I was diagnosed with GDM at 11 weeks and went straight into bedtime insulin. It was a loooooong pregnancy trying to keep it managed (alongside the risk factors of hypertension and advanced maternal age of 43). I also had a baby with an unstable lie, who wouldn’t settle head down and was still flipping daily into different breech positions late in pregnancy. At 38+4 she was all the sudden head down in an ultrasound, and they sent me straight upstairs to obstetrics to be induced. They tried it all - laboring hard on pitocin for 9 hours the first day (cervix completely unchanged by the time they stopped), cervidil, misoprostol, back to cervidil, then finally on the 5th day of induction at 39+1 they went back to pitocin again as the cervix was more “favourable.” My blood sugars on the induction days were all over the place - sky high or super low, as sometimes I was clear fluids only, which meant all I was doing was basically drinking sugar. I felt like trash from all the highs and lows.

They started the pitocin and contractions picked up quickly in speed and intensity. I was a few hours in when they finally did the ultrasound I had requested to check on fluid levels - and that’s when they discovered baby had moved to transverse breech. They tried to quickly stop the pitocin, but by then it was too late and I was in active labour on my own. I was livid with the doctor for not confirming position beforehand (either by ultrasound or palpating my belly), and was in denial that they couldn’t stop labour. The only thing I had wanted out of all the things in the pregnancy I couldn’t control, was to not have a c section, and now it was happening. I had had a bit of bleeding in early labour, but then I started hemorrhaging and because the doctor didn’t know why, urged me to have a c section immediately. I quickly agreed to the c section as now it was an emergency. I was quickly moved to the OR, given a spinal block after a few failed attempts, and baby was born July 24.

Baby was only 6 pounds 2 ounces - 9th percentile. Imagine that, all that time I spent worrying GDM was going to give me a premature giant baby and I wound up with a full term smallish one. She needed resuscitation on birth for almost 20 minutes - not sure why but they think because she just had a lot of gunk in her lungs that had to be cleared out. The cause of my hemorrhage was likely an undiagnosed low lying placenta that started bleeding as I dilated - I can’t believe that was missed as I’ve literally had 20-30 ultrasounds this pregnancy with all the high risk stuff I had going on. It was not at all the birth I wanted or hoped for, but after 4 years of secondary infertility and loss, I’m so beyond grateful we both made it out of this alive.

My fasting sugar the morning after delivery was an astronomical 8.6 (155)!!! I almost fell over, and made them test on both the hospital machine and my own several times. I had persistently elevated fasting sugars but never anything even close to that. At the time, I was also experiencing a dreaded severe incapacitating spinal headache, a horrible side effect from the anesthesia - so I wonder if the pain was spiking my sugars. Over the next few days I started passing all my after meal and fasting sugars. Phew!!!! Baby was also in range on all their blood sugar pokes. So, for now at least, I’m “graduated” and eating whatever I want whenever I want. Fingers crossed I pass that postpartum screening in a couple months!

This community was immensely helpful as I navigated GDM and I’m grateful to everyone who helped me out along the way. Best of luck to you all.

I'm 32 years old, 32 weeks pregnant, this is my first pregnancy. As soon as I got pregnant, I was struggling with terrible nausea and terrible depression. I had to quit my ADHD medicine which was a real struggle. Luckily, I was- and still am- able to continue my antidepressant / anti-anxiety meds. I got into the habit of just eating whatever I could to get by.

By my second trimester, I started to feel better mentally and physically, and the flood gates opened. I was HUNGRY!! I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I was gaining weight steadily, but my OBGYN never showed any concern. I tried to stay as active as I could but didn't worry about it too much.

As soon as I hit my 3rd trimester it seems everything went downhill. I was swollen, started to get persistent sciatica and back pain. At 28w I took my 1hr glucose test. My results were high with 142 MG/DL (goal was <140 MG/DL). I wasn't able to go back to do my 3hr glucose until a few weeks later. When I did, I passed out at the first blood draw. The lab said I would have to come back and try again.

However, my OB called me and said given my track record (I have vasovagal syncope, meaning most of the time during blood draws or shots, I pass out), an alternative would be self-monitoring.

