The first week of monitoring my blood sugar was hell. My after meal (especially dinner) readings were quite high and I was just feeling so upset over it. I started to cut down on my rice portions during lunch and dinner in the second week. That seemed to help a lot. I also made a slight effort to be active after meals, be it doing some housework like mopping the floor, going on walks or just doing simple exercises like squats. My readings improved a lot. I was finally in control…or so I thought.

At my follow up appointment with the dietitian this Wednesday, she pointed out that although my readings were a lot better, I was not getting enough carbohydrates to meet my daily requirement. That also explained why I had lost 2.5kg and baby was slightly on the smaller side. We reworked my meal plan to shift around the carbohydrates portions throughout the day. Instead of the 2-5-1-5-1 servings originally worked out for me, we changed it to 4-4-1-4-1. And since my concern was that by increasing my rice portion, my blood sugar would not come down as fast, she suggested just increasing my rice portion to 3/4 bowl from 1/2 bowl. I could also add a serving of fruit for breakfast instead of eating starch-rich foods.

I looked at the meal plan on my own after the meeting with the dietitian and decided to change it to 3-4-2-4-1 instead due to the timings in between meals. I’m still a bit worried as to how this would turn out, but I suppose the only way for my blood sugar to come down faster is to be active after meals. I guess it’s longer walks for me! I’ve also found a way to make my walks a little more interesting — by coinciding them with trips to the supermarket or other errand runs. It makes my life a whole lot better than just doing the squats or walking up and down the stairs at home. It also solves the problem of not being able to walk in the park due to the current haze situation.

There are still times when I feel a little down and stressed out, but I know deep down that I can’t blame God for this situation I’m in. I can only pray that He will give me strength to carry on. I could very well give up and take the easy way out by receiving insulin jabs or taking medication, but is that what I want? No. I know I can do this however hard it may be.

I also realise that this is not something many people can understand. They look at me and go “poor thing, have to eat so little during lunch/dinner” or sometimes forget that I’m on a strict diet and offer me foods which I have to decline or get impatient with me when I remind them that I must eat/go on walks at certain times. It’s not that I don’t want to eat more, but I have to stick to the required portions of carbohydrates, proteins, etc. at each meal to make sure I don’t get huge sugar spikes at any given moment. I still meet daily nutritional requirements with smaller but more frequent meals. The timing of each of my meals is also quite strict, again to ensure that my blood sugar levels are regulated throughout the day. I’ll try to explain how the food portioning and timing of meals work in another entry.

On a lighter and much brighter note, I’ve decided to create a page where I share my recorded meals and blood sugar readings. This idea came about after interacting with other mummies, who are also diagnosed with GD, in a Facebook group . We support one another on this tough journey. 🙂 You can access the page through the link at the top menu bar.