How low carb do you go during pregnancy?
 

I'm a Type I diabetic and during my prior two pregnancies have added in more carbs, simply to stay out of ketosis and keep the OB off my back about the hazards of LC and ketones.

Pregnancy three is giving me a run for my money. After being chewed on by the perinatologist last week, I came home and went back, essentially, into induction. Voila, my blood sugars are amazingly well behaved and I've got large ketones. Doctor, nurse, anybody realizes that and we all know what's going to happen. The logical answer seems to be to add in a few more carbs, but the more carbs in the mix, the less control I have over my sugars. Easiest is just low low carb. 30-40 a day maybe?

I hate second guessing myself. I know LC works for me. I know it works for me during pregnancy to keep my sugars in line. But there's that nagging voice in the background that says, "But what if those ketones really are bad..."

So how low do you go during pregnancy?

This is SO hard to decide because of that "nagging" voice but you'll find a variety of people here who've successfully LCed in a lot of different ways. I was very LC my first trimester and I credit that with lack of morning sickness and great initial development of my baby, actually. From there I got sloppy and started craving sugar and it wasn't good after that :( ElleH is a great example of someone who LCed the opposite way...did what she could through morning sickness and then went true LC after. I think eating good food and making strong choices is what it's all about. Having diabetes just makes it all the more clear what's best for you but I do understand feeling uncertain. I guess when you consider how problematic GD is for pregnancy women and you're already dealing with diabetes prior to, you should feel reassured by eating in a way that is good for your body. I've always believed if it's good for you how could it be bad for the baby? But tha'ts just me. Just do the best you can to stay healthy and I'm sure it'll work out well. Good luck!

When you say low carbing during pregnancy...what is that really?

Less than 75 carbs a day??? I found out I am pregnant on Saturday and am already a little overweight (152.5 this morning and 5'7") and would like to stay under 170 with pregnancy...when I say that I am thinking of moving some of the weight around if that makes sense. I don't want to do anything bad for the baby.

But how low carb is healthy???

It's really REALLY hard to actually answer that question because everyone seems to have a different answer. Plenty of people have successfully been under 75 and some have shot for a bit higher...maybe maintenance-levels or so, around 100? But that is a different level for everyone.

For me, I was under 50 during at least part of my first trimester, though I craved milk like crazy. Then I was shooting for 75-100 a bit later and then all hell broke loose as sugar got the best of me for the remainder of the pregnancy.

I still think WHAT you eat is more important than your carb count...protein and fat will take you a long way in healthy baby development. Good luck!

I was pretty low during the 2nd half of my 3 pregnancies (bad morning sickness the first half), I mean lower-than-induction-low, with some treats thrown in, and everything was fine. You just need to be settled and comfortable in your decision. I would think that better blood sugar control would be the best decision, but you're the one that has to be comfortable with what you're doing. It really doesn't matter what the rest of us feel comfortable with! I do agree with Lisa that the protein and fat intake should be top priority, then add carbs to that. My kids all seem to be fine...ketones and all! :) Good luck to you and congrats!

I tried adding in more carbs for a couple days. My blood sugars went berserk again. I decided if it was between the two evils, it'd be the one that I at least knew for sure was bad and that's high blood sugars.

I've been eating a ton more salad, but hadn't really bothered to test for ketones. I've also been having some low carb treats (like s/f pudding made with half and half) and some not so low carb treats, like animal crackers with the kids and plenty of insulin to cover.

I should go POAS now to see what it says.

And when I'm not eating animal crackers, I'd probably say less than 30 carbs a day, those carbs being in cheese, ketchup, ranch, sour cream, etc. The sneaky ones.

I am probably eating around 50 carbs a day, sometimes less if my appetite is bad. I'm not strictly counting, but I am mostly choosing from low carb foods.

I do eat more greek yogurt, tomatoes, berries, cream, and cheese, etc. than I would if I were losing. Today I had a single slice of whole grain high fiber bread (12 carbs), which is something I'd never do when losing. If I want a peach, I'll have a slice instead of the whole fruit.

I've read up a lot, and can't find any hard conclusive evidence one way or the other. It comes down to what makes sense to you. I have PCOS, and so for me low carbing helps control most symptoms, and I believe this is best for my pregnancy.

I'm so impressed with all of you. I had lost all my excess weight on a low carb diet and looked and felt the best I ever had in my life. Then during both of my pregnancies I just had such strong cravings that I ate all the carbs I could get my hands on. Also, at the time, my DH was very worried about the health of our babies, and I knew of no one who had even tried lc'ing during pregnancy. Now he would support it unhesitatingly - but we're done. :-)

Anyway, I gained so much weight, that I am worse off now than ever. That's why I'm here...