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Showing posts from February, 2016

Life Among Women: Patient Perspective: Blood Glucose Testing for Gestational Diabetes

I’m not really needle averse, but poking my finger 4+ times a day is not my idea of a good time. And I had a rough experience at the lab with the blood draws for the glucose screening tests that left one of my arms bruised for weeks to really add insult to injury for the diagnosis. Although the meter, test strips and lancets are self-explanatory and I had great instruction from the Woman’s Diabetes Center nurse educator, I still had some trial-and-error to get the testing correct. My first time testing on my own I had trouble getting enough blood on the strip so I wasted three or four. Now I rarely make that mistake, and just re-stab myself if I can’t get enough blood from the first prick. I haven’t run out of strips yet so I hope they factor in a few error strips in each vial. Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when published.)

Life Among Women: The GD Diet

After I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 17 weeks I assumed I’d be following a low carbohydrate diet. I have experience with that from the South Beach diet that I used before my first pregnancy and smart carb dieting recommended by the staff of the Metabolic Clinic while I successfully managed my insulin resistance and tried to get pregnant a second time. The GD diet (can stand for gestational diabetes or the other words, in my opinion) is not low carb. It’s very specific about how many carbs you eat at what time and in combination with protein-rich foods to help your body better process the carbs and keep your blood glucose in range. It’s restrictive but mostly manageable. I’m hungry almost all the time, but I eat every few hours so at least I’m not STARVING all the time. Read the rest on Woman's Hospital's "Life Among Women" blog . (Called Mommy-Go-Round when published.)