Gestational Diabetes Girls

Yet another one joins the team.

I got the call this morning that I need to see the dietician because my numbers are elevated. What should I prepare and what should I expect?

These were my numbers: They are only slightly elevated:

before drinking: 75 (needed to be under 95) so that one was OK

1st hour: 188 (needed to be under 180)

2nd hour: 166 (needed to be under 155) that one was the highest... 11 points over

3rd hour: 145 (needed to be under 140)

I feel terribly devastated. The thing is... I already eat well, I've seen some GD plans and I already basically follow it. I don't believe this is a diet issue... so I don't know how to go about handling this. The nurse on the phone said "meet with the dietician and maybe if its a carbs thing she can help you out" ... so I don't know what that means for the appointment or what will be the outcome of it.

I need support!!

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

I didnt think it was a diet issue for me. today is my first day checking my levels so ill let you know what my numbers are.

Started the diet on Saturday and so far its ok. To be honest it feels like I'm not eating enough because an hour later I'm hunger. I still drink over a gallon of water. They did cut out a lot of my high fiber foods which probably was to high in carbs. oh and they cut out a lot of my fruit which is also high in fiber. I'm only allowed 2 small bananas or 1 regluar sized one a day. Same for apples.

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Ive been doing the plan for about 2 weeks now.. my numbers are always low.. like at fasting level so im going to see what the nutritionist says...

you check your numbers by taking blood.. you get a little machine and you prick your finger and put it on a test strip..the machine then reads you the number. I have to say i was crying before I had to take blood the first time now its like second nature. Does it suck? YES is it tolerable? YES.

This weekend i ate out as I normally would and my number was 10 points over where it should be.. i wanted to check it out and obviously i can keep it in check with diet.. I actually called the nutritionist and told her how low my numbers were and she upped my intake of carbs..

Eating every two-three hours is good and once you get a sense of what drives the blood level high you can maintain it.. i had pizza twice in two weeks and my levels were still well within range.. Good luck!! FM me with any questions! We can do this together..Im 30 weeks tomorrow so only 10 more weeks of this!!

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Ugh, i hate needles, i hate blood... I am so not looking forward to this. My numbers were not even that elevated!!! Everything I read seems to be what I generally follow... and I exercise. I don't have any of the symptoms they claim I should have... thirst, excess weight gain, etc. I'm just so annoyed because if I monitor my levels and they are fine, that will bother me. (I'll be so happy and relieved to know my baby is not at harm in any which way) but it will make me feel like I was misdiagnosed. I guess I need to just suck it up and call the dietician but I am banging my head against the wall about this!!

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

I had no symptoms either.. ive only gained 11 pounds so far..it was totally out of the blue.. im sorry

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

these are the numbers they want me to have

first thing in the morning - 60-90
2 hours after meal low end 60-80 - high end 120

not sure if everyone is different.

i had zero symptoms and i also exercise. oh and ive only put on 8LBS since getting my bfp but i was 15lbs ow

the monitoring isnt bad at all. i didnt even feel the thing prick me so i thought i did it wrong. and the amount of blood that comes out/needed is sooooooo little. for me more blood comes out with a paper cut

when you talk to the nutritionist they will go over your current diet.

i go back to see mine in two weeks. but i was told to call friday if i feel im not getting enough food and my numbers are good

Message edited 5/29/2012 11:30:56 AM.

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Posted by MRsFaTThead

these are the numbers they want me to have

first thing in the morning - 60-90
2 hours after meal low end 60-80 - high end 120

not sure if everyone is different.

i had zero symptoms and i also exercise. oh and ive only put on 8LBS since getting my bfp but i was 15lbs ow

the monitoring isnt bad at all. i didnt even feel the thing prick me so i thought i did it wrong. and the amount of blood that comes out/needed is sooooooo little. for me more blood comes out with a paper cut

when you talk to the nutritionist they will go over your current diet.

i go back to see mine in two weeks. but i was told to call friday if i feel im not getting enough food and my numbers are good

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Oh boy!

I called to schedule the appointment with the dietician like they told me to... and the secretary at that office told me I needed to come in for a diabetes class and a nutrition class. Each being 1.5 hours. I was originally thinking this was going to be a 1 on 1 meeting. Is this what you girls had to do? Was it a class? What happened at the class? How long were your appointments? I was going to try and make an appointment with the dietician next week, after my regularly scheduled appointment but DH is now wanting me to talk to the doctor about it first and then scheduling the classes (since the times are very inconvenient for us). I do get kind of annoyed that the doctor never calls (I know she is busy) but it seemed like the nurse from my doctors office and the secretary from the dieticians office were on two separate pages and I'd like to discuss with my actual doctor what she feels about my numbers and what she thinks the future is going to entail before signing up for things.

