Hello confused newbie

[staceyc]

hi everyone
im stacey im 23 weeks pregnant and have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes since 19 weeks i have to test my levels 6 times a day and take a metformin twice a day , im still confused i have drasticly changed my diet but still my levels have settled i can barely fininsh a meal so prob not even on my 2500 daily intake , im resally struggling with eating one day i ate brown ham roll and after my levels were quite high the next day i ate a brown ham roll and and a few crisps and my levels were ok its so hard

 

[Northerner]

Hi Stacey, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear of your diagnosis, hopefully some of our mums and pregnant ladies will be able to share their experiences and offer you suggestions for coping with things. Diabetes can be difficult to manage and understand at the best of times, but when you are pregnant with all the hormones running wild and the demands of the little one then things can be particularly tough. There are many more factors at play than the actual food you are eating, so what may work one day can be quite different another day. Just keep doing your best and monitoring your levels - if you are concerned then make sure you let your concerns known to your health care team. Don't feel bad if things are sometimes up and down, the Diabetes Fairy can be a fickle creature!

I would recommend reading up on the GL Diet for suggestions for eating well and hopefully maintaining good blood sugar levels - there are a couple of good books on the subject here:

http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=7719

http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=7337

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have and we will try our best to help! 🙂

 

[shirl]

Hi Stacey

just wanted to welcome you to the forum and to congratulate you on your pregnancy, but also to say sorry you've had to join us!

I didn't get Diabetes whilst pregnant but can fully appreciate the fact that its a struggle sometimes to eat anything let alone eat sensibly! I know there were days I just couldn't eat much at all and it was sooo frustratng but I think you need to take each day as it comes and hopefully things will get easier for you,

take care,

Shirl

 

[Steff]

Hi Stacey and a warm welcome to the forum, sorry to see you have to be here, i have no expereinces with being diabetic while pregnant,but theres plenty on here who have so i will leave you in there capable hands xx

You may also like to know they is a pregnancy section on here so maybe putting this in there too would help x

 

[Sheilagh1958]

Welcome to the forum 🙂

 

[Robster65]

Hi stacey. Welcome. 🙂

As you're finding out, there's so many things that can affect how various meals alter your BG. I hope Northerner's sound advice can help you to find some trustworthy foods.🙂

Rob

 

[Blythespirit]

Hi Stacey and welcome to the forums. Congratulations on your pregnacy but I'm sorry you've had the diabetes diagnosis. We have a pregnancy section on here and I'm sure you'll find some valuable advice on there as well as the main board. Northeners advice is an excellent place to start. Take care and good luck with the baby. XXXXX

 

[sharons]

hi everyone
im stacey im 23 weeks pregnant and have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes since 19 weeks i have to test my levels 6 times a day and take a metformin twice a day , im still confused i have drasticly changed my diet but still my levels have settled i can barely fininsh a meal so prob not even on my 2500 daily intake , im resally struggling with eating one day i ate brown ham roll and after my levels were quite high the next day i ate a brown ham roll and and a few crisps and my levels were ok its so hard

Hi Stacey and welcome.

I'm new as well but did have GD in both my pregnancies. I managed to diet control the first one and had to take corrective dose of insulin at breakfast time at around week 34 with the 2nd.

I would question the metformin you've been asked to take. I was under the impression that people with diabetes were advised to stop metformin and go to insulin during pregnancy.

With regard to diet, a brown roll won't be as good as a granary roll but it's worse than a white one. You shouldn't really eat bread type products with things like crips (though yours seemed fine). You need to eat regularly as well. Something like
small portion of cereal for breakfast (special k, all bran etc)
mid morning snack - yoghurt or apple or something
lunch - roll and piece of fruit (banana maybe) or the like
mid afternoon snack - crisps if you want at this stage or nuts etc
low fat, low carb dinner - not a massive portion
If you're still hungry have something else before bed.

This should level off your sugars and stop the spikes.

As long as you're eating a well balanced diet I wouldn't worry about your calories. After my pregnancies my pre preganancy clothes hung off me so it was a fabulous diet. Mine's come back to haunt me now so probably should follow my own diet advice a bit better.

Good luck.

 

[margie]

I would question the metformin you've been asked to take. I was under the impression that people with diabetes were advised to stop metformin and go to insulin during pregnancy.

That used to be the case but there was a story a few weeks ago that metformin is being given to pregnant women to try and ensure that the baby does not get too big. Here is a link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...ies-given-anti-obesity-drugs-in-the-womb.html

Stacey - welcome I hope that we will be able to help you.

 

[sharons]

That used to be the case but there was a story a few weeks ago that metformin is being given to pregnant women to try and ensure that the baby does not get too big. Here is a link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...ies-given-anti-obesity-drugs-in-the-womb.html

Stacey - welcome I hope that we will be able to help you.

Ah, thanks Margie. Mine aren't that old (the youngest will be 3 in August) but things have obviously changed. Mind you, my 10 days overdue diabetic baby was 6lb 13 and the 7 days early one was 7lb 3 so good job they weren't given diet pills lol