I’m almost 20 weeks pregnant and have been having difficulties eating as often as I should on certain days. Has anyone else out there had difficulties eating frequently given all the constraints we have around diet & bg management, and if so, how did you deal with this?
On days when things are less than perfect, I'm hesitant to snack on foods that are going to drive my blood sugars up (especially if i'm starting off above where i want to be pre-meal) or throw off my ability to see what insulin adjustments i need. how did others deal with this given that you need to eat more and more as you get later in your pregnancy? was it harder as your insulin resistance continued to grow?
I watched the curve on my Navigator (cgms) and cut back on insulin dose suggestions the pump was giving based on IOB I knew was still in effect to prevent problems from stacking.
My perinatalogist was adamant that I keep my numbers down without cutting back on food, so he stayed after me not to be “afraid” to take a large dose. If my pump told me I needed 28 units for something, I had a habit of taking 25 because that was my max bolus. Once he convinced me it was okay, I started taking the suggested amounts (based on my ratios) and found it was easier to stay under 140.
At the peak of my insulin resistance, I needed a unit for every 3-4g of carbohydrate. I kept joking that I needed to bolus just walking past food because I was breathing that many carbs.
I had a night during week 26(?) or so where my ketones were off the charts. My docs weren’t sure why, but one theory thrown out there was “starvation ketosis.” All I had had to eat all day by 2pm when the ketones hit was a 14g piece of toast at breakfast and a 28g sandwich at lunch. It may not have been the cause, but it certainly reminded me that my body was not my own. The baby needs the fuel and your body has to run on reserves after the baby siphons off what he or she needs.
