Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

I have just discovered that I am pregnant. I am over 100 pounds overweight, I had gestational diabetes with my last 2 pregnancies, and judging by the numbers, it appears I am diabetic now.

I don't eat much bread or pasta since I have a wheat allergy and don't enjoy many of the non wheat flour alternatives. I would imagine I'll be eating mostly grains and potatoes, along with beans, fruits and vegetables, as I have been. I am also allergic to oats, soy, eggs and dairy.

I am afraid if I lose weight I'll harm the baby, but that if I don't, the diabetes will cause damage. Would it harm the baby it I lost weight even if I'm eating anough calories? Should I add nuts/avocado to keep my current weight?

Should I be adding ground flax seed for Omega 3's? Or would the baby get what it needs from my fat stores? I have the McDougall Program for Women and the Starch Solution, but I didn't notice much in those books for my particular situation.

My fasting glucose yesterday was 230. That's not super high, but I'm afraid it will still cause damage. I was desperate to lower my blood sugar yesterday, so I followed the dietician's advice from my last pregnancy (45g carbs at meals, 15g snacks, plus protein and veggies). My protein was 1 oz. almonds with breakfast, 1/2 cup beans with lunch and supper, and about 1/3 cup refried beans with my evening snack. I also walked for an hour after supper.

Well, today my fasting blood glucose is 245, even worse than yesterday. I am desperate and afraid that I have been doing damage to the baby by not getting my blood sugar down. I am afraid that if I eat completely McDougall, my blood sugar will go way up.

I do have an appointment with my doctor. I only found out about my pregnancy a couple of days ago.

Any tips or help would be appreciated, I am kind of in a panic here.

Thank you.

Edit: For breakfast I had a McDougall style breakfast of about 2 potatoes, 1 cup carrots and 1/2 cup lentils. My blood sugar 1 1/2 hours later was 285.

It's perfectly okay not to gain weight during pregnancy if you're 100 lbs overweight, and losing some is okay. http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-nor ... 1512530.bc

If you're in the early stages of pregnancy, those numbers mean diabetes, not gestational diabetes. I hope your doc does an A1c test, to see what your numbers have been averaging the last three months. With those numbers, I'm guessing your doctor will want to put you on insulin. However, I'd rather lower my carbs if that helps, rather than go on insulin. I ate starchy carbs when I had gestational diabetes, just less of them, and I was able to avoid insulin.

You could eat less of the starchy carbs like rice, potatoes, and bread, and eat more veggies/beans,nuts, olives, avocados, etc. to keep calories up. Something else that helped me was taking a brisk walk for 20-30 minutes after meals. Really helped drive down the blood sugar! Good luck and I hope you have a great pregnancy!

Thank you

You're welcome! I had gestational diabetes with both my kids, and despite not having to go on insulin, still had 10 lb+ babies. Big babies run in my family, gestational diabetes or not. They were healthy as horses though, thankfully!