While it is complicated enough to get pregnant with the entire do's and don'ts, it gets more complicated if you're diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Fret not, there are some strategies you can follow to maintain a healthy pregnancy.
What Is Gestational Diabetes?
Baby Center defines gestational diabetes as a type that some women may develop during pregnancy. One of the most common health complications during pregnancy, around two to 10 percent of expectant mothers are diagnosed with this condition. If blood sugar is not managed properly, this could lead to preeclampsia (pregnancy-related high blood pressure), caesarean delivery, an overly large baby, and other long-term health conditions that can affect you and the baby.
So to help you survive the whole nine months without further complications, check out these amazing tips collected from mothers, who have been there. While the whole experience can be both draining and frustrating, we've collected strategies from Huffington Post and Everyday Health to keep it all together for you and your baby.
1. Make Use Of Your Support System
It is normal that your family and friends will provide you with endless lists of diet tips and exercises upon knowing your diagnosis of gestational diabetes. Bask in all the attention instead of despising them. You can learn a lot of things that you can't learn on your own. Try to focus on the positive side in every situation, makes it more bearable.
2. Take Medication If Necessary
This can be tedious but taking note of your glucose levels will pay off. More so, be prepared to take medications to manage sugar level. Now, if you're unable to maintain a normal sugar level, you doctor may recommend that you take medications. It is normal that you may have reservations taking in insulin, the popular medicine for diabetes, but a research published in Diabetes Care states that even the recent, long-acting insulin are safe to take during pregnancy.
3. Eat Well Planned Diet
If you want to avoid medications, you must know how to control your diet. The American Diabetes Association recommends talking to a registered dietician, who can help you come up with a diet plan based on your height, weight and activity level.
4. Learn To Miss Some Of Your Favorites... For Now
While it's frustrating that you can't eat all those sugary stuff, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. Look forward to eating your usual favorites after giving birth, once your sugar levels are back to normal. More so, while the diet may seem restrictive, you may get used to it once you've started it. One also recommends promoting the healthy eating habit to the whole family so you won't feel as deprived.
5. Exercise
Being active and regular physical activity is a must for pregnant moms with gestational diabetes. "Regular exercise is also beneficial to overall health and may help to improve glucose metabolism," advised Dr. Asha Heard, assistant professor at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. For pregnancy workouts, check out the video below.
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