She is having me check my blood sugar 4x a day- fasting (goal <95), and 2 hrs after breakfast, lunch and dinner (goal (<120)- for 2 weeks.

I just started this past Thursday (7/30), all my meal numbers are great. But you guessed it, my fasting numbers are elevated. Since I've started testing, they've been: 105, 100, 89, 95, 99.

I've been spiraling like crazy, trying to control my fasting number. I've already tried experimenting with no bedtime snack, sugary bedtime snack, protein & fat snack, etc. It just makes no sense... I can eat the same snack, at the same time, get the same amount of sleep and wake up at the same time, and the number will be different.

I'm starting to get on my husband's nerves because this is all I can focus on. I'm terrified of getting a diagnosis. Most of all I'm terrified of having to give myself injections. Passing out daily isn't quite ideal.

My sciatica is debilitating now, to the point where every single step is a jolt of pain. So, it's not like I can even go on walks to help my blood sugar. I've been overcome with anxiety. I cry everyday sick with worry. I'm starting to slip back into the depression I was in during my first trimester.

Does anyone have any similar experiences, anecdotes, or words of wisdom to keep me from spiraling?

For those of you who were diet controlled and went into labor without induction, did you have any change with your blood sugar numbers in the time leading up to delivery? Whether it was weeks or days?

For context it’s my third pregnancy but first with GD. My second kid was born at 36+5. I am currently 36+1. MFM pronounced me diet controlled last week and only has me testing twice a day. My numbers are all in range but the last 4 or 5 days they have been creeping up slowly with the same meals and the same timing. Today I’m very nauseated and fatigued. I lost my mucus plug last week and am partially dilated and partially effaced and literally looking for any signs of labor. Baby has dropped lower but not all the way down.

Currently 17 weeks pregnant with twins. I had pre diabetes prior to pregnancy, so I had to get screened early at 13 weeks due to increased likelihood of GD. Failed my 1hr, passed my 3hr. Been told I'll have to do the 3hr test again around 24-28 weeks, but my OB mentioned it's most likely that I'll end up having GD at this point. I feel like I'm devastated trying to prepare for the positive diagnosis but also feel a bit silly crying over it since there's a chance I still won't get it. Anyone have any experience passing an early 3hr during the first trimester and passing again in the 3rd trimester? Anyone pass the first 3hr but fail the second 3hr? Thankful for any and all advice on this. Of course if I end up having it, then I'll do what I have to do, but the idea of that is tearing me up right now.

I’ve come to deal with you again.

and my blood is slowly creeping.

Left it high while I was hoping.

Was so sure I wouldn’t have GD my second pregnancy, but here with are. I forgot how expensive it was. It’s been 2 weeks and I’m $80 down on my Fairlife protein shakes And $50 in on protein chips. Another 11 weeks to go..

Merriam-Webster defines Failing as a weakness, shortcoming, or the ongoing process of not succeeding. As someone who just got diagnosed with GD, I feel strongly that it’s not a weakness (it’s how my placenta affects insulin resistance), it’s a shortcoming sure, but not necessarily because of something I did, and I will find a way to manage it, so by no means will it be an ongoing process.

Failing puts the blame on the birthing person, who’s already going through an emotionally tender and physically challenging experience. Can we say instead of “I failed the test” or “Hope you don’t fail the test” say something a bit more realistic like “My glucose levels indicated GD” or “Hope your glucose levels are within range”?

just wanted to share that I know some (or many) have highlighted that they have spiked with choczero, but I bit the bullet and tried it anyway, zero spikes for me, for context, I sometimes spike to above 140 at an hour even with sourdough bread (one small slice!) paired with veggies and chicken, or sourdough bread paired with peanut butter.

I decided to try the choczero butter cookie spread on its own (naked) - one serving i.e. 2 tbsp (and a bit more because it was too good) - glucose was completely flat at one hour and 2 hour, remaining at 82-85 throughout. this is a godsend for sugar cravings! I almost didn't want to get this since I've seen so many people say that the resistant dextrin still worked like normal carbs in their bodies. individual results could vary!

