Newly diagnosed and struggling

[kazaboo82]

Hello, I'm new here so please be gentle with me

I'm 30 weeks pregnant and have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes at my 28 week Glucose Test, although the doctor did say that my results were only slightly over but still indicates a diagnosis. For the last week and a half i've been testing my bloods 4 times a day (before breakfast, and then 1 hour after breakfast lunch and dinner) and my readings have been good, with the exception of a couple of fasting readings being higher than allowed and one evening where I didn't eat until late and had to grab something on the way home sending my sugars through the roof.

I'm really struggling with what I can and cant eat though. I'm living off a cereal bar for breakfast (which doesn't fill me up in the slightest and the thought of standing over the cooker making porridge with water makes me heave) followed by a very small sandwich of cheese on nimble bread for lunch with a bag of monster munch which kinda fills a gap without my bloods spiking, and then i'm alternating between chicken lettuce & cucumber wraps, halloumi, lettuce and cucumber pittas with tzatziki, and quorn bolognese with wholemeal spaghetti topped with cheddar for dinners all of which are tasty and filling but my god it's getting boring now!

I've always been a fussy eater, there's not much I do like which makes this super difficult, and most of the things that I like I feel I cant have as my sugars will spike. Spending a lot of time in the kitchen cooking things from scratch isn't really an option as i'm still working full time and i'm exhausted by the time it comes to make dinner and the heat of being in the kitchen for long periods of time sends my heart rate soaring, along with the nausea I get from cooking smells. Asking my other half to cook again isn't an option as his culinary skills go no further than use of the microwave, toaster and frying pan.

I'm diet controlled only and not on any medication, which is my preference of how i'd like it to stay. I have an appointment with the dietician next week but eating the same thing day in day out and feeling constantly hungry with nothing nice to look forward to is getting me down, i'm losing weight instead of gaining in my third trimester yet the diabetes doctor at the hospital didn't seem concerned as I was overweight to start with. whats making it worse is that my birthday is coming up too and i'm gonna be stuck eating the same that i'm currently eating with not a single treat in sight due to the fear of my sugars spiking.

Any advice or guidance would be gladly accepted, I want to be enjoying my last 10 weeks of pregnancy not hating it and feeling hungry and miserable all the time.

 

[azure]

Welcome @kazaboo82

Congratulations on your pregnancy Don't let the Gestational Diabetes ruin it for you. You're not alone and it sounds like you're doing ok

Hopefully the dietician will help you with an individual diet plan, but in the meantime you could try something like a hard boiled egg and toast for breakfast, experiment with different cereals eg All Bran mixed with muesli, etc You could also try Greek yoghurt with fruit and nuts.

As you've realised, it's a balance between eating what you need to to nourish your baby and yourself, and controlling your blood sugar.

What would you have had for your birthday if you hadn't developed GD?

 

[kazaboo82]

Thanks Azure,

I don't think I'd feel as bad as I do if I wasn't hungry all the time. i'm literally having 3 child size meals a day to keep my blood sugar within range. I think my 4 year old nephew eats more than I do at the minute.

I'll try the cereal idea, and see what the dietician suggests next week for other meals as I really cant live like this for the next 10 weeks.

For my birthday I would have liked to go out for a picnic but it wouldn't be a picnic without the sandwiches, crisps and cake/sweets or a meal out with my other half, again the steak and sweet potato fries combined with a cake of some sort would spike my levels.

I had a sweet tooth before being diagnosed and got told to cut everything sweet including most fruits out and not being able to have a slice of cake, or any other sweet treat on my birthday is just heartbreaking

 

[azure]

It's not good that you're hungry @kazaboo82 Can you fill up on extra veg/protein/fat if appropriate?

As an example, for the steak meal you mentioned, you could have the steak with a small serving of sweet potato fries bulked out with salad and/or veg.

Hopefully, the dietician will be able to suggest a sweet treat for your birthday, but how about strawberries and cream or even strawberries and a small serving of not too sweet ice cream?

Women with GD Ars usually advised to spread their carbs over the day and often to choose low GI carbs. A healthy diet for you and baby will encompass all the food groups but also control your diabetes, so the proportions of the foods on your plate might change.

 

[Kristin251]

I fill up on avocado. The fat and fiber sustain me for the first time in 50 years. I was always ravenous until I discovered the beauty of avocado. Super healthy for both you and the baby. No chips though. It's great with raw veg such as celery or radish.

You could hard boil eggs for the week. Mix it with mayo and eat it on a large piece of lettuce for the wrap. Most everything that goes on bread sandwich goes on a lettuce wrap

If your sugars are fluctuating that could be why you're hungry.

