Damn you, orange juice!

[sal_amanda]

I got my glucose monitor this morning.  The perinatal nurse went through it fairly quickly, but I'll get the hang of it.  When I did it to myself for the first time at home, it took me three tries because I kept flinching and pulling away before it pricked me enough to get enough blood out of it for a reading.  I can do this, though, even if I don't like it.  

Then I met with a nutritionist.  Both she and the perinatal nurse found my glucose tolerance test results to be super weird and both suspected that I'd be just fine on the diet and doubted I'd need to do anything with insulin.  I hope upon hope they're right.

I've already been shopping for reduced sugar or sugar free products and have been pleasantly surprised at the amounts of things that are sweetened with Splenda rather than aspartame.  I can taste aspartame easily and find it gross so there's hope for me yet.

My despair from before stemmed from the belief that I was doing all I could possibly do.  But there are some changes that I can still make.  First of all, I like ci ci beans (or garbanzos, if that's what you call them) and just always considered them a protein.  Well, they are, but beans also fall into the starch category and I wasn't counting that previously.  Or the sugar in milk. 

And then there's the fruit issue.  No fruit for breakfast, which is big because I'm all about Raisin Bran or Raisins and Spice oatmeal and usually a banana.  Oh and juice.  Fruit is still on the menu a couple other times a day, but people tend to tolerate it not as well in the mornings.  Juice is pretty much off the table because it's just such a heavy concentration of fructose.  I actually think this will create the biggest difference in my readings.  

Interestingly, gestational diabetes generally disappears within hours of giving birth.  I'm telling John that there better be a huge box of Watson's sponge candy waiting for me when I get home with the baby.

Comments

[caseysmomm.livejournal.com]

If you need any help with certain items you're looking for in a sugar free or splenda variety, give me a shout. I've learned a lot in my Nutrisystem days...plus, I'm trying to keep the sugars to a minimum because my folks have both been diagnosed with diabetes in their adult years. Nothing like getting it from both sides!

Does alcohol count? Maybe I'm going about my diet wrong...hahahahaha. Sorry, had to throw a little drinking humor in there since we are preparing to head to New Orleans at the end of next week. You will be missed!

[sal_amanda]

Believe me, I'll be missing NO.

Any suggestions you have for me on sugar free stuff that actually tastes good, I'm sooooooooo open to.

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

Did she tell you to hang your hand down for a bit first, and then while hanging it down run hold the finger with your other hand, squeeze a little as you move down toward the tip. Then, you could use your thumb from the same hand you are taking blood from to keep pressure on the finger you are going to stick (and keep it facing down to keep the blood in there). That's pretty much what I was taught to do to patients to get a good stick...

[sal_amanda]

Duh. I forgot you're a nurse.

I just tried that technique out and it worked well.

Here's a stupid question for you. Does it matter what finger I use? With having to do this four times a day, I'd like to switch it up.

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

any finger is fine -- it's all the same blood, right?