I thought it was time to write up a post about what I did different in my last pregnancy. Just to recap:
Baby 1 weighed 8.5.
Baby 2-9.1
Baby 3 was miscarried at 10 weeks
Baby 4- 8.12
Baby 5- 8.8
Baby 6-9.2
Baby 7- 9.8
Baby 8- 10
Baby 9- 10.8
Baby 10 miscarried at 11 weeks
Baby 11 miscarried at 10 weeks
Baby 12 miscarried at 6 weeks
At this point I have too big concerns;
Stop the miscarriages
Grow smaller babies
When I realized I was pregnant for the 13th time, I began using progesterone cream every day. I did that for three and a half months and weaned off of it.
Miscarriages apparently solved.
Those big babies though are a sign of gestational diabetes. I had perfectly normal numbers until baby 9. Then I tested borderline gd and had a couple of fainting spells. GD carries several potintial complications for both mom and baby. When I first realized I was pregnant, I started my mom's "hypoglicimia diet." I tweaked it a bit with help from my midwife. The results?
Baby 13- 8 pounds even
(and me 20 pounds lighter by my 6 week than before I got pregnant.)
Here's what I did:
I ate some sort of protein food every two hours (this would be meat, nuts, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs or in a pinch, a protein bar, though I had to watch those. They have sugar and taste too good, so I am always tempted to eat too many of them. Half a bar is suficient)
When I ate a meal, I made sure I had no more carbs than protein. I did not count most veggies as a carb, but I did count fruit and all grains (including corn) and breads.
No sugar. (Well, ok, if the hubby and the dc were having cookies for desert I would have ONE. Or if there was one of my favorite deserts at our church potluck, I would have about three small bites. Otherwise though, no sugar)
I did NOT limit my calories. If I was hungry, I ate. i just made sure it was mostly protein.
I drank lots of water.
We monitored my blood sugar with A1C tests every three months instead of one glucose tolerance test at 20 weeks. The GT test tells you how your body is responding today to sugar (and always makes me sick for the rest of the day). The A1C measures the amount of glucose attached to your hemoglobin. This tells you how much sugar has dumped into your blood over the last three months. No fasting or sugarry dirnks necessary!
An A1C score of 8.0 is considered diabetic, 6.0 is pre-diabetic, 4.8 is "normal." With baby 9 I was 6.1.
My scores with baby 13, while eating the above diet, were:
5.9
5.5
5.1
And baby was 2lb 8oz lighter than his older sister. Because of the complications we had in his delivery, had he been a bigger baby, he would likely have died. (You can read about Josh's birth here, but I don't recommend it if you are subject to fear)
As it was, today he is a perfectly healthy toddler who just celebrated his first birthday.
I highly recommend this type of diet for anyone concerned about too big babies or Gestational diabetes.
Baby 1 weighed 8.5.
Baby 2-9.1
Baby 3 was miscarried at 10 weeks
Baby 4- 8.12
Baby 5- 8.8
Baby 6-9.2
Baby 7- 9.8
Baby 8- 10
Baby 9- 10.8
Baby 10 miscarried at 11 weeks
Baby 11 miscarried at 10 weeks
Baby 12 miscarried at 6 weeks
At this point I have too big concerns;
Stop the miscarriages
Grow smaller babies
When I realized I was pregnant for the 13th time, I began using progesterone cream every day. I did that for three and a half months and weaned off of it.
Miscarriages apparently solved.
Those big babies though are a sign of gestational diabetes. I had perfectly normal numbers until baby 9. Then I tested borderline gd and had a couple of fainting spells. GD carries several potintial complications for both mom and baby. When I first realized I was pregnant, I started my mom's "hypoglicimia diet." I tweaked it a bit with help from my midwife. The results?
Baby 13- 8 pounds even
(and me 20 pounds lighter by my 6 week than before I got pregnant.)
Here's what I did:
I ate some sort of protein food every two hours (this would be meat, nuts, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs or in a pinch, a protein bar, though I had to watch those. They have sugar and taste too good, so I am always tempted to eat too many of them. Half a bar is suficient)
When I ate a meal, I made sure I had no more carbs than protein. I did not count most veggies as a carb, but I did count fruit and all grains (including corn) and breads.
No sugar. (Well, ok, if the hubby and the dc were having cookies for desert I would have ONE. Or if there was one of my favorite deserts at our church potluck, I would have about three small bites. Otherwise though, no sugar)
I did NOT limit my calories. If I was hungry, I ate. i just made sure it was mostly protein.
I drank lots of water.
We monitored my blood sugar with A1C tests every three months instead of one glucose tolerance test at 20 weeks. The GT test tells you how your body is responding today to sugar (and always makes me sick for the rest of the day). The A1C measures the amount of glucose attached to your hemoglobin. This tells you how much sugar has dumped into your blood over the last three months. No fasting or sugarry dirnks necessary!
An A1C score of 8.0 is considered diabetic, 6.0 is pre-diabetic, 4.8 is "normal." With baby 9 I was 6.1.
My scores with baby 13, while eating the above diet, were:
5.9
5.5
5.1
And baby was 2lb 8oz lighter than his older sister. Because of the complications we had in his delivery, had he been a bigger baby, he would likely have died. (You can read about Josh's birth here, but I don't recommend it if you are subject to fear)
As it was, today he is a perfectly healthy toddler who just celebrated his first birthday.
I highly recommend this type of diet for anyone concerned about too big babies or Gestational diabetes.
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