[kirstyloo]

I was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I failed my 1 hour test with a level of 210, but I was able to control my GD with diet. Like you, I didn't gain much weight on the diet, but my OB wasn't concerned. I had ultrasounds every month and non-stress tests twice a week. I needed to send my numbers to my doctor every week for him to review. The one good thing is that I only 5 lbs from my pregnancy weight to still drop, and I haven't started trying.

Here are a few of the things that I’ve learned:
1.For breakfast, I couldn’t eat any type of cereal in the am (e.g., oatmeal, Grape Nuts) and keep my numbers in control so I had 2 eggs scrambled with a slice of cheese, 1 slice of whole wheat bread with low sugar strawberry jam, and a tomato. The tomato really helped to replace the fruit (and fiber) that I used to eat in the morning.
2.Boca burgers (70 cal, 13g protein, 6g carbs) were a nice little addition to meals that needed a protein burst. They come frozen and individually wrapped.
3.String cheese is a quick and easy snack.
4.If you want fruit, strawberries might fit into your diet. 1 cup of cut halves have only 12 g of carb.
5.I was still able to eat rice in the evening by making different choices. I often chose plain wild rice (not a rice blend). 1 cup of wild rice has only 35 g of carbs (1c white rice 53 g of carbs). I could also eat ½ cup of brown rice (1c 45g, ½ c 22g). These choices are also healthier carbs (more complex with more fiber).
6.You can try some of the low carb ice creams if you’re willing to eat sweeteners. They are really good.
7. Stay away from refried and black beans. They have lots of carbs and blew my numbers out of the water despite being healthy carbs.
8. Prick your fingers at different sites. It hurts less if you do it on the side, but sometimes you can do it just off the tip while other times move it up a bit more. And remember that you have 2 hands! I tested on both of mine and changed the finger with nearly every test.
9.Wash your hands before testing instead of using alcohol before testing. Washing is much less drying. Use lots of hand lotion. If your finger tips get chewed up, most pharmacies have a special lotion for use by diabetics.
10.Increase your protein consumption, but eat enough so that you’re not starving all of the time. If you’re starving, talk to your doctor as they can add medications to help you regulate your blood sugar.
11. Walk, walk, walk. Walking really helped me to regulate my blood sugar. For every 15 minutes I walked, I burned 15g of carbs. It helped to control my evening meal and allow me to eat a bit more.

You can make this work and it is do-able.

I would also recommend that you look up the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia. I'm not trying to scare you, but individuals with GD or traditional diabetes are at increased risk for it. Another woman on my treatment board with GD also developed it, and it was missed until she wound up in the ER. My preeclampsia developed “suddenly” at 38 weeks. I would have been really sick if I hadn’t been my own medical advocate and had waited until my scheduled delivery. As it was I required magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures at the time of delivery. I never did swell or gain weight with the preeclampsia, but I wound up with elevated blood pressure that increased in the afternoon/evening, a little protein in my urine (+1), and increased urine output (4+ liters per day). Because of my increased output and total protein loss, I actually fulfilled the criteria for severe preeclampsia despite working 10 hours the day before. Because the vascular changes associated with preeclampsia start long before you know you have it, Emily was a small for gestational age baby; however, she is doing well. When she was born, she was in less than the 5%ile (5lbs9oz, term). At two months, she is in the 15%ile and smiling up a storm.

[mery71]

kirsty - thank you sooooooo much for all of the information..you are a wealth of knowledge!!! i really do appreciate you taking the time to give me all this valuable advice! i ended in the hospital a week and a half ago, because my sugars were so high..they had me on an insulin IV for 2 days..then weened me off and now i am on 4 insulin shots a day...2 in the am, one before dinner, one before bedtime. and, my diet has completely changed. it's been a difficult couple of weeks but my sugars are in control so i feel good.

i am seeing a peri now and he did go over the risks of having gd..which completely freaked me out. i will start the fetal monitoring at 34 weeks and go for another u/s in 3 weeks...i too have to email the numbers every week. thank you for mentioning the preeclampsia.....that is scary that it came on so suddenly....you had no other symptoms?? our little guy already weighs 4 pounds...and I am measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

congrats on your darling little girl..i am glad she is doing great..she is sooooo cute!!

thanks again! you're awesome!

[Vin89]

Hello Ladies,

I just got back from my OB appt. although I have have been checking blood sugar 4x/day ( with diet ); my after meal (esp. BF and luch) levels are all over the place/always fluctuating and I am only 21 weeks. It looks like I may need to go on insulin. I havn't gain any weight either (but the baby is fine) and diary all the food intake.

