Diabetic Pregnancy Diet

I had Gestational Diabetes, and the diet I followed was a low carb diet. My Carbs were limited to 30grams carbs for breakfast, 60 grams for lunch, and 60 grams for dinner. Then two snacks a day at 15grams. It worked really well for me, and I only gained 15 pounds the whole pregnancy! My baby was 8lbs 2oz and 21 1/2 inches at 40 weeks when he was born. I didnt find I had diabetes out untill I was 28 weeks pregnant, so I started the diet then. So I think if you start a little earlier than that, the baby shouldnt be too big. Foods high in proteien I found were great. So chicken breasts are excellent. Also if you are eating something with dietary fiber you can subtract the amount of grams from the carbs. For example if there are 30gram total carbs, but 10 grams dietary fiber, you would count that as 20 grams. If you ever have any questions feel free to send me a message. I would love to help in any way I can. Good Luck

I had gestational diabetes. It was pretty tough to follow the diet, but I also had to do it through the holiday season (cookies, pies etc). Now that it is getting to be warm out, you will have more options for fruits and veggies. I started my diet in my 5th month (the day before Thanksgiving to be exact). It was allowed 30 grams of carbs for breakfast, 45 for lunch and 60 for dinner. I was also allowed a carb serving (15 grams) for my snack between each meal and after dinner. The key is to eat a lot of protein and fruits and veggies. Some veggies (ie-corn) are considered carbs, and so is dairy believe it or not. I ate a lot of cheese and peanut butter to keep myself full. Good luck, it is tough but it works. My daughter was less than 6 pounds and I was on meds!

I would recommend talking to your doctor, because even a healthy diet can produce a "moose baby." My second child was 3 weeks early and 9lbs. 2 oz.

It's actually pretty easy to follow a diabetic diet. Avoid refined sugar in ALL forms. These can include fructose, sucrose, maltose, etc., so read food labels! The only sugar you should have is the kind found in fresh (not canned) fruit, and then only in moderation. Fresh veggies in your diet are a must!

Watch your refined starches, too. Things made from white flour, like white bread and pasta, should be avoided. Focus on whole grains, but don't go overboard. A single serving is 1 slice of bread.

Reduce your milk intake (lactose is a sugar, too), but remember to take your calcium supplement. Yogurt (plain, unsweetened) is great with a little fresh fruit.

Make sure you get plenty of lean protein, and your fats should come from healthy, high-density sources like olive oil and nuts.

Good luck to you!

I was Diabetic during my pregnancy and, although I never cheated on my prescribed diet, it was very difficult to follow after two trimesters of eating whatever I wanted (and using the pregnancy "eating for two" excuse). I would recommend starting the diet as soon as possible. Since you don't have Gestational Diabetes, you even have the option to ease into the diet rather than quit bad eating habits cold turkey like I did. It certainly can't hurt anything. The very most important thing... drink plenty of water! If/when I get pregnant again, I plan to go back on that diet immediately in hopes of avoiding Diabetes altogether.

K.,

I had gestational diabetes (just barely failed the sugar tolerance test) with both my babies. Well, that's to be expected where they currently have the levels set and given I didn't reproduce until I was 35. Anyway, both boys were completely average (7 lb 2 oz and 7 lb 4.6 oz), and I had natural childbirth with both. I was completely religious with the diet and never went on insulin. I recorded everything I ate, at what time, the included carbs, protein, fats, and total calories.

The only problem with the diabetic diet is that I was generally constantly hungry, which made me grumpy. I ate three meals per day and three snacks, did not surpass my calorie recommendations, and ate at the time intervals required. I ate plenty of cheese, meat, and vegetables.

One big cautionary note: when you go OFF the diabetic diet, you better institute a good exercise plan because your body will decide all on its own to suddently pack on the pounds.

I wish you well, and hope you have a wonderful pregnancy. If you have any other questions, just write.

K.

Hi,

My friend had gestational diabetes while pregnant and her Dr gave her a guideline to follow, so I am sure yours will too. I know that it's really imporant to avoid sugary things such as: jelly, sugar, honey, etc. anyhing with added sugar is a no no. I know it was also important for her to have a snack before bed so that her blood sugar didn't drop while sleeping. She also watched her calory intake and avoided too many carbs and starchy foods. High fiber foods were really important, which also helped to regulate her blood sugar, so she ate lots of veggies, bran, cereal, and fresh fruit. Basically no crappy foods lol. She was on a 3 meal, 2 snacks a day diet, all rich in fiber and protein, with a limited amount of carbs. I would say the sooner you can start the better. If you think about it, it's not really a diet, just a better way of eating, which we all should be following lol. Unfortunatly, when I was pregnant, I craved mcdonalds! Probably why I gained 40 lbs and only had a 6 lb baby lol. Good luck!

