all the time.
When you go to the "class" on the topic, do listen to what they have to say about things like where your glucose levels should be, what they recommend for exercise (if they cover that), what kinds of medications you may need to avoid, when to test your glucose levels, etc., but please take with a HUGE grain of salt the number of carbs they tell you to eat, as most people are NOT successful in diabetes management eating that many carbs. They may also suggest you eat low fat, which is also poor advice since fat is the macronutrient LEAST likely to affect your glucose levels (not to mention fat is not harmful to general health if you're also eating low in carbs).
I have had type 2 diabetes since at least age 25 (that's when I was diagnosed, though I'm sure it was hanging around even before then), and I'm now almost 18 weeks pregnant. My PCP and my OB are both very supportive of my low-carb diet as a means to hopefully keep diabetes from making an encore appearance in the form of gestational.
I believe you are doing the absolute right thing by lowering your carb intake, as high levels of glucose and/or insulin HAVE been proven to be potentially harmful. At the same time, don't be afraid to eat fats as well since going low in both carbs and fat means you're eating primarily protein, and excess protein can also be converted to glucose by the liver via gluconeogenesis, so you don't want to basically be eating just a ton of protein all the time.
When you go to the "class" on the topic, do listen to what they have to say about things like where your glucose levels should be, what they recommend for exercise (if they cover that), what kinds of medications you may need to avoid, when to test your glucose levels, etc., but please take with a HUGE grain of salt the number of carbs they tell you to eat, as most people are NOT successful in diabetes management eating that many carbs. They may also suggest you eat low fat, which is also poor advice since fat is the macronutrient LEAST likely to affect your glucose levels (not to mention fat is not harmful to general health if you're also eating low in carbs).
I have had type 2 diabetes since at least age 25 (that's when I was diagnosed, though I'm sure it was hanging around even before then), and I'm now almost 18 weeks pregnant. My PCP and my OB are both very supportive of my low-carb diet as a means to hopefully keep diabetes from making an encore appearance in the form of gestational.
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