yes I think doing the other phase would be dangerous. I think that you have to stay on the last lifestyle phase of Atkins which is basically just eating clean. My OB actually said it was better because you would (especially if you are already heavy) eating healthy and keeping your weight at a heathy place.

Whatever we all say it's basically up to you and your OB to decide what's right for your own situation.

Good luck!

Christine

Conclusion: Maternal ketonuria among patients with postterm pregnancy was associated with a >2-fold increase in the occurrence of oligohydramnios, a 3-fold increase in nonreactive nonstress tests, and a significant increase in fetal heart rate decelerations. Further studies are required to evaluate the potential benefits of treating ketonuria before fetal testing. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001;184:713-8.)

http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/ajog/a...9856144!8091!-1

Maternal ketonuria during pregnancy leads to decreased fetal intelligence, therefore fasting and limited carbohydrate intake should be avoided during this period (1).

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cach...s&ct=clnk&cd=10

If low carb eating, not dieting, contiributed to unhealthy pregnancies, many of us would have never have been born. Our ancestors who literally lived off the land relied on an extreme low carb dietary regimen. They didn't have Wonder Bread or processed gobbldy gook to nourish the unborn. They had flesh; muscle, organ meat and the fat from the area's game population. Low carb was the norm and healthy babies resulted.

I'm curious. Do the studies that you link to make any distinction between ketosis caused by dietary carbohydrate restriction as opposed to ketosis caused by high blood sugar or starvation?
I suspect it's not the ketones, per se, that are the problem but rather the reason for their appearance in the first place that is problematic.

I'm with ElleH on this one. Yes, I have read the entire thread and the articles, and I have even read other articles not linked to here during my first pregnancy. During that pregnancy, I was actually in Phase 1 of Atkins for the first 6 to 7 weeks before I found out I was pregnant. I then went to Maintenance levels of about 80 to 100g carbs daily. Those carbs came from healthy sources like whole grains, vegetables and some fruits. I gained no more than 25 lbs, and had a healthy 7 pounder who has also like Elle's kids met all her development on or ahead of time, and rarely gets seriously ill and has no allergies. Now three years later, I am on my second pregnancy and for the most part I am doing the same levels again. I don't know if I'm in ketosis or not b/c I never measure and the dr has not said anything to me. My typical menu goes something like an egg and cheese sandwich (whole wheat english muffin of ww bread), salad or ham and cheese sandwich for lunch (again on whole wheat), and 3 to 5 oz meat or fish with 2 sides of non-starchy vegetables for dinner. In between I snack on cheese, cashews, almonds, pieces of apple, avocado, and sometimes Triscuits.
I've gained about 7 lbs so far and I've kept up on some exercise. All indications point to both my baby and I being healthy.
I guess I'm saying you can read "research" or theories on both sides, but it's a personal choice to make. And from my personal experience, there is nothing wrong with following a way of eating NOT "diet" that has moderate carb levels that come from healthy sources.

I have to laugh at this one. How does one measure FETAL intelligence??? Using improper terminology leads to reduced credibility as far as I'm concerned.

And for heaven's sake, dirtywater, this study was done on FASTING pregnant women, something we can all agree should not be done, unless by Drs orders for a specific reason.

Are you even reading these articles before you post them???

This study was done on POSTTERM women.

The last 2 studies you have posted clearly indicated conditions which deviate from normal.

Again, ARE YOU READING THIS STUFF?????

Statistics can be proven either right or wrong 99 percent of the time. When you are pregnant, you err on the side of caution.

I was concerned about my blood lipids. I have no concerns where ketones as a source of fuel are concerned, because I understand the science behind it.

And BTW, EVERYTHING was TEXTBOOK NORMAL on my bloodwork. Further proving to me that I DID make the right choice THEN and NOW.

HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF NOT ERRING ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION??? YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME OR ANYTHING ABOUT ME OR MY PREGNANCIES OR MY SITUATION.

FOR SOME REASON, NO ONE COULD EVER EXPLAIN IT, I COULD BARELY EAT DURING THE LAST HALF OF MY PREGNANCIES. I COULD HOLD 2, MAYBE 3 BITES OF FOOD WITHOUT VOMITING OR BEING IN EXTREME PAIN. I GAVE MY BABIES WHAT I BELIEVED TO BE THE BEST POSSIBLE NUTRITION IN THE MOST COMPACT FORM SO THAT I COULD KEEP IT DOWN. I DID WHAT I THOUGHT WAS BEST UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES WITH THE APPROVAL OF MY OB'S.

You have a lot of nerve shooting off your mouth about my decisions when you know nothing about it.

It might be kind of hard to get the test papers back... and forget about the pencil!

Thank you for the chuckle, potato. I needed that after the evening I've had.

I hit a deer at 55 mph on the way to pick up 2 of my kids from AWANA after typing my last response to this thread. My youngest was in the van with me. We're all fine. The same can't be said for the deer...or my van.

I'm so upset by this thread, I can't even tell you. Sometimes we have to make the best choices we can at the moment we are in it. I did what I thought was best for my babies. I was trying to eat the most nutritious food I could in the smallest volume to feed my babies.

I suppose I could have eaten pure carbs for those 2-3 bites to keep me out of ketosis, but quite frankly, that sounded very stupid to me given my knowledge of the body and unborn babies, and it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Ketosis is quite hard to avoid when you're pregnant. Protein and fat seemed the most logical thing to eat. Were I in the same situation again, with 6 years more knowledge, I would do the exact same thing again, given the positive outcomes of all my pregnancies. My children are very healthy.

I hope that my experience is helpful to someone, but I'm done with this thread. I don't need anyone implying that I did something wrong or put my children in danger when I would give my life, my soul for them.

You can, as has been pointed out, be in benign dietary ketosis for a number of reasons, even if you AREN'T very low-carb. When I was on CAD, for example, I used the ketone test strips just for the heck of it once out of curiousity, and they registered. I was eating plenty of carbs in my reward meal, losing nicely, and still tested positive. It's a NORMAL process when the body is calling on its fat reserves for energy... you know, the fat stores laid down during pregnancy to help sustain the mother and child? I wonder if whoever designed that process had read those studies about ketones supposedly being bad for you?

I just got rid of a min-van that seemed to magnetically attract deer, btw. I hit one once with a full load of first-fraders coming home from a birthday party. I knew that spot was bad, so I was crawling along doing the paranoid deer-in-the-ditch watching thing, but BLAMMO. <sigh> Everyone was fine, since I had them all buckled and I was going slow, but let me tell you... I was the hit of show and tell the next day!

ElleH,

This thread was not started as anything personal toward anyone in particular. I have no doubt that you always do what you believe to be the best for your children. Its not about accusing anyone of neglect. It is about being responsible about providing information to those out there making decisions about nutrition during their pregnancies. I think that you have to admit that the jury is still out on whether or not ketosis is safe during pregnancy. That being said, I think it is important for people to be exposed to both sides of the arguement.

It's about being responsible to provide ACCURATE information instead of the unfounded Chicken-Littling going on here. You've skirted every direct question and linked to sources that take a LOT of squinting and twisting to make fit into your theory.