medawyn Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Fourth pregnancy, and I'm hit with this. Ugh! Advice? Tips? Encouraging words? Lay it on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof1 Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 I agree with Artic Mama, limit carbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 You can likely manage it with diet and reasonable exercise. It is worth the effort! It was so much easier sticking to a meal plan when the baby was on board, since I knew whatever I put in my mouth affected the child. I'm sure I'd drop weight easier these days if I had the same incentive! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medawyn Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 It’s completely manageable with the right dietary choices unless you have underlying issues going on. It’s not the end of the world :) Oh, I know. I'm just crabby about it right now. I'm annoyed with myself for not losing as much weight as I "should" have between babies. And I'm trying to listen to my doc, who totally concurs about the weight thing but is also pointing out that all my systems have been stressed this time. She's made it clear that if we're not done at four (I am!), she recommends waiting a little longer before the next baby to give my body a chance to recover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth86 Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Ugh I feel for you. I am on my 4th pregnancy too and I'm always afraid of GD. All I have to offer is a hug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 I had it with all four pregnancies. They used to use insulin if diet/exercise wasn't working well enough. These days they'll usually try an oral diabetic drug first, which is much easier to handle. Buy yourself a cheap blood glucose monitor. Walmart sells a good one called Relion. Key is the price of the test strips. For the lancets, the higher the gauge, the smaller the needle. I want to say they had 33 g as one of the thinnest. Test your blood glucose in the a.m before breakfast, and then two hours after each meal. Write down what you eat. See what foods your body reacts to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 I had it at the last pregnancy (and was maybe borderline for the one before) and am not overweight. One thing to watch out for is to make sure your blood sugars aren't too low. No one really monitored mine after giving me the diagnosis and telling me to eat fewer carbs - they just said to make sure it stayed under 90 and never asked for details again. So my fasting blood sugars in the morning were never above 65 and sometimes below 60; the only time I ever felt decent was when I did eat some carbs, and other than that I had high blood pressure (when my blood sugar got super low) and I was constantly exhausted. I posted here about the blood pressure and casually mentioned the GD and some nice ladies told me that 65 was really too low and I should try eating carbs more frequently, although still in small amounts. That helped immensely. For the last 2-3 months, when the diabetes was in full effect, my IQ was I would say 20 points lower. I think it is because my brain wasn't getting the glucose it was used to to run operations up there, and it just couldn't do normal things like remember the right words for things or make logical plans or whatever. It was very strange, and I remember the feeling a day or two after having the baby when my brain turned back on and I felt like my old sharp self again. to be honest, I kind of liked the slower, softer self. But she wasn't as useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Get a referral for a nutrition consult. I had gestational diabetes with both dds. The nutritionists were amazing! I also had to test frequently (upon getting up in the morning/fasting, 2 hours post each meal, bedtime, and any other time during the day I felt "weird"). The diabetes educator helped me select a monitor and set up a testing protocol and log. I kept a daily log and brought it to every appointment. The doctor and/or the nutritionist adjusted my "diet" based on the log, weeks gestation,etc. Calorie requirements change as the baby develops. We found trends for when I'd be low and worked out ways to prevent it. I also discovered that some foods gave me higher numbers than others so I could avoid those foods and substitute others. Bedtime snacks helped quite a bit later in the pregnancy. I also saw a MFM along with my OB with 1st dd.. With 2nd dd, I was transferred immediately to MFM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 I had it with my last pregnancy. They suspect I had it undetected, despite being tested, with my second due to his size. My doctor had me see a nutritionist who helped me with meal planning. It took a few weeks to be able to get it under control, but I was able to do it with just diet. My doctor had me bring a log of my blood sugars with me to my appointments to make sure it was staying under control. I tested in the morning, after each meal, and before bed. I also had to figure out my triggers for what made my blood sugar climb. My biggest was milk. I couldn't have any milk in the morning or my blood sugar would spike. I also found that for me eating smaller meals with a few snacks, including one before bed, was very helpful in keeping my blood sugar in check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medawyn Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 (edited) Well, today was day one with the glucose monitor thing. Fasting blood sugar was 88, which I guess isn’t bad, but I’d like to see if I can lower it over the next week or so. I had 2 eggs scrambled with tomatoes and cheddar cheese, a cup of roasted broccoli, and a glass of milk. I think I need more fat or protein, but I’ll have to do some playing around with meal size to accommodate snacks. My one hour reading post meal was 96, so we’ll see. I was diagnosed Monday and managed to get an appointment with the dietician on Tuesday, so it’s been a little bit of a whirlwind. I definitely need to make a meal plan and a grocery store run! I don’t know if I agree with their suggested carb numbers, because I think if I eat 15-16 carb servings in a day my blood sugar would be even higher than it was before! There might be some battles, but I’m hoping to be able to squeeze in some research in low(er) carb pregnancy diets. Edited bc my autocorrect loves apostrophes. Edited November 8, 2017 by medawyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 (edited) And as for when to eat carbs (even lower carb veggies and stuff), avoid them in the morning. That seemed to be the worst time of the day for me, surefire way to shoot up my blood levels. ETA, see how it goes this morning - experiment a bit. Count the carbs for a few days, and compare to your blood sugar levels, to get a better picture. If I had to do it over again, I'd eat way more fat. Edited November 8, 2017 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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