Hello everyone,
I’ve been t1 for 17 years, I’m currently using a pump and cgm, and I’m 15 weeks pregnant. I’m running into serious food issues these days. Whether its foods I could normally eat that now cause spikes, or foods that I know I shouldn’t eat but do–I can’t seem to predict anything. I have been trying to balance carby foods with protein, but a girl can only eat so much peanut butter/cottage cheese/eggs in a day. I’ve also been walking a lot-things get real unpredictable if i don’t. I’m feeling incredibly burnt out already and I still have a long way to go. I could really use some advice and encouragement from those who have been there.
Thanks!
I know exactly what you are going through. My daughter is 7 months old now, but I vividly remember the struggles you're having!
Are you eating a lot of vegetables? That helped me, both to fill myself up and to add variety and nutrition to my diet. How about beans? They do have carbs, but for me at least they don't cause spikes. One thing I would often eat for lunch that was very satisfying was a whole wheat tortilla with black beans, cheese, plain yogurt, salsa, and veggies. Also I'd make a nice salad and put a poached egg on top. Try to find ways to be creative with the foods that don't make your blood sugar spike. Easier said than done, I know, and 9 months can feel like a long time when you're craving carbs. I woke up every morning dying for a huge plate of French toast!
Good luck, hang in there, and remember that it is all worth it for a healthy baby.
I had the same problem in the beginning. I noticed that what I eat doesn't seem to make a difference for me. I don't go eating an entire pizza, but I still go ahead and eat things that I want to eat since it doesn't make a difference anyway. More than likely, your insulin needs will just need to be adjusted frequently. Mine get adjusted each week and that helps tremendously. I did run into a couple of weeks where I got really discouraged, but we changed the insulin rather than the foods I was eating. I still eat protein with each meal, but I definitely don't shy away from foods that I want. :) Why make myself even more miserable? :)
Hi Bethany, I am 14 weeks pregnant and find myself in the same situation. Right now, my doctor has me upload my readings on carelink and she adjust my basal rates as needed. Are you able to this with your doctor? If so, this helps a lot. I still run into problems especially at night. I think my cgm wakes me up every hour with a low Bg warning. One of these days, I am going to throw it out the window lol. I know pregnancy and diabetes is a full time job but it’s doable. Anytime I start to feel down, I get on this group and see all the T1s with healthy babies and I know I can do it and so can you 
Keep your head up and if you just need to vent I’m here. Take care
Hi Bethany!
My son is now a year old, but I also remember the struggles!
The problem may be not what you are eating, but that your insulin doses change at least once a week. Once I started increasing my bolus and basal amounts, they really changed every week. It's hard to keep up, but if I saw a spike at the same time 2-3 days in a row, then my doctor and I already increased my insulin (either basal or bolus if it was a post meal spike).
I ate 180g of carb per day throughout the pregnancy (divided into SIX meal/snacks though). I was also eating LOTS of cheese, peanut butter, eggs, etc. though.
Also, click here and herefor snack ideas :-) My favorite snack was plain greek yoghurt with cocoa powder and Splenda (called "chocolate pudding"). During pregnancy, I thought that it was a great treat, though now I realize that it is actually pretty far from chocolate pudding, but it certainly helped me!!
Hi. I'm kind of new to the whole pregnancy thing, but have you tried Greek yogurt? I get the plain and add splenda, cinnamon, almonds, and berries. This totals around 15-20g carbs (depending on how many berries you add) and a lot of protein. It doesn't spike my BG at all and is very filling. Sometimes I add a drop of vanilla extract to it.
I also second the veggies. I normally eat just veggies and protein at dinner (only carbs are the sauce/dressing I use) and that keeps me from spiking. At lunch I eat more carbs... around 30-45g since I am most active and that helps me from spiking.
Throughout the day I eat 15g snacks as needed to keep me from tanking. Fiber one bars and string cheese has been great in this respect. I tried a 100 calorie bag of chex mix today (with same amount of carbs) and that spiked me right up.
If you need a grain, try quinoa. It is high in fiber with a low GI that prevents spikes. I bought a HUGE bag for $9 at Costco, which was significantly cheaper than my local grocery store.
I am going to try that "chocolate pudding" ASAP! sounds great!
Great! I recommend HIGH QUALITY cocoa powder. I bought Ghirardelli's brand. It is more expensive, but tastes a lot more like real chocolate! Mmmmm...
I also ate a lot of boiled lentils. Those are a great source of iron too, which we need more of during pregnancy. And it is a really cheap meal! I bought dried lentils and soaked them over night, then sauteed onion and put the soaked lentils in with salt and bay leaves. Then I cooked them for 13 minutes in the pressure cooker (or about an hour without a pressure cooker). Once the lentils are soft, I add a TON of dijon mustard and it makes a nice lentil stew. I ate it with boiled eggs or meat. 350g of this stew was about 40g of carb, but it was SOOO filling and really never made me spike (I even had to start giving my insulin a bit later or with a dual wave bolus because I would go low after eating lentils).
Thank you so much for all the great ideas!! Kristin-I’ll definitely be trying the “chocolate pudding.” Yesterday was particularly rough emotionally. It’s hard to not feel guilty when you see those high numbers. I have been trying to eat a lot of veggies-usually big salads with meals. I’m going to try stepping up the occurrence of veggies for snacks.
Again, thank you all for the advice and words of support it was really needed.
I have an awesome rosemary lentil recipe, too, that is super easy, if anyone's interested.
I was definitely there with the guilt, too, especially once I found out my daughter was big (9 lb 13 oz at birth), despite A1c's in the 5's. You always feel like you could do better. The thing is, you can only do your best. Try to find a friend or family member you can talk to and cry to if needed and who won't judge you or make you feel like you either aren't trying hard enough or you're being too hard on yourself. You need someone who will just understand that what you're doing is very very difficult, mentally, physically, and emotionally. And keep using this site as a resource and source of support. We're all behind you!!
I had a big baby (9.4 lbs) despite a 5.9% A1c too. It was discouraging. We are pregnant with baby #2 now, and I'm hoping that I don't let those things get to me this time around. Some things you just cannot help, no matter what you do. My A1c is at 6.1% right now, I'm at 16 weeks pregnant. Just hoping for the best.