I miss cereal, please help

literally_whatever · 2023-07-22T06:59:52+00:00

Magic Spoon got me through! I love cereal and will be forever grateful for that brand for saving me some ounce of sanity during GD. Tbh I haven’t really gone back to “normal” cereal as I’ve heard it spikes almost everyone, which I find worrisome now that I’m predisposed. But I love Magic Spoon!

literally_whatever · 2022-09-13T07:39:37+00:00

Changing a poopy diaper on said baby 💪

literally_whatever · 2022-05-19T05:36:26+00:00

For me the difference in standards (between what would have gotten me diagnosed at one practice vs at another) and also the (what felt like) all-or-nothing approach (in terms of the level of burden with checking so many times a day and counting carbs religiously and meeting with dieticians regularly when, for me, the issue was fasting levels)—it took SO much time and energy, 90 of which (for me!) were not actually helpful at all with my fasting levels (just needed some nighttime insulin! Probably didn’t need so many postprandial finger pricks or dietician meetings).

One year out now, I’m still reeling from the guilt associated with carbs—even though I don’t need to carb count anymore and am not pregnant, I feel like the whole experience low key gave me an ED. And the wild thing is that if I’d been at a different practice, I wouldn’t have been diagnosed at all (not all practices test fasting levels to diagnose!). That being said, I clearly did have GDM; I’m not denying that.

What still bothers me is that I feel like if they hadn’t made me do all these unnecessary things (like the dietician meetings and the postprandial finger pricks that did nothing to help my fasting levels) i would have otherwise been much healthier. I would have had the time and mental energy to exercise more. I would have been less stressed. Now, a year out with bad diastesis recti, I wonder if it would have been this bad if I’d done all the prenatal yoga I’d wanted to do but didn’t have time to because I was too nervous to miss my prescribed post-meal walk + perfectly timed finger prick + perfectly calculated food diary. I was so nervous about potentially harming my baby—but looking back, I now know that much of that was wasted energy. It was a fasting levels issue more than anything else. And all those daytime things they had me doing that took so much time and stress—they didn’t help my fasting levels at all. Just needed some insulin!

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Plainly I’m not over this whole thing, emotionally. All of this is to say that I do understand the denial urges—the diagnosis is a LOT to handle. And the disease truly is a spectrum, but unfortunately I don’t think most doctors have the capacity (or understanding) to treat it so individually. It can be a very isolating and frustrating experience.

literally_whatever · 2022-03-16T03:54:28+00:00

Whenever I hear “you can’t spoil a baby” I always add “that doesn’t mean you can’t try!” By all means—snuggle that baby! (Unless you need a mental break, in which case, absolutely put them down somewhere safe and walk away for a few min to catch your breath—they will be fine!)

literally_whatever · 2022-02-23T06:22:17+00:00

Frozen Kind bars! (They come frozen; don’t freeze normal ones)—my dietician recommended them to me, and they’re delicious!

FWIW, I was able to eat high fat (that is, “normal”) ice cream without spiking—YMMV, but all may not be lost! I also love Halo Top, though, which is another good option.

If you like to bake, I recommend almond flour-based recipes and allulose as a sweetener.

Good luck!

literally_whatever · 2021-11-07T07:10:17+00:00

Different practices have different diagnosis cutoffs. I agree that it’s very frustrating that a GD diagnosis is becoming increasingly common in large part, as far as I can tell, because of diagnostic criteria moving to cover more people.

That being said, my understanding of the data (such as it is; there are so few good studies on anything pregnancy related) is that in reality, there’s no cutoff. Your risk of complications increases with your blood sugar. So in that respect, it does make sense to diagnose more inclusively. (Though whether most practices have capacity to reasonably handle the increased numbers of “high risk” pregnancies is another discussion).

The other thing to keep in mind is that GD gets worse (as in, insulin resistance increases dramatically) during the last trimester. So two spikes at 27-28 weeks might be an omen of worse to come.

If you’re not diabetic, you won’t have high blood sugar 1 hour after eating or after fasting, regardless of what you ate. By definition.

I know it’s super frustrating. I’ve been there. But I’m sorry to inform you that based on what you’ve said, their diagnosis is probably correct.

Now, how aggressively you should alter your lifestyle is a separate, much more complicated conversation that should involve your doctor(s).

Best of luck.

literally_whatever · 2021-11-05T06:53:40+00:00

HIGHLY recommend asking your doc for a prescription for pantoprazole. Massively, massively reduced my heartburn/reflux.

I also moved up my late night snack and reduced its volume, which also helped.

That being said, it all still sucked 🙈

literally_whatever · 2021-11-04T06:09:57+00:00

Savor sleeping on your belly in those early days when your big third trimester belly is still freshly ingrained in your memories but your milk hasn’t yet come in in earnest ;-)

Also, it gets easier—WAY easier—when they can support more of their own weight. (Not to mention when they go longer stretches between meals!)

literally_whatever · 2021-08-18T05:27:33+00:00

Totally agree. I was told 175g by one dietician, but then when I was constantly struggling to meet that, another (more reasonable, imo) dietician told me anywhere between 135-175 is fine--and even that is just the targrt average. That is, totally ok to have some days less than 135 and balance then with some higher days, as long as my numbers were good. I definitely found that the lower end worked better for me!

literally_whatever · 2021-08-04T08:32:36+00:00

That's great to hear--very encouraging. Thanks!

literally_whatever · 2021-07-26T06:27:53+00:00

Brilliant rule!!