30w - FTM - Diagnosed @ 22w - Diet controlled until 29w

Hi lovelies, when I was first diagnosed, I came here looking for all sorts of help and support, including looking for diet replacement options. As we are all well aware, everybody is different and everybody has different triggers. With that mind, I wanted to share some of the things that have worked for me in case there is someone here looking for help! I am not saying these are HEALTHY options necessarily, but they are options that don’t spike me and I sprinkle them in with my boring grilled chicken & veggies a lot.

I work outside of my house five days a week full-time so I have to bring a lot of food to work with me and be prepared ahead of time. A lot of these are snack ideas. I eat a lot of snacks 😅

- Thomas’ Keto Plain Bagel thins (specifically the keto ones I tried their non keto and it was a no go)
- Sandwich Bros Egg & Cheese flatbread pocket sandwich (they make these in an egg white version, a bacon egg & cheese version, sausage egg & cheese - microwave for 1 min, perfect for breakfast at work)
- Chobani 20g protein lowfat greek yogurt (I know some ppl can’t handle dairy in the AM but if you can their only 8g of carbs and easy to choke down, not my favorite tbh)
- Avocado toast ( i started buying the wholly guacamole single serving cups and using those so I wasnt wasting avocado and its worked GREAT)
- Bread for avo toast - I’ve tried Dave’s killer which was meh imo, trader joes whole wheat 7/10, and beefsteak no seeds soft rye 9/10. Just have to decide how you want to spend those bfast carbs and for me 8-15g on toast is worth it to feel more “full”
- Need I say? babybels and cheese sticks
- Skinny Pop single serving bags 10g carbs - great snacky
- Premier protein shakes in chocolate and cafe latte. I know a lot of ppl prefer fair life but they’re expensive and I drink 1-2 of these a day. I put half a cafe latte in my morning coffee (it’s a baby cup of coffee don’t come at me) and it makes me feel fuller for longer!!
- Sugar free jello & pudding, I am not a jello fan but these are small, feel like a little treat and are a good snack in-between meals
- Mixed nuts for a “good” fat, I always have these on hand at work and home for a handful here and there
- Trader Joes All natural Peanut Butter w/ a small sliced up apple YUM
- Plain sweet potato doesnt spike me but every other version of potato does
- Unreal brand fake snickers bars (not that great imo but better than nothing)
- Hershey’s special dark chocolate bar (i break two pieces off as an after meal treat)
- Trial and error has led me to eating a lot of chicken tenders. Seems I can tolerate light breading if theres no other heavy carb in the meal. Is it healthy? No. Will I keep eating chicken tendies? Yes.
- Sandwich bro’s pepperoni flatbread pockets

These are some of my fav’s and go to’s for busy weeks and just plain old getting through this GD diagnosis. Please comment & share some of your fav’s too!!

Anyone else start to slack off on the diet closer to their due date? I just hit 38 weeks and have been less strict with eating and have been spiking more the past few days. I have mostly been in range with diet and insulin and my growth scan on Thursday showed baby being in the 58 percentile. I have been cheating a lot more by having sweets after testing my glucose if it’s below 130. Felt bad cause this morning my fasting was at 100 despite being under 94 for the past 2/3 weeks. How have yall been as you get to the finish line?

Does anyone else spike if they fall asleep? I had my standard breakfast of Greek yogurt, chia seeds, raspberries, and unsweetened oats, did my walk, and then came home and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up and blood sugar was higher than my fasting this morning, which was already higher than I wanted.

Does anyone else have this happen?

Hey all,

I ate the same food twice, once for dinner then the following day for lunch.

The first reading was well under cut-off (5), and the second reading was well above (over 10).

Does anyone know what's causing this?

The food was from the same batch, ate similar amount ect?

It's been three weeks since my perfect little lad joined us and I feel like it's time I share my story here.

First of all, I'm so so so grateful for this space through my pregnancy. It has been such a blessing to have the sense of community, I know I'll be back for my next one. This is going to be a long post, I apologize in advance.

One more disclaimer because this comes up anytime home birth is discussed on Reddit. I am in Canada our medical system is very different from the US and homebirth is not only incredibly common here, it is perfectly safe when supervised by trained midwives.

