I had twins almost 5 years ago. My blood sugars were very well controlled at the time. I am gearing up for another pregnancy (hopefully) via IVF in July and am working to control sugars now. It is SO MUCH harder. Partly because i am caring for two little people at the same time. I wondered if anyone had any tips to keep in their back pockets? Basically, the simple stuff, food to avoid, amount of time to bolus before eating etc.
Also, and I’ve called my endo but haven’t heard back yet. This past week I am CONSTANTLY high. Like no matter what insulin I take, I stay high. Last night at bedtime it was 99. I ate nothing. Also my dinner was salmon and salad. I watched my CGM and my sugar started to rise in the middle of the night and no matter what I did, it wouldn’t go down. Does this just happen sometimes? Any advice?
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As for your second question, it sounds like dawn phenomenon. Everyone’s blood sugar rises in the early morning hours prior to waking up due to hormonal changes. If you’re on a pump, you may need to raise your basal rates to combat it.
Are you on a pump? Pump plus CGM made my pregnancy much easier. I was in contact constantly with the nurse practioner at my endo’s office. She checked my numbers twice a week and tweaked dosing and ratios as necessary. The pump is the best way to address overnights since you can have higher basal rates when you see a pattern of BG creeping up. pump also made it easy to correct when I needed to.
The nutritionist at my endo practice was also immensely helpful. She really helped with food options. Highly recommend seeking one out if you dont have one already. I had to pair 100% whole grain carbs or low glycemic carbs with fat or protein to minimize spikes. Look for the 100% whole grain label. Also I got a cheap food scale and measured everything.
Here are some of the carb options I used for control -
Breakfast - berries with cottage cheese, oatmeal (better oats plain flavor), with peanut butter, whole grain toast with peanut butter, eggs or avocado (also good lunch options)
Lunch/dinner - Salad with black beans or chick peas, 100% whole grain breads/flatbreads with eggs, avocado, cheese or other proteins, hummus and veggies
Snacks- full fat siggi’s yogurt, late July chips, Kind bars (only nut and spice or savory variety - others have too much sugar), Haagen dazs ice cream (plain flavors only, used this for overnight), nothing but oat cookies, popcorn, nuts
I waited at least 20 mins after bolus to eat and didn’t eat if my BG was above 140. I would correct, wait for it to come down then bolus, wait 20 min+ and eat.
Hope this helps! It is hard work as you know having through it before but totally worth it to have your healthy baby in your arms at the end. Good luck!!!