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

I never had to go to a class, i just met with a dietician at Madonna in Mineola and they have me going to the high risk OB there too for growth sonos...I see my regular dr today for the first time since being diagnosed so i too am going to ask her about the numbers.. unfortunately even if you fail by a point, you are considered a diabetic and will be treated as such for the rest of the pregnancy. You seem like you will be able to control it with diet bc my numbers were a bit higher than yours and its working with diet.. which is great bc i did not want to go on insulin..

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

class?

yeah i didnt take a class. it was one on one with the nutritionist(a little over an hour) and one on one with the nurse who showed me how to use the machine(about 30mins)

my doc already knew my results and knew what numbers they were going to tell me they should be at.

since i need to keep a log i need to bring that to my doc to make sure hes happy with them

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Hang in there!

I may have some extra supplies if your insurance won't cover it. I still have my monitor and I have some extra lancets and test strips I believe. I can mail them to you.

I had GD also and did not have any of the symptoms!

The finger prick (which I was so nervous about) turned out to be pretty much NOTHING and it wasn't too bad at all.

Fruit is going to be a big one you'll have to give up. I pretty much stopped eating fruit during my pregnancy because of the sugars. There may be also certain things like milk, cereal, etc. that you will have to cut down on... and CARBS!

FM me if you end up needing my monitor! And if you need any meal plan advice :)

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

i had to take 2 classes at NSLIJ in Great Neck---one was a general nutrition/diet class. They went over how to read labels, what the typical diet should be, how to count the cards for each meal and snack, etc. The second class was more about what GD was, what to expect as week goes on, signs to look for, how to use the meter and track your numbers, etc. They handed out the meters and a supply of strips/needles and walked each person through using it. There was also a bit on what to expect if your numbers are not controlled (medicine vs. insulin).

Only after attending both classes did they let me schedule an appointment with a nutritionist for my 1-on-1. Those appointments consist of them downloading the readings from the meter and then going over my charts to see what I've been eating and where I need to make adjustments. Those appointments take about 15-20 minutes and I go about once every 3 weeks. In between I'm sjupposed to call into the office if the numbers are ever irregular.

The one thing I learned about GD that has helped "cushion the blow" is that it's not something that you caused. It's the way our bodies respond to the breaking down of sugars and the placenta/hormones. There are some people who can completely go through GD with simply adjusting their diet and then there are others that will need more help.

Hope this helps....

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

They know I eat healthy choice meals for lunch. So they told me what to look out for in the nutrtional facts.

For lunch I'm allowed 2 carbs(1 is 15g i can do a max of 35g) 2(1 is 1/2 a cup) non starch veggies 2 meat or meat substitute( I think 1 is 1 oz ) and 2 fat

Today I had Bacon and Smokey Cheddar Chicken
Calories 250
Total Carbohydrate 31g

A small apple
and a small spinach arugla salad which had tomato onions and carrots. im allowed dressing but i left it at home. My level came up at 113.

They said I should me having 1900 cal a day but with the portions they are having me eat I don't think I'm hitting that number at all.

hth

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

I have been on this for about 2 1/2 months now and I definetlly felt like I wasnt eating enough food and I wasnt. It does take a little bit of learning what your individual body can handle, as not everyone is the same. I have been keeping my numbers low 75 fasting but my high level is 130 after one hour. Ladies dont beat yourself up I have only gained 22 lbs and I eat pretty good before pregnancy. It just is that way. My LO is getting quite large regardless of my controlled numbers. I should have an 8lb'er come my due date.

it is devastating to be told this but Im beginning to see its more common than I thought.

Hang in there ladies!

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

Thanks for all of the replies. We see the doctor next week, will discuss it with her... and then immediately sign up for the classes I guess. But by then I'll already be 30-31 weeks...
So then close monitoring for 8-10 weeks I guess. I hope my DD is healthy and small and OK....

Re: Gestational Diabetes Girls

I know it sucks. It doesn't matter if you fail by 1 point or 50 points. GD is diagnosed when you fail 2 out of 4 blood draws. I was 8 points above my 2 hour draw, but was within the normal range for the other ones. I was diagnosed with glucose intolerance, which is treated the same way as GD. The diet isn't too bad. I find I'm eating as much or more fruit than normal, but I wasn't eating a ton of fruit each day prior to the diagnosis. I'm also eating a lot of smaller meals now.

I had to take a 3 hour class. I also had a consultation with a nurse who showed me how to monitor my blood sugar. I wasn't diagnosed until 29 or 30 weeks. I'm a few weeks into it and I've gotten used to it. It's trial and error. You will figure out what you can and can't eat. As your pregnancy progresses, you may find that certain things that you ate before with no issues are now raising your blood sugar. You can adjust your diet or add more exercise.

Try not to stress about it. I was really upset at first, but now that I've been doing this for a while, it isn't too bad.