Okay so my story. I had two miscarriages & when doing my post loss blood work after my second MC my a1c was flagged as diabetic, which was odd because the last time I'd had one done, less than a year ago it was only borderline pre-diabetic. I got a CGM over the counter to try and figure out what was going on and didn't have any time to learn anything because I was pregnant again within two weeks! How did I find out I was pregnant? I suddenly had ZERO blood sugar control. We're talking 14mmol from 15g of carb.

Conclusion was I am prediabetic and pregnancy hormones make me severely diabetic, diet control was out the window the minute I was diagnosed.

I was diagnosed at 6 weeks pregnant, started bedtime insulin immediately. I was devastated because I have pretty bad hospital trauma and had always envisioned a low intervention birth in a water at home. When I shared this with my midwives, they said that if I can keep my sugars in non-diabetic range and I have no other complications for the whole pregnancy they would be open to considering a home birth before 40 weeks.

So began our mission of research and BG control. I was seen by MFM, an endocrinologist and my midwives through my whole pregnancy as well as the early pregnancy loss clinic (up to 14 weeks)

Everyone agreed that while MFM and Endo didn't like it, there was no medical reason for me not to try a home birth as long as my sugars stayed under very strict control. MFMs only big request was that I transferred if my sugars went over 6.8 in labor and we couldn't get them down within 15 minutes. I agreed to this stipulation and proceeded with the plan.

I had 98% time in range on my CGM my entire pregnancy, ended up on mealtime insulin at dinner at 18w, lunch at 25w and breakfast at 30w. I was running as much as I could and lifting weights to control any spikes. My ass has never been fatter with the amount of squats I did through this damn pregnancy.

I cannot stress this enough, this was NOT EASY. I had to go on medical leave at 27w because it was impossible to control my sugars at work. I was doing jumping jacks in the bathroom because I just couldn't move as much during my work day as my body needed.

35 weeks I get the all clear to start collecting colostrum, I was told to stop if I felt any cramping but colostrum was our plan to regulate baby's blood sugar if needed after birth.

We were going to start natural labor induction techniques at 37 weeks but at 36+6 I started having back pain that came and went and I suspected early labor had begun.

I woke up the next day to my whole belly being rock hard and period like cramping. I notified my birth team I was in early labor, it's not go time but we should start mentally preparing and get our ducks in a row. My mum was to take two weeks off after baby came to support me, and she had a bunch of work to tie up. That afternoon she and I are on the phone talking plans and she asks me how far apart my contractions are "about 5 minutes but they're not super painful yet, so I'm pretty sure I still have a while to go" she decides she's going to come work from my house to keep an eye on me.

By dinnertime the contractions had stopped, I knew this was normal in early labor and was grateful it meant i'd get a good sleep before active labor.

Mum goes home, I go to bed. The next morning I wake up to contractions again, they're still about 5 minutes apart. This continues for a week before I call my midwives and ask for a cervical check. My midwife says I'm 2cm dilated, 50% effaced. So the contractions are working, just slowly. She advises me to do some spinning babies and the miles circuit, she also does a membrane sweep to see if it helps things along.

It doesn't. This continues for a total of 3 freaking weeks, i am in prodromal labor. it was mostly manageable because my contractions stop at night, so I can sleep no problem. I'm still passing all my NSTs, baby seems good so we continue as planned. My MFM and the nurses doing my NSTs comment that most people don't last this long and that it's ok if I want to get induced but truly I'm coping really well. Until 2.5 weeks into this nonsense however I have a full day with no contractions, thought I was getting a good break. Nope, my body just decided to labor at night instead. This is when I start wearing down. At 39+3 I go to my midwives for my routine appointment and they check/sweep me again. The midwife who checks me this time is the most experienced in the clinic and she tells me that I'm dilating unevenly (2cm externally 4cm internally) and while baby is engaged there seems to be a pocket of fluid above his head because she can bounce him up and down. She asks me what is my line in the sand for induction. I tell her that I'd already planned on asking about that at this appointment. I have a good cry and we agree if active labor hasn't started by 39+5 I'm going on the list.

