Gestational Diabetes Part 1

I am annoyed that numbers now rule my life. In school, I was never very good at math, and it’s because numbers are the enemy. I agonize over what they represent and how they now control important aspects of my life.

A couple of weeks ago, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I now have to prick my finger until it bleeds and feed it to a machine that gives me a number. A number that determines what I can and can’t eat, and if I am going to be stabbing my finger for blood, I at least want the outcome to be what I want. Unfortunately, my body doesn’t agree with me. Similar to the way numbers now govern my diet, hormones now control my insulin.

Here is a quick explanation of what gestational diabetes is.

The hormones from my placenta mess with the way my body produces insulin. If my body doesn’t make enough insulin, any sugars/carbohydrates I consume can increase my glucose levels. This could lead to overweight babies or early delivery, neither of which is safe for myself or my baby. The worst part is as my placenta grows larger, my blood sugar becomes harder to control.

What I have to do now

1. Measure my sugar levels four times a day

   1. First thing in the morning (fasting sugar levels)

   2. Two hours after breakfast

   3. Two hours after lunch

   4. Two hours after dinner

   5. I also don’t eat snacks two hours after meals to avoid skewed results.

2. Eat foods that are low in sugar/carbohydrates.

3. Exercise after meals

Here is what I’ve been eating

My Gestational Diabetes Diet

Breakfast

• Whole wheat tortilla (I had to cut this out after two weeks because it was spiking my sugars)

• 1/4 Onion

• 4 Cherry tomatoes

• 1/4 Pepper

• 1 Grapefruit (I later substituted it with small orange and berries)

• Water

APPROXIMATE TOTAL CARBS= 31.12

Lunch

• 1/2 zucchini/eggplant

• 5 Mushrooms

• 1/4 Onion

• Tofu

• 2 tbsp. Tzatziki

• Unsweetened Almond milk

• Frozen fruit

• Frozen Spinach

• Protein Powder

APPROXIMATE TOTAL CARBS= 16.2

Snacks

Celery & Hummus

Seedwise Chocolate Clusters (Link Here→ https://seedwise-snacks.myshopify.com/)

Cluster Crunch

Oatmeal Almond Flour Muffin with Dark Chocolate chips

Carbonuat Bread,

2 tbsp. Peanut Butter (My favourite brand is called Fatso)

Dinner

*My family likes to make Chef’s plate for dinner, so I usually substitute the carb with cauliflower rice, which can keep my sugars down.

So far, the only good thing about this diagnosis is that I'll be induced at 39 weeks instead of waiting for the little guy to come out when he feels like it. I am currently 34 weeks, and I am so ready for him to come out.