So I have a Q for mery71 and/or those who are on insulin: Is insulin difficult to manage? I have heard of excess weight gain being one of the side effect. did you feel that? did you have to go to the endocrinologist before starting insulin? Is there a particular brand of insulin that worked better than the other? Thank you in advance and I'd greatly appreciate any feedback.

I am just so tired of going to 10 different drs. e/time something happens..... it just seems never ending...

[mery71]

vin - Hi! I am on the Humulin R and N insulin..one is a long acting, one a short acting. I take a shot of the long and short in the morning, one of the short before dinner, and one long acting before bed with my snack. You have to give yourself the injections in your tummy and then wait a half an hour, then you can eat. Then you check your levels an hour after the last bite of food. I was so used to all of the injections for IUI and IVF that it's easy...the hard part at first, is all of the timing and carefully managing your diet. I didn't eat enough food a couple of the days and got super low readings and was sweaty and felt sick. So, it's just important you eat everything that you are supposed to.

I was put in the hospital on the IV insulin and now I am being monitored by the perinatologist. I think you should be seeing a maternal fetal medicine specialist because they are going to start fetal monitoring in a few weeks, and do another u/s then too to measure the growth of our baby. I am going on 31 weeks and measuring 2 weeks ahead..and they want to make sure that he doesn't get too big or I will have to have a c section. Talk to your OB because when you get farther along, I think you will need to be monitored more. I am emailing him my numbers and he is adjusting the insulin accordingly. I am also seeing an RN who is a dietician and she has helped me with my diet.

I have lost 5 pounds so far, so who knows about the insulin and gaining weight...and plus, the diet is so strict, I don't see how you can gain alot!

Good luck to you...and let me know if you have to go on insulin..it's not that bad..at least I know my little guy is not getting high blood sugars!!

[tracys16]

Vin-I too have to take insulin. I'm on the Humulin N and Novorapid (the first is the long acting the second is the quick) I take the long acting at bedtime after my night snack and take the Novorapid before breakfast and before dinner. The one difference for me is the Novorapid is taken right before eating. They say to if you are at a restaurant wait till the food is on the table before taking it as it can start working with 5 mins. I saw an Endocrinologist and a diabetes training specialist and dietician first to see if I could control it with diet, but found that diet wasn't working so they together decided to put me on insulin. I started with the nighttime and then it was decided to add the daytime stuff. I have to test my blood 7 times a day, which is probably the worst part of all this, but I keep telling myself it is for my LO's benefit. We started with a low dose of the nighttime and steadily increased till morning numbers got to right area. One thing that I have found out is that stress can drastically affect your blood sugar levels...so try to make sure you are staying as stress free as possible. I know that isn't always possible...and believe me...I have been through a lot this month...but you need to do everything you can to limit the stress. Taking the insulin isn't hard if you can get passed the sticking the needle in.

I hope that helps.

[Vin89]

mery71,

Thank you so much for replying. It is very useful info. You are almost in a home strech :-) Hang in there for only few more weeks!!

I have been to MFM already, they are the ones who suggested I do at home bG check and diary food intake and was given diet plan and stuff. At the time they were leaning more towards oral meds (glyburide) but my OB after seeing the levels over 2 weeks thinks I have to go on insulin since I was dx'ed so early in the PG (since I have quite a way to go yet). I now have to go and see Endocrinologist. They did u/s yesterday so we know the baby is on target. I am not too concerned about shots ( see my IVF resume ;-) but ouch for tummy shots! (where do I pinch on my PG belly ???)

My only concern is; would going on insulin this early cause any problems? ( b/c I am guessing the amount of insulin shots is going to be up and up as PG progresses) Has anybody done insulin this early in PG?

I know I am asking too many Q's and sorry about my rant.

Tracy,

Thanks so much for the kind words. You, too, are almost there :-) Couple more weeks and you'll be done w/pricking yourself. Good point about stress. I'll remember that.

Kirstyloo, great tips!