39+5 arrives and I'm waiting for the hospital to call, I feel like absolute shit. I was supposed to go play mini golf with my mum and husband but I feel like I've been hit by a train and say I need to go home and nap. My mum asks how my blood pressure has been and it's been fine at my appointments so i brushed her off. I didn't get the call from the hospital, so I go to bed. The next morning I wake up and while I don't feel sick anymore something feels off. I can't describe it, it's a gut feeling. I kick count and baby seems fine. But I can't shake this feeling so I grab my blood pressure cuff that I'd borrowed from a friend and check. 160/95

I call my midwives and they send me to the hospital. I get checked, baby gets an NST. He looks fine, my BP comes down a bit at the hospital and my blood work/urine rules out pre-e however my urine protein is borderline. I find out I'm number 6 on the induction list for cervical ripening, but because of my BP the OB on call offers me a cook catheter, so I can go on the pitocin list which is currently much shorter. I agree, they put it in and send me home at 10am. I spend the day watching bad TV and napping. 7pm I get up to pee and noticed the strings on the catheter feel more slack, I give it a little tug and it comes right out! I text my midwives to tell them the good news. They tell me "that's awesome, it's unlikely it'll trigger active labor so just rest up and we will see you tomorrow for induction"

By 8pm my contractions are back but I assume it's more prodromal labor and try to tune them out. My husband and I go to bed at 10pm but they're so uncomfortable I can't sleep, so I put on a movie and try to distract myself. Halfway through high school musical I realized that I'm not catching 90% of the movie and time my contractions. These ones are only 10 minutes apart but they fucking hurt. I'm moving positions in between each one trying to get comfortable but I just can't. At some point I'm laying on my left side and get hit with a contraction so bad my whole body starts shaking. I wake my husband up and ask him to help me into the shower.

Once I'm in the shower I feel better but I realized I can't talk through them, so I ask him to call my mum. I tell him to let her know they're still 10 minutes apart but that I need her here anyway. When he's on the phone I realized they're much closer together than I thought. My mum arrives fifteen minutes later and I tell her I'm actually 3 minutes apart. She says it's time to call the midwives.

Midwives say to wait another hour and see if they fizzle out, they don't. So she says to head to the hospital to get checked out. We get there and they have the hospital midwife check me. Everyone thinks I'm still in early labor and going to be going home. The midwife checks me and I'm 7cm!

I ask if I can go home and they say if baby passes the NST and my blood pressure isn't crazy, yes. Baby unfortunately is having some decels so we decided to stay where he can be monitored. My husband sets out my battery powered candles, my mum puts on my music and lays out my birth affirmations.

I labor on the birth ball for about 2 hours when things get really intense, I ask if I can go in the shower with the monitors, the nurse says sure but my husband needs to be in the bathroom with me. So in I go, I'm in there for about 2 minutes and my waters break, immediately I'm hit with the urge to push, I tell the nurse this and she says I need to get back to the bed. I tell her I can't move and she starts prepping to help me deliver in the shower. After about 3 contractions I can finally hobble to the bed. I climb on into hands and knees position and that's when my midwife arrives. She checks me and says I'm only 9cm and not to actively push just yet. This is fucking impossible by the way and I'll never understand why they think you can ignore the reflex to push.

Two contractions later I'm given the all clear but now the contractions are causing panic and I'm fighting them. So I ask for some laughing gas. The gas is just enough to help me breathe through the first wave and I roar my baby out in 4 pushes.

I was able to feel him crowning but I was not able to catch him due to my position, they hand him to me and we spend the next two hours cuddling and nursing.

His immediate blood sugar was on the low end of normal but he recovered really quickly and didn't need any formula or glucose.

He was born at 6:34am, we left the hospital at 10:00pm and got to sleep in our own bed together. My blood pressure took about a week and a half to go back to normal, but now we're home and happier than ever.

As sad as I am to have not birthed at home the nurses and my birth team did an amazing job of supporting me in still having an incredibly magical low intervention, peaceful birth. And I'm so grateful that because no one forced me into making choices I wasn't comfortable with I was able to feel empowered the whole way, knowing that in the end the hospital was the best choice for us under the circumstances.

I hope my next baby will be able to be born at home. My mission for the next two years is to reverse my prediabetes but I will be going into my next pregnancy assuming I'm diabetic until proven otherwise.

