Question for Those Who've Had Gestational Diabetes

Ive had it twice both kids and controlled it totally by diet. I was on 2000 calories a day.
7am- 30 carbs ( 2 carb choices)
10am- 30 carbs ( 2 carb choices)
100pm- 45 carbs ( 3 carb choices)
300pm - 30 carbs (2 carb choices )
700pm - 45 carb ( 3 car choices)
10pm - 30 carb ( 2 carb choices)
1 carb choice = 15 carbs

You may have been eating something that is causing your sugars to increase.
I would eat a small apple and it would send mine thru the roof even though it was supposidly on the diet.
Keep a journal of what you are eating and sometimes you can figure out what is causing the spikes.

If you have any questions let me know.

PS. When I had spikes I knew what caused them and would write down ( Pizza) or whatever I ate that made that # too high. So when my Dr would look and see a high # she would see pizza, chinese food , etc... Pregnant women have cravings ! LOL ;0)
HTH

Hi M.. I had a mild case, adjusted w/diet only - 1800 carbs but I wasn't hungry all the time. I think its based on height/weight/etc, so you may want to ask if it's right for your body size/weight/type, etc. you should be snacking almost constantly according to the gestational diabetes diet I was on. 2 carbs each meal (30 grams, any form), plus veggies and protein. Might be 3 carbs for lunch/dinner. I ate 6 times/day - breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/dinner/snack. If you haven't been told to do this, than you're not on a diabetes diet and you need to go to the Diabetes care center for diabetes diet training. I'd give them a call directly if the hospital or your OB doesn't send you there.

I think your levels can be wonky because of stress, etc.

Good luck, feel better, and feel free to contact me if you need to! :)

If I remember correctly, I had 2200 calories a day--it was DEFINITELY more than 1800! This does depend upon your non-pregnant height and weight--when I'm not pregnant, I'm 5'7" and about 150 lbs. The nutritionist should figure out how many calories you'd need to maintain your pre-pregnancy weight, then add 300/day for being pregnant. It sounds to me like maybe you're on a regular, rather than gestational, diabetes diet. The GD diet for me seemed crazy, since I had to cut carbs, but not actually calories--so I was eating bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning, literally! And so much salad at lunch (as well as a sandwich) that I felt like a cow--2 full cups of salad every lunch! Like the previous poster said, you should be eating 6 times a day, and you should NOT be starving--you need to limit carbs and sugars, but you need calories for your baby to grow! If you're NOT pregnant and have diabetes, it's best to lose weight, which is why I think you might have been put on the wrong kind of diabetes diet.

I controlled mine with diet, but I did have a couple of wonky readings, usually after I ate out or at someone else's house, and there was sugar in things I didn't know about (look out for french fries at Chili's--coated in sugar! who knew?!). But when I ate at home and kept to the diet given me, I poked my finger 6 times a day to always get the same reading!

It sounds to me like you're not getting the proper care and advice for this. Try to get a one-on-one appointment with a nutritionist who's knowledgeable about GD--I can recommend the one I went to, in McKinney, if you need. If you're willing to commit to the proper diet, you should not starve, your baby should be fine, and you should not need to go on insulin. GL!

I can't quite remember the calorie restriction I had but since my mom is insulin-dependent and my dad a physician assistant, I had some good advice to follow throughout my second pregnancy. I basically cut out white foods and fried foods. I lost about 25 pounds while I was pregnant though..baby was growing normally too. I controlled the diabetes with diet alone. It was very hard as you could not really eat all of the "sugar-free" foods and you certainly could not eat the sugary foods. I joked that I was on the wheat bread and water diet while pregnant :0)

The gestational diabetes did resolve after I had my daughter but I am (age 35) now "pre-diabetic", meaning my fasting sugars are just slightly above the cut off range so I need to watch myself and exercise to beat this or I will end up doing those shots..I hate shots! My mom already has foot neuropathy and has just been told that she has retinal fluid behind her eyes meaning she WILL go blind if she does not get a handle on her diabetes.

Not sure of your family history, but since you have had G-diabetes, you need to really watch yourself. I have been told that more than likely if you have had G-diabetes, you are a candidate for developing diabetes later on in life.

Praying for you,

J. S.

I had this with my now four year old, I was not really given a cal diet as much as certain foods and bs cheacks and sliding scale with my insulin, I am now full blown diabetic and I follow th esame ADA diet I did before and I am never hungrey.