Its been two weeks since I started testing my blood sugar four times a day and following the diet my OB recommended. I’ll admit it; I was in denial that I actually had gestational diabetes, especially when I struggled with low blood sugar the first few days – that was awful! I felt weak and had trouble concentrating. But then I got the hang of the diet and my blood sugar stabilized (for the most part). I began to feel better, have more energy and I can tell when my blood sugar is crashing or soaring (the later is literally a sugar high and it doesn’t feel good.) My diet isn’t typical for diabetes, at least not in my experience (several of my family members have type 2). I’m not counting carbs but rather servings. In a day, I’m allowed 10 servings of carbs, 10 proteins, 5 fats, 4 nonstarchy vegetables (i.e. not potatoes, peas or corn), 3 milks and 3 fruits. I max out the fruits pretty quickly but not the others, especially the milks – cheese products count as proteins. A typical day … [Read more...]
Glucose Buddy
The day I found out I had gestational diabetes I bought an iPhone. I blamed the splurge on my diagnosis but truthfully, I needed a new phone anyway. I posted about my purchase on Facebook and one of my friends replied: You know there’s an app for that. Enter Glucose Buddy, the diabetes helper. Its a free app available on iTunes. There’s also a companion website where you can manage your diabetes. I’ve found it to be essential to tracking my blood sugar levels, especially since I have to test my blood four times a day. After every test, I open “add log,” then select BG (for blood glucose) and enter the number from my FreeStyle Lite. Then I select which meal the test follows and hit save. The app records the time of the test as well. I can access all my numbers by clicking on Log or I can sync them to the website and print out a copy – that’s what I’ll be doing for my next doctor’s appointment. There are a lot of other features like a graph of your numbers, a forum, and logs for … [Read more...]
