Gestational Diabetes -2

Because I keep seeing keywords linking to my blog related to gestational diabetes, I thought I would make a post specifically for those looking for information. However, because I am NOT an MD or a dietitian, I really need to put up this disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor nor am I a dietitian/nutritionist. If you have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes you MUST see your doctor and have them refer you to a dietitian/nutritionist and/or an endocrinologist or proper monitoring.

Gestational Diabetes is usually caused by insulin resistance. That means that your body cannot produce enough insulin to convert the sugars into fuel for your cells or that your body cannot use the insulin. When the placenta grows it produces all these hormones…one of which causes the pregnant woman’s body to be insulin resistant to keep her blood sugar from getting too low. In most women the mother’s body can just produce more to make up the difference. In some women, like me and a friend, that process kinda goes haywire and it works too well and the body cannot compensate. That is when you have GD.

Ok, with that said I will go over every little bit that my Dr. and nutritionist told me. First off, The endocrinologist (a doctor that basically deals with hormones in the body) gave me a glucose meter (you may have to buy one, sometimes you can get one on loan from the doctor) and told me to check my blood sugar 3 times a day. Some people actually need to check their sugars more than that, but that is all I have to do. I have to write down the numbers and send them to the Dr once a week so she can monitor that my glucose is under control. Now, the only way to do this is to have a meter and supplies and check your sugar!!! I do NOT recommend using someone else’s equipment mainly because that crap is expensive and you don’t want someone to run out of supplies and do without. It is just as important for them as it is for you. Insurance should cover most of the cost anyway (except for my test strips…they are still over $50 WITH insurance).

Now, your doctor will go over with you what your safe limits are for you sugar numbers. My allowed numbers are actually a little higher than a friend of mine who had GD. It really all depends on your situation what is safe for you and your baby. What is good for me may not be good for you. Again…this is why it is soo important to see your doctor and not do this on your own!

As far as diet goes, you have to count your carbs and sugar intake. This all depends on your individual situation!!! I can control my sugars through my diet…but my friend had to take insulin. You HAVE to read food labels. You HAVE to practice portion control. That doesn’t mean you can’t eat any carbs or sugar…but you have to limit your sweets such as candy, sweetened cereal, ice cream, juice, etc so you can have sugar and carbs in other things such as fruit and breads. However, you can have protein all day long. You should change to whole wheat breads and pastas as well. They are carbs…but the body breaks them down more slowly so your sugar will go up and down slower than if you had the refined kind. Your goal is to keep your sugar from spiking one way or the other.

One thing that I was told was to keep carbs down to a max of 30g in the morning as sometimes GD women have high sugars in the morning. 30g is basically 1 cup of cereal (plain like plain Cheerios) and 1 cup of milk (ANY kind of milk…I say this because it doesn’t matter the kind of milk, it all has the SAME amount of sugar in it…if you don’t believe me check the labels. Skim milk has the same amount of sugar as Whole milk…just drink what you usually drink). That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is actually the serving size recommended on the box!! It is about half of what I would normally eat, and I used eat a huge bowl in the morning! If that isn’t filling enough, you can have some protein to go with it such as eggs. Protein, like whole wheat, is broken down really slowly in the body so it gives you longer time of energy. Think of whole wheat and protein as a slow release energy tablet!

You can also have snacks between meals…about 15g max (which actually is one serving of any carb). You should always choose something like a half a peanut butter sandwich. Again…you are looking for plenty of protein to keep you going with just enough carbs to pick you up at that moment. You can usually have one between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner and maybe one at night if needed.

Now, since that is the “bad” news…the good news is that you really don’t have to give up all your sweets all the time. Of course, this is dependent on your individual situation and you should still check with your doctor and nutritionist to make sure. Most of the time a OCCASIONAL small piece of cake or brownie or chocolate can be worked into your diet. You would just have to forgo something else such as a piece of bread. That does NOT mean you can have it every time you eat!!! It means that if it is your birthday you can have a little treat, or something along those lines. This is of course as long as your levels are good and are not struggling to keep them in check. Things like cake, candy, and so on are “sometimes” foods…not everyday foods!

Again, I cannot stress enough how important it is to see your doctors about all this stuff…but I hope this helps anyone coming here to get info before their doctors appointments. The one thing I can stress is cut out all the refined sugar and watch your portion sizes. Even sugar free stuff (unless it has aspertame) can make your sugar go up if you eat enough (you want to look out for any ingrediets that have “-tol” in them like sorbitol…they are sugar alcohols that if you eat enough your sugar can go up AND you could get the runs!).

Anyway, remember, watch your refined sugar (no candy, ice cream, etc.)…watch your portion sizes (even if they seem small)….read labels and always go for good carbs like whole wheat!