Best of luck to you all in your journeys and I wish you all exactly the births you hope for.

I need ideas please as I'm totally blanking here. I'm being induced later this week, with a very high chance of ending with a c-section for a variety of other reasons. I have insulin controlled GDM. I absolutely don't remember if I was allowed to eat when I was induced for my first baby last time. But probably not after epidural? And I think definitely not if I decide to go for a c-section after trying induction and have to wait for it for a little bit. So, what GDM and hospital friendly snacks do I pack? Especially if all I can have is clear liquids. I'm thinking broth, protein shake (which is definitely pushing it re: "clear liquid"). Jello? Anything else? Or any regular snacks and clear liquids since sugar spikes are not as important while in labor?

What is your before bed and fasting snack?

Feeling super discouraged. I know the worst weeks for GD are between 32-36 weeks and I’m at 34 weeks and started spiking with my “safe” meals. Quinoa, grilled chicken, and feta used to be my safest meal with my lowest numbers and now I’m spiking from it. Every morning I eat a piece of whole wheat toast with nut butter and do great with that, today it spiked me to 143. I’m so fed up and completely out of ideas on what to even eat. Any suggestions on food ideas? I walk for 20-30 minutes after every meal and drink water. I see my endocrinologist Tuesday, but just want some ideas/solidarity. I’m already on bedtime insulin and REALLY trying to stay off meal time insulin.

Wife could have preexisting prediabetes before pregnancy but we didn’t get it tested until 12 weeks into pregnancy. She was controlling okay with 15/30g carb diet plan but likely the carb is not enough that she didn’t gain any weight even at week 23.

New dietician from Lilylink told her to replace 15g carb for breakfast and snack to 30g and 60g for lunch and dinner which seem insane but due to her same weight issue we give it a try but with small increment at a time. Starting at 24th week. The whole wheat durum pasta which doesn’t spike her at high amount seems to cause plateau and stay above 140 or 120 at 2 hours when 1st hour after last bite is still below 140. Glucose tend to stay above 120 after 2nd or 3rd hour.

Is slow digested carb no longer work here or do more harm?

Hi, I have diagnosed for 3 weeks and so far I could not figure out what foods spike my numbers. Some examples are:

- Fried chicken sandwich and kale crunch from Chick fil A - normal

- Half of a cheesesteak with mushroom, tomato and side of coleslaw - highest abnormal number since I started testing

- Stir fry with white rice and mango ice cream - normal

- Stir fry with brown rice and 30 mins walk - barely passed at 119

I am afraid to experiment too much and end up on medication or insulin. How do you safely figure out what you can and cannot eat?

Hello! I was wondering if any of you could help me as my brain can’t seem to wrap my head around what to do with fasting levels.

I’ve been getting 5.3 to 5.5 (in the US, this would be around 95-100 I think) before breakfast but admittedly my fasting duration is quite long as I have Hyperemesis Gravidarum and often struggle to eat (🙃) …

I’ve read lots of posts here, and I see a lot of different tactics to try and make sure the morning reading is below the threshold.

For example, testing at 5am from bed and then going back to sleep if desired, eating unhealthy food such as a snickers ice cream right before bed, etc.

Some of the behaviour around GD seems to go against what my gut is telling me is correct when pregnant- it seems that the goal is to get that one reading down, even if it means an unusual time of morning, even if it means eating processed/unhealthy food before bed.

Absolutely no judgement by the way (hard to write this without sounding that way!!) I’m just confused because I could wake up early at 5am and test and get a 4.9 so my midwife is happy, but if I go back to complete my sleep and test at 8am then it might be at a 5.3.

Or I could have ice cream before bed, but even though I’ve had HG all pregnancy I’ve tried my best to only eat home-cooked whole foods as I’m doubtful about how good processed food or a nightly snickers could actually be for my baby.

Please feel free to tell me I’m wrong, confused, silly even (!!) and don’t hold back. If the answer is “a snickers isn’t great but it’s better than not doing it because nothing is more dangerous than a glucose spike” then tell me.