[mery71]

vin - they say that insulin doesn't hurt the baby at all..it's basically for us so we do not pass on the high sugars to the baby. so, i'm sure they would start you at a very low dose, but as the pregnancy progresses, they said you do need more insulin so I am sure they would gradually be upping your doses.

ok..about the shots..it's pretty funny...because my tummy is so big and tight..there is not much room to pinch so i am at the very bottom of my tummy where i can squeeze like an inch. at least we are used to shots from all our treatments!! there are alot of questions to ask so feel free..i was so in the woods when this all happened, i felt so alone and just so sad..because i thought it was something i was doing wrong. they assured me that it is just our bodies...and that i couldn't have done anything different!

traci - thanks so much for the info on the stress...i was off a couple of weeks and now back at work for just another month until i go out on maternity leave. i am trying to not stress at all at work because i know it can't be good for LO or myself. you are really in the home stretch! congrats to you!!!

[bitsniu]

Wow I am so glad I just found this thread! I just got my 1hr gtt back and my number was elevated 154 (my office likes it under 130)...I now have to go take the 3 hour test...anyone like to share how this 3 hour test will go...I could not leave the office for the 1 hr so sitting there for 3 hours I am sure will be a blast!!!!

[mery71]

bitsniu - hi..i didn't have to do the 3 hour because my number after the glucose test was at 255...so they knew I already had gd. but, a couple of my friends did have to take it and they had a similar number like yours and they both passed the 3 hour. i heard it's VERY boring so bring a good book..you'll probably finish it during that time!! good luck to you!!

[Vin89]

Originally Posted by bitsniu

Wow I am so glad I just found this thread! I just got my 1hr gtt back and my number was elevated 154 (my office likes it under 130)...I now have to go take the 3 hour test...anyone like to share how this 3 hour test will go...I could not leave the office for the 1 hr so sitting there for 3 hours I am sure will be a blast!!!!

I didn't have to take the 3hrs. test either since I failed the 1 hr. and urine test consistently showed bG. Are they having you go nutritional counseller before they do 3 hr ? That might help for you since your levels don't seem that high. All you may need is diet and excercise.

[kirstyloo]

I didn't take the 3 hour test while I was pregnant, but I did take it 7 weeks after the baby was born. They took a fasting glucose measurement and then they had me drink 100 g of glucose (2x the amount of the hour test). They then drew blood every hour for 3 hours. I don't have the results back yet; however, if they are similar to those that people take during pregnancy, failure is having 2 of the 3 post consumption values high. Individuals in my due date group were considered to be boarderline if they were high on one of the measurements. Some of them were asked to repeat the test about a month later to make sure that things were still cool.

Please keep in mind that not everyone who failed the 1 hour needed meds. Two of us in the August Due Date failed the 1 hour and we were able to manage our numbers by diet and exercise.

[Vin89]

So since yesterday I have been now on low dose of insulin 3x/day (pre meals). I'll keep you all posted on how effective it has been in next few weeks.

another Q: Did you all check ketones also once in while?

Thanks.

[mery71]

vin - i'm on a pretty high dose in the morning, then the other two aren't too high. i never had to test my ketones...do you?? please let me know how you feel after now taking the insulin. i do notice i have more energy and don't feel so incredibly exhausted. i'm tired...but not from that! i'm sure they told you but please make sure you do not forget to eat anything you should be...or, it will make you feel very sick. i got a few low blood sugars and i got all sweaty and just felt really weird! i've been following everything to the tee and feel much better..you will too!!! keep me posted!

[Vin89]

hello ladies,

Hope e/one is doing well. my bG levels are better now than before but they upped my lunch time insulin to 8 units now (from 5 units).

Q for those on insulin: what was your range of insulin dose from the start to the end ? how much did you start with and what was the dose at the end? also, if it was short acting or long ? I know everybody metabolizes differently but I was just curious to know.

I am getting used to eating multiple meals now ( the heartburn sometimes makes it difficult but in grand scheme of things it's nothing)

[mery71]

vin - hey! doing good, my tummy is getting enormous! i started fetal monitoring twice a week because of the GD. we go for another u/s on tuesday to check the size of the baby..our OB said i would probably have him a couple weeks early and most likely a c section. my sugars have been good too..which is reassuring. i had a couple of high numbers but it was because my sugar dropped super low and i ate way too much for me to feel normal. then i was sick for two days

i think i am on a really high dose of insulin...it is as follows:

AM - 1/2 hour before breakfast: 84 units of long acting and 14 units of short acting.
PM - 1/2 hour before dinner - 28 units of short acting
PM - Nighttime snack - 32 units of long acting

i've been on this same dose for a month. my fasting numbers are creeping up a bit in the morning so I am sure they will give me more shortly. i think as the pregnancy progresses, you need to get more. how many shots are you doing a day??? do you ever get red bumps on your tummy where you give your shots?