Yesterday I met with my dietitian and I actually learned a few things about diabetes that I didn't know before! I learned that pregnant women have a much lower glucose level than a non-pregnant person. When I am not pregnant, my levels should be between 80-100 before I eat, and then can reach up to 150 two hours after eating. As a pregnant person, my fasting level should be 60-90, and my two hour level should be no greater than 120! Yikes, so yes, I've been running high.
I also learned that it is very important that you EAT. I have to eat 6 times a day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. And I can eat carbs, but the MUST be tempered with protein. I thought that maybe I would do a sample day for you so you can see what I should be eating.
Breakfast: 2 carb exchanges (1 exchange equals 15 carbs)
Coffee with three TBS of my french vanilla creamer (1)
1 slice of diet bread and a TBS of peanut butter (1)
The peanut butter provides the protein.
Snack: 2 carb exchanges
1/2 Blueberry bagel with cream cheese (2)
The bagel actually has 6 g of protein in it, so it's ok by itself, plus the cream cheese has 2 g of protein
Lunch: 3 carb exchanges
Ham and cheese sandwich (made with the low carb bread - 1)
7 large Tostito chips with salsa (19 grams, which is 1 exchange plus 4 g)
1 cup milk (12 grams, which just about equals out the extra from the chips)
The protein is in the ham, cheese and milk
Snack: 2 carb exchanges
2 packages of the 100 calorie pack cookies (2)
Supper: 3 carb exchanges
We went to Olive Garden last night and this is what I had. I think that it all just about equals 3
2 bowls of salad
1 breadstick
I shared the grilled salmon dinner with my mother-in-law, which included broccoli - it was plenty!
Snack: 3 carb exchanges - this is the most important snack because it is the one right before bed, and has to last me the longest time while I sleep.
1 1/2 cups of Special K with Red Berries and milk to cover - yum!
So, as you can see, I'm not starving! And as long as the protein and the carbs are mixed, I can pretty much eat anything. I do have to steer clear of my precious White Mocha from Starbucks, because 1 grande of those is actually more than I am allotted for a meal! Yikes! So I'm drinking whole milk lattes with sugar-free vanilla and whipped cream! Not too bad.
The hardest part, believe it or not, is remembering to eat! I pretty much eat every two hours, so if I get busy I've got to remember to stop and eat, otherwise my glucose levels will not stay constant, and my body will think that it needs to try and produce more.
I also have to test every morning for ketones. That is where the extra sugar spills into your urine--which means it can also "spill over" to the baby, causing her to get too much, get too big, and have problems with sugar when she is born. It is very important that I follow this plan to a T so that when she is born she doesn't experience a huge drop in sugar within the first 30 minutes of her life and end up in NICU. As it is, she may end up in NICU anyway, just to be monitored more closely. It's pretty scary, so it is up to me to the best I can and not give in to either NOT eating, or eating more carbs at one time than I should. If this diet doesn't work for me than I will need to take insulin shots. So please pray for will-power and determination!
Thank you for all of your encouragement, I have needed it tremendously and I appreciate it more than you can know!
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3 comments:
Ah, the lovely diet! I had a hard time trying to figure out what to eat next when I had GD. It got old pretty quick! I had to take insulin with all 3 of my pregnancies, though. :o(
Thanks for sharing a day of your diet, that was interesting to me. Sounds like you are still able to eat some yummy stuff, so that should help. I found that it helped me when I was on a low carb diet to work out a whole week's menu on paper so that I varied what I was eating, otherwise I struggled with the monotony of it all and didn't want to follow it like I should. I will be praying for you and baby. I'm thankful you are getting close to the end of your pregnancy. Although, I know from having to cut out ALL salt from my diet and being on bedrest with this pregnancy that 2 months can seem like a long time! But it is all relative and now seems like that was ages ago, when really it's only been 3 months. Crazy how our mind plays tricks on us, isn't it?! This season, too, shall pass, Betty! Take care of yourself and EAT! :) Can't wait to meet that new baby when we are back in the States!
so nice to see you yesterday looking as cute as ever...i will be praying for you as you embark on this diet for the next two months or so....see ya tonight!
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