Great advice I was given...

Cocosilk

Well-Known Member
Messages
818
Type of diabetes
Gestational
Treatment type
Insulin
I had to laugh when I came home from the pharmacy today having asked a random pharmacist if they knew whether it was worse for me to have slightly elevated blood sugar levels (when eating a few more carbs again), or being dehydrated and lacking in electrolytes if I eat low carb while breastfeeding and don't get my balance right (probably not getting enough time to drink enough water either).
Personally, I haven't worked out whether just eating a few more carbs for the next year or so while I breastfeed is a better option than ending up dehydrated and dizzy if I eat low carb but don't end up drinking enough water (it happens!) My blood sugar does not get that high but I just think my fasting levels will creep towards prediabetic if I include enough carbs again for long enough.
(Before a meal I might be 4s - 5.5mmol, one hour might get to 8mmol or a bit higher, then by 2 hours it's usually back in the 6s)

Anyway, the pharmacist said firstly that it was unheard of that a breastfeeding mother would be lacking in electrolytes. And that I should really just relax and eat carbs again because "the baby needs sugar". And then in a few months do a HbA1c test and see what happens. If I turn out to be diabetic, I will just be put on medication if needed, he said.

I thought, "Great! Breastfeeding is a wonderful excuse to eat whatever I like again", so I bought a mango and ate it... And then I was thinking how silly it is to say "the baby needs sugar" because I'm fairly sure the quality of breast milk is fairly consistent no matter what the mother eats...And then the whole do nothing for yourself but just wait and see if you end up with diabetes and then take the medication they give you advice. Pretty standard though I guess, isn't it?
 
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