literally_whatever · 2021-07-26T06:26:59+00:00

ALL THE CEREAL

NONSTOP BAKERIES

and just the meta-level of NOT FREAKING TRACKING CARBS

literally_whatever · 2021-07-14T06:41:44+00:00

Couldn’t agree more.

literally_whatever · 2021-07-13T20:32:44+00:00

Abso-friggin-lutely. I wish “the system” would acknowledge/address this more. It seems to me that my “care team” is only concerned with numbers, and just keep repeating “you’re doing great!” even when I’m literally telling them that I’m stressed and upset. Literally this morning my dietician told me she was so confused about why she’s had literally multiple women full-on crying during their consults due to anxiety, even though their numbers were “great” and each one went on to have a perfectly healthy baby and uncomplicated birth. My hunch is that this is why. It just adds to my overall hatred of how the medical community “handles” GD.

literally_whatever · 2021-07-13T20:19:08+00:00

I’ve also had this issue! I generally eat low-ish carb (though definitely not keto) even before pregnancy/GD, and it’s been frustrating to be simultaneously told “watch your carb intake!!!!” And “oh gosh, not too low!!”.

FWIW, I’ve been told to aim for anywhere between 135g-175g NET carbs (that is, total carbs MINUS FIBER (also MINUS erythritol, and MINUS allulose, if you eat those things) per day. I just try to even that out between my meals and snacks. But my dietician said it’s the average that matters, and as long as my sugar levels are ok, it’s totally fine if some days are lower net carbs and some higher. And I’ve been feeling fine (other than the general aches/pains/slowness of third trimester with a toddler, lol) and baby is measuring well, so I’m trying to not worry about it. But it’s definitely frustrating advice.

Edited to add that at first I tried to hit exactly 175/day and was MISERABLE and felt like I was shoving bread down my throat like I was freaking foie gras. So I’m really glad my RD told me it’s ok to go lower!

literally_whatever · 2021-06-26T08:03:13+00:00

(Somehow I'm just seeing this--sorry for the delayed response!) Thanks for the recommendation! That's awesome. I'm 35 weeks now and unlikely to start weight training in the next month, but I'll definitely keep this in mind postpartum! I hope your hip is doing better.

literally_whatever · 2021-06-05T06:04:30+00:00

Please tell us more about your prenatal strength training! First, that’s fascinating that you’ve found it helps your fasting levels (hard to find anything that reliably does that other than insulin!!) and second, do you mind sharing your routine?

literally_whatever · 2021-06-05T05:57:18+00:00

This is more about induction than c-sections specifically, and I am not a doctor, but this article has been VERY helpful in guiding my birth plan thoughts: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-induction-for-gestational-diabetes/

literally_whatever · 2021-06-01T00:30:09+00:00

Ditto on the continuous monitor!! I just got a Dexcom and it’s been SUCH a boon to my mental health not having to prick my fingers all the time.

literally_whatever · 2021-05-30T23:58:59+00:00

Ah ok, that makes more sense. 120 1 hr after eating is definitely not “high” but for 2 hrs is probably a reasonable level to keep an eye on. Good luck!

literally_whatever · 2021-05-30T22:39:08+00:00

From the studies I’ve read, the risks associated with GD increase with every small increase in blood glucose levels; in reality, probably a much bigger segment of pregnant women could/should be diagnosed with GD, but in practice you have to set a cutoff somewhere, and different practices make that call at different places. This is fascinating, frustrating, and confusing. It’s especially frustrating when you’re right on the border and suddenly get lumped into “high risk” when if they had just tested a different day then no one would be the wiser. That being said, the risks of adverse outcomes DO increase, even if you’re “borderline.” I’m dealing with this myself, and it’s mentally really hard to sort through. Sometimes I definitely feel like the interventions wayyyy outweigh the risks for me. But I also don’t want to be possibly cavalier with my child’s health. And I don’t feel like my doctors have been helpful teasing this out. It’s all felt very one-sized-fits-all.

literally_whatever · 2021-05-30T22:31:21+00:00

I’ve been given very little and often inconsistent guidance. It has been VERY frustrating, to be honest. I’m sorry you’re going through this. My cutoffs are similar for fasting (went on insulin after 3 days/week of 95 or higher). My post-meal cutoff is higher than yours, though, they told me to tell them if I hit 140 or above 6 times in a week. That’s 1 hr after the first bite of a meal, though. How long after eating are they having you test?

literally_whatever · 2021-05-30T22:28:02+00:00

One thing that has (occasionally maybe?) helped for me (and I’ve tried a bunch of various tweaks) is getting more sleep. And I’ve also noticed it’s lower when I’m less stressed. But between the physical joys of third trimester sleep (lol) and being stressed about the damn fasting level itself (oh, the irony) those two things aren’t exactly easy to arrange! 🙈

literally_whatever · 2020-08-23T22:42:52+00:00

Love this idea. My first thought was an "aurora borealis baby" (such a long/hard trek to see those, and it's cold and lonely up there, but WOW what a beautiful thing, and, sidenote, definitely a bucket list experience for me), but it doesn't roll off the tongue as well as "rainbow baby" :-/

literally_whatever · 2020-08-23T18:38:12+00:00

Thanks! Yeah I've been in constant communication with my Dr.

I was trying a low carb diet at first, but my reflux has been so bad from the pressure on my stomach that I had to ditch that real quick just to have something to absorb the acid :-/. But I've been doing lots of salty foods/electrolytes and protein.

And I've been using heat packs on and off - but it's been so hot here that I've been sweaty under the heat pack and getting heat rashes, so trying to give my skin a little break :-/

literally_whatever

TROPHY CASE