Originally Posted by
mommylamb
Don't be scared. I'm doing it now (in fact, I just did it 15 minutes ago). It's not bad. The meter is pretty easy to work. My problem is that between the finger pricks, and the insane amount of times I wash my hands every day--before finger pricks, before I eat, every time I pee (which is a lot)-- my hands are really getting dry and cracked and lotion doesn't always help. But the pricks themselves are not such a big deal.
I'm the opposite of you. My baby is measuring totally normal growth, but I failed the 3 hour. I'm just starting to get the hang of the diet. It's not as easy as it sounds at first, at least it isn't for me. In order to keep my numbers to where they should be, I have to eat my meals quickly and then eat nothing else until I test 2 hours after the first bite. If I have a longer, more leisurely meal, it means I'm eating too close to when I test my blood and my reading gets messed up. So, for example, on Sunday I ate breakfast at 7 and at 8 had a cup of coffee with a little skim milk and nursed that coffee. When I tested at 9, the coffee with the skim milk had totally f-ed up my reading.
I've also found that I have to be absolutely rigid about keeping to a time table of when I eat meals and snacks, even if I'm not hungry. I was more laissez fair the first few days and my blood readings showed it.
Honestly, I'm having a hard time getting enough carbs into my system. Avoiding them is easy. Getting the right amount without going over or under is harder. I wasn't getting enough carbs at first, and my keytones went crazy, which is toxic for the baby. Happy to report, no keytones this morning.
ETA: The other thing that's a PITA about the finger prick is timing. I have to do it exactly 2 hours after my first bite of food from a meal. At most, I have a 15 minute leeway time. So this means paying a lot more attention than I otherwise would have. But, there are all sorts of things going on in my day, which make this a real pain. In the mornings, I eat at 7, but if I get stuck in traffic, I might not be at work by 9 and I'm reticent to test while in the car (talk about distracted driving, plus not being able to wash my hands). The afternoons are usually fine, but I've already had to step out of meetings/conference calls that I'm actively involved in so that I can test. Evenings are usually fine. And then there's fitting in the time to do some sort of activity after each meal, which really helps keep the numbers down, but is a royal PITA.