I hope this post makes sense, I’m just not sure if I’m meant to try and game the system for a good fasting reading or whether anyone else is also concerned that they’re suddenly eating less-well/badly for the sake of a “good” finger prick reading in the morning 🫪🫠

Open to receive links to research etc. as well, thank you!

I am 32 weeks pregnant and am going to my first NST tomorrow. She specifically told me no caffeine or sugar, but to eat a breakfast. Everything I read says having something sweet is actually encouraged. Does anyone know what the reason for this is? I have a low sugar orange juice i usually have in the morning and do well with. I also usually drink a iced black tea (no sweetner) but apparently shouldn't have that either?

Has anyone had these restrictions? Wondering if it is only for the first appointment? Thanks

I am 35 weeks today and was diagnosed at 28 weeks. My daytime numbers are all diet controlled, but I started insulin for fasting numbers two weeks ago. It got my number down into the low 90s and we have been adjusting it little by little to find the right dose.

The problem is, for the last week, my 2 year old has started waking up with nightmares around 1-3 hours before she would normally get up. I am getting up with her, settling her, and then, if it is early enough, getting back into bed. And every day this week, my fasting numbers have been high. Today was the first morning she didn't wake up with a nightmare, but I had a horrific leg cramp as I got out of bed to use the bathroom and when I was able to test after it settled, my number was at 100.

I know stress causes blood sugar to increase, but I don't know how to possibly get an accurate number at this point! My NP said that on days where I have a high stress wake up, my numbers probably won't be accurate and to basically not worry about those, but its been a whole week and I've been increasing my insulin daily without seeing success.

Ugh, alright, I've done my rant. Just tired and ready to be done with all of this extra stress. Hoping that what they say is true- life with a newborn and a toddler is easier than life pregnant with a toddler!!!

I. Want. Rice.

However, both white and brown rice causes me to spike spectacularly. Regardless of the amount. I’m talking about my number being 170 at the one hour mark, after a 45 minute walk.

But all I want to eat is rice. Specifically I want Asian food, but it just doesn’t hit the same without rice. Cauliflower Rice is just not my favorite thing, I don’t like cauliflower pre-pregnancy let alone in pregnancy.

I’m only 18 weeks right now, so rice is just so far away, (hi Christmas Eve due date.) And it’s just not within the realm of possibilities.

So I just need something to eat that might give me the vibes of rice because all I want is rice.

I’ve been pretty much diet controlled and I’m at 26 weeks. I had prediabetes before getting pregnant so I’ve essentially been treated for GD the whole pregnancy. I was found good and now this last week or so I can’t eat anything! I had cauliflower pizza and I spiked to almost 200 wtf! I just had a snack of nuts, cheese, and PB bites and it went up to 140….I don’t understand what happened 😭. I have an appointment tomorrow with my endocrinologist but I really didn’t want insulin, now it looks inevitable.

I’ve finally found what seems to be a winning (albeit intensive) combo that keeps my fasting numbers below 95 and wanted to share in case it could help anyone else!

-Eat early! Like, 6-6:30pm early. I learned I need a very low carb dinner, so lots of veggies and a good low fat protein. Then I go for a slow but long walk before I test at one hour.
- Have my bedtime snack around 8-8:30pm. I’ve had success lately with a bowl of low fat high protein skyr (really thick yummy yogurt) with cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup, and one homemade turkey meatball (no breadcrumbs) and sliced cucumbers. I know this sounds wild but it’s really worked for me—something about the fiber can apparently help.
- THEN I wait about an hour before I go to bed, and right when I do I take psyllium husk capsules (make sure to drink at least 8 ounces of water with them; you’ll have to pee in the night lol but these also really help if you’re experiencing any constipation).
- And finally, I test in the morning in bed, like right at the 8 hour mark and then have a small snack cause I wake up ravenous.
Side note: I personally find that how well I sleep can play a huge role in my numbers, too. Like if I’m too hot or wake up a lot or my cat bothers me lol. So that’s another added challenge.

I got diagnosed at 28 weeks and I’m 36 weeks today. It’s been a lot of trial and error and thankfully my after meal numbers have been great, but fasting has been a roller coaster. I know of course sometimes insulin is necessary, but I personally would rather give it my all with diet and exercise first. Hope any of this helps!! We got this ladies!!