For your picnic you could bring cold chicken or chicken salad( mayo and chopped veg) or a meat and cheese tray, veggie tray with dip,
One of my fav desserts that don't do too much damage is dark chocolate covered strawberries!

Congrats on your pregnancy!! There are plenty of delishous foods for you, they're just different than what you're used to eating.

 

[Resurgam]

I was very ill during my second pregnancy after the doctor threatened me with hospital and being 'properly fed' when he discovered I was eating low carb foods.
I suspect I have had problems with carbs for a very long time, but eating low carb masked it. I started eating low carb in my twenties, though I didn't even know that was what I was doing.
Three weeks of a 'healthy' diet and I had pre eclampsia and only the lack of a bed at the maternity hospital gave me the opportunity to go home and throw the cereal in the bin.
I ate eggs, cheese, meat, fish, shellfish, salads, cauliflower, carrots, celery, onions, tomato, cucumber, fruits with lower sugar levels, - there are lots of foods which are suitable for low carb eating and can be eaten raw or cooked quickly and easily - or tossed into a slow cooker and left until needed. By the time the doctor saw me again a few days later I'd had a miraculous recovery, which he put down to me being frightened into taking notice of his diet sheet. I promised faithfully to go on eating exactly as I had been doing over the weekend and had no further problems.
These days I really would rather not eat than swallow anything high carb.
I do eat the Lidl protein rolls as they are low carb and don't cause spikes, but there is so much really delicious food to eat that I go weeks without buying them.

 

[busydiabeticmum]

Porridge sends me through the roof... so does cereal...

I have natural yoghurt (or alpro coconut) with a sprinkling of blueberries, strawberries, raspberry (depending on what is available) maybe even a spoon of peanut butter mixed in with a cup of tea for breakfast...
You can also try omelette with cheese, mushrooms and baked beans.
Don't starve yourself, try alternative foods and see what works for you.

When you're hungry inbetween meals try some cheese (which gives loads of calcium and vitamins without the sugars) or a handful of nuts... be careful though as they do contain some carbs and try not to go for the salty ones.

Dinner can be really easy like mushroom soup (onion garlic mushroom, cook in some stock, whizz to make puree then add a bit of cream and cheese... makes loads and doesn't raise Bgl. Also you can then add the carbs in bread form to suit your meter)
Fish is another good choice with a salad, asparagus making sure to fill up on the veg. These foods can then have carbs added to them.

Did the dietitian give you an information sheet, mine gave a sheet which says 50g of carbs per meal time, 1 slice of bread equates to about 20g of carb. However you need to equate in the carbs in the rest of the meal. Change to wholemeal where possible.

Berries are lower in sugars than fruit like oranges and apples, so cherries, blackberries etc are really good (when you can afford them)
Also fruit juice contains loads of sugars so water it down and as my dietitian said, it may have the same amount of sugar as fizzy drinks (no diet) but they aren't empty calories... I do however find the berry juices lower in sugars and make my own smoothies with them and natural yoghurt.

See what works for you... these are just ideas.

Tonight I am making dolma which is a north African dish. Stuffed courgette and cabbage soup... filling... plus I get my own back on hubby (who isn't suffering pregnancy symptoms) when the cabbage comes in to play later...

 

[Mark_1]

One meal at a time. For breakfast, I'd ditch the cereal bar and go with an option from above. I've had, steak, prawns, tuna, eggs, bacon, sausages, yogurt, berries, mushrooms, low carb bread, cheese, nut butter, cream and some low carb pizza in the last week or so, not all at the same time. You don't have to have breakfast food for breakfast.
If it was me, I'd go out on your birthday order the biggest steak and extra veg, have a few sweet potato chips if your still hungry your partner can have the rest since they are paying. See if there are any suitable starters on the menu and select it before you go. Order the cheese for desert or wait till you get home and have something pre-prepared. Tesco do a double cream with vanilla which tastes like melted ice cream and is great with strawberries or some low carb home made dessert.
Try to get a good variety of food in, if you can come up with 7 breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks you can have something different everyday. Planning ahead is the key.

 

[suginami]

That's so different to me. Jumbo oats porridge everyday. A half cup. 2 cups of water. Boiled. Add seeds blueberries but if apple. Great energy. Then a good walk.

 

[azure]

That's so different to me. Jumbo oats porridge everyday. A half cup. 2 cups of water. Boiled. Add seeds blueberries but if apple. Great energy. Then a good walk.

How pregnant are you @suginami ? Some ladies with GD do manage porridge If it works for,you, that's the most important thing. The pegnancy targets are pretty strict but everyone is different in how they respond to certain foods