I'm 20 weeks pregnant and still struggling with the willpower to control what I eat, especially in the afternoons when I'm home by myself a lot.
I'm trying to really take my condition more seriously, test all 7 times per day, watch what I eat, and record every blood sugar, but it's hard to keep going when no one else looks at them except the Doc. once a month.
I'm now recording my daily and weekly averages in addition to each individual sugar level, trying to make it fun for myself by strategizing, watching trends and trying to beat them. But once the fun wears off, I'm afraid I'll go back to my lax attitude.
I would love an e-mail accountability partner! If you're expecting,
planning a pregnancy, or just trying to keep healthy with T1, I would
love to hear from you! I'd really like someone to kind of "compete" with to get the best blood sugars!
Please respond with how you keep yourself in check, or if you want to be an accountability partner with me, please e-mail Katherine.Witherell @ gmail.com (not sure if the system allows giving emails- there's not actually any spaces in the address).
Are you allowing yourself to eat normally? Or should I say, normally for a pregnant woman? =) When I was expecting I had a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone almost every day. Just learned to bolus my insulin for it and still had good blood sugars and a healthy pregnancy.
I've never done well trying to be strict tracking my blood sugars. Your meter is just a tool to tell you if you're on track, need to correct or need a snack. Anytime my insulin needs increased over the pregnancy, it happened pretty gradually. I didn't have any huge increases until the third trimester (went from taking 40U a day to over 100!).
In the afternoons try to get out of the house and take a walk, visit the library, go to the local pool. Being active will really help you be healthy for your baby and make sure you're strong for delivery.
Take care and I hope everything goes well for you. -Jenna
Thanks, Jenna, you're right, I really need to take a nice walk during the afternoon (although it's so hot and humid here in Florida!)
My problem is also that I'm so recently diagnosed with diabetes that I'm still producing some of my own insulin and I can never tell how or when it's going to work. That's why my Endocrinologist won't let me take any correction doses, because I will just come down on my own and a correction could take me too low. I only take NPH before bed, and only Regular Humilin if I'm above 120 before a meal. Otherwise, I don't take insulin. And I'm supposed to always keep my BGs between 65 and 120. (2 hours after meals, should be under 120).
So yeah, cookies, ice cream, etc. is off limits :( Not that I don't ever eat them, but I shouldn't and when I do, my numbers show it.
That's a tough situation since your body is still making some insulin. You may also try to find an Atkins or low carb cookbook. Real whipping cream (sweetened with Splenda) has never raised my blood sugar. When I tried eating low carb I'd put the whipped cream on sugar-free jello or make a carb-free lemon curd of lemon juice, sweetner and egg yolks. Helps when you have a sweet craving.
Now I'm a fan of Hershey Bliss dark chocolate. 3 pieces has about 12g of carb. They're less bitter than other dark chocolate and don't skyrocket blood sugar.
If walking feels good, try the mall or somewhere air conditioned. Humidity is brutal when you're pregnant.
Sounds like you're doing a really good job for you and your baby. Being a mom is such a blessing and I'm sure everything will be okay.
Jenna, thanks for the advice! I actually didn't see your post until today- sorry!
My new OB (we moved) wants me to call in with my BG for the day every night and leave a message. Hopefully that will really motivate me to do what it takes to make my numbers look good since I'll be held accountable EVERY DAY instead of like once a month. Thanks to the two people who e-mailed me also!
Fortunately, it's been cooling off now and since we moved I have a safer neighborhood to walk in. So I can usually go anytime of day and it won't be too bad. :)