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When your five month glucose test comes back from the lab and you hear the words gestational diabetes come from the doctors mouth; you are most likely going to panic. Well, breathe easy: this disease usually only lasts through preganancy, and with a good balanced diet your baby should be fine.
The first thing your doctor and you will discuss is dieting. Yes, it's a little upsetting that during your pregnancy you will be unable to eat those wonderful goodies. However, you will know that it is in your baby's best interest.
Natural sugars are a major culpret in gestational diabetes. Cutting down is not completely eliminating juices, especially orange juice. If this is hard for you to do, only have a half a glass of o.j. with a half a glass of water mixed.Water and one percent milk are great alternatives to juice. Things like bagels, white bread and pastas should be avoided, they are high in carbohydrates and is absorbed to quickly into your body, causing high blood sugar. Wheat bread is excellent as it is slowly absorbed. Spreadable fruit is a yummy choice, instead of jelly, and peanut butter is a great source of protien.
Carbohydrate watching is the best diet, rather than watching sugar intake. This because carbohydrates are what determines the breakdown and absorbtion of your sugars.
Your doctor will surely discuss your diet alternatives. You must try to stay loyal to your diet to avoid the possibility of insulin use in the future. Another reason being your babies development. Sugar acts as a growth hormone in unborn babies, and the more sugar that is taken in by the baby, the larger the fetus will grow, resulting in full term babies weighing over nine pounds at bith, also increasing your chances of cesarean birth.
Your mind will be more at ease once you become accustomed to your diet. Good mental health is a plus when dealing with gestational diabetes. Keeping upbeat, knowing your doing your best taking care of your unborn baby. A helpful way of reaching good mental health is by maintaining good physical health, taking a nice ten minute walk a day is the perfect excercise. Keeping active will also help keep your sugars at a stable, acceptable level.
Exercise will of course be reduced as your preganancy progresses. However, try to maintain some sort of exercise. Walking is great, and can be done throughout your pregnancy. You may not beable to do to much walking towards the end of your third trimester, but try to do a little. Because as a gestational diabetic you will see your weight fluctuate once your activity level lowers. You don't want to gain to much weight during your preganancy, it's unhealthy for you and your baby.
Another way to feel great would be twenty minutes ( or less depending on your trimester ) of easy stretching. Just enough to stretch the tension out of your muscles.
Taking care of yourself right from the beginning will help your mental and physical health tremendously during your preganancy. Eating right, and keeping active should be a part of your daily routine.
By doing all these things you will decrease the chances of any problems for you and the baby at the time of birth. You will also decrease the likelihood of you developing regular diabetes later in life.
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