i was gestational diabetic during my pregnancy-I did my best to follow the diet-it was hard. I had gained 80 pounds any way but the baby was only 7 lb 12 oz but i was also on medication to control the diabetes-best bet eat a lot of fruit/veggies/protein ie chicken/beef stay away from high fat/carbs which should help you- btw I lost 60 lbs of my wieght gain in less than 10 weeks thank goodness!

well congrats on #3. I had my third and hopefully last baby October 2005 and with the last 2 I was a diabetic. My doctor sent me to a dietician and I had a pretty strict diet to follow. Basically I had to avoid all white flour...rice, white bread..pizza:(....now I was on insulin so mine may have been more strict. I couldn't drink any kind of juice because if u think about it..it takes alot of pieces of fruit to make a cup of juice...lots of water whole grains and tons of veggies...let me know if this helped ort if you have any other ??...good luck

HI K.- I was diagnosed with diabetes at my firsrt prenatal visit so had to follow a diabetic diet throughout. The best thing to do is watch your carbs as they are what increases your blood sugar. Also, the pregnancy hormones increase your blood sugar in the mornings so a low carb breakfast is important. I was also told to avoid milk and fruit in the morning and after supper because of the carbs. My Dr also didn;t want me to drink juice because the sugar is very concentrated. I hope some of this helps....Good luck!

Being from a family that has big babies (My son was around 8 pounds, I was over 9, one of my cousins nearly 12.) I think that this is more genetics than something that can be controlled by diet, at least not healthily. Be sure to talk to your doctor before trying the diet.

Hi K.,
I don't have any experience with diabetes, gestational or otherwise, so you can do what you wish with my opinions! :)

I agree with a couple of the other moms that responded. Big babies don't necessarily come from having diabetes. My aunt had two large children- 10lbs and 9lbs- and she didn't have diabetes with either of them. Don't put yourself on a strict diet without consulting your midwife/doctor first. In the end, you might have another "moose" baby anyway.

Congrats on # 3!

I was diagnosed with gestional diabetes at about 16 weeks with my daughter, now 5 1/2 months. I am slightly overweight, with a history of it in the family & over 35. My doctor sent me to a nutritionist & she was a lot of help. I didn't find the diet to hard to follow, because I was already eating most of the stuff. My problem was portion control. It was just watching carbs & sugar. I also was advised not to eat/drink fruit before 11am & snacked 2-3 times a day. I would recommend seeing a nutritionist if possible. I was surprised that for me it was easy to follow. Good luck
PS, my daughter was only 6# 12oz at 38 weeks.

Despite even doing a diabetic diet, you still may end up with a moose baby, lol. I hate to tell ya that. Some women just have larger babies. But if you really want to do the diet (I HAD to, and I don't recommend doing it if you're really not into it), start with researching it on the web. There are so many rules and no-no foods...too many to list. But as a basic overview, it's a low carb/sugar diet. Berries are a great thing to eat. Cereals, ice cream, chips, cakes, cookies, are all out. Switch to low sugar jams/jellies. Switch to Splenda if you're a sugar person for coffee or on your cereals. Watch the cereals, carbs tend to be higher. Frosted flakes is a good one, surprisingly, as far as carb count. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabeticdiet.html That's a wonderful site, with much more information than anyone could share here. Congrats on your pregnancy!! Have a happy, healthy 9 months!! :-)

...I did have a friend who went through this, and if my memory serves correctly, I think she followed something similar to a South Beach Diet (nothing too pre-packaged, though - more of the nuts and bolts of the diet - low carb, high protein, low sugar, lots of veggies, etc.). And as far as asking your doc or midwife, I would definitely take the info they give you and meet with a nutritionist as well (who has experience with both pregnant women and diabetes) since docs are *not* trained in nutrition, but nutritionists and dieticians *are* specialists in diet, nutrition, etc.

Congrats on your pregnancy, and best of luck with making the dietary changes - I'm sure they'll be well worth it, so hang in there and "just do it"!

I was diagnosed with GD at 20 weeks.
The diet they gave me was a low carb diet. No calorie restriction though. I could have 25 carbs for breakfast, 60 for lunch and 60 for dinner plus 3 snacks of 15 carbs each.
I could have all the Protine and veggies (except starchy ones coz they are full of carbs) i wanted.
Avoid skin on your chicken. Avoid large portions of Fruits as they are loaded with sugars. Small portions are ok. Do the measuring thing. Sugary/carbed foods are good in portions of 1/2 - 1 cup size which is about the same as your fist.
The thing I remember the most is the restriction on milk. Milk is weird to have a restriction on during pregnancy because of the need for calcium, but its loaded with carbs aparently. I ended up getting a calcium break in my hand when i bumped it on the wall. From then on I had to take calcium supliments.
I followed the diet very religiously but I still ended up having to take insulin shots :(
My son was born exactly on the 35 week mark, (the day before was 34 weeks and 6 days.. lol) he was 5lbs 14.8oz which is big for him being so early.

Good luck with your diet!
and
Congradulations on number 3 !!

If you are at risk for GD, it does not 'automatically' mean that your baby will be a big baby BUT you are at risk for having a larger baby. Here's why:

During pregnancy, the extra hormones your body is making actually hinders the body's ability to use insulin. The pancreas sometimes cannot keep up with the demand, leading to GD. Improper levels of insulin mean that all the glucose won't be processed and the main concern is that it'll end up in the baby's blood. In turn, the baby's pancreas has to work harder to try and either process the glucose or make more insulin. Strangely enough this can cause the baby's body to create more fat, especially in the upper body area - a condition known as macrosmia (9 pounds, 15 ounces or larger as a general rule of thumb).

While it isn't a guarantee that you will have a large baby it is probably something you want to avoid (large babies can lead to c-section since the head might be too big, tearing/episiotomy, longer delivery/pushing, and trauma to the baby/broken bones during delivery). Start NOW! You're doing the right thing by inquiring about diabetic diets. Would your ob/gyn write a prescription for a nutritionist? Your insurance might pay for it.

In any case, try to eat 4-5 smaller meals throughout the day. You want to keep the sugar level in your body 'constant' as opposed to eating 3 big meals where the pancreas has to work overtime. Try to avoid processed foods, refined sugar, and junk food. Protein and certain types of dietary fibers are usually a good bet. Go to your Borders or B&N and search for diabetic cookbooks to get ideas. Good luck to you - I went on a diabetic-style diet in my 5th month of pregnancy and have never looked back, still adhering to the better eating habits I adopted them.

And...my baby arrived at 7 pounds 1 ounce. Furthermore, I didn't have to do anything special regarding my weight. I adhered to the same healthy eating habits I had adopted and shed my pregnancy weight within a mere 3-4 weeks.

I am also a midwife and I am offended for you that your midwife would say something like that. I do homebirths and many of our babies are 9 or 10 pounders (we also don't induce simply for going past the due date). A 9 lbs 14 oz baby may have been just the right size for you. Did you have a lot of problems birthing that size baby?

Anyway, you should be eating a healthy diet no matter what size your last baby was. A wonderful book on diet is called "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon (just don't pay attention to the breastfeeding information). It's not specific to pregnancy, but you can supplement that by information found on blueribbonbaby.org. If you are eating right, your baby will be the perfect size for you.

Hi K.,
I have gestational diabeties and I have to follow the diabetic diet very closely. In reference to starting right away they didn't test me for it until I was 5 months and then Dr.s checked to make sure I didn't have it before being pregnant (luckily I didn't). Once my tests came back postitive from the tests, they placed me on a carb restricted diet. Still plenty of food, just low carb. I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day and I'm honestly not hungry. I look at nutritional menus when I go out and make sure that the meals I have for lunch and dinner don't exceed 60 grams of carbs, breakfast doesn't exceed 25 and snacks don't exceed 15 grams. There are tons of options out there, but just like any diet its the small choices (like salad dressing, fried vs grilled and no soda) that makes a difference when trying to eat healthier. Check with your doctor. Hey...they told me if I didn't follow this regime I could have a 10 pounder!!!! OUCH! lolol Good luck and blessings.

I had gestational diabetes with all three pregnancies. Keeping your carbs down is key. But for you I would suggest really talking to your doctor about it. For a person who doesn't have problems with their body making enough insulin to burn down the glucose I would be very careful not to eat too little sugar because you could also throw yourself into the other direction and become hypoglyceimic(sp?)too. I would talk to your doctor about it and see what they think the best diet should be. Also there is nothing wrong with just going natural during your pregnancy. Eat meats, fruits and veggies, milk and whole grains. Eating this way is the best way for anyone to eat. Since My son was born I have really been taking care of myself. Once you have gestational diabetes your at a higher risk of normal diabetes. So I am determined to get in the best shape possible for life to avoid ever getting regular diabetes. I eat all natural foods...I call them whole foods. I workout doing pilates every day and on top of that rotate between toning and cardio every other day. I have lost 65 lbs and have been workign with my doctor on my goals. I am 15 lbs away from the goal she has set for me for long term as to what she thinks would be a healthy weight for me. I think I could go maybe 20-25 more but we will see. I have 2 yrs b4 i turn 30 and I plan to be muscle tone the day I turn 30. Also I don't drink empty calories. The only thing i drink with calories is milk and orange juice. I think sticking all natural is really the best diet for everyone. But again please talk to your doctor about it.